We know he's joking, but we also see what he means.
NCIS star Michael Weatherly has joked to the
UK Press Association that
NCIS is so popular that is has started rivaling cheese.
Don't forget to catch: 'NCIS' Fan Columnist: Gibbs' Rules"We are, right now, we are challenging cheese for popularity, and cheese is pretty popular - so I don't know, I don't know if we are going to beat cheese or not."
If we'd stretch it further, cheese in this case can also be
American Idol, which is so far the only show that has managed to tame NCIS' ratings surge before the Fox juggernaut entered the picture. The last showdown between the two has
Idol's Tuesday telecast winning by some 5 million viewers, although NCIS had shown in the past that it can move in even closer.
Weatherly, whose role as Tony remains one of the show's main draws, adds that the sheer number of people who tune in every week doesn't make sense at this point, adding that co-star David McCallum, whose
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. role in the 60s is "much bigger" than
NCIS, is probably the only guy who can make sense of things.
"It's a great, rewarding experience to be on a show that has, every week, such an extraordinary number of viewers. And I don't think it will really make any sense until later ... We look to [McCallum] for some sage advice, guidance and wisdom."
"So we try not to believe too much of the bad stuff, or the good stuff, and we just make our show everyday," he says, finally.
(Image courtesy of CBS)