Laurence Fishburne departs ‘CSI’

Laurence Fishburne has had his fill of tracking down evildoers on CBS’ “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.”

 

According to Deadline.com, Fishburne has decided not to renew his contract with the long-running procedural, ending his “CSI” run after two-and-a-half  seasons.

 

The website says that Fishburne’s decision to refocus on his movie career was not a surprise to the “CSI” producers, that the actor had made a calculated decision to only extend his contact by one season last May.

 

“CSI” wooed Fishburne to the regular TV gig after original series star William Petersen announced his own departure. An initially intriguing proposed direction for the character ended up being darker than the “CSI” producers were prepared to go. With fans struggling to warm to the character after his first run of episodes, Langston was made more assertive in his second season, but in the balance Fishburne couldn’t stem an audience drop that pre-dated his arrival.

 

Once CBS’ crown jewel, the “CSI” mothership will leave Thursdays and shift to Wednesdays at 10 p.m. for its 10th season next fall. It still remains a steady enough performer that CBS will likely go after an actor of some stature to replace Fishburne (unless an effort is made to woo Petersen back for a hypothetical final season or something similarly ceremonial).

 

As for Fishburne, the “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” star was most recently seen on the big screen in “Predators” and “Armored.” He’s part of Steven Soderbergh’s ensemble for the thriller “Contagion.”