These are new photos of Pauley Perrette, one of the stars of NCIS, at last night’s Patterns for Paws event in West Hollywood. Do you watch NCIS? I watch NCIS. I watch the marathons on USA, and I watch the new episodes on CBS. It’s the only CBS show I watch, because whenever I switch over to CBS, I feel like I’ve just added 20 years to my age. Oh, well. I’m an old fart, and I love NCIS. I love Mark Harmon, I love Cote de Pablo, and I especially love Pauley “Abby” Perrette. You wouldn’t think that Pauley, with her dyed jet-black hair, thick bangs, dozens of tattoos, piercings and God knows what else would be so popular. But the character she plays is so appealing, and Pauley herself seems like such a lovely woman, people just fall for her. EVERYBODY loves her. Literally:

For anyone who can’t get enough of those feisty naval investigators, this information should not come as a surprise: The most popular actor in primetime right now is NCIS’ Pauley Perrette!

That’s according to the latest Q Ratings, a survey taken a few times a year to judge who are the most popular stars, based on audience awareness. In fact, NCIS actors occupy most of the top slots, save Nathan Fillion, the star of ABC’s Castle. The geek god is ranked No. 6.

So who’s after No. 1? Next up is Cote de Pablo, who plays Ziva on the CBS drama. No. 3 is Jim Parsons of The Big Bang Theory, No. 4 is NCIS lead Mark Harmon, No. 5 is David McCallum (Dr. Donald Mallard), and No. 7 is Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, aka Michael Weatherly.

Q ratings come in handy when networks want to gauge whether an actor is worth the time (and money) to cast and/or keep on the payroll. So expect at least 20 more seasons of NCIS. Kidding! (We think).

[From EW]

Would you like to have your mind blown? Pauley is 42 years old. 42!!! I think the Abby character is supposed to be about 30, and even then, Pauley sometimes seems too “young”. She has such a great face, and she’s one of the rare women who looks really great with bangs. And she looks great with puppies too:

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Pauley Perrette, the funky goth chick who plays a forensic examiner on CBS show NCIS, is going through a legal battle in which she claims her ex husband, Coyote Shivers, stalked and terrorized her and another woman. Shivers is a musician who was married to Bebe Buell, Liv Tyler’s mom, from 1992 to 1997. He married Perrette in 2000 and they were separated in 2004.

Perrette has had four consecutive restraining orders against Shivers stemming from his abusive behavior and citing a supposed incident in 2004 in which she claims he raped and sodomized a woman named Angela Garber. In two YouTube videos, Shivers says that Perrette is setting him up and trying to ruin his life. He produces what he claims is a screenplay by Perrette detailing the very scenario she accuses him of. He also reads off what he says are e-mails from the supposed rape victim, Angela Garber, proclaiming her love for him up to a year after the date of the incident.

Shivers comes off as sane enough in his first video, and I was inclined to believe his account that Perrette is somehow out to get him for whatever reason he doesn’t fully explain. Then he goes off in his second video and claims that Perrette and Garber are colluding against him. He seems off balance and kind of wild and it makes you wonder why a woman would go through the trouble of obtaining multiple restraining orders against an ex, especially if their divorce is already concluded. Each side often tries to smear the other in an acrimonious divorce but you can’t help but think that Perrette is the victim. The 2006 Fox News report Shivers mentions in his video states that his other ex, Bebe Buell, also has a similar story of abuse and intimidation by him during their relationship.

Perrette, 39, is now living with a 25 year-old former pizza delivery guy she met in 2004 when he was working on the set of a film in Michigan. She was still married at the time to Shivers and each of them filed for divorce shortly afterwards. It’s just a good thing there are no kids involved in this mess.

Here are Coyote Shivers’ YouTube videos. Thanks to The National Enquirer for the heads up and most of the details for this story.

Pauly Perrette is shown at the CBS summer press tour ‘Stars Party 2007′ on 7/19/07. Credit: Nikki Nelson/WENN