5 Best Mark Harmon TV Shows, According To IMDb

The transformation of Mark Harmon from childhood to "NCIS" included a lot of other roles, including a number of television shows. Given that he first played Leroy Jethro Tibbs in a 2003 episode of "JAG" and has now played him across various shows in the NCIS universe for 23 years and counting, it can be easy to forget that Harmon actually has been other characters. And on TV, no less.

In fact, Harmon made TV history before joining "NCIS" as the first person to ever say the word "s***" uncensored on network television — outside of unplanned and/or accidental utterances in live scenarios, of course. He did so on "Chicago Hope," his most prominent TV role up to that point. But remarkably, "Chicago Hope" isn't even considered one of Harmon's five best shows of all time. At least, not as far as IMDb users are concerned.

What follows are the top five shows in which Harmon played a main or major recurring character, as rated and ranked by IMDb user scores. Which means that his Emmy-nominated role on "The West Wing" isn't eligible as he only appeared in four episodes. We already spoiled that "Chicago Hope" is out, but what about "NCIS?" And more to the point, what four or five shows do IMDb users think are better than "Chicago Hope?" Only one way to find out! 

It would seem that Mark Harmon has always felt a pull towards portraying characters in the law enforcement and medical service professions. Long before "NCIS," before "Chicago Hope," and even before an earlier medical drama that we'll be getting to later, Harmon was one of the lead characters in the relatively forgotten 1979 series "240-Robert."

Harmon co-starred with John Bennett Perry as deputies Dwayne "Thib" Thibideaux and Theodore Roosevelt "Trap" Applegate III, respectively. They served under the titular unit of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department that specialized in remote land, sea, and air rescues by helicopter and Ford Bronco. And yes, John Bennett Perry is Matthew Perry's dad — with "240-Robert" being young Matthew's first screen credit. 

"240-Robert" was renewed for a second season, but Harmon didn't return. The details behind his exit are lost to time at this point — but given that he started his two-season stint on prime time soap opera "Flamingo Road" around that time, it's likely he just preferred the latter show. IMDb users have a different preference, however: they only give "Flamingo Road" a 6.5, while "240-Robert" has a much higher 7.2.

When Gibbs from "NCIS" questioned a hearing impaired suspect via sign language during a Season 3, people naturally wondered if Mark Harmon learned it for that particular episode. As it turns out, "NCIS" wasn't the first time Harmon used ASL for a role, having previously learned it for the 1991 police procedural "Reasonable Doubts." 

Harmon co-starred with celebrated deaf actor Marlee Matlin in "Reasonable Doubts," she a hearing-impaired district attorney named Tess Kaufman and he a detective named Dicky Cobb who often interprets for her both on the field and in court. Dicky knowing ASL essentially pairs the two of them by default, as nobody else in their particular precinct knows sign language.

But in spite of some differences in conviction — Tess is all about kindness and advocacy, while Dicky just wants to bust the bad guys — they develop a friendship that eventually dabbles in romantic feelings. These feelings were set up to finally play out in the Season 3 the show never got. Even with the apparently low ratings, "Reasonable Doubts" was well-received, with Golden Globe nods for each lead for both years the show was on. It is clearly also fondly remembered since it's on this list, with a solid 7.4 IMDb user score.

For this one, Mark Harmon himself has actually spoken on at length, shedding some light on why 1995 crime drama "Charlie Grace" never had a chance. As he explained to The A.V. Club, "It was a real hard-hitting, 10 p.m. kind of show. But we got on the schedule as an 8 p.m. show, we were opposite 'Friends,' and... I don't know that it ever really got a chance."

Unfortunately, it didn't end up an example of a show becoming a hit after being canceled. Few people remember "Charlie Grace" these days, with only about 120 people reviewing it on IMDb. But those 120 people collectively enjoyed it, giving it a healthy 7.8 and putting "Charlie Grace" just below Harmon's most well-known series to date despite only getting nine episodes before being canceled. 

As for the premise of "Charlie Grace," it sees Harmon play the titular character, struggling to put his life back together after getting divorced, seeing his ex wife sent to prison, and losing his job as a cop after being forced out for exposing corruption among his colleagues. He is now a private investigator and single dad who has to take whatever cases he can get from the few people in his field whom he still trusts and who trust him back.

This is the big one. With the possible exception of those who were of the right age to grow up with the cult classic 1987 comedy "Summer School" — in which he plays carefree gym teacher Freddy Swoop — Gibbs of "NCIS" is the definitive Mark Harmon role. And it would seem that Harmon benefitted the show just as much as the show bolstered Harmon's career. According to co-star Rocky Carroll, the secret to the longevity of "NCIS" is Harmon, praising the actor for being the perfect mentor and team leader for his co-stars and colleagues. 

In the unlikely event you are reading this and know nothing about "NCIS" or Gibbs, here's a quick refresher. The show was born out of a backdoor pilot in Naval-based legal drama "JAG," with "NCIS" focusing instead on the actual investigating of crimes within the jurisdictions of the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps. 

Though an ensemble piece as most of these types of shows are, Gibbs is the commander of the team and was the de facto protagonist of "NCIS" across its first 19 seasons. A younger Gibbs is the focus of "NCIS: Origins," with a different actor portraying the character but Harmon providing narration. The OG "NCIS" has 7.8 on IMDb from 177K reviews, which might seem low for a show that's been running for so long — but shows of this level inspire a lot of passion and divisiveness, to be sure.

So what Mark Harmon show could've possibly gotten a higher rating than "NCIS?" Just a little show that set the template for the subsequent 40 years of medical dramas, even predating trailblazers like "ER." We're talking about "St. Elsewhere," the 1982 medical series that broke new ground for not only series set in and around hospitals, but brought a new level of grit and realism to television dramas at a time when many still leaned heavily on campy melodrama.

Given that "St. Elsewhere" also happened to star Denzel Washington, he's the one who usually gets most of the retrospective "did you know he was in that?" attention when people look back on the show's cast of future superstars. Harmon was only on the six-season show from Season 2 through Season 4, one of over two dozen actors who were main cast members at one point or another. So it's not really a "Mark Harmon show" in the way some of these others have been, but he was in fact a main character for three seasons — and beyond that, the show's strong 8.0 IMDb rating doesn't lie. 

And in defense of Harmon's participation in "St. Elsewhere," he was long gone before the show ended on one of the worst series finales of all time. We're well beyond spoiler territory at this point, so we're just going to say it: the entirety of the show was revealed to have taken place entirely within the imagination of a non-verbal boy with autism.