History Trivia / JAG

* NamesTheSame: Harm's Boeing Stearman biplane is named ''Sarah'', named for his grandmother. This causes a bit of confusion for Major Sarah "Mac" [=MacKenzie=] when Harm is taking her for a ride and she thinks he has [[ShipTease started calling her by her first name.]]

* HeyItsThatPlace: The building used as the exterior of JAG Headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia is in reality the Cravens Estate in Pasadena, California and owned by the American Red Cross. It has also been used for many other series like; ''Series/TwentyFour'', ''Series/{{Bones}}'', ''Series/CommanderInChief'', ''Series/JudgingAmy''; and movies like ''Film/EnemyOfTheState'', ''[[Film/RushHour Rush Hour 3]]'', ''Film/{{Swordfish}}'' and ''Film/{{Traffic}}''.

** Jerry Hardin (''Deep Throat'' in ''Series/TheXFiles'') first appears as an airplane mechanic in "Full Engagement", and as a Senator in "Impact" (the latter a UFO-themed episode no less).

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Back in 2005 there were plans for a ''JAG: San Diego'', basically a WestCoastTeam for the series. The concept was introduced in a season ten backdoor pilot episode, but the series never got made. A series revolving around a naval team in California wouldn't happen until ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'', the first spin-off of the show's spin-off ''Series/{{NCIS}}''.

** Before playing Admiral Chegwidden, John M. Jackson played Captain West in the film version of ''Film/AFewGoodMen''.

* RetroactiveRecognition:
** Creator/SamWorthington played an Australian sailor in the 60's in the season five episode "Boomerang: Part I".
** Joe Spano plays a Navy Captain in the season 3 episode "Clipped Wings." He's more famous as Special Agent Tobias Fornell on ''Series/{{NCIS}}''.
** Joel [=McKinnon=] Miller appeared in the Season 5 episode "Front and Center", and is most noticeable as Detective Hitchcock on ''Series/BrooklynNineNine''.
** The USS Seahawk's CAG in Season 8 is played by Tony Dennison, better known as Lt. Andy Flynn on ''Series/TheCloser'' and ''Series/MajorCrimes''.

%%* UnintentionalPeriodPiece

** And Dean Stockwell was the Secretary of Defense in ''Film/AirForceOne''.

** John Walcutt once played a defendant, Caleb Farmer, who was put to death for his crimes, with Mac defending him and Harm prosecuting. Later, he would come back to play Tom Johnson father of the young girl Harm had befriended and seeking to be her legal guardian.

* RetroactiveRecognition: S

** Sam Worthington played an Australian sailor in the 60's in the season five episode "Boomerang: Part I".

* AndStarring: David James Elliott (Harmon Rabb) had the "starring" for all ten seasons, "and John M. Jackson as Admiral Chegwidden" at the end for the eight seasons (2-9) in which he appeared in the opening titles.

* BackedByThePentagon: The U.S. Marine Corps supported this series early on, but it took a while for the U.S. Navy to get behind it. They were allowed to film on location with their actors at several military installations in California, such as Camp Pendleton, Point Mugu Naval Air Station, and at Naval installations in San Diego. They also filmed aboard the frigate ''USS John A. Moore'' (FFG-19) for the season 3 episode "Tiger, Tiger", aboard the aircraft carrier ''USS John C. Stennis'' (CVN-74) off the coast of California for the first episodes of season 5, and aboard the amphibious assault ship ''USS Peleliu'' (LHA-5) for season 6 episodes. After the events of 9/11 Bellisario said it became increasingly more difficult to shoot on location than it had been before.
** Following the cancellation in 2005, Commander Bob Anderson of the Navy's Office of Information Agency West is quoted to have said that in ''JAG'' "[[http://articles.latimes.com/2005/apr/29/entertainment/et-jag29 the Navy never looks bad]]".
* BreakOutRole: For Creator/CatherineBell as a lead actress in television.

** The crew certainly took advantage of the 100th and 101st episodes "Boomerang", filmed on location in Sydney, New South Wales, in order to turn Australia into SceneryPorn. And also the parts of early season 5 episodes filmed aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis certainly did that as well.

* ChannelHop / NetworkToTheRescue: From Creator/{{NBC}} to Creator/{{CBS}}. NBC canned it after the first season but it got picked up by CBS and the [[LongRunner rest]] [[Series/{{NCIS}} is]] [[Series/NCISLosAngeles history]].

** Creator/DonaldPBellisario: First AsHimself at a ''Series/QuantumLeap'' FanConvention in "Father's Day", as Hugh Blackadder in "To Russia With Love", and later on in the ninth season, his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is directly shown.

** The voice of Producer David Bellisario is several times heard through PA systems and communication radios.
* DirectedByCastMember: David James Elliott (Harm) directed three episodes: "''Lifeline''", "''Take It Like A Man''", and "''There Goes The Neighborhood''".

* EndingTheme: ''Series/{{JAG}}'' has a different orchestral end theme for its first season. Later seasons used a version of the opening theme.

