We were getting debriefed at the CSI headquarters. Grissom's gone. New guy on board. Taylor Swift makes acting debut.

Taylor Swift?

Yes, it a whole new world over at CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Tonight marks the changing of the guard, as Grissom leaves Las Vegas, moving on to another life that will be even more fulfilling. So viewers bid farewell to Grissom, get a story arch featuring hip country chick Swift (her character's a poor girl living in a trailer park), anticipate The Exorcist's William Friedkin directing the Las Vegas-filmed 100th episode and say hello to the new guy on the block.

While much has been said about Lawrence Fishburne's character taking Grissom's place, that's not really the case. Raymond Langston's a professor who is a CSI newbie. For the trivia buff, Langston's also the name of Fishburne's eldest child.

The cast and producers were grilled by TV writers on Monday during a visit to the set. Everyone said the kind things about William Petersen moving on, with a small promise that Grissom might return for a visit. Since Petersen's still a producer on the show, there's little doubt he'll still pop in from time to time.

Fishburne, who appears every bit as serious as his character, was asked what the election of an African-American president meant for him, and his role on this show.

"The good news is that I was asked to join this company because of my intelligence and because of my gifts as an actor," Fishburne said. "And for that I am extremely grateful. The fact that I happen to be a man of color, well, I like to think of it as a bonus. In much the same way that I think of the man who will become our president in a few weeks' time. He is intelligent, capable, engaging and interested in bringing people together. And he happens to be an African-American."

Well said.

Fishburne, however, will be competing with the memory of the beloved Grissom, who had a rather quirky sense of humor that made his character all the more appealing. Fishburne said after the conference that he's taking his character development slow, so we might seem more humor cropping up later. Right now, he said he hasn't really gotten a firm grasp on what he wants his character to be. But he's learning and growing. Nice thought, but often times TV audiences don't have the patience they should. And he might want to step it up a few notches. His character makes some major mistakes in the Grissom-goes episode that might not endear him to the audience.

While Wallace Langham's David Hodges is the guy providing the chuckles around CSI these days, Langham says he expects Fishburne to amp up the humor on his character.

"He's got a very wry sense of humor that I think he'll bring to the character," Langham says. "He's a great actor, so I know he'll become a major force on the show. But I'll still be the funniest guy."

On the set visit, TV writers got to browse around the body shop, get their pictures taken with fake corpses and real guys playing corpses.

One man, Tim, lies on the cold stainless steel autopsy bed. He shares that it's only cold for a little while until body heat turns it into a bun warmer. But at least Tim didn't suffer the fate of one actress playing a corpse, who learned the hard way that putting a lamp underneath the steel bed isn't a great idea. The heat conducted through the metal at an alarming rate, and she jumped off the shelf when it turned into a griddle.

While nothing on the set looked incredibly different from what you see on the air, there was some concern that Grissom's lab might have already been deconstructed.

Fear not. Grissom's lab lives on.

"George has been mentored by Billy Petersen and Nick Stokes has been mentored by Grissom,'' says George Eads after the press conference. "I'm going to be taking on the mantle of mentor. I'm going to be moving into Grissom's office, or sharing it."

Good news for big fans everywhere.

Recommend (0)

|  Comments (0)

|  Email

|  Share

Share  Facebook Digg del.icio.us