How ‘NCIS’ Came up With Kasie as Abby’s Replacement

With NCIS going into its 24th season this fall on CBS, it’s no surprise that there have been quite a few cast changes over the years. But it’s not easy to replace a beloved character, as executive producer and writer Scott Williams addressed on the latest NCIS: Partners & Probies podcast, hosted by series stars Brian Dietzen (Dr. Jimmy Palmer) and Diona Reasonover (Kasie Hines).

Reasonover noted that Williams, by writing her first episode on the show, “One Man’s Trash” in Season 15, “created” her character. That also happens to be the only episode in which she and the character she ended up replacing in the forensics lab, Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette) are both in; Perrette’s last episode was the 22nd of the season.

“We were presented with the specter of losing Pauley Perrette,” Williams explained on the podcast. “She was ready to go, and she was ready to say goodbye, and we were like, ‘OK, how do we replace her with someone that is equally lovable and wonderful and all that stuff?’ Because we had replaced some characters in the past that maybe weren’t as accepted by fans early on, replacing beloved figures, and there was no more beloved figure than Abby on our show at that time. We conceived of the notion of bringing in someone who had a relationship with Ducky [David McCallum] and was working as his assistant, helping him put together his book and all that stuff, which was a perfect thing.”

He then turned to Reasonover, noting, “You and David were awesome together,” before continuing that the character “also aspired to be Abby and was a fan of Abby’s and that Abby took under wing for a little bit, and I think that maybe softened your entrance for the fans where they were like, ‘Oh, she’s cool, she’s one of us.’ So, that was a pleasure, and I’m glad it was you.”

Reasonover continues to be the team’s forensics scientist going into Season 24.

The star revealed that her character’s name was also changed. Originally in the script that she received, her character was K.C., and Williams explained that the showrunners at the time, Frank Cardea and George Schenck had wanted it that way, but he was the one to note that in Final Draft, putting a period adds a double space and capitalizes the next word, which would “be a nightmare.” He came up with Kasie, named after the wife of a friend, and Hines, for a song-and-dance act he’d seen with a young Gregory Hines and his family members.

NCIS, Season 24, Fall 2026, Tuesdays, 8/7c, CBS