NCIS Turns 500: The Cast Picks Their Favorite Episodes To Film

"NCIS" is hitting a major milestone — and the show's stars are taking a fond look back.

The long-running CBS procedural will air its 500th episode this Tuesday at 8 p.m., and that spurred us here at TVLine to ask the cast about their favorite episodes across all 23 seasons. TVLine was in attendance at the show's 500th episode celebration and cake cutting, and we spoke to a half-dozen current cast members, as well as showrunner Steven D. Binder, about the "NCIS" episodes they most enjoyed filming.

Some of their picks go way back — a few of these cast members joined the show all the way back in Season 1 — and they represent a nice sampling of what "NCIS" has done best over the years. So read on to hear from Sean Murray, Wilmer Valderrama, Katrina Law, Brian Dietzen, and more about their favorite "NCIS" episodes to film, and then join us in the comments to share your personal favorites.

"There are so many. I get asked that a lot, and it's funny: The ones that are usually the toughest, that we put the most effort into, usually end up being your better ones, and usually tend to be my favorite kind of memories. The ones where it was three o'clock in the morning, and we're at Disney Ranch [aka Golden Oak Ranch, a frequent outdoor filming location], and it's 30 degrees, and I'm next to David McCallum, and we're placing maggots on the dead body. Crazy stuff like that. I have certain memories of things in front of the camera that I love, but probably a lot more behind the camera. I can't even pick one. I'm sorry. If I go one, I'm gonna do a disservice to another. There are a lot!"

"There are a couple episodes that were really wonderful for me personally. There's an episode in Season 14 called 'Keep Going,' which was Jimmy Palmer talking a kid out of killing himself, up on a ledge. That one was really emotionally impactful for me, and it meant a lot, I think. And then another one, more recently, that really got to me was when I had an opportunity to co-write an episode that was honoring David McCallum after his passing. That one was really, really powerful for me, too, because seeing his legacy, what he had done over the preceding 19 years, it was really important. And it was 19 years here, but, I mean, the preceding 80 years prior to that, in show business. It was really, really wonderful. So we've had some really special moments, but those are the two that stand out to me."

"I have a few. After 18 years, there are a few. One of them was the first episode that I was in, which was 'Internal Affairs,' [from Season 5], which introduced the character. And then the first episode that I directed was an episode titled 'We Build, We Fight,' which was about 10 years ago now [in Season 12]. I think I was more proud of the fact... It's so funny. I remember waiting to see my name with 'Directed By' on the credits and taking the screenshot of it, and then Mark Harmon said, 'Dude, you don't have to take a screenshot. We already have a plaque with your name.' [Laughs] Those were kind of my milestone episodes."

"There are so many great episodes that I had a lot of fun with. One of my favorite moments is where I had to save Gary Cole [in the Season 21 finale]. They built this water tank, and I got to dive underwater, and everybody was so excited, because it was something new and not something that we ever necessarily do on the show. And yeah, getting to swim underwater, it was so epic, and just the drama and the high stakes of it all. I loved it."

"There have been really hilarious episodes with me and Jimmy Palmer. I remember going undercover with McGee, where I'm dancing on the table. All that stuff was really outrageous. But I gotta say for me, obviously, the Gibbs goodbye [Season 19's "Great Wide Open"] was a hard one for my character and for me as an actor. I love this man, you know, and I learned a lot from Mark [Harmon]. He was a great mentor and a great big brother to me. So seeing him off into what we call a part-time retirement was emotional for me. So that episode was something that really marked me."

"And I would also say my first episode, 'Rogue,' [from Season 14], because it opened with me assassinating somebody in Argentina. Like, who does that on a procedural show? And then they're gonna tell the audience: 'By the way, he's a series regular.' To me, that was the big promise, right? That episode was a promise that, oh man, I'm gonna be able to swing in all the ways that I really want to do."

"It was actually [the Season 17 episode] 'Blarney,' which was my first big episode with Brian [Dietzen]. We shot it right before the pandemic. We kept hearing rumblings were happening in the world. We didn't know if we were going to get shut down. And it felt like this quick escape. Rocky [Carroll] directed it, and he's an incredible director. It was my first time really getting to work with Rocky on something, and it felt so alive and so dangerous. It was great."

"I'd say the Young Ducky chronicles, those are some of my favorite episodes. There's also one called 'Anonymous Was a Woman,' [from Season 11], which also brought back Mike Franks, who had died, with some flashbacks. Gibbs goes to Afghanistan and stands his ground at a women's shelter. That was one that sort of touched my heart the most. But if I had to pick, it would either be the Young Ducky chronicles, as I call them, or the ones with Diane Sterling, Gibbs' ex-wife, and Fornell. 'Devil's Triangle,' 'Devil's Triad,' 'Devil's Trifecta.' Joe Spano, Melinda McGraw, and Mark Harmon in this, like, trifecta of awesomeness."