NCIS season 11

Going to be a hard season for me. I dropped the show for awhile after Kate's death. Took me some time to get over that.

Then they killed off Lauren Holly so when it was announced that Cote would be leaving there was a panic wondering if they would bump her off too, but luckily not.  

That was a pretty small role on The Sopranos and I don't remember seeing her on The Bridge....have to pay attention.

http://xfinity.comcast.net/blogs/tv/2013/09/17/ncis-may-have-found-a-replacement-for-ziva/

I never looked in on the NCIS spinoff after the show so I am not especially hyped about them cloning another. That being said, I am still as big a fan as ever of the original show. I thought the "good-by to Ziva" was a particularly nice send-off.    

The good-bye was good. I tried NCIS LA once or twice but didn't see the need for a spin off and the characters aren't interesting. I'll check out the New Orleans one, but it will probably suffer the same fate.

http://xfinity.comcast.net/blogs/tv/2013/10/14/ncis-producer-newcomers-cant-replace-ziva/

I'd say that Emily Wickersham would be a good permanent addition. She wouldn't have to replace Ziva as such, just be a new addition and she's a lot more appealing than most others that they could cast.

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3241256960/nm2278978

Flashbacks to Tony walking a beat. I like it.  

The woman that was on as the "replacement try-out" is very good. I like her character's 'persona'.  They should keep her as the permanent replacement.

This is who played Delilah.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0366106/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t10

Pic #12, another reason they should keep Margo.  

http://www.buddytv.com/slideshows/ncis/best-ncis-quotes-from-once-a-crook-14102.aspx

So Emily is in permanently. Good choice.  

http://xfinity.comcast.net/blogs/tv/2013/11/04/emily-wickersham-joins-the-cast-of-ncis-as-series-regular/

I thought you would approve this development. She was in "I Am Number 4" too.  

Interesting episode tonight. First off we have Tim mouthing off big time to "The Boss" . And then we have a sub-plot with how difficult it can be to care for an aging parent...and this one came with a twist. Well done.  

Of course the "twist" was revealed at the first scene where the other pilot flies alongside Gibbs' father's P-51 and we see by the canopy shape that it is a Messerschmitt Bf-109. A minor point was that he couldn't have flown nearly that close without banging wings.

In later scenes as the German pilot banks away we see that he is flying a Bf-109 G model, consistent with that period in the war. So someone did a little research.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Me_Bf_109

Bf 109G - Gustav

By 1942, the Bf 109 was getting long in the tooth; the Fw 190 would equip the Luftwaffe top fighter squadrons. But there weren't enough Fw 190's, and the Messerschmitt factories were tooled up for Bf 109 production. As a stopgap, the Gustav was designed around the latest Daimler Benz engine, in this case, the 1450 horsepower DB 605A. It also featured a pressurized cockpit for high altitude flight. The increased power and weight came at a price. The Bf 109, never easy to handle, in the "G" variant, became difficult for experts and hazardous for neophytes.

The Bf 109G-1, which first rolled off the lines in March 1942, was fitted with a pressurized cockpit, an engine-mounted 20mm Mauser MG 151 cannon, a pair of cowling-mounted 7.9mm MG 17 machine guns, and a pair of small air scoops just aft of the propeller. These directly cooled the DB605 engine, which was prone to overheating. (Overheating the DB605 caused oil to seep out and over the hot engine block, and catch fire. If in the air, the pilot had to bail out.)

With 24,000 Gustavs produced, the number of variants is truly bewildering, and complicated by Umruest-Bausatze (factory) and Ruestsaetze (field) modification kits.

Various suffixes distinguished Gustavs equipped as long-range fighters, recon fighters, and bomber destroyers. The Luftwaffe armed them with ever larger, more numerous weapons: extra 20mm or 30mm cannon in under-wing pods, 21 cm Dodel rocket launchers, and a short-barreled MK-108 30mm cannon that fired a low-velocity, but devastating, mine shell.

In the details of the Gustav variants, we can see the resource limitations of the Reich in 1944. The Bf 109G-2 differed from the G-1 only in its unpressurized cockpit. Tellingly, many more of them than the G-1 were built. Other modification kits substituted wood in the tail assembly for scarce aluminum. Such an array of pods, scoops, and bulges disfigured the Gustav that it also earned the nickname “Beule,” or “Bump.” Even the awkward efforts to cram oversize rockets and cannon into the small fighter, rather than developing an appropriate airframe for such big weapons, betrayed the desperation of German aviation late in the war.

The Bf 109G-6, the most numerous of the Gustavs, was the first to mount large caliber (13mm) machine guns, comparable to the 50 caliber Brownings found in most U.S. fighters. It also carried an engine-mounted 20mm cannon. Throughout the development of the Bf 109, Messerschmitt, unlike American designers, retained guns in the fuselage that fired through the propeller arc and were necessarily synchronized. U.S. fighter planes typically had guns in their wings, thus avoiding the extra hassle of synchronization gear. Like the G-2 and G-1, the G-6 and G-5 were nearly identical, except that the G-6 and G-2 omitted cockpit pressurization, and were built in larger numbers than their pressurized counterparts.

As further adaptations to the “G” version proliferated, the Bf 109G-10 was an attempt to standardize Gustav production and also introduce the latest DB 605D engine, a powerhouse that permitted a top speed of 429 MPH at altitude.

Honestly, I didn't notice anything about the planes when I was watching alone. So I was stunned when the Dad actually said it to his son. I will have to see if Ben catches on when he views the show later.


Ha! He did not notice.  

This week introduced a kinder, gentler DiNozzo. His past year has left him wanting to reach out to people in a new way. Tim is suspicious, but I think it's a real sea change for him. Time he grew up a little.  

They introduced the woman who will be taking Ziva's place on the team. I like her quirks,  

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/ncis/ncis-recap-bishop-and-the-brea-51921.aspx

Yep, she has just the right vibe to fit in with the gang... 

New episode tonight!   

I'll be there, DVR will get a workout. Hopefully it won't act up as it has several times recently. I should take it down to Comcast and exchange it, it's free, this one has lasted longer than usual, over two years.

Looks like some fun casting for the new season (starting 9/23) . A young Ducky to give us his back story

http://www.tvguide.com/News/NCIS-Scoop-Adam-Campbell-Young-Ducky-Season-12-1085274.aspx