Q: On the season finale of "NCIS," it seemed that Bishop was leaving. Is this a cliffhanger or did she leave "NCIS"?
A: In a season that saw several cast changes, on a show that has often had cast comings and goings, Emily Wickersham — who played Ellie Bishop — officially departed "NCIS." In an Instagram post, she said, "Hangin this hat and jacket up. What a great ride it's been. This cast, this crew, are top notch. I can't say enough kind words about this group that I've had the pleasure of working with for close to 8 years now and 172 episodes later. This business is finicky and weird and consistency is a rarity. I've been lucky enough to be a part of a show where I got to show up and act and laugh and learn with wonderful people."
The show was prepared for Wickersham's leaving, introducing a new character played by Katrina Law ("Hawaii Five-0") late in the season. She will reportedly become a regular in the next season. And with Mark Harmon scaling back his presence on the show, a new character — an FBI agent played by Gary Cole — is being added. (And how much will we see Harmon's character, Gibbs? CBS Entertainment President Kelly Kahl said in May that had not been worked out. As Deadline reported, Kahl said, "We take it year by year with Mark, we'd love to have him as long as he'd like to be here. We're happy to work around his schedule.")
'Messiah' won't be resurrected
Q: Is there any information on the return of "Messiah"?
A: Netflix decided not to continue the controversial series after a single season. That cancellation came more than a year ago when, according to Variety, "Netflix did not feel confident producing a show that required so many international locations given the current state of things with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic."
A correction
Q: I bet that I'm not the only Elvis fan who will be filling your e-mail inbox with the correction that Elvis dyed his hair blond for "Kissin' Cousins" and not "Double Trouble."
A: Yes, several readers caught that mistake. It came up last week in a discussion of Lee Majors, Elvis and their friendship. Here's a Majors quote I found and managed to mentally garble: Elvis "called me 'Double Trouble,' because they did a movie where he was playing cousins ('Kissin' Cousins') and he had to play a blond, so he played two parts and had to dye his hair blond for the one part. And his Memphis Mafia kept teasing him: 'You look like that guy on "The Big Valley," Heath Barkley!' " Which was a Majors role.
Write to brenfels@gmail.com.
