Procedural TV shows are built around lovable characters and a deep sense of familiarity.
Shows like NCIS and its forebears have remained successful for such an impressive number of
seasons because they depict the same characters solving a weekly problem in a way that's true
to their established core. Not messing with the formula is so integral to the survival
of these shows that the whole genre is named after a word meaning "to do things by the
book."
NCIS fans reward that consistency and unshakeable core with their viewership, and the series
has maintained relatively high ratings even as it approaches its 400th episode. That incredible
fan energy has a downside, however. What happens when you introduce a change to your tried
and tested formula? What happens when something about a character is altered in such a way
that even die-hard fans stop and wonder just what happened?
In this vein, there's one NCIS change that's far more controversial than all the rest,
and still likely to cause debate among fans nearly a decade after it happened: Timothy
McGee's voice.
"Federal officer, drop your weapon."
Though actor Sean Murray has portrayed McGee since the beginning of the series, the actor
switched to a raspy growl around the series' eighth season. The resident geek among the
investigators went from a soft-spoken computer expert to a gruff and hard-nosed investigator.
"It's not exactly what I was expecting."
But this change has gone entirely unexplained in-universe or out, leaving fans to have it
out over the issue, even as the show heads into its 18th season.
Curiously, the change in Timothy McGee's voice came around the same time that the actor playing
him made some positive changes in his life. Sean Murray lost a considerable amount of
weight in between seasons, and his sister, Hailey, apparently even chimed in on Twitter
to say that he had quit smoking. Taken together, it's entirely possible that the change in
Murray's voice for McGee came as a result of his weight loss and better living.
Some fans have taken this as a plausible reason behind the shift in his voice. One Reddit
user speculated:
"Losing all that weight and quitting smoking can affect a person's voice."
Another said:
"This is also around the time he got super skinny. Maybe that has something to do with
it."
As it happens, there's actually some pretty solid science to back this up. There have
been a number of studies conducted to examine the effects obesity has on the voice, as well
as what significant weight loss can do to it. According to Dr. Reena Gupta, the Director
of the Division of Voice and Laryngology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, excess weight
can actually lighten a man's voice. Gupta writes:
"Excess weight results in an increased production and storage of female hormones, and, to a
lesser extent, male hormones. In men, there is a relatively higher level of female hormones
and they respond to this. This can result in a slight lightening of the voice."
While Murray was in no way obese during NCIS' early seasons, the extra 25 pounds he was
carrying around could have had an impact on the sound of this voice.
All that said, another contingent of the NCIS fandom believes McGee's raspy voice is part
of a concerted effort to separate him from his earlier nerd characterization and turn
him into a more grizzled and cool detective. Most fans are in agreement that the change
in McGee's voice came along with his newly svelte look, but some hold out that the gruff
voice is a part of a larger attempt to make McGee cool and a failed attempt at that. One
Reddit user writes:
"[The voice is] part of his new 'cool' image. They made him boring."
Another poster cast doubt on the validity of the weight loss theory, saying that the
change is simply too stark to be anything but intentional. They wrote:
"Weight loss may change the voice but definitely not to that extreme."
Regardless, the controversy is clearly not enough to derail the NCIS fandom. With both
the flagship show and its New Orleans-based spin-off secured for further seasons, it looks
like McGee and his new voice are sticking around for the foreseeable future.
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