"NCIS": Basics and Specifics Trivia Quiz

Answer: "Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service"

During the first season, the series aired under the title "Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service". Starting with the second season, the title was shortened to "NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service". The producers of the series felt that having the name "Navy" in the title would be redundant, as the title would then be "Navy Naval Criminal Investigative Service".
The premise and characters of "Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service" was first introduced in two one hour episodes on the hit television series "JAG" (1995).
In the "JAG" episodes "Ice Queen" and "Meltdown", NCIS was brought in to investigate the murder of JAG Officer Lt. Loren Singer.
The two "JAG" episodes were later edited into a single hour long episode, and broadcast as the pilot for the new series under the name "Navy NCIS: The Beginning". That episode aired on October 21, 2003, nearly a month after the first episode of the series "Yankee White" was aired on September 23, 2003.

Answer: "See No Evil"

In the final scene of the episode, Special Agent Timothy McGee was packing his equipment to return to the NCIS office in Norfolk, Virginia, where he was permanently assigned. On numerous occasions, McGee worked with Gibbs and his team on a temporary basis, lending his skills and expertise as a computer forensics expert and assisting them with cases. As McGee was preparing to leave the Washington NCIS office, he was confronted by Gibbs, and the following conversation took place:
Gibbs: "Where are you going?"
McGee: "Uh, Norfolk."
Gibbs: "Well I got good news and some bad news for you. You've been promoted
to full-time field agent."
McGee: "Really? That's incredible! What's ..."
Gibbs: "You belong to me now!"

Answer: Lt. Bud Roberts, Jr.

Gibbs summons Lt. Roberts to NCIS Headquarters under the guise of trying to find a legal way of bypassing the rules that restricted DNA information stored by the military to be used for a reason other than identification of the remains of deceased military service personnel. Lt. Roberts soon found himself in the NCIS interrogation room being questioned by Gibbs.

A slightly nervous and apprehensive Lt. Roberts was firm in informing Gibbs that there was no exception regarding the use of the stored DNA. Unable to convince Roberts to find a way to obtain the DNA records, Gibbs advised Roberts that he would settle for a search authorization for his suspects lockers. Unknown to Roberts, this was what Gibbs really wanted from the beginning.

Answer: Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo

Gibbs hired Tony DiNozzo, who had just completed his service as a homicide detective for the Baltimore Police Department. Prior to being hired by NCIS, DiNozzo had been somewhat of a "law enforcement nomad", having served 2 years with the Peoria Police Department in Illinois, 18 months with the Philadelphia Police Department in Pennsylvania, and 22 months in Maryland with Baltimore Police Department. Both Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Donald Mallard and Forensic Specialist Abby Sciuto were already employed with NCIS, and Gibbs hired former U.S. Secret Service Agent Caitlin Todd at the end of the season one episode "Yankee White".

Answer: to give them a "wake up call"

Gibbs believed that a light slap on the back of the head would serve as merely a "wake up" call for his team members.
While slaps were primarily directed to DiNozzo and McGee, on at least one occasion while standing in the elevator at NCIS Headquarters, Gibbs gave Ziva a slap on her head after she made what she thought was a profound point in her conversation with Gibbs.
Gibbs once commented to Ducky that he knew that a slap to the face would be humiliating, but a slap to the back of the head would be a gentle "wake up" call.
Gibbs was also known to make the sarcastic, condescending question "Gee, ya think?" when one of his team members stated a clearly obvious comment or made an obvious observation. The comment was most often directed to Tony DiNozzo.
Despite his gruff authoritarian, and sometimes intimidating demeanor towards his team, Gibbs harbored a tremendous amount of respect for his team members and was their extremely overprotective father figure, especially when it came to Abby.

Answer: Illya Kuryakin

The reference was an "inside" comment, a reference to that fact that in earlier years, a young and handsome David McCallum played the role of government secret agent Illya Kuryakin on the campy 1964 television series "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." In that series, McCallum co-starred with Robert Vaughn (who played the role of Napoleon Solo) as operatives for the United Network Command For Law and Enforcement (U.N.C.L.E.) as they fought against the international bad guy organization known as the Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity, or T.H.R.U.S.H. McCallum's charm and good looks on that series earned him "pop star" celebrity status, with throngs of adoring fans and fan mail.

At the time, MGM Studios who produced "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." reported that McCallum received more fan mail than any other performer in the history of the studio.

Answer: his father's best friend

While visiting the childhood home of Gibbs, Ziva and McGee noticed a picture of two men standing in front of the general store hanging on the wall. They recognized one man as Gibbs' father, Jackson, and inquired about the identity of the second man. Jackson Gibbs identified the second man as Leroy Jethro, his best friend and long time co-worker from the years when they worked together in the local coal mines. Jackson went on to explain that years later, they decided to open the general store as a joint venture.

Answer: smoke inhalation following her townhouse fire

A news story was released to the press and broadcast on television stated that the remains of a female victim found after a townhouse fire were those of NCIS Director Jenny Shepard, and that "smoke inhalation" was determined to be the immediate cause of death.
Jenny Shepard was actually killed during a wild gun battle in the episode "Judgement Day" when she was confronted by five assassins hired by her nemesis of ten years, Natasha (who was also know as Svetlana). Once assigned to kill Natasha in a government sanctioned "hit", Jenny chose at the last moment to spare Natasha's life, an error that would result in her death ten years later.
Following the death of Jenny, Natasha, who was known to Gibbs as Svetlana was shot and killed in Jenny's townhouse by retired special agent Mike Franks as she threatened to shoot Gibbs. To cover up the death of Natasha and to protect Jenny's reputation, Gibbs and Franks set the townhouse on fire, destroying any evidence of their involvement. While it was never publicly revealed to the rest of the NCIS team, Dr. Mallard, Mike Franks, and Gibbs knew that Jenny was dying from a unknown illness, and would have had merely months to live.

Answer: three times

Through the first six seasons of the series, Gibbs apologized for his actions on three occasions.
In the episode "Kill Ari", a grief stricken Gibbs apologized to Kate for being late to her funeral.
Because of his amnesia following a severe injury, Gibbs apologized to Mike Franks for not being able to remember some things.
Gibbs apologized to Ducky when he returned from his "retirement" in Mexico for not confiding his reasons for leaving and details about his past family life before leaving. Ducky had been hurt because he considered Gibbs a close friend and Gibbs retired or "quit" as Ducky put it without so much as saying good bye.
Gibbs further stated to Ducky that an apology to a friend is not a sign of weakness.

Answer: he was shot to death by Gibbs

In a flashback sequence occurring in the episode "Hiatus Part 2", Gibbs, a former U.S. Marine Sniper, is seen waiting in a deserted area of Mexico, with the sights of his Marine M-40-A1 sniper rifle trained on Hernandez as he drove alone in a vehicle. Gibbs fired a single shot, killing Hernandez. To the world, Hernandez merely dropped out of sight never again to be seen. Gibbs' involvement in the disappearance was never revealed.