I've got a question for everyone who's screaming that TPTB should let the original cast carry the show vs. bringing in a replacement: Has it occurred to anyone that maybe the original stars, with the exception of George Eads, don't want to "carry the show"? In season 11, only George Eads was in every episode; LF was in all but one. Marg and Jorja were in a limited number of episodes and by all accounts will each do a limited number of episodes this season. You can't really complain when the stars themselves don't want to be there full time.
Season 12 Spoiler Lab Discussion
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Speedystokesgirl
Judge
That's just Marg and Jorja. George, I'm sure would love to be the lead, Eric has stated he wants more screentime, pretty sure Wallace would more screentime, so would David and probably Robert.
Paul, not so sure.
So yeah, we can complain, that's two, maybe three members of the cast that want limited episodes.. Maybe if tptb had faith in their cast, in the first place, not everyone would want less episodes.
And they didn't bring in Fishburne because the cast didn't want to carry the show. They brought him in because Petersen left.
Desertwind
Head of the Day Shift
Good point, maybe that is it, but I think the producers/writers call the shots and before they sign their contracts, that is understood. What they expect and want and the "stars" have the option to say yay or nay, as in LF's contract. Maybe he didn't like what they offered, and thus said Nay
Seriously? I thought cast members wanted fewer episodes because they were tired of the grind and they wanted time off to go do something else, not because their noses were out of joint because they couldn't do ALL the work. Silly me.
Ladybronco
Pathologist
I have absolutely no problem with bringing in fresh blood, so to speak. I just don't want it to be a huge name that might detract from the screen time of the regulars (unless it's by their choice, of course). I'm all for a new character like Brody, another CSI or previous member etc, as long as it's someone who adds to the team and helps to keep it an ensemble. I'm just fearing a *take over* where the new character gets all of the attention, promotion and focus as LF did.
I heard a news item yesterday about Angus T. Jones, the kid from 2 1/2 Men, about how he earns $300,000 per episode, which makes him the highest paid child actor on television. Does a kid really need that much? :lol:
I heard a news item yesterday about Angus T. Jones, the kid from 2 1/2 Men, about how he earns $300,000 per episode, which makes him the highest paid child actor on television.
Does a kid really need that much? :lol:
Desertwind
Head of the Day Shift
I for one never felt that LF was on any more in the epsiodes then WP was as Grissom, the same. And what was inspirational for me was how the whole team had equal screen time with Langston & him with them. I never thought he "hogged" the screen, but they were with him in one way or another in every episode since he came on CSI. He was with them in every episode, working together to solve whatever crime was happening at the time. They were all a complete team. And TPTB, do write the episodes and the dialogue The thing about anyone who they will bring on, an actor/actress is not hired to hang around in the background, what would be the point?
Speedystokesgirl
Judge
Well, sorry, I still don't believe Jorja left because she was tired of the grind.
Marg and Billy were the only one's who said that.
I also said 'not everyone'.
And I'm sure all there noises are out of joint that they brought in a huge name to replace Petersen when all of them could have carried the show.
Just because they 'don't say it', doesn't make it any less true.
Besides, George himself said he wouldn't have been happy if Fishburne was brought in as the supervisor.
That should give you a clue.
Ladybronco
Pathologist
Of course Langston needed to be promoted as a new character, but even if he shared the scene, the focus seemed on him more often than not. That may not be hogging per se, but it was still the focus. Anyway, I wasn't really referring to the amount of screen time per episode, I meant in general with the promotions, commercials etc. It was always his face that was associated with the show, I hardly knew there were other stars on the show, at least from what I saw in my area. As a casual observer, and until I started watching the syndicated repeats, I had no idea that he wasn't the boss. I was a NY watcher when the S9 crossovers aired, and that show just reinforced to me that he was in charge and the show revolved around him. Once I knew better, and watched the past repeats, it just frustrated me more when he was always the one to come up with the answer, even though at least 3 or 4 other team members were standing with him. Hog Heaven comes most recently to mind, it just played out here, and during the stabbing re-creation scene, he was the one to think of the telephone bug, yet Cath, Greg, Riley, and Hodges were all there. That has happened more times than I can list here, since Spike and USA are going heavy on S9 and S10 right now.
