About the CSI Post-Grissom Ratings Slide

In the May 4-10, 2009 issue of TV Guide magazine has a small news item about the decline in ratings for CSI following the departure of Gil Grissom (William Petersen). With the gap in the cast rollsheet filled by Laurence Fishburn, as rookie CSI investigator Ray Langstone, the idea was that there would be a smooth transition. Although just about everyone I’ve spoken to has seen the problem immediately, CSI executive producer Naran Shankar is quoted as saying:

Any answer we came up with would have been wrong. […] We gave our audience a reason to like Langston. The biggest mistake we could have made would be to say, “Let’s just bring in another guy who is exactly like Grissom but he likes cats instead of bugs.”

Adding new people allows you to find new ways to tell a story. […] But it does take a little bit of patience.

When I read that, I was stunned. Does Shankar actually not see where things derailed? Seriously? Fine. Whatever. I’m here to help.

In a nutshell, the ratings have slid because the show shifted from being a clearly ensemble piece to turning into CSI: Ray Langstone. All of a sudden this rookie investigator is getting a ton of screen time at the expense of a cast who have put in more than enough years of service to warrant a little more of the screen time. On top of that, Fishburn gets top billing. Honestly, if I’m one of the original actors on the show, at this point I’m pissed.

You want the audience to stick around and love Langstone? Don’t shove him down the audience’s throats. It almost never works. Everyone gets alienated. Had he been something more than a fresh-meat recruit into the forensic team, his rank might have been cause for more air time. But as a rookie just learning the ropes…over exposed. Definitely.

Langstone might have been OK for more screen time had he been used sparingly through the rest of the current season. Let the audience get used to him. Figure out the chemistry with the rest of the cast. But no.

Don’t get me wrong. I very much enjoy watching Fishburne and the Langstone character, I just think how the character has been presented was fumbled. At present, I’m really missing the established cast. After all, now that Cat is in charge of the shift, shouldn’t she be getting more air time? Marg has certainly earned it.