Source: Twitter

Langham was recently in his home town of Forth Worth, Texas to help re-launch the Fort Worth Science and History Museum. One exhibit at the museum is “CSI: The Experience”. Langham knows all about the CSI experience after portraying Hodges in more than 120 episodes—and when it came time to film the bowling scenes for “Lover’s Lanes”, he was no novice. “Bowling has always been sort of my secret sport,” he revealed. “It’s one thing I can do not too badly. . . . One of the pros on that episode said he could work with me, and in three months I’d have a 180 game.”

Bowling may not be a new thing for Langham, but it was something unexpected for the forensic drama. “It came as a kind of surprise to me,” Langham added. “All of a sudden the CSI team is bowling. What! The team has never bowled before.”

Langham has been bowling since he was young. He also knew what he wanted to do from an early age. “I was a latchkey kid who would come home from school and watch TV all day,” he said. “Eventually, I said: ‘I think I want to be on that.’” When he wasn’t watching television and planning his future career, Langham liked to surf and hang out “at this great old bowling alley in Hollywood around the corner from my house.”

While acting has been Langham’s dream for many years, he’s not exactly a well-known name. “‘Oh, that guy!’ I really enjoy that reaction,” he said. “I love being in the middle. I’m not the person who is being mobbed every 10 feet as they walk down the street, but I’m also not the person who has to say, ‘Hey, look at me, look at me, look at me.’”

The actor was originally only signed on for a few episodes of CSI, but Hodges is still around more than six years later. “I’ve been lucky enough to fall into those roles that can be memorable,” Langham explained. Another of his memorable roles was as Josh Blair, Kirstie Alley’s gay assistant on Veronica’s Closet from 1997 to 2000. “First it was Ellen DeGeneres saying she’s coming out. Then it was our show. Then right after that, Will & Grace came on,” Langham said. “Nowadays, if you don’t have a gay character on your show, you’ve got a problem. That’s a testament to how our culture is changing. Back then, it felt like an honor to be entrusted with something that is very personal to a lot of people.”

Langham was also honored to be asked back to Fort Worth to help re-launch the museum. The city, like the man, has changed a lot since he moved to Los Angeles with his mother at the age of nine. “It’s staggering, really,” he said. “I never would have dreamed when I was nine years old that I’d be able to come back to my hometown and be a part of one of the biggest TV shows in history and to be a part of their science museum. It’s pretty wild.”

Nick, Greg and Hodges’ surprise birthday party for Henry goes awry; Dr. Jekyll graduates to murder.

Synopsis:

Henry Andrews has the day off for his birthday, but before he can leave to enjoy it, he’s abducted from the parking lot by three masked men! His “kidnappers” turn out to be Nick, Greg and Hodges, who are intent on taking him to Harry’s Hog Hideout, a remote Nevada restaurant with the best ribs in the state. Things quickly go awry when the four are run off the road by a woman driving in the wrong lane and their car flips over. Undeterred, the four walk to the rib joint only to find it closed by the board of health because of a hepatitis outbreak–and the body of a dead man with a raccoon on his face inside! The four investigate and discover a gun in the dead man’s hand. Nick searches for a phone while Greg and Hodges discover raccoon bait in a gas tube outside the restaurant. Nick returns to Henry only to find a man named Slick aiming a shotgun at the lab tech, accusing him of killing his buddy Gomez. Nick gets Slick to drop the gun, and Greg comes back to say he knows how Gomez died: he shot the raccoon in the gas pipe, which caused an explosion which killed both man and animal. Slick seems satisfied with the explanation–and then a very drunk woman, who Slick identifies as Harry’s wife Shirley, drives up and crashes her car into the restaurant. Nick recognizes her as the woman ran them off the road earlier. Shirley laments about Gomez’s death, saying that he was a genius chef, and complains about Harry, who cleaned out their accounts and left her six months ago. She even shows Henry a postcard Harry sent her from Florida.

Nick, Greg and Hodges continue to search for some way to get a call out; their cell phones are dead, as are all the phones in the restaurant. Greg finally discovers some wires that he’s able to hook up to a telephone poll near the restaurant. Greg manages to get a call out to Catherine, and then goes back inside where he finds Henry accidentally washing his hands with acid. Thinking quickly, Nick grabs some charcoal from the fire pit inside the restaurant to put on Henry’s hand–and notices a skull among the burnt coals. Nick orders Slick and Shirley to sit tight. When the bones are transported back to the lab, it’s confirmed that they belong to the owner, Harry, who Shirley claimed was in Florida. Several of his ribs are missing, and when Nick notes that Harry had Hepatitis B, the reason behind the restaurant’s closing is clear: someone chopped Harry up and served him for dinner. Brass questions Slick and Shirley separately and each accuses the other of killing Harry. Henry solves the case when he gets prints off of the postcard from Florida that match Gomez’s mother, who lives in Boca Raton. He compared the handwriting on the postcard to Harry’s and discovered it was a forgery. Gomez was being blackmailed by Harry into working for the restaurant, and one day he finally decided he’d had enough: he killed Harry, chopped up his ribs and fed him to customers and burned the body.

