If you’re a longtime fan of NCIS or have recently been catching up on Paramount+, you might remember actor Matt Jones for his role as Ned Dorneget, a probationary agent introduced in Season 9’s “Sins of the Father.” He became a full-fledged agent by Season 12’s “Troll,” but sadly, Ned met his end just one episode later. This decision was made at Jones’ request so he could star alongside Anna Faris and Allison Janney in the sitcom Mom. In retrospect, however, Jones finds this request somewhat amusing.
In a conversation with former NCIS stars Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo on their podcast Off Duty: An NCIS Rewatch, Jones recounted that during his guest appearances as Ned Dorneget, he was also auditioning for pilots with various networks, many of which didn’t get picked up. These guest roles were crucial for him to make ends meet, including his memorable 12-episode stint as Badger on Breaking Bad. When Mom was finally picked up, it marked his biggest opportunity in television.
Jones recalled a conversation with then-showrunner Gary Glasberg at a CBS event, saying, “I was literally standing with Emily Wickersham and Brian Dietzen at the Upfronts, hanging out with the NCIS people. It was a blast. Gary came over and said, ‘Oh, you’ve got to come back.’ I told him, ‘I’m on this sitcom now. I can’t come back. I want to, but what do we do?’ He asked, ‘What do you want to do?’ I jokingly said, ‘Kill me! Let’s kill me!’ And he replied, ‘Oh my God, yeah, we should kill you.’ So, it was my idea to die on the show. Such a stupid idea, by the way.”
Matt Jones appeared in six episodes of NCIS across Seasons 9, 10, and 12. If Gary Glasberg, who passed away in 2016, had had his way, Ned Dorneget would have continued to make appearances. However, due to his commitment to Mom, Jones believed it was essential to ensure Ned’s story came to a definitive end. In the penultimate episode “The Lost Boys,” Ned died in an explosion caused by Daniel Budd, the leader of the terrorist group known as The Calling. Mark Harmon’s Leroy Jethro Gibbs later encountered Dorneget among the ghosts of other deceased NCIS colleagues, including Paula Cassidy, Mike Franks, Kate Todd, Jenny Shepard, and Christopher Pacci.
