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NCIS: Cover Story

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McGee is under high pressure during the murder investigation of a Petty Officer based on the character for his latest book, with very little information to go on. Read full recap »

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Writers:: David North

Director:: Dennis Smith

Stars:: Michael Weatherly (Special Agent Tony DiNozzo); Sean Murray (Special Agent Tim McGee); Cote de Pablo (Mossad Agent Ziva David); David McCallum (Dr. Ducky Mallard); Mark Harmon (Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs); Lauren Holly (NCIS Director Jenny Shepard); Pauley Perrette (Forensics Specialist Abby Sciuto)

Guest Star:: Chris Akers (Johnny Smokerson); Nynno Ahli (Rick Green); Wilson Cruz (Todd Ryder); Jayne Brook (Lyndi Crawshaw); Steve Braun (Landon Grey)

TRIVIA: Ziva tells Tony that McGee got her character of Lisa all wrong in his book, mentioning that Lisa always carried a memento of a past lover of hers who died. This is either Ziva's way of trying to make light of her continuing to wear Lt. Roy Sanders, who she had feelings for before he died, orange cap so she can maintain her tough assassin persona around Tony, or else she psychologically does not realize how often she has been wearing the cap. edit »
GOOF: The address on Adrian Corbett's driver's license is exactly the same as Marilyn Torrance's in the episode "Skeletons." The same font was used to create both signatures as well. edit »
TRIVIA: This episode is very similar to the episode of "Bones," titled "The Bodies in the Book." edit »
TRIVIA: Pauley Perrette, playing Abby got to re-live her bar-tending days during a scene in this episode that had her mixing drinks, throwing bottles in the air causing the reference to Coyote Ugly. Edit: However, in the DVD commentary, Pauley has never spun bottles while she bartended, citing that it existed only between "rival gangs." In fact, she has a trainer to teach her how to spin bottles. edit »
TRIVIA: The cafe in the beginning of the episode that McGee refers to as "his" cafe where he works on ideas for his book is the same cafe from season 1 when Gibbs grilled Kate Todd about creating a profile about Ari. edit »

CBS repeated this episode on August 21, 2007 and December 25, 2007. edit »
Original International Airdates:
Australia: July 3, 2007 on TEN
Brazil: January 11, 2008 on AXN
Germany: October 21, 2007 on SAT.1
Italy: November 04, 2007 on RAI 2
Spain: August 23, 2007 on La Sexta
UK: August 21, 2007 on FX UK
The Netherlands: October 17, 2007 on Veronica
Denmark: April 24, 2007 on TV3
Sweden: May 27, 2008 on TV3
Hungary: October 13, 2008 on TV2 edit »
Lauren Holly (NCIS Director Jenny Shepard) does not appear in this episode, although she is credited in the opening credits. edit »
Mark Harmon, Lauren Holly, and Jayne Brook all starred in Chicago Hope. Jayne Brook appeared on CH from the first to the fifth season. Mark Harmon joined the show from the third season to the sixth season, Lauren Holly in the sixth. edit »

Landon: You set a wedding date yet?
Tony: The guest list is full. edit »
Ziva: Maybe we should spitball ideas and see what sticks. (McGee and Tony stare.) What? Did I get it wrong?
Tony: No, you got that one right. edit »
Gibbs: Nice of you to join us, DiNozzo.
Tony: I thought I was gaining ground. He had a very unorthodox running style. edit »
Tony: What makes you think we're looking for a psychopath?
Crawshaw: Don't you read crime novels? There's always a psychopath. edit »
(McGee puts on an old record)
McGee: It's jazz, it helps me clear my mind.
(Tony shakes his head)
Tony: Coltrane is jazz, McGee, this is the soundtrack to a bad 70's porno shot in the San Fernando Valley.
McGee: I'm just trying to re-enact every detail of my writing process here, okay?
Tony: (holding his ears) I'm sorry did you say something, my ears are bleeding and I can't.. I can't... (McGee turns the record off) Thank you. edit »

When criticizing McGee's choice of jazz, Tony says, "...Coltrane is jazz." John Coltrane is a legend in the world of Jazz. He was an innovative saxophone player c. 1940-60. edit »
When the team witnesses Abby's bartending skills, Tony says, "Coyote Ugly, Piper Perabo..." Coyote Ugly was a movie released in 2000 about a bar in New York City in which the ladies who tend bar use a similar technique. Piper Perabo is the name of the actress who played Violet Sanford, the lead character in the movie. edit »

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AvatarBlue
member since: Jun 21, 2007
Cover Story
The Bottom Line: "Character development"
Did not work for me! ...Continue »
05/06/08 02:18am | report abuse
10
00
sfviewer
member since: Jul 28, 2006
Cover Story
The Bottom Line: "Well written"
great episode ...Continue »
01/21/08 04:23am | report abuse
9
00
wan_ching
member since: Nov 16, 2006
Cover Story
The Bottom Line: "Exciting"
Another Mcgee episode, and poor Mcgee� ...Continue »
11/27/07 02:10am | report abuse
10
10
emeraldmile
member since: Jul 21, 2007
Cover Story
The Bottom Line: "Exactly why I watch this series"
Cover story is my favorite episode of season four! ...Continue »
07/20/07 05:07pm | report abuse
9.9
00
GerbilFX
member since: Mar 3, 2007
Cover Story
The Bottom Line: "Exactly why I watch this series"
This episode rates as one of my top 3 installments of NCIS. It proves that a good TV show can successfully merge 2 good underlying plot-lines. ...Continue »
05/09/07 02:35am | report abuse