Before NCIS: Origins season 3 premieres next month, fans are getting a special companion series spotlighting one of the main characters.
As the NCIS franchise’s first prequel, NCIS: Origins chronicles Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ beginnings at the title law enforcement agency in the early 1990s. Included among the main cast is Kyle Schmid’s Mike Franks, who recruited Stowell’s Gibbs into what was originally known as NIS following the murder of his wife and daughter. Along with Mike’s continued presence in Origins season 3, the character is also receving the spotlight online in this newly-announced companion series.
In a video posted on Instagram, Schmid, in character as Mike, shares that he’s been receiving mail over the last several weeks asking for advice. So, because not everyone has, as Mike puts it, “a real man in their life to talk to,” he’s starting his own advice show called Let’s Talk Frank, where people can ask him for “tips about life.” However, rather than sending in questions digitally, fans will need write them out and send them via snail mail to the address presented in the video itself and the post’s caption.
It’s unclear if Let’s Talk Frank will only
It’s unclear if Let’s Talk Frank will only be released before NCIS: Origins season 3 premieres, or if it will continue into season 3 and perhaps beyond. In any case, the companion series provides Schmid with another platform to showcase his character’s Texan charm and unique perspective on life. If Tyla Abercrumbie’s appearance at the end of the video as Mary Jo Hayes is any indication, it’s also possible that she and other Origins regulars could participate in these Let’s Talk Frank episodes as well.
Mike Franks was previously played by Muse Watson in the original NCIS, with the character coming out of retirement on several occasions to help out the Washington D.C. team led by Gibbs, played in this series by Mark Harmon. Though Mike was killed in the season 8 episode “Swan Song,” Watson reprised the character in a handful of later episodes through flashbacks and as a ghost/vision. Watson also briefly returned to the role last year in the Origins episode “Funny How Time Slips Away” for an aging scene showing Schmid’s Mike morphing into his older self.
Following the events of the NCIS: Origins season 2 finale, season 3 will follow up on Gibbs and Mariel Molino’s Cecilia “Lala” Dominguez kissing for the first time, as well as Caleb Foote’s Bernard “Randy” Randolf being kidnapped for something related to the NCIS case files he’s been digitizing. Additionally, Mark Harmon, who executive produces and narrates Origins, will appear on camera for the entirety of season 3 for a present-day storyline. It’s been confirmed that season 3 will comprise only 10 episodes, rather than 18 like the previous two seasons.
NCIS: Origins season 3 premieres Tuesday, October 6
NCIS: Origins season 3 premieres Tuesday, October 6 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS, with NCIS season 24 and the new spinoff NCIS: New York premiering the same night. All the NCIS-verse shows can be streamed on Paramount+.
TV-14
CrimeDramaAction
Release Date
October 14, 2024
Network
CBS
Directors
Niels Arden Oplev, John Terlesky, Diana Valentine, Edward Ornelas, Hanelle M. Culpepper, Lionel Coleman, Loren Yaconelli, Pete Chatmon, Pamela Romanowsky, Ruben Garcia, Jessica Lowrey
Writers
Brendan Fehily
Austin Stowell
Leroy Jethro Gibbs
Kyle Schmid
Special Agent Mike Franks
Creator(s)
Gina Lucita Monreal, David J. North
