The franchise OG has been on air since 2003. And it still has two of its original stars, including Murray and Ducky’s David McCallum. The top billed star, Mark Harmon, who also began in episode one, bowed out in 2021.
However, NCIS still credited Harmon through the entire Season 19, which skews how many episodes he’s logged in. As of today, IMDB shows that he’s starred in 435 installments, including the entire season he was actually gone.
According to a Reddit thread, Murray has officially surpassed the fan-favorite star, which shocs people considering Harmon led the series. He now bills 438 episodes, and he’s second only to McCallum—whose count is also off.
“Just a quick post to say that Sean Murray (McGee) has now, as of this most recent episode, been credited in more episodes than Mark Harmon (Gibbs), only being now beaten by David McCallum (Ducky),” user MonkGlonk1 wrote last month.
The user pointed out that McCallum has also been getting credits for episodes he has not actually starred in. While he’s still technically a part of the cast, he hasn’t played his role in years. So, minus the technicalities, Murray is the official winner in NCIS appearances.
“I know not all like Sean but huge props to him from me,” the user added. “He’s really grown into the role but that’s understandable as he was about 25 years old when he started and now he’s 45!”
‘NCIS’ Fans Sing Praises for Sean Murray
While the poster assumed not everyone is a fan of the actor or character, the comments shared a different story. It seems that most everyone appreciates him and hopes he sticks around as the story continues.
“There are people who don’t like Mcgee 0_0?” asked administrativeone13.
“It really is amazing,” wrote hannahsflora.”He’s become the backbone of that show, just doing his thing and putting in the work over the years. It seems like he also managed to stay largely out of whatever dramatics were going on at different times between Mark and Pauley, Mark and Michael, etc – which probably only served as a help to the longevity of his character on the show.”
Several people also praised Sean Murray for being a humble star who is “totally comfortable with others taking the spotlight.” They also pointed out that he seems to be in the role because he genuinely loves it and doesn’t care much for PR, celebrity status, or social media.