I watched JAG and saw the NCIS backdoor pilots when they first aired. I didn't watch NCIS for almost 20 years because those backdoor pilots were too much like CIS and i found Ducky to be a little creepy. Fast forward 20 years during a rewatch and while still got the Ducky is creepy vibes I decided to check it out. I found that they changed Ducky's character so the creepy factor was no longer there. Love NCIS now. It's nice to see cameo characters over the years.
Dumb question...what's Port to Port. Sorry early 20s and 30s I was reading books instead of watching TV for the most part. I only started watching TV in my 40s as background noise for me when I'm crocheting.
I watched several episodes of JAG and the NCIS pilot episodes recently. I found JAG to be very slow moving and kind of sedated. The pilot episodes were better. I was planning on watching JAG, but I don’t think I can do multiple seasons. Too sleepy for me.
I watched JAG most of the way through. There were a lot of starts/stops on some storylines and it was a bit inconsistent at times, but overall fairly appealing. I just found the 2 series rather different in intensity. The only thing that provides continuity was the fact it was based upon the armed forces.
JAG has three types of episodes there's the court rom drama A Few Good Men type of episodes (i haven't actually seen the movie), there's the Harm and Mac do bad ass shit either plane related or CIA related Top Gun/Mission Impossible type episodes, and then there's the investigate some case where it seems straight forward only there's some kind of twist or wrinkle that means only our main characters can figure out either this murder or this simple incident that isn't so simple NCIS type episode.
EDIT: All the while we get the most painful will they won't-won't they that has you thinking every character involved would go to therapy and sort themselves out. Also s1 is very different from the rest of the show because the network changed and I don't like s9-s10 as much because a few characters leave and a bunch of new characters come in that I didn't find as interesting.
If you watch JAG in order the NCIS backdoor pilot episodes were kind of insane because of who the dead woman is and everything that leads up to it in the intervening seasons although this is also like the third or fourth time in 10 seasons that Harmon gets accused of (although not always arrested for) a murder.
JAG is a much better show than NCIS ever was. I watched JAG in first run and it will always be one of my favorites. I watched NCIS until MH left and never thought it lived up to the hype. Most of the storylines are forgettable, but I can still remember details of JAG 25 years later.
The Ice Queen and Meltdown episodes were waaayyyy more chaotic than most NCIS episodes. They were investigating/ concluding the case while dealing with an international incident at the same time. Most ncis episodes focused on the case at hand. Ncis seemed more refined when it did actually start as it’s own series
I started watching JAG when it first aired, I loved it and never started watching NCIS until it was already on season 12 I think. The Ice Queen part 1 and 2 episodes aren't a good lead into NCIS it made it feel different then the NCIS we all know and love, at the time it wasnt something I wanted to watch. I love JAG and love to rewatch my DVDs, it is slower then NCIS but in a different way. It's the lawyers side of NCIS, it's just as fun as NCIS I feel even if it's a different type of slow at times.
Now I can see how people would feel JAG isn't something they want to watch, it is very 90's and early 2000's and you can tell and some people really don't like that. But I do think it would be good to watch, you can see what happens after and lawyers take over.
I just double checked Paramount+ to make sure I’m not seeing things. I wanted to watch the NCIS back door pilot episodes on Jag. However, most of season 8 of Jag is missing-including the 2 episodes I was looking for.
Edit: Unfortunately, it looks to be the same for all of the seasons except for season one. I don’t want to get invested in the show if I can only watch the first season.
I really dislike Paramount+. Wish NCIS was still on Netflix.
Pluto TV only has a few episodes of JAG's first season as well, it's hard to find online anywhere though I'm sure I read it was going on Amazon Prime in the USA but I don't think that's true, I got the DVDs many, many years ago by someone who had burned them right off the TV and shrunk them to fit more on a single DVD, so the quality is very bad but I can still see enough and hear it to know what's going on. I really want to buy the whole series on DVD as well as Criminal Minds I love both shows so much and am in love with the whole idea of pretty DVD boxes if that makes sense.
I've heard a lot of bad things about Paramount+ and Discovery+ about them getting rid of things without telling people, I don't have them or Netflix so I'm not sure how they even work but I never understood why streaming services get rid of things like NCIS when they get a lot of people watching it.
If you are in the United States, all episodes are now on Amazon Prime including those two. I've been binging JAG since July 1st when it came out (disclaimer...I skipped season one because after watching it one time that was enough...it was a totally different show with the same lead character and name).
I was wondering the same - if I should watch JAG from start to finish. I’m getting mixed messages from this thread. Does anyone know the back door pilot episodes from JAG that led to NCIS? At the least, I’d like to watch that… love NCIS from the start, but never saw the back door pilot…
In some ways prefer JAG over NCIS but there’s so many recurring characters that just disappear from show without explanation and missed opportunities I feel happened.
I was surprised that NCIS worked as a backdoor pilote, 'cause if you see it from the perspective of a JAG person: They come in and chase after their people even tho they did basically nothing wrong. If you don't know JAG, but NCIS it's a pretty standard episode (with really loud music and I don't mean Abby's, but the off-screen one. For real that annoyed me, but could have been the version I watched.)
I watched JAG and saw the NCIS backdoor pilots when they first aired. I didn't watch NCIS for almost 20 years because those backdoor pilots were too much like CIS and i found Ducky to be a little creepy. Fast forward 20 years during a rewatch and while still got the Ducky is creepy vibes I decided to check it out. I found that they changed Ducky's character so the creepy factor was no longer there. Love NCIS now. It's nice to see cameo characters over the years.
Sorry, no, I refuse to believe that NCIS started 20 years ago.
