CSI meltdown

I think we can file this under Bad Career Moves.

The firing of two "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" stars in a salary dispute was fair and intended to help the TV industry draw the fiscal line, CBS chief Les Moonves said Sunday.

Actors Jorja Fox and George Eads, who play investigators Sara Sidle and Nick Stokes on the hit CBS crime drama, were dumped last week when they failed to report for work on the upcoming season, he said.

"There comes a point where we feel a contract is a contract. ... We all have to look out for the future of the network television business," he said.

Translation: "You think we won't be able to find young hotties willing to wield cotton swabs and squint at carpet fibers for half the price?"

More to the point, did they really never notice that CSI is, like, totally plot driven? That we don't know anything about the actual characters on CSI because they're not the reason we tune in? It's one thing for the cast of The West Wing to walk off, since its characters actually dictate plotlines. But CSI? How many of you even knew that Jorja Fox's character's surname was Sidle? I couldn't have told you that without consulting IMDB first.

Oh, and Reiko Aylesworth, formerly of 24, will join CSI next season, in an apparently unrelated but well-timed announcement. Jack Bauer will be the only regular 24 character who'll be back next season, and he won't be with CTU any more. I know it's gone downhill since the first season, but I'll still get a season pass for it on my TiVo.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on July 19, 2004 to TV and movies | TrackBack