Ted Danson on CSI

I can't believe I am blogging about this but I just really think the world (or, my 9 Google Reader subscribers?  PS, who are you people?  You're awesome, all 9 of you) should know that Ted Danson has totally revived CSI!

If you don't watch CSI, or haven't in a while, but still want to be nice and read this whole post, here's a bit of background.  William Peterson, aka Gil Grissom, was the team leader on CSI until mid-season 9, and when he left the show the main showrunner became Laurence Fishburne, playing the dark but boring character of serial killer-ologist Dr. Ray Langston.  Because CSI has always been one of my favourite guilty pleasures, I kept watching the series after the departure of Gil Grissom, but kind of hated it sometimes.

After a couple of painful seasons of Ray Langston and declining ratings, his character (SPOILERS) killed the serial killer who he had been studying for years, who kidnapped his ex-wife and tried to kill him blah blah blah.  As recurring serial killers on CSI go, this guy was a pretty boring one.  Definitely no Miniature Killer.  Because Ray Langston more or less killed him in cold blood rather than self-defense, I am pretty sure he quit?  Or was fired?  I don't even know, but he left the show, and his character is now back together with his ex-wife.

And he was replaced with... TED DANSON???  Who would have thought, but Ted Danson is freaking awesome on CSI.  He brings back a lot of the old life that William Peterson brought to the show and is an upbeat, quirky character who just makes the show interesting to watch. 

If you used to be a CSI fan but gave up after Gil Grissom's departure, or caught an episode from the past couple of seasons and cringed at how bad it was, I'd recommend giving the show another try, starting at the beginning of season 12.  I'm not going to pretend I actually think CSI is Quality Television Programming that is Very Realistic, because it's not and I know that.  It's still sort of cheesy and campy, but back to the old style of FUN cheesy and campy, not trying to be something it's not.  It's no Law and Order (RIP) but it's back to being one of those go-to shows for when you need to fill an hour and want to watch something entertaining and mindless.