THE TV COLUMN : New character looks likely to brighten CSI’s darkness
Posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2008
It’s not looking good for the characters on CSI.
Sara Sidle is all depressed and burned out and off somewhere meditating. She may be back someday, but we can’t count on that.
In real life, Jorja Fox, who played Sara, was burned out after seven years on the show and is on a break from series TV.
And Catherine’s (Marg Helgenberger ) face-lift is taking its sweet time unpuffing itself.
Meanwhile, Warrick Brown has been framed and set up and drilled by a couple of slugs in what appear to be quite-vital areas. He has been left bleeding and slumped over his steering wheel. He looks like a goner.
Those wounds would kill ordinary mortal men, but this is television. Come back in the fall to find out what happens.
In real life, Gary Dourdan, who portrays Brown, was found slumped asleep in his car last month and arrested for the heroin, cocaine, Ecstasy and prescription drugs found in the vehicle. He claims they weren’t his. Dourdan might be in jail or rehabilitation when it’s time to shoot a new season.
That means TV’s No. 1 drama needs new blood. And fast.
CBS has announced that Lauren Lee Smith will join the cast as a crime scene investigator next season.
Yea !
Smith will play Bryce Adams. The network describes the character as “a smart, flirtatious and witty nonconformist who entered law enforcement to rebel against her judgmental psychiatrist father.” Furthermore, Adams “has always been fascinated by the perverse underbelly of society and cannot be shocked or intimidated.” She’ll be hired on for Grissom’s night shift.
Yeah, we’ve all been there. That’s why we watch CSI. We like the vicarious thrill of the perverse underbelly of Las Vegas.
Viewers might recognize Smith from her three-season turn on Showtime’s The L Word (she played sous-chef Lara Perkins ) or the highly erotic and steamy independent film Lie With Me, with Eric Balfour. The 27-yearold Canadian also co-starred opposite Casey Affleck and Zach Braff in The Last Kiss. With that track record and the warning that Bryce Adams will be “flirtatious and witty,” CSI might be heading in a brighter, lighter direction.
THE CBS SUMMER All that will happen in the fall (barring the possible strike by the Screen Actors Guild ). Meanwhile, we have a long, hot summer to navigate.
CBS recently unveiled its summer plans. They include 90 hours of original programming consisting of three new reality shows, two new dramas, a couple of mixed-martial arts events, the Tony Awards (anybody watch those ?) and the AFI’s Top 10.
If you’ve been waiting for the summer to catch up on shows you’ve missed, there will be reruns. Without a Trace, Numb 3 rs and Cold Case will repeat and move to new time periods.
Here’s what to look for. Greatest American Dog, 7 p.m. July 10. Owners and their pets will live together and compete against one another in games that test the owners’ ability to train their dogs. The winning team nails a $ 250, 000 prize. That’s split, I assume, between owner and pooch. Million Dollar Password, 7 p.m. June 1. Regis Philbin hosts an update of the legendary TV game show. Jingles, 8 p.m. July 27. Contestants are challenged to write and perform jingles. The subject matter covers everything from commercial products to sports teams. Swingtown, 9 p.m. June 5. I’ve seen a couple of episodes of this new drama. It tries really, really hard to be risque and provocative.
Set in suburbia in the 1970 s (drinking and smoking are shown ), the drama attempts to show the “social and sexual revolution that introduced women’s liberation and challenged conventional wisdom.” Aside from a lot of bad hairdos and shag carpeting, the series hasn’t much to offer yet. Maybe it’ll improve once it quits trying to be the next Mad Men. Flashpoint, 7 p.m. July 10. Another cop show. This purports to be inspired by the Toronto Emergency Task Force. Whuh ? We can’t even be inspired by American stuff anymore ? The series follows the “tough, risk-filled lives” of a group of cops who rescue hostages, bust gangbangers, defuse bombs and climb up buildings to talk down suicidal teens.
24 PREQUEL SET Remember 24 ? Jack Bauer ? I know it’s hard to recall since the writers’ strike meant the series skipped the entire 2007-08 TV season.
Since the series is a midseason program and episodes run straight through with no repeats, the next time we’ll see Jack save the world will be January.
Not to worry. Fox feels your pain. To tide fans over, Fox is planning the two-hour 24 special for 7-9 p.m. Nov. 23. The extended episode will be set several months before the action of the new season and serve as background and a transition.
That’s good because I don’t remember what happened in the last episode in May 2007. The TV column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. E-mail: mstorey@arkansasonline. com
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