Which Character Can You Live WITHOUT?

It's funny that people keep mentioning characters who get very little screen time as it is. Getting rid of that character isn't going to make a difference because it's the full main cast that's too large. When was the last time we saw Ecklie? It's been quite a long while, and his absence hasn't affected the show at all.

I like all the characters and wouldn't want to lose any of them. But trying to give ALL of them something to do on one case means NONE of them stand out to make the episode special. Of the main cast, it seems the writers prefer to write mostly Grissom, Catherine, Nick, Sara, and Brass. And now they're writing more for Hodges, too. Therefore, of the main cast, we could probably do without Warrick, Greg, and Sophia. And that'd be a real shame, since Greggo is my fave character!
 
It's funny that people keep mentioning characters who get very little screen time as it is. Getting rid of that character isn't going to make a difference because it's the full main cast that's too large.
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But right there you've hit the nail on the head - all of these little "no-name brand" characters who keep popping up because they're semi-regulars all combined slowly leech away from the lead's time on-screen. When Bobby Dawson and Archie (both whom I love, don't get me wrong) get more screentime than Warrick, that's a problem, don't you think?

Except that Bobby and Archie and Hodges and Wendy... they all have purposes to serve - the individual specialties that they offer.

I think the reason so many people want to ditch Sofia is because she's made out to be important and then all of the sudden she's just a random detective - but then she's the ONLY detective. Where is Vartann? Where is Vega? Even Brass seems to be cutting down his screentime

So I think it's perfectly logical to say we should cut a few of the "random" characters like Sofia. Last season I would definitely say Sofia was a keeper. Not because I liked her, but because she had an outside storyline purpose: she was flirty with Grissom, she had just been demoted, she wasn't quite a CSI because of her resentment at being taken off the force... that was something they could have worked with. I don't like that they completely erased all of that but kept her anyhow. Either give her something to do or cut the string already.
 
But right there you've hit the nail on the head - all of these little "no-name brand" characters who keep popping up because they're semi-regulars all combined slowly leech away from the lead's time on-screen. When Bobby Dawson and Archie (both whom I love, don't get me wrong) get more screentime than Warrick, that's a problem, don't you think?
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You're right about that, too. There are so many recurring lab techs that are getting more screen time than some of the regular cast characters (Warrick, Greg). It seems the main cast doesn't really do much of anything any more. In early seasons we got to see them working on various aspects of the cases' respective labwork--not the DNA, since that's more specialized--but they did a lot of the other stuff (fingerprints, trace, toxicology testing, ballistics). Now they seem to have a specific recurring character for every single specialty of the lab EXCEPT for an auto mechanic, which seems to be the one area that the CSIs still work. The CSIs go to the scenes, collect various bits of evidence, chat about it amongst themselves while waiting for all the lab techs to get back to them with results, and they interview witnesses and suspects (most of the time without a police presence, which is dumb since these CSIs are NOT police officers and have no authority to demand that these witnesses talk with them). But eliminating just one of the lab techs won't help alleviate the overall cast bloat.
 
True. And I don't want to ditch the lab techs - Archie, Bobby, Hodges - they all add something to the show. And, in fact, they were always there (with the exception of Hodges... in fact, why do we need Wendy or Jacqui? Would anyone care if there was only one lab tech for DNA, Trace?)

And that brings us back to why Sofia is so disposable - Brass can be our main detective. We don't need dueling det.'s here.

The problem is actually not cast bloat, because really THAT many character have not been added. There was an AV Guy, a ballistics guy, a handful of detectives and so forth from day 1. The problem is that before the CSI's would be right over their shoulder, almost ALL of them, which meant that they'd still have plenty of screen time. And we saw less and less of the procedure. Like last night when Archie scanned and enhanced the photo. Usually a scene like that is "We already have the photo, Archie walks some of the CSIs through what he's doing and then they go door-to-door with said photo". Rather than Archie doing all of this and THEN the discussion. It's about how they're balancing time, really.
 
The only loss that would make me give up "CSI" would be the loss of William Petersen. I like everyone else.
However, I could live without Sofia. She's unnecessary.
Ecklie is the villain that I love to hate. The show needs someone to show how Grissom hates bureaucracy.
 
I personally wouldn't get rid of the main cast...even though Catherine sometimes annoys me...but i sill like her character. And as for Sara,i don't find her annoying at all....i like that she gets so involved in some cases, and i would really like to see more of her character develop...sometimes she seems like such a mystery...
lol
but if i HAD to get rid of a character it would be Sofia....just because she doesnt bring a whole lot to the show (No offense!)...and we need our comic relief and we need our villians!
 
Oh, I love Ecklie and Hodges - you need a recurring "villain" within the story so that you never really feel like there's a safety-net within the show.
 
Sofia cuz she's boring to me, and I don't like Ecklie either but you do need a villain..

If they ever got rid of Greg or Sara I'd email CBS and rant about it.
 
sarahvma & SandleLove Per the rules of the board banner sizes are 220 Wide by 75 High, and you have a choice of either "Banner" or "Text", Please adapt your signature accordingly, Thank you.
 
I hate to choose a main character; but I could live without Sara because I really don't care for her.

I also could live without Sophia, because I don't think her character adds much to the show. Seriously, if they suddenly removed her, I actually think it might take me a few episodes to realize she wasn't around.
 
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