On September 23, 2023, NCIS will celebrate 20 years since its premiere on CBS – and it shows no signs of slowing down. The hit procedural has gone through numerous cast changes, but Pauley Perrette’s Abby Sciuto remains a fan favorite, even five years after she stepped down.
Now show bosses have praised the actress for making “Abby one of the most beloved characters on television in the 21st century”.
© CBSPauley left the show in 2018
“Don Bellisario [co-creator] he told me he wanted the show to have a lot of humor, which is where the character of Abby comes from,” co-creator Don McGil told The Hollywood Reporter.
“I was a big fan of CSI and I loved the Greg Sanders character. So I thought creating a quirky lab character and pushing him a little further would satisfy Don Bellisario’s mandate to bring humor to the show.”
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But the former CBS casting executive couldn’t originally see Pauley in the role, adding, “I personally loved Pauley Perrette as an actress, but I thought, ‘Man, this doesn’t feel like someone who works in a lab.’
Pauley eventually left in 2018, replaced by Diona Reasonover as Kasie Hines’ new lab technician, but her absence was felt, as director James Whitmore revealed: “Diona was wonderful and brilliant and the work is great. But you walk into that set sometimes, and you miss Pauley.”
© CBSMark Harmon and Pauley Perrette as Gibbs and Abby on NCIS
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NCIS’s Michael Weatherly’s dangerous medical condition revealedThe four spoke with The Hollywood Reportr for an oral history with the creative forces behind the long-running show.
Pauley’s exit at the end of season 15 came as a shock to fans at the time.
In the series, her character quit her job after the assassination attempt, but later it was revealed that the incident on the set of the series made her feel insecure.
© Getty Images Pauley’s departure at the end of season 15 was something of a shock to fans at the time
“In the case of Pauley Perrette, there was a dog show incident. The dog belonged to Mark Harmon and apparently the dog bit someone. Pauley was a huge, huge SPCA [Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals] animal person. And then the dog kept coming with Harmon, and she didn’t think it was safe for the show,” executive producer Charles Floyd Johnson revealed.
“By the end of that year, she just felt like it wasn’t working for her anymore and it was time to move on.”
© CBS Photo Archive Sean Murray, Gary Cole, Brian Dietzen, Katrina Law and Wilmer Valderrama are the current stars of NCIS
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NCIS’ Wilmer Valderrama’s Unconventional Living Situation RevealedInterestingly, Pauley and Mark, who played Robert Gibbs, did not share the screen together during Pauley’s emotional final episode, and instead fans saw Abby say goodbye to her other colleagues at NCIS headquarters and simply deliver a letter for Gibbs, watching him from the other side of the street while he was reading it.
In the days after the episode aired, Pauley took to Twitter with a series of vague tweets who mentioned the incident with the animal. “I refused to be humiliated, that’s why I never publicly said what happened. But there are tabloid articles that tell total lies about me. If you believe them? Please leave me alone. You obviously don’t know me. (Sorry guys, it had to be said ),” she tweeted.
© CBS/Paramount Australia The cast of NCIS: Sydney, which will premiere later this year
The next day she added: “Maybe I’m wrong not to ‘spill the glass’. I’m telling a story, the TRUTH. I feel I have to protect my crew, my jobs and so many people. But at what cost? I don’t know. Just know, I’m trying to do the right thing, but maybe silence isn’t ‘that’s not the real thing about crime. I… Just…?”
At the time, CBS released its own statement: “Pauley Perrette had a great run on NCIS and we will all miss her,” it said. “Over a year ago, Pauley came to us with a workplace issue. We took the matter seriously and worked with her to find a solution. We are committed to a safe work environment on all of our shows.”
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