JAG season 8

The eighth season of JAG premiered on CBS on September 24, 2002, and concluded on May 20, 2003. The season, starring David James Elliott and Catherine Bell, was produced by Belisarius Productions in association with Paramount Television.

Two episodes, "Ice Queen" and "Meltdown", also introduced the team who later appeared in the spin-off series NCIS, which became a franchise in its own right.

Plot
Tenacious lawyer Lieutenant Colonel Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie (Catherine Bell), a by-the-book Marine, is tasked with prosecuting, defending, and enforcing the laws of the sea as a member of the Navy's elite Judge Advocate General Corps. Along with her partner Commander Harmon "Harm" Rabb, Jr. (David James Elliott) - a former Tomcat pilot - Mac investigates a plethora of cases including desertion ("The Promised Land"), oxygen deprivation ("In Thin Air"), sexual harassment ("Offensive Action"), a mishap aboard the USS Seahawk ("When the Bough Breaks"), and a death during surgery ("Complications"). Also this season, Bud Roberts (Patrick Labyorteaux) is injured in Afghanistan ("Critical Condition"), Petty Officer Jennifer Coates (Zoe McLellan) joins JAG ("All Ye Faithful"), Commander Theodore Lindsey (W.K. Stratton) returns ("Fortunate Son"), Clayton Webb (Steven Culp) goes missing in Paraguay ("A Tangled Webb"), and Rear Admiral A.J. Chegwidden (John M. Jackson) accidentally ejects from an F-14 Tomcat ("Heart and Soul"). Meanwhile, Lieutenant Loren Singer (Nanci Chambers) is murdered ("Ice Queen"), placing Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and his NCIS team directly in Harm's way ("Meltdown").

Production
In January 2003, CBS president Leslie Moonves announced that JAG executive producer and showrunner Donald P. Bellisario was developing a JAG spin-off, based on the work of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Tentatively titled Navy CIS, the series premiered during the JAG episodes "Ice Queen" and "Meltdown". Also this season, Dean Stockwell joins the cast as his First Monday character Senator Edward Sheffield.

Main
• David James Elliott as Harmon Rabb, Jr., Commander

• Catherine Bell as Sarah MacKenzie, Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corps.

• Patrick Labyorteaux as Bud Roberts, Lieutenant

• John M. Jackson as A. J. Chegwidden, Rear Admiral

Also starring
• Karri Turner as Harriet Sims, Lieutenant

• Randy Vasquez as Victor Galindez, Gunnery Sergeant in the Marine Corps.

• Nanci Chambers as Loren Singer, Lieutenant

• Zoe McLellan as Jennifer Coates, Petty Officer

• Scott Lawrence as Sturgis Turner, Commander

Recurring
• Terry O'Quinn as Thomas Boone, Rear Admiral, "CAG"

• Paul Collins as Alexander Nelson, departing Secretary of the Navy

• W.K. Stratton as Theodore Lindsey, Commander

• Steven Culp as Clayton Webb, CIA Agent

• Chuck Carrington as Jason Tiner, Petty Officer

• Harrison Page as Stiles Morris, Rear Admiral

• Claudette Nevins as Porter Webb, NSA Agent

• Michael Bellisario as Michael Roberts, Midshipman

• Dana Sparks as Carolyn Imes, Commander

• Jennifer Savidge as Amy Helfman, Commander

• Tamlyn Tomita as Tracy Manetti, Lieutenant Commander

• Dean Stockwell as Edward Sheffield, new Secretary of the Navy

• Jameson Parker as Harrison Kershaw, Deputy Director of Central Intelligence

• Laura Putney as Catherine Gale, CIA Attorney

• Isabella Hofmann as Meredith Cavanaugh

Guest appearances
• Mark Harmon as Leroy Jethro Gibbs, NCIS Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) assigned to Washington Navy Yard

• Robyn Lively as Vivian Blackadder, NCIS Special Agent

• Michael Weatherly as Anthony DiNozzo, NCIS Special Agent, second in command

• Tom Jay Jones as Don Dobbs, NCIS Special Agent

• Pauley Perrette as Abigail Sciuto, Forensic Specialist attached to NCIS

• David McCallum as Dr. Donald Mallard, Chief Medical Examiner for NCIS

• Alan Dale as Thomas Morrow, NCIS Director

• Faran Tahir as Amad Bin Atwa

• Alicia Coppola as Faith Coleman, JAG Lieutenant Commander

• Michael Muhney as Jack McBurney, Major in the Marine Corps, NCIS Liaison