** A disgruntled Russian submarine captain hired by AlQaeda is played by Swedish actor Creator/BoSvenson.

* ForeignLanguageTitle: JAG had only one: ''Pas de Deux''.

* LiteraryAllusionTitle: The second season episode "We the People", taken from the ''U.S. Constitution'', although the story is about the ''Declaration of Independence''.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Sam Worthington played an Australian sailor in the 60's in the season five episode "Boomerang: Part I".
** Joe Spano plays a Navy Captain in the season 3 episode "Clipped Wings." He's more famous as Special Agent Tobias Fornell on Series/{{NCIS}}.
** Joel McKinnon Miller appeared in the Season 5 episode "Front and Center", and is most noticeable as Detective Hitchcock on Series/BrooklynNineNine.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece
* WestCoastTeam: Back in 2005 there were plans for a ''JAG: San Diego''. The concept was introduced in a season ten backdoor pilot episode, but the series never got made. A series revolving around a naval team in California wouldn't happen until ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'', the first spin-off of the show's spin-off ''Series/{{NCIS}}''.
* WrittenByCastMember: Patrick Labyorteaux (Bud) wrote the season 6 episode "''JAG TV''".
* YouLookFamiliar: Before playing Sarah Mackenzie, Catherine Bell played a Navy Lieutenant love interest of Harm's who died in the (intended) first season finale. Harm notices this, and is visibly stand-offish towards her at first because of it. In real life, Bell all but begged to be brought back on the show as another character, and the two characters looking identical was utilized.
-->'''Mac:''' ''Sounds like I have a twin out there.''
--> ''FlashBack of Mac's doppelganger being [[ZippingUpTheBodybag zipped up in a bodybag]]''
-->'''Harm:''' ''Not anymore.''
** Another example is with Lt. Loren Singer, whose actress played an assassin in an earlier episode. This, along with Bellisario's kids showing up, suggests a little nepotism, as David James Elliot (Harm) and Nanci Chambers (Singer) are married in real life.
** Also, Alexander Kuznetsov appears first in "''Cowboys and Cossacks''" as Commander Kretchiak, and in later episodes as a different Russian officer named Captain Alex Volkonov (who becomes Harm's Russian analogue throughout the series).

** Barry Jenner (''Series/{{Dallas}}'', ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'') first appeared in "''Ares''" as the captain of an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, and later in "Mr. Rabb Goes to Washington" as the asshole ZNN reporter Norman Delaporte.

* ActorSharedBackground: Sarah "Mac" [=MacKenzie=] is partially of Iranian heritage and speaks Farsi, as is and does actress Catherine Bell too.

* BreakOutRole: For Catherine Bell as a lead actress in television.

* TheCastShowoff: Harm plays the guitar just like David James Elliott, and Mac does kick-boxing and speaks Farsi just like Catherine Bell.

* FakeAmerican: David James Elliott hails from Canada. However, he did become a U.S. Citizen during the show's run.
** Subverted for Catherine Bell, who was born in London but moved to America when she was two.

** Indirectly through RippedFromTheHeadlines, as numerous incidents and happenings affecting the military are used as material for episodes, such as the 2001 April 1st collusion of an American and Chinese plane, or Clinton era budget cuts. One episode had Rabb going up against the RogueWarrior.

** Before playing Admiral Chegwidden, John M. Jackson played Captain West in the film version of ''AFewGoodMen''.

** DonaldPBellisario: First AsHimself at a ''Series/QuantumLeap'' FanConvention in "Father's Day", as Hugh Blackadder in "To Russia With Love", and later on in the ninth season, his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is directly shown.

* WestCoastTeam: Back in 2005 there were plans for a ''JAG: San Diego''. The concept was introduced in a season ten backdoor pilot episode, but the series never got made.

* WrittenByCastMember: Patrick Labyorteaux (Bud) wrote the season 6 episode "''JAG TV''".

