Smith Leaves 'CSI'

The moment i read about Jorja Fox's return, I knew that there will be a sacrificial lamb of some sort. I was right, and i feel bad about LLA. But Jorja will only be in a few episodes, if it's final, than after that, what? It'll be awkward if you'll bring a character back for weather there's a reason or none at all. Perhaps the writers should re-consider, oh, i dunno, balancing focus among the characters ?
 
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what i'm thinking is that maybe TPTB decided CSI is too crowded with characters. everybody is complaining that their favorite character doesn't have any screentime so they decided to get rid of the newest, least interesting character of the bunch. Riley did not spur much discussion, i don't even remember her name right, and they decided she just didn't fit.

developing a completely new character in a situation where there are so many others is hard. she just didn't have much time, and the writers didn't make her memorable. it doesn't have to be all LLS's fault but she's the one who gets kicked out. nobody said this is an easy and fair business.

Sara, on the other hand, is someone already developed, who doesn't need an introduction and who has this aura of the old CSI with Grissom and Warrick in it. Her presence will bring on some talk on Grissom, and later he'll guest star for a bit too. all of this with Langston interacting with them and generally being considered a new addition to the family. i think TPTB want him to get those blessings and approval from the old cast to make the audience warm up to him a bit more.
 
This is not the best news. I was not a huge fan of Riley BUT she was growing on me. I was just getting used to the new cast and now they are replacing her with Sara. Grrr Sara is my least favorite character on CSI and this keep bringing her back so she can leave again is getting old. IMO this is not fair to LLS.
 
She wasn't the newest character that's Ray. And personally, I prefer Riley. And if they're getting rid of her to give others more screentime, it's not going to help. She wasn't the problem. She barely got any screentime. The problem is that they've given Ray too much screentime and that is what is taking time away from the others. So, if that's why they are doing it, people are still going to complain that their favorites aren't getting enough time.

And I think she fit perfectly, especially with Greg. She and Greg (as well as Eric and LLS) had tons of chemistry. It gave someone for Greg to play off of.

CSI is in "Grave Danger" (pun intended) of being cancelled. It doesn't matter how much the network likes it, if the ratings drop too drastically, it'll get cancelled. It doesn't matter what characters are there, if the storylines suck, a lot of fans won't stick around. A lot of fans left before Sara, Grissom and Warrick were off the show because of the storylines.


developing a completely new character in a situation where there are so many others is hard. she just didn't have much time, and the writers didn't make her memorable. it doesn't have to be all LLS's fault but she's the one who gets kicked out. nobody said this is an easy and fair business.
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Well, you're right about the fact that the writers failed where her character was concerned. It's not her fault AT ALL! Not even a little bit! She came in, did what was asked of her and did an EXCELLENT job with the crapfest she was given by the writers/ptb.


all of this with Langston interacting with them and generally being considered a new addition to the family. i think TPTB want him to get those blessings and approval from the old cast to make the audience warm up to him a bit more.
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A number of viewers are still not going to warm up to Ray as long as he's getting most of the airtime while the originals (including the leading lady btw) are shoved into the background episode after episode. Some people who liked Riley are not going to watch this season.

The only thing that will appease me now (other than Riley being brought back) is if they give Greg as decent friendship scene with Sara before she leaves again and if they make Wendy a CSI and have her and Greg interact and Wendy bring out the funny side of Greg.
 
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I too am sad about this. I actually liked her character and was looking forward to finding out more about her. Maybe if TPTB hadn't been so intent on cramming Langston down our throats they could have focused on her a bit.

With regards to Sara, I was never a fan, but I'm neither here nor there on her coming back. I'm rather meh about her. I am annoyed that they decided to bring her back rather than give the remaining cast members who have gotten next to nothing to work with in the last season some focus.

I don't get why they are so stubborn about giving Nick, Catherine and Greg some actual focus and something meaty to work with. Especially Greg as he seems to the the redheaded stepchild none of the writers want to write for.

Gah, I feel like lately all I ever do is complain about CSI, I'm starting to wonder why I bother watching. :(
 
Well, you're right about the fact that the writers failed to make her interesting. It's not her fault AT ALL! Not even a little bit! She came in, did what was asked of her and did an EXCELLENT job with the crapfest she was given by the writers/ptb.
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well, you never know what's going on behind the scenes. to put all fault on the writers isn't reasonable, imo. i wouldn't put fault on anyone, really, since we don't know the facts, only what has been released to the press (which, let's be honest, is always censored.) maybe LLS was a queen of all divas or decided to have a joint break every 10 minutes. lol

but i think you kind of overemphasize the importance of old characters. i mean, most CSI viewers are people who want to watch a good show, a puzzle, and twisty storylines. i think it's usually women who really like Nick or Greg that are the most bothered. the fact that Ray has a lot of screentime doesn't really bother me that much. i don't notice it, tbh.

