Could Cyrus the Virus or Morpheus have replaced Grissom?
It's hard to imagine someone as quirky and cool as John Malkovich (Con Air's Cyrus the Virus) or Matrix co-star Laurence Fishburne actually doing time on a CBS cop show.
So it's not surprising really that CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler wound up admitting that attempts to secure Malkovich as a possible addition to the cast of CSI never worked out, amid news that star William Petersen was leaving his role next season as team leader Gil Grissom. Tassler said the network "talked about" Fishburne, but never really settled on him.
The new character Malkovich would have played wouldn’t necessarily replace Petersen’s character, joining the Las Vegas forensics unit as a new guy who secretly knows he has a genetic disposition to become a serial killer. Tassler expected Petersen to leave the show after 10 episodes or so in the middle on the 2008-09 season, overlapping a few shows with the new character.
“You look at someone like John Malkovich,..who has an interesting internal life to every character he does,” Tassler said, noting that Malkovich begged off before formal negotiations could begin. “We’re looking for someone that has depth and scope and gravitas.”
The Feed is a blog on TV, media and modern life by St. Petersburg Times TV/media critic Eric Deggans. Possibly the most critical guy at the Times, he has served as music, media and TV critic at various times over 10 years.
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I happened to get home Friday evening in time to watch Ann Curry anchor NBC's 6:30 newscast. First thought that came to mind is how Ann should take great delight in knowing she was automatically getting more viewers than Katie Couric. Second thought was how NBC made a mistake not promoting her to Katie's spot on "Today" instead of hiring that game show host who they can't offload quickly enough.
Posted by: The Carl | July 19, 2008 at 10:24 AM
this is what cyrus the virus reminds you of?
Seriously, I respect your opinion, but don't share it. I wrote back when the transition happened that Curry would be an awful choice, and nothing she's done since has changed my mind.
Awful interview style, inability to ask substantive questions, poor taste in stories...she's what friends of mine in the TV news biz like to call a "news actor."
Posted by: Eric Deggans | July 19, 2008 at 10:28 AM
they shouldn't have killed off Mike. Leiv Schrieber was great on the show and would have been an excellent full-time replacement for Grissom
Posted by: mel | July 21, 2008 at 08:22 AM