** Indirectly through RippedFromTheheadlines, as numerous incidents and happenings affecting the military are used as material for episodes, such as the 2001 April 1st collusion of a American and Chinese plane, or Clinton era budget cuts. One episode had Rabb going up against the RogueWarrior.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Lots of familiar faces show up on this series, sometimes as more than one character - see YouLookFamiliar below. Not a surprise, as DonaldPBellisario is known for bringing back actors he likes in future productions, having done so on his other programs.
** Creator/TerryOQuinn of ''Series/{{Lost}}'' fame makes recurring appearances as Thomas Boone, a friend of Harm's father and eventually a [[BadassGeneral Rear Admiral]].
** Kevin Dunn, Sam Witwicky's dad in the TransformersFilmSeries, is the series' first JAG, Rear Admiral Al Brovo.
** Andrea Thompson of ''Series/BabylonFive'' & ''NYPDBlue'' had a recurring role in the first season as Harm's seductive supervisor.
** Steven Culp is recurring character Clayton Webb in 41 episodes. Culp is also known from ''Series/DesperateHousewives'', ''Series/{{ER}}'' and ''Series/TheWestWing''.
** Michael and Troyan Bellisario, in addition to being Don Bellisario's kids, appeared here as Mikey Roberts and the daughter of a Naval officer - both would later have roles on ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', though as different characters (Chip Sterling and Sara [=McGee=], respectively). A third kid of Bellisario's did even better - Sean [="McGee"=] Murray had two roles, as a Naval ensign accused of raping a Japanese girl [[spoiler: (he didn't do it)]] and as the kid of one of Adm. Chegwidden's girlfriends.
** Jeff [=MacKay=] who played ''Corky'' in another Bellisario series, ''TalesOfTheGoldMonkey'', plays Bud Roberts's father ''Big Bud''.
** Rex Linn of ''Series/CSIMiami'' makes occasional appearances as a Russian spy reared in Texas. [[FakeNationality He does a damn good job of hiding his Texan accent when speaking Russian, too.]]
** Corbin Bernsen of ''Series/LALaw'' appears in several episodes as Navy [[TheJudge Judge]], Captain Owen Sebring.
*** Michele Greene appears in "''Head To Toe''" as a judge advocate and Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force.
** Dean Stockwell of ''Series/QuantumLeap'' was the series' second Secretary of the Navy, Edward Sheffield, reprising a character from another Bellisario program, ''Series/FirstMonday''.
** Creator/AdamBaldwin of ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' and ''Series/{{Chuck}}'' fame appears as a Navy SEAL in the show's ninth season - he reprises the role on ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', making it doubly awesome.
** Actor Richard [=McGonagle=] has a recurring role as a judge. He also had a recurring role as another judge on ''Series/ThePractice'' as well.
** Jolene Blalock of ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' appears as a Marine in one episode who Bud helps to become an officer. Other Trek alums appear; Andrew Robinson appears twice as a Navy Admiral, while Faran Tahir plays two roles, one in the NCIS pilot episodes.
** Series/{{Bones}} actress Michaela Conlin appears as a Marine in one episode in Season Nine, "Posse Commitatus", and John M. Jackson and Scott Lawrence later appeared on the same program as Booth's boss and a Voodoo practicioner (though not of the HollywoodVoodoo variety) in post-Katrina New Orleans respectively.
** [[{{Baseball}} Major League Baseball]] pitcher Barry Zito appears on an episode as the pitcher of a Navy baseball team who is charged with assault after hitting a Marine player with a pitch in a Navy-Marine baseball game.
** Creator/GlennMorshower appears as a crew chief on the USS Seahawk in the pilot movie.

** TerryOQuinn of ''Series/{{Lost}}'' fame makes recurring appearances as Thomas Boone, a friend of Harm's father and eventually a [[BadassGeneral Rear Admiral]].

* WrittenByCastMember: Patrick Labyorteaux (Bud) wrote the season 6 episode "''JAG TV''".

* CompletelyDifferentTitle: ''JAG'' has a different title in UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}} because the word ''Jag'' in the Swedish language is the first-person pronoun (i.e. ''I'' in English.) Coincidently, the movie ''Film/AFewGoodMen'' also shares the same title: "''På heder och samvete''", which is a phrase taken from the Swedish witness oath and literally means "by honor and conscience".

* ForeignLanguageTitle: JAG had only a few: ''Déjà Vu'', ''Scimitar'', ''Ares'', ''Rendezvous'', ''Pas de Deux'', and ''Posse Comitatus''.

** [[Creator/GlennMorshower]] appears as a crew chief on the USS Seahawk in the pilot movie.

* YouLookFamiliar: Before playing Sarah Mackenzie, Catherine Bell played a Navy Lieutenant love interest of Harm's who died in the (intended) first season finale. Harm notices this, and is visibly stand-offish towards her at first because of it. In real life, Bell all but begged to be brought back on the show as another character, and the two characters looking identical was utilized.
-->'''Mac:''' ''Sounds like I have a twin out there.''
--> ''FlashBack of Mac's doppelganger being [[ZippingUpTheBodybag zipped up in a bodybag]]''
-->'''Harm:''' ''Not anymore.''
** Another example is with Lt. Loren Singer, whose actress played an assassin in an earlier episode. This, along with Bellisario's kids showing up, suggests a little nepotism, as David James Elliot (Harm) and Nanci Chambers (Singer) are married in real life.
** Also, Alexander Kuznetsov appears first in "''Cowboys and Cossacks''" as Commander Kretchiak, and in later episodes as a different Russian officer named Captain Alex Volkonov (who becomes Harm's Russian analogue throughout the series).
** John Walcutt once played a defendant, Caleb Farmer, who was put to death for his crimes, with Mac defending him and Harm prosecuting. Later, he would come back to play Tom Johnson father of the young girl Harm had befriended and seeking to be her legal guardian.
** Barry Jenner (''Series/{{Dallas}}'', ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'') first appeared in "''Ares''" as the captain of an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, and later in "Mr. Rabb Goes to Washington" as the asshole ZNN reporter Norman Delaporte.
** Jerry Hardin (''Deep Throat'' in ''Series/TheXFiles'') first appears as an airplane mechanic in "Full Engagement", and as a Senator in "Impact" (the latter a UFO-themed episode no less).