History Series / JAG

* PoliceBrutalityGambit: In "Survivors", a shell-shocked Marine colonel intends to take his son, whom he believes to be the {{reincarnation}} of a war buddy from UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, to a cabin in the woods. Faced with an arrest warrant, he has a scuffle with an unsympathetic deputy sheriff at a gas station. Having almost reached the cabin, with the help of Harm, the cops also arrive. The incensed deputy sheriff tries to arrest Harm, but Meg claims that she has a tape from a surveillance camera at the gas station, which would show that the deputy sheriff had committed acts of PoliceBrutality. Although it's later revealed that Meg had no such video, the deputy sheriff had in fact been more brutal than necessary at the gas station and backed off from arresting Harm as a precaution.

* TheJudge: There were several judges as recurring characters.
** Both Harm and Mac, under various circumstances, gets to serve on the bench in later seasons.

* NonviolentInitialConfrontation: In "Scimitar", Harm and Meg are officially in {{Iraq}} (during the time of the UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein regime) to act as legal counsel for the captured American Marine, so the Iraqis, including the villain, treat them as welcome guests at first.

* TapOnTheHead: In "Scimitar", the ReverseMole refuses to go with them to UsefulNotes/{{Kuwait}}, and intends to stay behind to [[LaResistance help fix the problems in]] {{Iraq}}, and insists on this to make it look like the heroes took them prisoner before leaving them behind. Harm balks at this, so [[ActionGirl Meg does it instead.]]

* YourCheatingHeart: In "Pilot Error", Pendry was very close to his female wingman, Lt. [=McKee=], leading to many rumors that the two had an affair. Harm, [=McKee=], and Pendry's widow all insist that no affair took place, for different reasons (Harm refuses to believe his friend would have done such a thing, [=McKee=] admits to having had feelings for him, but knew it wasn't meant to be, and Pendry's wife insists that their relationship was too strong for such a thing to happen.) [[spoiler: [=McKee=] did have an affair... with her commanding officer, but not with Pendry.]]

* WeddingDay: Bud and Harriet's wedding in the season 3 episode "Wedding Bell Blues".

The first and, to a lesser extent, second season focused primarily on [[ActionSeries action-packed pre-trial field investigations]], while the third and later seasons [[ReTool joined that formula together]] with an equal amount of courtroom and office drama in the stylistic vein of ''Series/LALaw''. Many episodes have storylines which often were RippedFromTheHeadlines, e.g. the war in the Balkans, introduction of female combat pilots on aircraft carriers, [[SpyFiction espionage]], racial bigotry, fraternization charges, a U.S. sailor accused of raping Japanese woman in Japan, homosexuality in the Armed Forces in the days of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", [[CrookedContractor crooked contractors]], TheWarOnTerror, homeless veterans, senior officers insulting foreign allies, [[MiscarriageOfJustice miscarriages of justice]], [=AWOLs=] and desertions, the Guantanamo Bay detention center, and so on and so forth.

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: Female combat pilots in the Navy? Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy? The WarOnTerror? Issues with various aircraft? You pick 'em, this show has 'em.

** Starting in season 7, TheWarOnTerror and subsequent U.S. military interventions in UsefulNotes/{{Afghanistan}} and UsefulNotes/{{Iraq}}, and fictional al-Qaeda terrorists became the basis for story arcs.

** Harm fired a loaded MP-5 during a trial in "Heroes". The key piece of evidence in the case was a submachine gun that allegedly failed to fire due to a malfunction. Harm proceeded to pick up the gun, [[ArtisticLicenseGunSafety which had evidently never been unloaded]], and fired it into the ceiling. This did get him an epic ass-chewing, and the judge would continue to hold this against Harm for at least 7 more seasons. [[NeverLiveItDown No one else lets him forget about that either]].

* RecapByAudit: In "Soul Searching", Harm and Bud goes over the budget request for the office in which it appears that Harm's [[NeverLiveItDown firing of an H&K in the courtroom]] (two seasons earlier in "Heroes") has caused a structural damage to the roof. Through clever lawyering, Bud makes the outstanding expense go away under a building health plan.

* BadassGrandpa: The season 3 episode "Yesterday's Heroes" has three retired underwater demolition divers (one played by Creator/ErnestBorgnine) in Florida avenging on a South American drug dealer who'd hurt one of their grandchildren.

** Harm had his [[HandicappedBadass vision impairment fixed]] and went back to flying Tomcats for a short while, before his new commanding officer convinced him that he was [[BadassGrandpa too old]] to be competitive as an aviator against all the younger pilots, despite his skill, and that he would do the most good as a judge advocate.

