As a lifelong CSI (vegas) fan I felt heartbreak when William Peterson left and they brought in Lawrence Fishburn. Morpheus was good but his character wasn’t right for the show and I think everyone saw the writing on the wall and he left to make way for Ted Danson.
I was even more heartbroken when CBS moved the show to Wednesday and thought it was the end…but then TED DANSON! He is amazing in this show. His character is perfectly suited for the cast, the way he acts is perfect for this character and he has brought new life into this show.
Any other CSI fans watching? Anyone agree? If you left the show when Grissom did you owe yourself an episode with Danson. He’s brought this show back!
I have enjoyed this season thoroughly with Danson. I was skeptical at first, but the more I watch the more he’s grown on me. Frankly, I never saw him as much of an actor, but this character is decidedly different than both Sam Malone and Becker. I liked Larry, but he was intense…so every storyline was…intense.
I was really down on Danson until I saw him in Bored to Death and I thought he was awesome. I was skeptical of him on CSI but it hasn’t been awkward at all. Except maybe for the weirdness with “Jules.” But, yeah I like him all right.
When they announced his casting I was sure it was the beginning of the end but I have also been pleased with his performance so far. I like how they’ve integrated him in the team and I love the quirks his character has.
Waiting for what twist they have in plan for his character’s wife. He’s always on the phone with her at some point during every episode, but we haven’t seen her yet. I keep waiting for them to reveal that she’s been dead for 20 years or something weirder. (Note I haven’t seen this week’s episode yet in case there was a big reveal this week.)
Then again, maybe that’s just their way to make him “normal”. How odd.
Danson is sneaky good…kind of like a baseball player who has a long career where he’s never the best in his generation at anything but in sum he’s good enough to be a Hall of Famer.
Could be. Grissom was sort of asexual until he was captivated by Lady Whomever and then suddenly was riding the Sara Sidel Express. Then Cowboy Curtis was all messed up in the head with his ex wife and she became a victim and blah blah…
Looks like Ted Danson just comes to work, does his CSI’ing and goes home.
But of course he has some sort of seeeeecret with this new girl, Jules. Ugh.
Also I hate hate hate the “my significant other calls me 24 hours a day, especially in the middle of important work stuff” meme. See: Dexter.
Danson was a good dramatic actor before Cheers (watch him in The Onion Field and Body Heat), so I’m not surprised he’s good here. I like the concept of the role as a laid back boss and family man – a welcome change from the intensity of last season. I wouldn’t expect his marriage to have any skeletons in it, either.
I also like seeing Elizabeth Shue, even though it seems she has trouble leaving Las Vegas.
I gave up on CSI about 5 shows into the Larry Fishburne era. I think he was terribly miscast. When I saw he was leaving and Danson was coming on I gave it another shot since I’d just seen *Damages *and liked Danson in that. I watched the first few episodes of the Danson season and really liked him but just haven’t had time to watch any more.
I too have been really surprised (happily) with Danson so far. I think he has given the show a much needed breath of fresh air.
So far I like the little snippets of his relationship with his wife (Guy drowns in chocolate. DB: “Dark or Milk? I know that’s what my wife is going to ask me”) and his son (“So what your teammates think you’re weird? We’re both weird. You just have to get used to it…”)
I am not really feeling Elisabeth Shue’s character though. Someone over at TWOP speculated that maybe they’re brother and sister, rather than former lovers, which would be a neat twist.
Danson’s a great actor. He made Sam Malone on *Cheers *look so natural that it was easy to forget he was acting. And like others have said, he was excellent in Damages. He was in an old made-for-TV movie called Living With the Dead that really impressed me, not to mention Something About Amelia, a big risk for him as a likeable actor (about a father who sexually abused his daughter).
I agree with you, but I think the fault is more due to the writers who didn’t know where to go with the character. Although I really liked the episodes were he was bonding with Doc Robbins, it gave these characters more depth. I wish they had pursued it longer.
Yes, although maybe Fishburn is the better actor, his character was meh, and the series took a weird turn into dark and action, instead of science and quirky humor. Danson has brought back the quirky humor nicely.
I gave up on CSI with Fishburne and the idiot serial killer plots. I know the show stopped paying homage to reality a long time ago, but that was over the top and through the woods to grandmother’s house, where she was found dead from what only appear to be wolf bites.
Nuts on nuts is too much. Danson’s normality makes the crimes more interesting. You want to catch the nasty killers just for what they’ve done to his day.
At one point, it was down to Fishburne and my long-time secret love, Kurt Russell, who were both in contention for the part.
Le sigh… SO wonder what would CSI have been like with Russell in the part…
And now we have ‘Sam.’
Having been determined to hate him in the part, I have been pleasantly surprised and pleased and not disappointed at all at what he’s done in the role, and very glad to see the Fishburne character given the heave ho.
I probably would have preferred an actor who wasn’t already cemented in my mind as a different character, but Ted Danson has done pretty well. In fact, I am generally pleased with the other new regulars, Elisabeth Shue and Elisabeth Harnois, as well. And the show’s decision to dial back on the doom and gloom was definitely welcome.
That’s what my husband and I assumed from the start. They interact like estranged siblings, not past lovers. Also, Danson’s character has stated that he has been with his wife since high school, and she is the only woman he has ever slept with.
What an odd coincidence - my SO and I were just commenting last week how we both agreed Danson is doing a great job in the role and we don’t miss Fishburne nor Peterson.
Speaking of Peterson - why in the hell did he just up and leave the show back then? I heard it was his idea to leave the show (he wasn’t fired or anything) and just wondered why?
Unlike Fishburne, Peterson doesn’t have a huge film career to fall back on.
I got to have cocktails with Peterson a few years back (it was a charity auction thing), and according to him he was just done. Didn’t hate CSI, no hard feelings, just felt like he’d run his course. He moved back to Chicago and has been pretty active at the Steppenwolf Theatre; he really enjoys the stage and, although he didn’t come right out and say it, I get the impression that he thought, “I’ve got plenty of money now, time to do what I really love.” Good on him, I say.