in my opinion it's the fact that this show is 9 years old. using almost the same formula every episode is repetitive. to make it worse there are 2 more shows with the same scheme (to add it all up we have 21 seasons of CSI shows. 21x23= rougly 483 episodes). in how many different ways can you kill a person?

those 2 more shows have a bunch of other actors and they are doing almost as good (or bad) as the original. i think CSI was always doing it all a little better hence bigger popularity, but i don't think the ratings drop is caused by Greg or Nick getting less screentime. they've never been the front people, anyway. now Catherine is a different story and her smaller involvement might have some impact.

there is one more thing. don't y'all think that maybe the actors themselves are not too eager to have a bigger workload? i mean, they get the same paycheck regardless and after 9 years on the show i doubt they would want to hog the show instead of letting LF develop his character. that was a case with Gary Dourdan in S6 or 7. i heard he wanted to do other projects so he asked for reduced screentime. and then a lot of people complained that the writers ignore him.

ETA:
which reminds me of GE's back problems.
 
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George said Lauren was NOT a diva. :lol:

Okay, I can buy that George wasn't able to do as much in Season 9 because of his back issues or Marg because of personal issues, but what was the excuse for seasons before that? I cannot buy that there was an excuse regarding the actors every other season. It's possible that George and Marg asked for less time in Season 9 due to back problems and personal problems, respectively. I'm pretty sure that Eric didn't ask for less screentime. If he had any less than he already has been given he wouldn't be shown on there at all. :lol:

those 2 more shows have a bunch of other actors and they are doing almost as good (or bad) as the original. i think CSI was always doing it all a little better hence bigger popularity,
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Don't all of the commercials claim that Vegas is only the #1 most watched show in America while Miami is the #1 most watched show IN THE WORLD? If that's true then I would think that would mean that Miami was the more popular one, wouldn't it? I think that's what the commercials said for Miami because I remember being surprised by it. :lol: But, I guess it could have been the other way around. :lol:

but i don't think the ratings drop is caused by Greg or Nick getting less screentime. they've never been the front people, anyway. now Catherine is a different story and her smaller involvement might have some impact.
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I think you misunderstood me. I never meant that the ratings took a hit simply because Nick and Greg weren't featured enough. What I meant was that them bringing in a new character and pushing him down our throats at the expense of the originals (all of the originals combined and not just Cath, Nick and Greg... Brass too as well as a few others) screentime had something to do with SOME of the ratings slipping. The ratings took a hit after the 200th episode which was heavily Ray focused. I think that's pretty significant. Turn Turn Turn or If I Had A Hammer would have been the better ep to have for the 200th episode then maybe the ratings wouldn't have dropped at all. I know maybe the ratings didn't drop a huge amount, but it is a noticeable amount, otherwise tptb wouldn't be going nuts right now trying to find a remedy for that.

But lets say that tptb had actually given the remaining cast members a chance to try to pull the show on their own without new characters (meaning Ray would not be there) and they had written more scenes for Catherine, plenty of scenes and Nick and Greg were stll getting few and far between (especially Greg), I think the ratings wouldn't have taken as much of a hit.
 
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Okay, I can buy that George wasn't able to do as much in Season 9 because of his back issues or Marg because of personal issues, but what was the excuse for seasons before that?
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yeah, well, i'd blame it on the nature of the show. it doesn't focus on characters but on murders, evidence, and good stories. as Billy once said, the evidence is a star of CSI. since they have a big movie star establishing his character (and huge expectations towards him) they are doing everything they can to just make him successful. maybe they are just doing too much. maybe it's pressure. *shrugs*

Don't all of the commercials claim that Vegas is only the #1 most watched show in America while Miami is the #1 most watched show IN THE WORLD?
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as far as i can remember Miami was #1 in the world 2 years ago, while Vegas was named #1 in the world a year ago (during their S8 in the US). the thing with LV not beeing #1 before is that its licence to broadcast (or whatever you call it) is more expensive than Miami's. result was more channels abroad were buying Mami. as we can see, though, a year later Vegas became #1 even though it's more costly. imo, it's safe to say it's more popular, then.

I think you misunderstood me. I never meant that the ratings took a hit simply because Nick and Greg weren't featured enough. What I meant was that them bringing in a new character and pushing him down our throats at the expense of the originals (all of the originals combined and not just Cath, Nick and Greg... Brass too as well as a few others) screentime had something to do with SOME of the ratings slipping. The ratings took a hit after the 200th episode which was heavily Ray focused. I think that's pretty significant. Turn Turn Turn or If I Had A Hammer would have been the better ep to have for the 200th episode then maybe the ratings wouldn't have dropped at all. I know maybe the ratings didn't drop a huge amount, but it is a noticeable amount, otherwise tptb wouldn't be going nuts right now trying to find a remedy for that.
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ok! i think we're on the same page here cuz i think pretty much the same. :)
 
The ratings took a hit after the 200th episode which was heavily Ray focused. I think that's pretty significant. Turn Turn Turn or If I Had A Hammer would have been the better ep to have for the 200th episode then maybe the ratings wouldn't have dropped at all. I know maybe the ratings didn't drop a huge amount, but it is a noticeable amount, otherwise tptb wouldn't be going nuts right now trying to find a remedy for that.
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I agree. The ratings seemed to drop right after Mascara which was a mistake to show as CSI 200th episode, a better show would have been Turn, Turnn, Turn, of If I Had A Hammer.
 
