September 29, 2008
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A barrage of pretty major changes has confronted CSI, one of the world's most watched shows, as it returns for its ninth season this October.
Some characters left, some came in, while some still will leave then return from time to time. "It's natural for shows to go through change," CSI executive producer Shankar assured fans. "The beauty of CSI is that internally, it's very strong. We'd like to think that as much as the cast has created wonderful characters, the show is the star too. People tune in to mysteries, complex characterizations, plot twists, and great crime solving. That will continue.
September 25, 2008
Here's something. During Emmy night when William Petersen presented an award with Laurence Fishburne, Jorja Fox, who plays Sara Sidle on CSI before leaving last season, told Entertainment Weekly that she will be “in and out” of the hit CBS show on its ninth season. Judging from the comments from our previous reports explaining her departure from CSI, a lot of fans won't be happy with this news. Most of them was not very fond of Sara, to put it mildly.
"I'll be visiting a little bit," the newly engaged Fox said. "I'll be in and out, and it's kind of fun. I knew that might happen. I didn't know it was going to happen so soon, so it was a surprise. It's always a surprise, really, and it's been really great. It's been great to be there."
September 22, 2008
Jorja Fox, who plays Sara Sidle on CSI, will return on the premiere of the hit CBS show, the first of a reportedly three-episode story arc. In the promo, she is seen hugging Grisson (W.lliam Petersen) obviously disheartened at what happened to Warrick (Gary Dourdan). Her leaving CSI last season seemed to have opened the floodgates of changes that now hound the show as it returns for its ninth season in October.
If we remember, Fox left in last season's episode called “Goodbye and Good Luck,” suffering from what looked like psychological burnout. Sara just snapped after a particularly difficult case. She left without saying goodbye to her fellow investigators especially Grissom, save for a note saying something about confronting about the ghosts of her past, something that she couldn't do in Vegas. Recently, the CSI producers and Fox herself revealed the inspiration behind this farewell episode.
September 18, 2008
As far as CBS is concerned, it appeared that it had a good thing with CSI. For years it did well on the ratings and maintained almost flawlessly its roster of dependable characters. As things started to change, however, remember that it wasn't the intention of the people behind CSI to hit the show with these changes. Petersen, for instance, plans to do more theater and in fact already has a production of Dublin Carol scheduled this fall at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater. Now regarding his impending departure, Petersen previously said "W. need to have new life, new blood (and) it will be good for the show. And that will be good for the audience."
After reportedly being turned down by John Malkovich, Lawrence Fishburne finally said yes to joining the show, despite admitting that he hasn't been exactly a fan. Now according to CBS, the Matrix films actor will play “a former pathologist who is now working as an itinerant college lecturer, teaching a course in criminalistics.” This dispels earlier rumors that Fishburne will play a serial killer. In an interview, CSI executive producer Naren Shankar reveals more details about this still unnamed character.
September 9, 2008
Perhaps it's safe to say that not a lot of people were happy about the way CSI got rid of Gary Dourdan's character on the CBS show. And since it was mostly personal stuff that caused Dourdan's exit, CSI fans thought it was probably better if his character was just sidelined until the problem was solved, instead of just totally killing him off. TV Guide's Matt Roush has this to counter this accusation: “I felt the producers gave him (Dourdan) some great material as Warrick struggled with personal demons and, as he reached a moment of triumph, was shockingly felled by someone within the department."
This is only one of the major shifts on CSI as it prepares to debut its ninth season on October 9. In fact, the season premiere is called “For Warrick” and both he and Jorja Fox, who plays Sara Sidle, will also be back for the first episode. Both formally agreed to leave the show last season.
September 3, 2008
Approximately one week after CSI debuts its ninth season CBS, CSI's eighth season will be available on DVD with a reported October 14 release. Part of the added bonus include the crossover episode “Without a Trace” plus the 17 CSI episodes during the strike-shortened season. There will also be two audio commentaries for “Cockroaches” and “You Kill Me.” Of course, the deleted scenes will also be available on the DVDs.
The nicely titled featureettes in the season eight DVD include “So Long, Sara Sidle,” in reference to Jorja Fox's leaving the crime lab midway through the season, “William Friedkin: A Different Take,” the director behind The Exorcist and To Live and Die in LA, starring CSI's William Petersen. Friedkin directed “Cockroaches,” but it's still unsure if he provided the audio commentary for this episode. The other vaguely titled features include “While the Cast's Away, the Rats Will Play,” “What Happened in Vegas…,” “Shot in the Dark,” and “TOD: A Bug's Life.”
August 28, 2008
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It's true. CSI has become such a worldwide phenomenon that lawmakers from halfway across the world have made multiple references to the show while debating on an important piece of legislation. The global hit series CSI was mentioned several times during a debate on the DNA Identification Bill of 2008 in the Malaysian parliament.
Firstly, it was referred to several times with regards to how fast and efficiently investigations are conducted. There were points raised, however, as to whether or not it is correct to compare real-life cases and those spearheaded by Gil Grissom, played by William Petersen (and Laurence Fishburne in the future).
August 21, 2008
It’s no secret that CSI fans are intrigued by the upcoming season, mainly because of the addition of Laurence Fishburne to the cast. Fishburne replaces William Petersen, who has played Gil Grissom since the show first debuted in 2000. Fishburne, whose character does not have a name yet, will be playing “a former pathologist who is now working as an itinerant college lecturer, teaching a course in criminalistics,” according to an official statement from CBS. Soon after it was announced that he would be joining the show, Laurence Fishburne participated in a press conference call and opened up about the jump from movies to television … or back to television. Pee Wee’s Playhouse, anyone?