Combining the best elements of JAG and CSI, the CBS crime series Navy NCIS focused on an elite, independent unit of the U.S. Navy, which, in its pursuit of military-related criminal investigations, was answerable to no higher authority -- and thus, of course, was utterly impartial and incorruptible. The head of the series' Naval Criminal Investigative Service was the fiercely independent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, played by Mark Harmon. His team included eccentric coroner "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum), streetwise ex-homicide detective Anthony Dinozzo (Michael Weatherly), longtime Secret Service operative Caitlin Todd (Sasha Alexander), and irreverent young goth-girl lab tech Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette). Created by Donald P. Bellisario, Navy NCIs first aired September 23, 2003.