Ted Danson may best be known for portraying Sam Malone on the beloved series Cheers, but Danson made waves when he appeared in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Sam Malone is one of only three characters to appear in all of Cheers’ 11 seasons. Since Cheers ended in 1993, Ted Danson has gone on to have leading and starring roles in renowned television shows, earning multiple nominations at the Primetime Emmys and the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
More recently, Ted Danson was a part of The Good Place where he portrayed Michael, an after-life architect in the Good Place community where the other main cast reside. Throughout this role, Danson was able to show off his acting chops as a villain and in a comedic role, something very different from the suave and confident Sam Malone. With Ted Danson’s impressive acting resume, it's not surprising that he was able to take on a role like an investigator on CSI easily.
CSI’s D.B. Russell Was Nothing Like Ted Danson’s Most Famous Character
Danson Completely Changed Gears For CSI
Ted Danson’s D.B. Russell first appeared in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'sseason 12 premiere, but audiences noticed very quickly that Russell was much different from Danson’s portrayal of Sam Malone. The torch of being the main character in CSIhad been passed around a few times in the show’s long tenure on air. Initially, CSI’s main character was Gil Grissom (William Petersen), though he would leave the show after season 9. Laurence Fishburne brought Raymond Langston to life and took over as the lead partway through CSI season 9, but Fishburne eventually exited the show following season 11.
Over the course of its many seasons and spin-offs, The CSI franchise had delivered some of the best stories, and characters on television.
When Ted Danson joined the cast of CSI, it was clear his character was meant to be reminiscent of Gil Grissom. D. B. Russell was incredibly smart and was a family man above all else. Russell was a charming character which made him ideal to lead a show, but there was never anything too risky or exciting about his character. Ted Danson was able to prove how great of an actor he was on other shows like Cheers and The Good Place, but, surprisingly, CSI never fully utilized Ted Danson’s potential, making his 113 appearances on CSI fairly forgettable.
Ted Danson Didn’t Think D.B. Russell And Sam Malone Were That Different
Danson Was Able to Make Connections Between The Two Characters
Despite D. B. Russell and Sam Malone having very different lives and professions, Danson was able to see similarities in the two men. Before his debut on CSI, Danson said in a 2011 interview with CBS that playing Russell “It’s like this is ‘Sam Malone sees dead people.’ It’s the same thing.” While it’s interesting to think about what Sam Malone would be like if his job surrounded being with dead people all the time instead of the place where everyone knows your name, Danson thinks that audiences don’t have to wonder and that D. B. Russell is exactly that.
Audiences shouldn’t be expecting a
CSI
and
Cheers
crossover anytime soon.
With such a long and successful career on screen, it’s no wonder that Ted Danson found himself at the forefront of one of the longest-running procedurals in CSI. Danson was able to bring so much of his other characters, notably Sam Malone, into his portrayal of D. B. Russell, despite the show having more serious and darker themes. Even though Danson sees overlap between these two iconic characters, audiences shouldn’t be expecting a CSIand Cheers crossover anytime soon.
In this long-running, classic crime procedural, a team of investigators searches crime scenes to collect forensic evidence, analyze it, and use it to catch the criminal of the week.
Cast William Petersen , Marg Helgenberger , George Eads , Eric Szmanda , Elisabeth Shue , Laurence Fishburne , Paul Guilfoyle
:quality(85):upscale()/2024/10/29/625/n/1922564/ec222ac66720ea653c5af3.84880814_.jpg)
:quality(85):upscale()/2024/10/25/846/n/49351082/bfc0fdb3671bef086c3703.42134063_.jpg)
:quality(85):upscale()/2021/07/06/971/n/1922153/7d765d9b60e4d6de38e888.19462749_.png)
:quality(85):upscale()/2024/10/29/957/n/1922441/c62aba6367215ab0493352.74567072_.jpg)
English (US) ·