Warning! The following contains spoilers from the NCIS episode "Like and Subscribe." Stream the episode with a Paramount+ subscription, and read at your own risk!
NCIS dropped a deep-cut reference to an old television classic, but not before referencing it a handful of times in its latest episode. It was really confusing to this millennial, but not because The Greatest American Hero came out long before I was born.
A remake of The Greatest American Hero has never gotten off the ground, so I guess it's a good thing NCIS found a way to bring it to the 2026 TV schedule. It all ended with a massive reveal. As cool as it was, I wish it'd happened a whole lot sooner.
William Katt Popped Up At The End Of The Episode
With all The Greatest American Hero references, it would be a shame if its star, William Katt, was left out of the fun. Fortunately, he appeared at the end of the episode as a physician at a children's hospital. I'm not sure how many NCIS fans caught it, and how many had no idea who Katt was.
Suddenly, All The Random Nods To The Greatest American Hero Made Sense
When Katt finally popped up on screen, I could not describe the relief I felt. The entire episode kept referencing The Greatest American Hero, and I was running myself ragged trying to figure out how it connected.
Initially, I thought it was done to rope back in the older crowd, who might've tuned out once they realized NCIS was parodied something you'd witness in a MrBeast-type game show. I can understand if something like that would go over the heads of a crowd that doesn't frequent that side of YouTube, even if his content is seeping out into the mainstream.
The next thought I had was that maybe there were plans to do a reboot of The Greatest American Hero, but the only news I could find on that was very dated. Additionally, the series never aired on CBS, so I kind of threw up my hands and assumed this was just a random reference... until William Katt popped up on screen.
All this to say, my obsession with this mystery ended up distracting me throughout a bulk of the NCIS episode. Had Katt popped up earlier, I might've enjoyed the episode a bit more, rather than being outright confused as to why some twenty-something kid was so obsessed with a short-lived hero series that only ran for a couple of years in the early 80s. If he's like me, he may not have even known the show existed until Family Guy parodied it, which may be wild for some to read, but it's true! I guess not everything on NCIS has to be something I understand, but I just had to call this one out.
NCIS continues with new episodes on CBS on Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. This season is pretty great so far, especially with Michael Weatherly's Tony playing such a big part. Here's hoping he doesn't suffer the same fate as other Directors!
