JAG was inspired by the first women to serve on a Navy combat ship
Veteran television writer Don Bellisario is known for creating and writing some of television's most memorable series, including Black Sheep Squadron, Quantum Leap, JAG, and NCIS.
Just a year after Quantum Leap ended in 1994, Bellisario was without a series to write for the first time in several years. Unwilling to sit idle, Bellisario spent his time writing concepts, stories, and ideas until he found a new show.
1994 also happened to be the year women were allowed to serve on Navy combat vessels. This historic milestone gave Bellisario a vision of a pair of F-14s with a female Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) being shown the ropes by her Carrier Air Wing Commander (CAG).
He wrote out a rough draft story about both the Naval officers that would end with the female RIO pilot being murdered. Seeing where his story could go, Bellisario did more research on the Navy and how it handled internal investigations similar to the one he was writing about.
"I had to find out who investigates these things. When I found out JAG officers prosecute, defend and investigate, all with the same people, I thought, 'Wow, what a franchise,'" said JAG series creator Don Bellisario about the inspiration for the series.
Fascinated by a courtroom series set in the United States military, Bellisario wrote the pilot script for the JAG TV series. He first pitched the show to NBC as Top Gun meets A Few Good Men. NBC picked up the pilot, and the premiere aired a year later, in 1995.