Surprises Are In Store For 'CSI'

CSI Files · May 25 2009, 04:19 PM

CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler said the network has a plan to bring viewers back to CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

When the broadcast networks announced their fall schedules for the 2009-2010 season, Fox revealed that they were going to air Fringe opposite CSI and ABC's Grey's Anatomy at 9:00pm ET/PT on Thursdays. One reason for doing this, Fox said, was because CSI and Grey's have slipped and are "not consuming all the oxygen" in the timeslot. CSI pulled in 14.41 million viewers for the season nine finale, which was 19% lower than the season eight finale.

Tassler said the network is "absolutely" planning to bring CSI back up to where it used to be. "[Show runners] Carol [Mendelsohn] and Naren [Shankar] are very aggressive smart producers," Tassler told TV Guide during the CBS upfronts press gathering. "And when we get back [to Los Angeles] we'll be hearing their creative strategy for next season."

William Petersen (Gil Grissom) left CSI during season nine and was replaced by Laurence Fishburne (Dr Ray Langston). The transition has not been easy, but CSI's producers "are very excited" about season 10 and have "lots of surprises in store for next season," Tassler shared. She added, "I'll have to wait and hear what they're planning."

The original article is from TV Guide. Thanks to Shane from TalkCSI for the heads up.

vegaslights · May 25 2009, 06:45 PM

Quote:

[COLOR=yellow]William Petersen[/COLOR] (Gil Grissom) left CSI during season eight and was replaced by [COLOR=yellow]Laurence Fishburne[/COLOR] (Dr Ray Langston). The transition has not been easy, but CSI's producers "are very excited" about season 10 and have "lots of surprises in store for next season," Tassler shared. She added, "I'll have to wait and hear what they're planning."

I think you mean season 9, dearie. Season 9.

electra · May 25 2009, 07:15 PM

Seems likethey are still deciding what to do.No doubt something needs to be done.I want strong cases and the team dynamics that makes this show so great.

Faylinn · May 26 2009, 01:53 AM

Quote:

vegaslights said:

I think you mean season 9, dearie. Season 9.

Gah! *fixes* Thank you, dahling.

In my defense, I did a lot of articles this morning.

vegaslights · May 26 2009, 02:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faylinn

Quote:

vegaslights said:

I think you mean season 9, dearie. Season 9.

Gah! *fixes* Thank you, dahling.

In my defense, I did a lot of articles this morning.

I know.

You were hard at work.

myfuturecsi · May 26 2009, 02:33 AM

Does these changes include a crime fighting cat? I wanna a crime fighting cat!!

koshi700 · May 26 2009, 06:21 PM

For me, "Bringing the show back to where it used to be." Means less Langston and more TEAM. If they do that, then I think the show will get back some of its old feel again. If next season becomes the Langston hour again though, I'm done. I feel sad for saying that, but I'm just so tired of everything being about him.

myfuturecsi · May 26 2009, 09:52 PM

No, don't feel bad. I'm in the same boat as you. I'm done next season if Langston takes over. To me, it is absolutely rude and disrespectful to Marg and George how LF came in and took over.

NickyFan · May 27 2009, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by myfuturecsi

No, don't feel bad. I'm in the same boat as you. I'm done next season if Langston takes over. To me, it is absolutely rude and disrespectful to Marg and George how LF came in and took over.

I think so too. It's not only disrespectful, it's absolutely unfair. It seems like the producers don't have any faith in Marg's or George's abilities. Not only the abilities to lead the show but the abilities to keep us entertained.

And I also need to say that if we'll get a Only-Langston-Show in season 10 I won't watch it any further and I also guess that the show won't continue like that because we're for sure not the only people who are unhappy with the things the producers had done.

GregNickRyanFan · May 31 2009, 08:02 PM

Well, maybe they'll get enough negative feedback over the summer from fans about what many refer to as "The Langston Hour" and they'll tone it down a tad. I don't mind a few Ray centered storylines as long as the other cast members get decent screentime in those episodes. The writers have proven they can do a character centered storyline and still include the other cast members a decent amount, so why can't they do that all of the time instead of only sporadically?

candygirl1uk · May 31 2009, 08:08 PM

For season ten.

Better storylines that includes all the main characters.

But something needs to be done, to make it fresh and fun again.

Desertwind · May 31 2009, 11:01 PM

The writers + CBS choose Laurence Fishburne to be the lead on CSI, and that's not going to change unless he leaves. And I think the rest of the cast is fine with this, or they wouldn't have gone along with it. After all, 3 main characters did bail for various reasons, so the other team members [the originals] seemed to have known, and like the him being in the forefront. I thought S/9 towards the end was deplorable and not up to par, which had nothing to do with LF. He's calm, cool, collected smooth and a great actor. Actually he saved some ot the lame episodes with his expartise and presense. In the future, I'm not sure, the show is different now so whatever the writers decide that'll keep it strong and vibrant will be good~

GregNickRyanFan · June 6 2009, 07:18 PM

I don't think anyone is disputing LF's acting abilities. He's an extraordinary actor, no doubt about it. All people are saying is that the storylines need to include more than one character regardless of whether they are the star or not. This is supposed to be an ensemble show... even WP has said that.... and when he was still on the show for the most part it seemed more like an ensemble show, even though Grissom was at the front and center of many a storyline. But now, that seems to have changed somewhat. I still think it's because his leaving made tptb freak out and they are just deathly afraid of their show dying without WP. But, imo and in many others' opinions, they are going about it the wrong way. The way to keep the show from dying isn't to exclude the rest of the cast (those that have been there from the very first episode) from many storylines, but it is to bring back the team dynamic that made this show so popular with many fans to begin with.

And whether or not the other actors are fine with the way things are is irrelevant. The fans are what bring in the money. If everyone stopped watching because of the things tptb did, then they wouldn't make any money. So I think they need to focus more on making the fans happy/happier. And clearly some fans are not happy with their favorites being pushed to the background and even in some cases, in less scenes than the guest stars. They just need to balance things out more is all. Rather than giving one person a bunch of scenes where he or she is alone, they should try to have them be working with one or more of the other characters. That way, their "star" is still getting plenty of screen time, but the other characters aren't pushed in the background with little to do. It really is that simple.

They can have the star in every scene as long as they include the other characters plenty as well.

I think three alone scenes for the star per ep is fine, but all other scenes per ep, the star should be with one or more of the other characters so that they get some decent screen time too.