** The act of someone in an officer's uniform wearing an enlisted surface warfare specialist (ESWS) pin is not technically an impersonation. Enlisted service members can get commissioned as officers in a number of ways, including being selected for the US Naval Academy, the Seaman to Admiral 21 program, or, if they have been enlisted long enough, as a Limited Duty Officer or a Warrant Officer. The warfare qualifications they earn do not disappear once they get commissioned; if they earn the ESWS pin as an E-3, for example, they can wear it as an officer until they have earned their surface warfare officer (SWO) qualification and get that insignia. The regulation is only that a service member cannot wear two of the same type of qualification (in this case, enlisted and officer surface warefare, where the officer qualification will always take precendence). So, while yes, this character specifically was impersonating an officer, the act of wearing an ESWS pin alone is not enough to say with certainty that someone in general was doing so.

** The act of an officer wearing an enlisted surface warfare specialist (ESWS) pin is not technically an impersonation. Enlisted service members can get commissioned as officers in a number of ways, including being selected for the US Naval Academy, the Seaman to Admiral 21 program, or, if they have been enlisted long enough, as a Limited Duty Officer or a Warrant Officer. The warfare qualifications they earn do not disappear once they get commissioned; so if they earn the ESWS pin as an E-3, for example, they can wear it as an officer until theyu have earned their surface warfare officer (SWO) qualification and get that insignia. The regulation is only that a service member cannot wear two of the same type of qualification (in this case, enlisted and officer surface warefare). So, while yes, that character specifically was impersonating an officer, the act of wearing an ESWS pin alone is not enough to say with certainty that someone in general was doing so.

* ImprovisedWeapon: In the episode "''Code Blue''" (second season), when a terrorist in a hospital demands that he identify himself, Harm claims his callsign is ''Zapper''. [[IncrediblyLamePun And then zaps the guy with]] a defibrillator.

** The whole WillTheyOrWontThey and UnresolvedSexualTension arc for ''nine seasons'' between Harm and Mac. Also MasterOfTheMixedMessage. [[spoiler: AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther in the last episode "Farewell and Following Seas": however it [[TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised ends in the middle of the toss with a coin]], is it Harm or Mac who will give up career for love?]] In the tenth season finale of ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'', [[spoiler: Mac reveals that Harm lost the coin flip and stayed with her, but after a TenMinuteRetirement, got called back into combat while she found a better opportunity at the State Department

** The whole WillTheyOrWontThey and UnresolvedSexualTension arc for ''nine seasons'' between Harm and Mac. Also MasterOfTheMixedMessage. [[spoiler: AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther in the last episode "Farewell and Following Seas": however it [[TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised ends in the middle of the toss with a coin]], is it Harm or Mac who will give up career for love?]]

* LastMinuteHookup: After nine freakin' seasons of WillTheyOrWontThey {{UST}}, [[spoiler: Mac and Harm get engaged in ''the last seven minutes of the series finale'']].

* EconomyCast: Even though the show was on the air for ten seasons and had loads and loads of characters this trope came into play. For instance, if there would be an issue somehow involving the {{CIA}}, Clayton Webb would never be far away.

* TheGovernment: ''JAG'' is largely an aversion of this trope; as [[GovernmentProcedural the protagonists work for Uncle Sam]], the creator and show runner is a veteran, and the show was supported by the Pentagon; not surprisingly the portrayal of the government at large (excluding the actions of certain individual characters), and the military justice system is overall very favorable. However the {{CIA}} (mostly through the character Clayton Webb) is often portrayed, in contrast to the benign U.S. military, as either (depending on the story) ruthless, inept and/or shortsighted.

* RunningGag: Whenever a promotion is announced, there are accusations of the officer being "out of" or in "incorrect" uniform. Crosses into CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming when [[spoiler: Admiral Chegwidden retires and promotes Bud beyond his "terminal" rank]]

* {{Area51}}: In the "The One Who Got Away", while flying for the {{CIA}}, Harm is detailed to fly the Aurora spy plane from a secret location, which even the usually reliable TitleIn names as "Diamond Lake, Location classified".

* BananaRepublic: Subverted in the ninth season episode "Secret Agent Man". While on a {{CIA}} mission in the [[UsefulNotes/{{Philippines}} Philippines]], Harm's partner Beth O'Neill has managed to get caught by the local police. Harm goes to the police station and tries to first play the act of an ignorant American tourist. When that doesn't work he changes to a tactic which completely misfires.

* CoolOldLady: Porter Webb, {{CIA}} officer Clayton Webb's mother, a former UsefulNotes/{{NSA}} analyst who is perfectly comfortable with her son's fake deaths and other cloak and dagger shenanigans.

'''Webb''': ''Your code of never leaving a man behind. In the [[{{CIA}} Company]], we not only leave them behind, we deny ever knowing them.''

