CBS has landed a very familiar name, Ted Danson, to lead its most familiar drama, as the network tries to keep alive the one-time top show in television, “C.S.I.”
CBS announced Tuesday night that Mr. Danson, who has been among the most popular stars in television since his days leading the NBC comedy hit “Cheers,” will take over in the fall as the chief investigator of the Las Vegas Crime Scene Investigation team, the job first held by William Petersen and most recently by Laurence Fishburne.
CBS has moved “C.S.I.” out of its longtime home on Thursday night to Wednesdays in the fall. Ratings for the series began to fall off sharply toward the end of last season, the show’s 11th on the air. There had been some question about whether CBS would try to keep the crime drama alive, facing the challenges of having to replace a star for the second time.
But CBS often retains shows longer than other networks, calculating that new shows are always a bigger risk And “C.S.I.” remains a significant financial asset for the company, which has an ownership stake in the series. The drama still sells to many international broadcasters and its repeats are still purchased for a high price by the cable channel Spike.
Mr. Danson has expanded his acting repertoire in recent years, playing a villain on the FX series “Damages” — and gaining an Emmy nomination – and a reprobate publisher on the HBO comedy “Bored to Death.” According to CBS’s announcement Mr. Danson will continue in that role.
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