Adzix said:
yeah, well, i'd blame it on the nature of the show. it doesn't focus on characters but on murders, evidence, and good stories. as Billy once said, the evidence is a star of CSI. since they have a big movie star establishing his character (and huge expectations towards him) they are doing everything they can to just make him successful. maybe they are just doing too much. maybe it's pressure. *shrugs*
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It's fine if they focus on the murders and evidence, I don't mind that at all because the coolness of the techniques used is what drew me to the show in the first place (I still think the way they put that ink on paper to read otherwise unreadable document evidence is one of the coolest things I've seen lol) but they could have all of the characters equally on screen investigating and collecting. The screentime between characters just needs to be more balanced.

Regarding Ray, if they want him in most scenes, at least have him in those scenes with the other main characters rather than so many solo scenes. I don't think that's too much to ask. That would be a compromise. They'd still get what they wanted having him in nearly every scene, but we'd get what we wanted too if he was in nearly every scene with various different other main characters (that is the ones in the opening credits). I don't understand why that's such a hard thing for them to do. They so frusturate me. I'd write to them and tell them all of this if I thought it would do any good, but at the end of the day they're gonna do what they want and the what the viewers want be damned. :lol: I would love for them to prove me wrong and prove that they really do care about what the fans want, but I think real life unicorns with wings will appear in the sky before that happens. :lol:


The ratings seemed to drop right after Mascara which was a mistake to show as CSI 200th episode, a better show would have been Turn, Turnn, Turn, of If I Had A Hammer.
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You know what would make me respect tptb at CSI more? If they came right out in the press and admitted that they were wrong regarding the 200th episode. I mean there's nothing wrong with admitting that you're wrong once in a while. It doesn't make one weak, it makes one human. :)

The fans are what made the show the hit that it is. If no one watched, it wouldn't be a hit show, right? So tptb seriously need to start paying more attention to the viewers' complaints (the major complaints, not the minor ones) and do something to make it better.
 
Talking about poor timing, this came out today: http://www2.canada.com/windsorstar/news/story.html?id=38c4b027-87b9-4a71-8ba4-c17e6d495441

Poor LLS. I hope CBS already has other plans for her.

About why people are leaving the show, I'm talking from my personal experience, but I don't know if it could be a theory. CSI is not Seinfield or Friends. It's a dark show by nature, so being a fan of a show like this may take a toll on otherwise sensitive people. In my case, it wasn't that LLS or LF attracted me or not, it was that I wanted to disengage from the show because it was too heavy, so when Sara left, I saw it as an opportunity to leave. I saw the first and last Grissom episodes on Season 9, and I plan to watch eps with Sara out of nostalgia, but I'm not hooked on the show anymore. Not because of the quality or lack thereof, but because I had enough of all the death, gore, drama, etc... I don't know if the same happened to other fans or casual viewers and they had deadlines like "when Grissom leaves, I leave". And the fact that these aren't the happiest times ever doesn't help.
 
^ hm, yeah. well, i guess we have a glimpse of what is the life of an average actor like. it's these people that the Union is really for, and there is way more of them than the Toms and Brads.

I don't know if the same happened to other fans or casual viewers and they had deadlines like "when Grissom leaves, I leave".
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to me it was more 'idk if i leave after Grissom is gone'. i had a lot of responsibilities at that time so i couldn't watch many episodes later in the season. some of them i watched online but only b/c i totally had nothing else better to do. now, i will watch just those with Sara or Grissom in them, i guess.

but you have a point saying that maybe some people stopped watching cuz they got tired of the gore. rather than CSI i prefer to watch Forensic Files for the cases which i'm still fascinated by. CSI attracted me for its innovativeness, creativity, and the fact that i can learn how many things are done in forensics. after 9 seasons, i feel like i know almost everything a layman could want. what's the point watching more? i can solve the puzzles watching Forensic Files which shows only true stories. and since my favorite CSI characters left, the show doesn't have anything else to win me over. unless the two comes back sometimes of course. ;)
 
I'm very upset to hear this news about LLS (I go on vacation for four days and this happens!). I thought that they could of developed Riley quite nicely (Didn't they promise to do that earlier this summer?) and I liked her interactions with the rest of the team, especially Greg and Nick. LLS is a great actress, and I'm sure she'll move on to another project quickly. I will miss Riley though, I think she started out good, and if they had given her a bit more time and fleshed out the character I think she would have done fine. But, of course, the majority of the screentime was given to Langston.

I can only hope that Riley doesn't disappear into thin air never to be spoken of again (*cough*Sofia!*cough*).
 
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