* ObligatoryWarCrimeScene: The promotion of Rear Admiral Thomas Boone to Vice Admiral is called off in "A Separate Peace" because of credible sources claiming he took part in [[UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar war crimes]] during UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar when working closely with {{CIA}} officers. [[spoiler: He didn't do it, but witnessed such actions under protest]].

** Harm actually did resign his commission at the end of season 8, and went to work for the {{CIA}} for a few episodes. After being fired from the CIA for lack of discretion: he was reinstated in the beginning of 9 by the Secretary of the Navy upon the recommendation of Admiral Chegwidden, due to a lack of qualified personnel.

* OneOfUs: In-universe example; Bud is a ''Franchise/StarTrek'' fan. In one episode, unable to get a suspected terrorist to talk, Bud mutters to himself, "What would Captain Kirk do in this situation?" The suspect then answers, "He would tell you to respect the Prime Directive." Bud ends up engaging the suspect in a discussion of Trek, leading to his getting the suspect to open up to him. In another episode, he has a spirited conversation with Admiral Chegwidden's girlfriend, a literature professor, on [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare Shakespearean]] themes in classic Trek.
** He and Harriet named their second son James Tiberius Roberts. One Of Us indeed!

In any case, its popularity led to a {{spinoff}} launched through a BackDoorPilot in its 8th season, ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', which has managed to become [[MorePopularSpinoff more popular]] (and has remained longer on the air) than its parent series.

%%* ArmedFarces: This trope only happens stateside and never on the frontlines.

* [[IdenticalGrandson Identical Son]]: Harmon Rabb Jr. is identical to Harmon Rabb Sr. (save for the latter's mustache).

** In "Shadow", a crewman aboard a helicopter asks Commander Lindsey if the case he is escorting really contains a hundred million in gold. Lindsey demands to know where he heard that, and the sailor admits he heard it from a Marine. Lindsey jokes that the sailor should ''never'' listen to Marines. [[BaitAndSwitch And it's only forty million.]]

* [[FourStarBadass Two Star Badass]]: Rear Admiral Chegwidden and his replacement Maj. Gen. Cresswell.

* UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar: Given the many MilitaryBrats, this conflict also connects with several characters who are too young to have served themselves. AJ served in that war while in the UsefulNotes/NavySEALS and earned the Navy Cross. Harm's father was shot down over the skies of Vietnam and was declared MIA. Tom Boone served with Harm's father and was later accused for having participated in war crimes. Mac's father and uncle served during the war and the uncle returned alive with the Medal of Honor around his neck. Clayton Webb's father ran the CIA's Phoenix program back then. Both Bud and Sturgis' fathers also served at that time.
* WithDueRespect

* {{Polyamory}}: Mac has to defend polygamists in both "Killer Instinct" and again in "Retrial". In the latter episode there's even a ContinuityNod to the first, despite taking place several seasons later.

'''Rear Admiral A.J. Chegwidden:''' Now, if I repeated those words to the press, the Secretary of the Navy would demand my resignation. For while my words are as true as the blue ice in the Arctic, [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad they're politically incorrect]]. And today's Navy, Mr. Rabb, sails on the sea of political correctness.

* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: ''JAG'' was - for a Hollywood-made television series - fairly accurate in terms of military protocol and procedures, however as [[BellisariosMaxim one may reasonably expect]], the RuleOfCool and RuleOfDrama always takes precedence above accuracy whenever it benefits the story.
** Although, it has to be acknowledged that well more than half the episodes featured situations that were completely removed from reality. You don't have to look very far. Even the promo picture above shows a female character with her hair down to her shoulders, which is not allowed in uniform.

-->''There's one issue that really used to bug me, but now I accept it. When they show people flying in planes or taking off from an aircraft carrier, they never wear their oxygen masks. I understand, though, that the director wants to make sure that we can see the actors' faces. I sort of gave up on that battle.''
** When the show first debuted, a group of real Navy JAG officers got together to watch it. Before it began, they all agreed to take a shot every time they saw a mistake. The game was called off before the first commercial break, as they all realized they'd be passed out cold by the end of the show if they continued.

* DownerBeginning: Most of the {{ColdOpening}}s starts with an accident occurring or a crime being committed.

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** In the last two episodes of season 8 and the first of the 9th season, Mac goes undercover as Clayton Webb's wife on mission in UsefulNotes/Paraguay where they aim to stop terroist Sadik Fahd from establishing a base. But everything does not go according to plans.

''"This court-martial is adjourned."''

* GlamorousWartimeSinger: The season 5 episode "Ghosts of Christmas Past", dedicated to Creator/BobHope and USO, casts Catherine Bell as one back in 1969.

* HospitalHottie: Beverly Tromatore (played by Catherine Bell) in the season 8 episode "Each Of Us Angels".
** Foreshadowing of course the fact Bell would play a nurse in ''Series/ArmyWives''.