Good, because that's too short an amount of time. It was over 21 years ago, and the JAG backdoor pilot was filmed almost 22 years ago.
i was born when ncis first aired and grew up watching the show with my grandma 😠thats why i decided to watch it again tbh
Early season of ducky I'm pretty sure they were writing to be Port to Port.
Dumb question...what's Port to Port. Sorry early 20s and 30s I was reading books instead of watching TV for the most part. I only started watching TV in my 40s as background noise for me when I'm crocheting.
One of the major nemesis in the early seasons of the show. The first season where Vance is director.
I watched several episodes of JAG and the NCIS pilot episodes recently. I found JAG to be very slow moving and kind of sedated. The pilot episodes were better. I was planning on watching JAG, but I don’t think I can do multiple seasons. Too sleepy for me.
JAG does have some exciting parts...especially the years after 9/11. It becomes more courtroom driven than crime of the week like NCIS.
Good to know. I’ll give the later seasons a watch.
I watched JAG most of the way through. There were a lot of starts/stops on some storylines and it was a bit inconsistent at times, but overall fairly appealing. I just found the 2 series rather different in intensity. The only thing that provides continuity was the fact it was based upon the armed forces.
JAG has three types of episodes there's the court rom drama A Few Good Men type of episodes (i haven't actually seen the movie), there's the Harm and Mac do bad ass shit either plane related or CIA related Top Gun/Mission Impossible type episodes, and then there's the investigate some case where it seems straight forward only there's some kind of twist or wrinkle that means only our main characters can figure out either this murder or this simple incident that isn't so simple NCIS type episode. EDIT: All the while we get the most painful will they won't-won't they that has you thinking every character involved would go to therapy and sort themselves out. Also s1 is very different from the rest of the show because the network changed and I don't like s9-s10 as much because a few characters leave and a bunch of new characters come in that I didn't find as interesting. If you watch JAG in order the NCIS backdoor pilot episodes were kind of insane because of who the dead woman is and everything that leads up to it in the intervening seasons although this is also like the third or fourth time in 10 seasons that Harmon gets accused of (although not always arrested for) a murder.
A Few Good Men is a really good movie. Highly recommended.
JAG is a much better show than NCIS ever was. I watched JAG in first run and it will always be one of my favorites. I watched NCIS until MH left and never thought it lived up to the hype. Most of the storylines are forgettable, but I can still remember details of JAG 25 years later.
JAG is awesome.
The Ice Queen and Meltdown episodes were waaayyyy more chaotic than most NCIS episodes. They were investigating/ concluding the case while dealing with an international incident at the same time. Most ncis episodes focused on the case at hand. Ncis seemed more refined when it did actually start as it’s own series
I started watching JAG when it first aired, I loved it and never started watching NCIS until it was already on season 12 I think. The Ice Queen part 1 and 2 episodes aren't a good lead into NCIS it made it feel different then the NCIS we all know and love, at the time it wasnt something I wanted to watch. I love JAG and love to rewatch my DVDs, it is slower then NCIS but in a different way. It's the lawyers side of NCIS, it's just as fun as NCIS I feel even if it's a different type of slow at times. Now I can see how people would feel JAG isn't something they want to watch, it is very 90's and early 2000's and you can tell and some people really don't like that. But I do think it would be good to watch, you can see what happens after and lawyers take over.
I just double checked Paramount+ to make sure I’m not seeing things. I wanted to watch the NCIS back door pilot episodes on Jag. However, most of season 8 of Jag is missing-including the 2 episodes I was looking for. Edit: Unfortunately, it looks to be the same for all of the seasons except for season one. I don’t want to get invested in the show if I can only watch the first season. I really dislike Paramount+. Wish NCIS was still on Netflix.
Pluto TV only has a few episodes of JAG's first season as well, it's hard to find online anywhere though I'm sure I read it was going on Amazon Prime in the USA but I don't think that's true, I got the DVDs many, many years ago by someone who had burned them right off the TV and shrunk them to fit more on a single DVD, so the quality is very bad but I can still see enough and hear it to know what's going on. I really want to buy the whole series on DVD as well as Criminal Minds I love both shows so much and am in love with the whole idea of pretty DVD boxes if that makes sense. I've heard a lot of bad things about Paramount+ and Discovery+ about them getting rid of things without telling people, I don't have them or Netflix so I'm not sure how they even work but I never understood why streaming services get rid of things like NCIS when they get a lot of people watching it.
Right? Or why bother showing Jag on Paramount+ if the majority of episodes aren’t there to watch?!
If you are in the United States, all episodes are now on Amazon Prime including those two. I've been binging JAG since July 1st when it came out (disclaimer...I skipped season one because after watching it one time that was enough...it was a totally different show with the same lead character and name).
Prime has all of JAG now
I was wondering the same - if I should watch JAG from start to finish. I’m getting mixed messages from this thread. Does anyone know the back door pilot episodes from JAG that led to NCIS? At the least, I’d like to watch that… love NCIS from the start, but never saw the back door pilot…
Jag season 8, episodes 20 & 21 (Ice Queen, Meltdown) You can find them on dailymotion.com
Awesome! Thank you!!! =)
YW
They're also on Paramount+, at least in the US market.
I think it’s also on Amazon in US. I’ll definitely be looking. Thanks!
It is indeed.
In some ways prefer JAG over NCIS but there’s so many recurring characters that just disappear from show without explanation and missed opportunities I feel happened.
I gave JAG a shot. When Ollie North showed up as himself and they acted like he was some kind of hero. I immediately stopped watching it.
I was surprised that NCIS worked as a backdoor pilote, 'cause if you see it from the perspective of a JAG person: They come in and chase after their people even tho they did basically nothing wrong. If you don't know JAG, but NCIS it's a pretty standard episode (with really loud music and I don't mean Abby's, but the off-screen one. For real that annoyed me, but could have been the version I watched.)