I wish I could remember where I saw it, but I remember an interview where George was asked what it was like for Nick to have Langston as a supervisor and as a new character on the show, and he replied that Langston wasn't Nick's boss, it was actually the other way around, and I remember the interviewer being surprised :lol:
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Desertwind
Head of the Day Shift
It's strange and odd that fans see things so differently, while watching the same episode. I thought Nick was featured as many times as Langston, no complaints on that Nick is as I've always said "the rock of CSI" he calmed Langston down when he was going off the path, many times. And he had many answers, [Nick] as well as Cath, Sara, Greg, Brass, and Doc and the rest. Everytime he was on the screen one of the team was with him. They were all equally involved with the case, and mostly he didn't have the answers. The seasoned team did. He was a good listener a good observer, and soaked it all up. He did share his expertise with them but they did with him as well. They did bring him in as a veteran with mega experience from his past job. I thought they chose wisely and I think the team embraced him as he did them. I found him to be an interesting, mysterious character, mutli-layed. From low-key, laid back sweet and gentle to serious and irritated, to full on rage and violence. His background finally came to fruition with the violent DNA gene to his ex. wife, so many differnet things came out the more we saw the character. So if the new replacement is featured with them, will he or she get the same flack that Langston did? I thought S/9-10- & 11 were done with extreme substance, authenticity, and validity and it always seemed to be genuine. They did overdo the Haskell thing a bit too much, but now that's over:bolian:
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That is so not true. There were a few times that Langston and only Langston was questioning a witness or had a scene with no other team members there. And a good majority of the time the team seemed to look to him for answers instead of the other way around and yet he was only working there 2 years basically and seemingly knew it all.
Yep, there has definitely been at least a few times where he was the lone CSI on scene. The only one coming to mind at the moment was when Langston was questioning that guy in the mental hospital (the guy who later pretended to be an agent or something - can't remember the name of the episode - it was a while back).
Raynn
Coroner
I don't have the numbers anymore, but I did a rough comparison of screentime once, using an episode from season 11, and one from season 4. Langston was by far the highest time in the S11 episode, while Grissom was almost tied with Catherine, and not that far ahead of everyone else, in the S4 episode. I know my sample was small, and my method not very precise, but it was definitely a significant difference in the distribution of time.
If the current cast want reduced episodes, then why can't they do episodes like Ellie, Gum Drops (I know there was a different reason for that, but it still worked) or Lab Rats, where the focus for one episode is on minor characters - they don't have to bring in a new star to carry the whole season.
As has been said before, I don't mind new faces if that's what's needed - I just don't want new people overshadowing the existing cast. I guess that means I don't want them to bring in another big name star. I don't think it's necessary either - I don't watch TV for the star's name (except maybe George Eads); I watch for the stories and entertainment value.
GNRFan, the episode you're thinking of is Disarmed and Dangerous. Langston was doing solo cases almost from the start too (Descent of Man). He was also running off alone in Mascara, but there's so many other things wrong with that episode too... :lol:
If the current cast want reduced episodes, then why can't they do episodes like Ellie, Gum Drops (I know there was a different reason for that, but it still worked) or Lab Rats, where the focus for one episode is on minor characters - they don't have to bring in a new star to carry the whole season.
As has been said before, I don't mind new faces if that's what's needed - I just don't want new people overshadowing the existing cast. I guess that means I don't want them to bring in another big name star. I don't think it's necessary either - I don't watch TV for the star's name (except maybe George Eads
); I watch for the stories and entertainment value.GNRFan, the episode you're thinking of is Disarmed and Dangerous. Langston was doing solo cases almost from the start too (Descent of Man). He was also running off alone in Mascara, but there's so many other things wrong with that episode too... :lol:
Desertwind
Head of the Day Shift
All the team has worked alone on a scene, or on interogating or interviewing a witness or a potential perp. In "Mascara" he and Brass were together while talking to that creep-show who murdered his friend. I was talking about the big picture, as like in "Cello And Goodbye" and "In A Dark Dark House" where they were eventually all were participating in the investigation. And remember Grissom offered him this position because of his background. He had a medical degree was a pathologist a surgeon and an author, and very smart. He did have some answers of course but not all of them. I liked that he listened and they all shared theories, ideas and views while working together on said cases with his teamates. So fans who didn't care for him now he's gone, so that's that. Some saw him as awful and irritating, and on to much and not wonderful, and that's their opinion but some some him as fabulous and great, classy and elegant and wll miss him. Coming up, who's the new guy or gal and what kind of background will they have, and how will the original team accept them?
Here's a site that has some potential candidates for LF's replacement, I like Jimmy Smits, so who do you all choose?
http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/06/08/laurence-fishburne-csi/
Here's a site that has some potential candidates for LF's replacement, I like Jimmy Smits, so who do you all choose?
http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/06/08/laurence-fishburne-csi/
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