Mark Harmon has spoken about the exit of fellow cast member Cote de Pablo from their hit show "NCIS," according to TVLIne.com.

The actor made an appearance on "The Arsenio Hall Show," where he discussed how the show was dealing with the impending departure.

"We've had a lot of changes, and we've managed to get better with the changes both in front of the camera and behind the camera," Harmon said on the show. "We have another change this year, with Cote leaving, and it's up to this highly professional group to use that as a springboard, to improve and stay number one [in total viewers]."

Host Hall didn't ask the actor any more questions about the topic, though other members of the cast and crew have also discussed the way the show was dealing with de Pablo leaving.

Show runner Gary Glasberg shared an open letter where he discussed "the elephant in the room," where he repeated how shocked he was at the actress exiting the show. He again promised an "amazing resolution" for Ziva, as well as a "pretty damn heart-wrenching" storyline.

"Prepare yourselves for a moment in television history," Glasberg wrote in the letter. "Images that will end up in the archives.

"I couldn't be happier with how my 'NCIS' family stepped up and did some of the most emotional work we've ever done," Glasberg continued.

Fans have been vocal about their shock, and especially their concern about the resolution of the relationship between Cote de Pablo's character Ziva and Tony, played by Michael Weatherly. The pair is known as "Tiva" to fans.

The second episode of the show with will feature Tony traveling to Israel to locate Ziva prior to the characters final departure from the show.

The show announced that Cote de Pablo was leaving the show in July.

Mark Harmon appearing on "The Arsenio Hall Show."