The fall 2025 TV schedule is fully underway, and something it’s recently delivered to eager fans are the intense NCIS Season 23 premiere, as well as the revealing NCIS: Origins Season 2 opener. While both shows appear to be going strong, the cast and crew of Origins got quite a surprise not long ago, when Top Gun: Maverick super star Tom Cruise dropped by the set. Now, the showrunner for the flagship series has declared a hilarious new “Gibbs rule” for the franchise.
What New Gibbs Rule Did The NCIS Showrunner Make After Tom Cruise Visited The Origins Set?
People who’ve long made their living by working on TV and movie sets are probably unlikely to be starstruck often, but I’ll guess that it’s still pretty rare for random movie stars to show up behind the scenes of television shows that they don’t work on or have any stake in. This happened recently when well known stunt junkie/long-time movie star Tom Cruise stopped by the set of NCIS: Origins as they filmed the second season.
We’re still not sure why Cruise (who is reportedly no longer in his…reported relationship with Ana de Armas) made his way to the Origins set, even if he was already on the Paramount lot, but it has led the showrunner of its parent series, Steven D. Binder, to set a brand new “Gibbs rule” which is funny and totally understandable. When leaving a comment on the original Instagram post that showed Cruise with members of the cast and crew, Binder said:
New Gibbs Rule: If Tom Cruise visits one NCIS franchise, he has to visit the other ones, too.
Love it! Viewers who’ve watched the flagship drama for years will know that NCIS Supervisory Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (played by Mark Harmon from Season 1 through his character’s retirement in Season 19, and in Origins through voiceovers) has lots of rules. These are maxims that he lives by in his personal and professional life, and which he always taught to his team members. In case you’ve forgotten any of this long list (which includes a rule about not dating co-workers), why, we’re here to help!
I mean, when you have this many rules that you live and work by, I think it makes a lot of sense to allow a trusted friend to add just one more, don’t you? Everyone who works on NCIS is probably a little bit jealous that they’ve been around for years on that set and yet, somehow, Origins is the one that was graced with the presence of El Cruise.
Not only was the entire cast and crew shocked by his visit, but star Mariel Molino (who plays Lala Dominguez) actually missed the entire thing because she was napping in her trailer and no one came to wake her up! So, if nothing else, maybe this new Gibbs rule will encourage Cruise to return, and maybe also stop by to see Gary Cole and the rest of the NCIS team.
