'CSI' makeover works out well

"CSI" executive producer Carol Mendelsohn was fuming. The woman in charge of arguably the most successful show in television over the past decade was not happy about a, well, wardrobe malfunction.

A few hours earlier, CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler, asked about recent cast changes on "CSI," joked that Laurence Fishburne's character was undergoing "a little bit of a wardrobe makeover."

The problem was that not all the reporters in the room understood that it was a joke. And some reported it as straight news.

"It is so unimportant to what the show is and where we're going that, to me, it demeans the show," Mendelsohn said. "Not that Nina said it, because she said it as a joke. But for it to be reported that a wardrobe makeover is the most important news coming out of 'CSI'?"

The fact is that "CSI" underwent a huge transition in its ninth season. William Petersen left the show and took team leader Gil Grissom with him. And Fishburne came aboard as the new CSI.

Viewers tend to hate change, so some of them managed to overlook how well the transition was handled. And how it was not done in the expected manner.

Fishburne's character, Dr. Ray Langston, didn't come in as the new boss. He gave up his teaching job to become an entry-level crime scene investigator.

"It was what attracted Laurence to the role — to come in as a newbie and to learn," Mendelsohn said. "And he will have a very accelerated learning curve. He will blossom this year into the true CSI that Grissom saw in him when they first met. I think Fishburne was integrated so well. He's an incredible talent. We're so lucky to have him.

"And then to boil it all down to a wardrobe makeover?"

The addition of the Langston character actually rejuvenated the show, in a way. By adding an inexperienced CSI to the team, it gave the writers a way to tell the stories through fresh eyes.

Not a bad thing for a show that passed the 200-episode mark last season.

And, while it would have been easy — and expected — to make the newbie someone in their 20s, Langston clearly isn't a kid. (Fishburne is 48.)

"There's so many people today who aren't just one-career people. Many of us have had a number of careers," Mendelsohn said. "And I think he's very reflective of the working population."

"CSI" viewers have already seen a lot of growth in the character. Langston has spent a lot of time at classes and seminars and has read extensively, training himself to be better at his new job. He was promoted in September's season premiere.

That's the makeover that's important.

"The one thing that is true is that Fishburne will continue the transition from Professor Langston to CSI Langston," Mendelsohn said.

He's become such a big part of the team that Langston traveled to both "CSI: Miami" and "CSI: NY" this week for the franchise's first three-part crossover. The story line concludes in Thursday's episode of "CSI" (8 p.m., Ch. 2).

And, back on the original "CSI," things seem to have settled in comfortably in the wake of Grissom's midseason departure back in January.

"Our team, just like a family in real life, is going through a transition. Trying to find their equilibrium," Mendelsohn said. "And the theme of the season is really family. It will be about Katherine and Nick and Greg and Langston and Sarah finding the right balance to be Grissom's team. The team he left behind."

e-mail: pierce@desnews.com