I had seen various episodes but I was never a regular watcher of the series. But a couple of weeks back I picked up some box sets at a flea market, so I’ve been watching the first season episodes. And I’ve concluded that Gil Grissom would be a really annoying boss.
He would make jokes about the cases, cite obscure trivia, and go off on long rambles about things that had nothing to do with the case. If any of the others said anything, he’d say something about how a good CSI looks at the big picture and studies everything because you never know where the clues will be, blah blah blah. But when any of the others did anything similar, he’d snap at them that being a CSI was serious business and somebody had died and they needed to stay focused on the case.
Whenever any of the others would come and ask him for advice, he’d never give anything useful advice like, “I think you should talk to the wife. Her story about being out of town that day doesn’t match what her neighbour said.” or “See if the blood we found in the trunk matches the blood that was on the loading dock. If it does we can connect those two crimes.” No, his “advice” will be something like “Follow the evidence” or “Listen to the wind”. That’s real useful. But then when they go out and figure out a useful course of action, he acts like it was his suggestion that made the difference.
On several occasions, when somebody shows some initiative and finds a lead on their own, Grissom usually belittles their efforts. He’ll tell them he had already figured it out on his own (but didn’t share this knowledge with anyone else) or that there was a simpler way they could have done it. It’s surprising that any of the others even bother trying to do anything on their own - they might as well just give up and wait for Grissom to tell them what he wants them to do.
But they’re all desperate for his approval. Which I guess is to be expected because Grissom is always playing favorites. And he plays his subordinates off against each other. They’re always talking about who Grissom likes best and who he’s unhappy with. And the ones who are out of favor are always the ones who get stuck with the bad cases (which Grissom hands out on his personal whim).
So have other people noticed this? Is it something that regular viewers have been talking about for years? Does he get better in later seasons?
Well, he quit the show - so maybe that is better?
Never did figure out why someone would quit a hit show, but he did.
At first, I thought that would be the kiss of death for the show - after all, he was sort of the “leader” as you mention.
However, after about two episodes, I have to admit I don’t really miss him for most of the reasons you listed.
A few of the other actors back then were trying to get more money and walked off the set. The producers more or less said, “Fuck you!” and killed one off and the other two came back real fast at their old salary.
CSI Las Vegas is still a good show today, even without Grissom - but I can’t stand David Caruso, so never watch CSI Miami. So there is an example where the lead actor has made me NOT watch a show.
He got better. The first season or so, every character was finding their character’s voice and center. One thing that is most jarring to me from the early episodes is what a prick Brass was, but nowadays, he’s my favorite character on the show.
I haven’t seen the show in some time and watched it last week. What the heck happened to Marg Helgenberger? She used to be really attractive and now she’s scary!
He’s been a producer/executive producer for most of the run of the show. Basically, as long as the show can carry on without him, he can still take home a paycheck but doesn’t have to deal with the long days of the shooting schedule.
He first took a sabbatical to do a theater stint in 2006 and he evidently really liked having something fresh to do. So he figured he’d pass on the “CSI actor” paycheck and keep the “CSI producer” paycheck, which still means gobs of money, so he can enjoy being on stage in Chicago.
This is a timely thread for me because I’ve just finished re-watching the first three seasons (I have all nine first seasons on DVD - I’m a CSI nerd, I guess).
I agree about Brass - the first few episodes of the first season, he was really a jerk and didn’t seem to have any respect for the CSI team. His character has evolved into a really neat personality, though. Lots of dry humor and I think he gets the best lines much of the time.
I think the thing with the Grissom character is that he has zero social skills, being a science geek and all. I think his “weirdness” and brusqueness was intentional.
George Eads (Nick) and Jorja Fox (Sara) had a money dispute - maybe in season four? They both didn’t show up for work as protest to not getting paid as much as the others, although Eads said later he only “overslept.” :rolleyes: Gary Dourdan (Warwick) was written off/killed off when he was busted for drugs in real life.
(I said I was a CSI nerd.)
I’ve never been able to get involved in the spin-offs; I have seen a couple episodes of the one that takes place in New York and it doesn’t seem too bad. I don’t like David Caruso, either, and the only episode of the Miami one I’ve seen is when a kidnapping happened in Vegas and the victim was taken to Miami and that was, basically, the pilot for the one that takes place in Miami.
Did anyone see the season ten cliffhanger? Laurence Fishburne (Langston) gets stabbed? I wonder if he survives? I haven’t heard anything about him leaving the show.
Oh, and one of my favorite characters has always been Greg. He becomes a CSI and almost loses his life in season seven (which, in my opinion, is the best season).
The scene in which Langston got stabbed was so dumb. The guy was so clearly a dangerous psycho, I have no idea why Langston met with him alone, or didn’t make sure to stay out of range.
But Langston has only been a CSI for a couple of years so maybe we can chalk it up to inexperience.
Oh, as big a fan as I am, there have been a few shows every season that have left me scratching my head. Dumb stuff a character does or some things that don’t add up in the plot. :smack: I always forgive the cast and writers, though.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the last season. It does seem to be getting a little “tired.”
Grissom was a pompous prick. Personally, I hated his character. However, he couldn’t come close to David Caruso, so in comparison, he was ok to watch.
One thing about Brass that many people forget. The first episode, he was Grissom… the head of the crime lab. He was booted out of that position and sent back to homicide. So there was major tension between Brass and the CSI team for a season or two. Brass is a great character.
I hated Jorja Fox and her fixation with Grissom. It was pathetic, bordering on obsession. Not a good character.
Nick changed his hair every season, which had to be some sort of inside joke with him and the producers.
I liked Warrick quite a bit.
Marg H. was always a skank, and now with her plastic surgery, she’s really become scary.
I liked Greg and his replacement, Mia… but Mia disappeared after a year or two.
I like Doc Robbins, but David is just a real-life sta-puft marshmallow man. A wimpy tub of goo.
Oh, and that weird guy Hodges. Who I thought played a great lab rat.
No, I never thought the Grissom/Sara pairing worked. There were a couple of episodes where it looked like maybe they were going to hook up Katharine and Warwick but it never happened.
In one episode, Warwick took his shirt off and went in a swimming pool to retrieve some evidence. Hawt!
Apparently there were originally plans to have Katherine and Nick hooked up. But they decided to drop this idea and cut the scenes of them together before they were broadcast.
There was one episode where Katherine and Warwick were in a storm ditch or sewer looking for evidence and she started to fall. He caught her and they stared into each others eyes for a few seconds. But that’s as far as it got.
They really don’t get too much into the personal lives of the “team.” They do a little; we know some personal stuff about all of them (probably Katherine the most) but they’ve never had it be much of the story. I think we know the least about Nick.
I dunno … I think that I would like having Grissom as a boss. Yeah, his philosophical musings and cryptic advice might drive me batty sometimes, but I could live with that. He seems to genuinely care about the people working under him, and he doesn’t micromanage. And talk about second chances! You can get your co-worker killed because you left a crime scene to go run a stupid errand, and he won’t even fire you!
[hijack]
I’d rather watch 10 episodes of Carusso than 10 minutes of Grissom explaing how Nevada is the 7th largest manufacturer of Technetium-Antimonium alloys and that there are 4 plants within 10 miles but only one near the breeding grounds of Nictophera simplis [/hijack]
That might sound fine if you’re the guy getting the second chance, but what if you’re the guy that dies because second-chance-guy didn’t get fired the first time?
