Fishburne Joins CSI Cast

Fishburne out as chief of Las Vegas crew

(NEWSER) - Ted Danson's new role won't involve as many hijinks as Cheers, but there'll still be plenty of late nights. The actor is joining CSI next season as the graveyard shift supervisor at the Las Vegas crime lab. Laurence Fishburne is leaving the show and CBS had considered actors including Tony Shaloub, Robin Williams, and John Lithgow for the role before settling on Danson, sources tell Entertainment Weekly . More»

'Matrix' actor leaving role as Dr. Raymond Langston

(AP) - Laurence Fishburne is closing the file on his CSI: Crime Scene Investigation career. The actor won't be back on the CBS crime drama this fall, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. Fishburne joined the CSI cast as Dr. Raymond Langston midway through the 2008-09 season. He stepped in to replace departing star William Petersen. More»

Surprise move comes days before shooting starts on Season 7

(NEWSER) - In an unexpected move just days before CSI: NY begins shooting its seventh season, co-star Melina Kanakaredes said today she'll leave the case of the CBS crime procedural. "We hoped Melina would return to CSI: NY for another season, but we respect her decision to move on," the network said in a statement, seemingly indicating negotiations had been ongoing. The show is the lowest-rated show in the CSI family and is moving to Friday this fall, which bodes ill for its prospects, New York notes . More»

From election-night snafus to the WGA strike

(NEWSER) - It’s been an embarrassing decade for TV networks, as the Hollywood Reporter proves with its list of the aughties’ biggest industry mistakes:

1. Hollywood writers’ strike: It was unnecessary and “mutually destructive”—and for viewers, “has there ever been a longer 14 weeks?”
2. ABC’s rejection of CSI: The show has scored $6 billion for CBS and prompted spurned producer Jerry Bruckheimer to walk out on Disney.

Huge $25M-$30M deal for British scientific thriller beats out ABC

(NEWSER) - CBS beat out all comers, mainly ABC, for the rights to a Jerry Bruckheimer/Warner Brothers adaptation of the British series Eleventh Hour, a scientific thriller a la X-Files. The deal, pronounced the biggest of this development season, puts CBS on the hook for $25 million to $30 million, Variety reports. More»