JAG (TV series)

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JAG

Action drama
Genre
Crime

Military

Legal Drama

Created by Donald P. Bellisario

Starring David James Elliott

Tracey Needham

Catherine Bell

Patrick Labyorteaux

John M. Jackson

Scott Lawrence

Zoe McLellan

Opening theme "Theme from JAG"

Composer(s) Bruce Broughton

(pilot & theme)

Steven Bramson

Velton Ray Bunch

(6 episodes)

Country of origin United States

Original language(s) English

No. of seasons 10

No. of episodes 227 (list of episodes)

Production
Executive producer(s) Donald P. Bellisario

Chas. Floyd Johnson

(co-exec.; seasons 2–10)

Producer(s) Howard Kazanjian (season 1)

David Bellisario

Stephen Zito

Ed Zuckerman

R. Scott Gemmill

(season 3–4)

Chip Vucelich

(season 10)

Production location(s) Sunset Gower Studios

(studio set: season 1)

Paramount Studios

(studio set: season 2)

Valencia Studios, Valencia,

CA

(studio set: season 3–10)[1]

Cinematography Hugo Cortina (1995–2001)

David J. Miller (2004)

Larry Lindsey (1995–96)

Running time 42–47 minutes

Production company(s) Paramount Network Television

Belisarius Productions

NBC Productions

(1995–1996)

(season 1)

Distributor Paramount Domestic Television

(1999-2000)

CBS Television Distribution[2]

Release

Original network NBC (season 1 except episode 22)[3]

USA Network (season 1 episode 22)

 CBS (seasons 2-10)[4][5]

Picture format 480i (SDTV)

HDTV 1080i

Original release September 23, 1995 –

April 29, 2005

Chronology

Related shows NCIS franchise

JAG (U.S. military acronym for Judge Advocate General[6]) is an American legal

drama television series with a U.S. Navy theme, created by Donald P. Bellisario, and
produced by Belisarius Productions in association with Paramount Network
Television (now CBS Television Studios).[7][8] The series was originally aired on NBC for
one season from September 23, 1995, to May 22, 1996, and then on CBS for an
additional nine seasons from January 3, 1997, to April 29, 2005. The first season was
co-produced with NBC Productions (now Universal Television) and was originally
perceived as a Top Gun meets A Few Good Men hybrid series.[9]
In the spring of 1996, NBC announced that the series had been canceled after finishing
79th in the ratings, leaving one episode unaired. In December 1996, the rival network
CBS announced it had picked up the series as a mid-season replacement and aired 15
new episodes as its second season. For several seasons, JAG climbed in the ratings
and ultimately ran for nine additional seasons. JAG furthermore spawned the hit
series NCIS, which in turn led to spin-offs NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans.
In total, 227 episodes were produced over 10 seasons. At the time of the original airing
of its fifth season in the United States, JAG was seen in over 90 countries worldwide.
[10]
 JAG entered syndication in early 1999.

Contents

 1Premise
 2Episodes
 3Cast and characters
o 3.1Main
o 3.2Recurring
 4Production
o 4.1Background and development
o 4.2Collaboration with the military
o 4.3Ships
o 4.4Series end
 5Reception
o 5.1Nielsen ratings
o 5.2Awards and nominations
  5.2.1Primetime Emmy Awards
 5.2.2Other awards and nominations
 6Connections with other shows
o 6.1NCIS spin-off
o 6.2First Monday cross-over
o 6.3Yes, Dear tribute
 7Home media
 8Soundtrack
 9See also
 10References
o 10.1Notes
o 10.2Bibliography
 11External links

Premise[edit]
"Dramatic, action adventure programming has all but disappeared from the airwaves. I don't do sitcoms; I don't do
urban neurotic dramas. I created JAG because it's the kind of television I like to watch. Besides that, I served four
years in the Marine Corps and remain fascinated by the military's code of ethics—God, duty, honor, country—and
how, in these rapidly changing times, it still survives. That's what Harm and Mac, and JAG as a whole, represent."
Donald P. Bellisario on creating JAG[11]

The series follows the exploits of the Washington metropolitan area–

based[12] "judge advocates" (i.e. uniformed lawyers[13][14][15][16]) in the Department of the
Navy's Office of the Judge Advocate General, who in the line of duty can prosecute and
defend criminal cases under the jurisdiction of the Uniform Code of Military Justice[17]
[18]
 (arising from the global presence of the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps[19]),
conduct informal and formal investigations, and advise on military operational law.[20]
Akin to Law & Order, the plots from many episodes were often "ripped from the
headlines" with portions of the plot either resembling or referencing recognizable
aspects of actual cases or incidents, such as the USS Cole bombing ("Act of Terror"
and "Valor"), the rescue of downed pilot Scott O'Grady ("Defensive Action"),
the Cavalese cable car disaster ("Clipped Wings"), the USS Iowa turret explosion ("Into
the Breech"), and the Kelly Flinn incident ("The Court-Martial of Sandra Gilbert").[11]
While not part of the mission of its real-world counterpart, some of the main char