CSI - Season 12 - Ted Danson joins cast !

CSI producers landed a big name to replace Laurence Fishburne (who chose not to renew his contract last May) : Ted Danson !

Ted Danson is mostly known for his role as Sam Malone on the hit NBC sitcom Cheers (1982-1993), and also his role as John Becker on Becker (1998-2004) & Arthur Frobisher on Damages (2007-2010). Now, he's starring in the HBO comedy Bored to Death (2009-?) as the very funny George Christopher.

Fortunately, Ted Danson's arrival in the CSI cast will not affect his participation to Bored to Death (the 3rd season is already completed and if the show were to be renewed for a 4th season (I hope it will), apparently he could star in it as well).

Here's a small description of his role on CSI : after heading the Portland crime lab, Ted Danson's character arrives to Las Vegas to supervise the team, as Raymond Langston (Laurence Fishburne's character) will be gone. Laurence Fishburne arrived on CSI on Thursday, December 11th, 2008 (episode 9.09). He starred in 60 episodes of CSI since then, did one cross-over with both CSI Miami & CSI NY, and voiced 2 videogames based on the show.

About Ted Danson's arrival, executive producer/writer Carol Mendelsohn said : "You can create a new character on the page, but until the perfect actor comes along and breathes life into it, it’s just words. We’re very excited Ted Danson came along". And executive producer/writer Don McGill said : "From the moment we all started talking about the role, it was clear he couldn’t be more perfect : intelligence, wit, warmth, depth of character and emotion, he brings it all. And now he'll have to bring latex gloves, too".

Ted Danson will appear in the season 12 premiere, which will air on Wednesday, September 21st 2011 at 10pm, on CBS.

It's been 3 weeks since the filming of the third season of Bored to Death ended. The show will probably come back on HBO on Sunday, September 18th or 25th. So, it's a double dose of Ted Danson coming up this fall, in two very different shows, on every level.

Source : Entertainment Weekly.