Mark Harmon 2019: Leroy Jethro Gibbs Will Stay Until 'NCIS' Ends — Here Are the Clues

The rumors that Mark Harmon would finally leave his Leroy Jethro Gibbs character behind is relentless. It almost seems as if the more seasons “NCIS” gets, the more reports about Harmon’s health or departure from the show will be published.

However, there are also more definitive clues that Harmon does not intend to leave the show anytime soon — most of them coming from the actor himself. Just earlier this year, another rumor spread that his health is “failing” forcing him to retire from the show or ask for much less filming days. But this story has already been dismissed by the actor’s official rep, so that is one clue he will remain the faintly aloof Gibbs.

In several interviews, whether recently or in the past couple of years, Harmon also revealed that a larger portion of his decision to remain in the “NCIS” cast is the show’s writers and producers. In 2017, the year when “NCIS” season 15 was released, TV Insider asked the veteran actor if he would stay in the show for as long as it is on air.

“Right now our writers are all very up and excited. You can see it on their faces,” Harmon said at the time. “Now, if I ever witness them walking into the writers’ room with their heads down, feeling they’ve done it all, that would be the time to say, ‘I think I’m done here.’” “NCIS” has been renewed for season 17.

Harmon seemingly echoed his statement over a year ago when he was featured in an issue of PEOPLE magazine earlier this year. On the longevity of “NCIS,” the 67-year-old once again showed his appreciation to the writers of the series. “If there’s ever a time where the writers are walking into the room and going ‘I don’t know what to do,’ then I think we all have to look at each other and call it a day,” Harmon said.

Aside from being the main protagonist of the internationally popular police procedural, Harmon is also stacking up his executive producer credits. He has been an EP for “NCIS” since 2011 and of its New Orleans-based spinoff since 2014. Harmon is also leading the efforts to bring John Sanford’s “Prey” novel series to the small screen. He is also attached to the adaptation of “Honor Thy Father” that was a popular true-crime article originally published in 1998 by the Texas Monthly.