While Henry’s birthday party goes hopelessly awry, Langston and Catherine investigate the murder of a young woman named Lily, who is drowned in a bathtub while her much older boyfriend Bernard Higgins dozes in another room of the house. Bernard, who suffers from Crohn’s disease and sleep apnea, insists his medical conditions prevented him from hearing the attack on Lily. He keeps passing out during his interrogation, much to Brass’s irritation–until he keels over, dead! Doc Robbins determines the cause of death has to do with sepsis, and shows Langston that someone implanted a septic appendix into Bernard’s body. Langston realizes Dr. Jekyll, the surgeon who laproscopically tied a dead man’s small intestines in “Ghost Town”, is back–and he’s graduated to murder. Remembering Jekyll took the dead man’s bow tie the last time, Langston scours Bernard’s house for evidence that something has been taken, and he finds what he’s looking for in a large book with a single word cut out of it. Doc Robbins excises the appendix and finds a rolled up piece of paper tucked inside the organ, with one word on it: Michelangelo.

Analysis:

One of the most engaging episodes of CSI in a long time, “Appendicitement” offers up something CSI has been sorely lacking this season: a genuine sense of fun. Sure, not every episode can offer up consistent laughs–this is a crime drama after all–but sometimes CSI gets mired down in its own grimness. In part that’s because of its success: it’s so incredibly, consistently well-written, such a piercing commentary on the terrible things human beings are capable of doing to each other that it often ends up being a powerful but not exactly uplifting hour. Sure, Brass or Nick might make an amusing quip that elicits a chuckle, but for the most part CSI is pretty serious show–except, of course, when it isn’t. The episodes that focus on the lab rats are riotous fun, and this entry gets the guys out of the lab–with decidedly funny results.

Poor Henry Andrews definitely doesn’t seem up for the adventure–he’s seriously scared during the “abduction” and once he discovers who’s behind it and why, he’s quick to point out that he hates his birthday and looks decidedly skeptical when Greg vows it will be the best birthday of his life. And Henry’s right–the tense lab tech finds himself in a car that rolls over, hurts his ankle, discovers a dead body, is accosted by a horny older woman and burns his hand with acid. All in all, not a great birthday for poor Henry! But great fun for the audience, who get more than few laughs out of the predicament. After he sees Harry’s Hog Hideout has been closed by the board of health, he deadpans, “Nice. You were going to give me hepatitis for my birthday.” Later, when Shirley comes on to him, he first claims to be engaged, then married–then to have syphilis. None of these excuses deter Shirley, who exclaims at the last one, “Me too!” Jon Wellner takes the comedic material and runs with it, garnering plenty of laughs as things get worse and worse for poor Henry.

Though the birthday boy definitely gets the best material, it’s a total treat to see Nick, Greg and Hodges out of the lab and on a road trip with Henry. Realistically, after the car rolled over, that probably would have been the end of their little excursion, but Greg points out that their beloved ribs are a mere mile away… and off they go, on foot and armed with flashlights. Dramatic music plays as the four men leave the car behind and make their way on foot to their destination–only to be greeted with disappointment once they arrive. The restaurant is closed, and wouldn’t it figure–there’s a dead body waiting for them. These poor guys can never seem to escape work! George Eads, Eric Szmanda, Wallace Langham and Wellner are clearly having a blast with the material, making the wacky adventure a delight for viewers.

The cases at the restaurant flow together pretty well, and though the revelation that Gomez killed Harry feels like it comes a bit out of left field, it at least allows the episode to avoid the cliche of having either Shirley or Slick be the killer. The ill-fated Gomez doesn’t profit from his crime for long: he and his own personal white whale, “Raccoonzilla,” die together after Gomez inadvertently causes an explosion by shooting at the animal. Though it doesn’t make for a fun birthday for Henry, it’s definitely a wild, thoroughly enjoyable ride for the audience. While excursions like this can’t happen too often, it’s definitely a treat when they do: it gives the audience a chance to see the characters they love outside of the job, and also gives the characters–and the writers–an opportunity to let loose.

The B-case is more serious–it’s a continuation of the mystery that was teased in the final moment of the season opener, “Family Affair”. Dr. Jekyll, as Langston nicknamed the surgeon who tied a man’s small intestine’s in a bow in “Ghost Town,” has upped the ante here, this time performing a gruesome surgery on a live patient–one that Jekyll certainly knew would be fatal. Many people have their appendices removed, but the unfortunate Bernard Higgins has a second appendix inserted into his body via a tiny laproscopic incision. Jekyll leaves a clue inside his handy work: the word “Michelangelo.” Does the clue mean Jekyll considers himself an artist? The nickname “Dr. Jekyll” is a reference to The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, a novel about a man who is literally living a dual life. Calling the killer Dr. Jekyll is a bit of a misnomer, since it was Mr. Hyde who personified the evil and unsavory characteristics while on the surface Dr. Jekyll was an upstanding member of society. But the reference, and the killer’s proclivities definitely intrigue, and I’m definitely looking forward to where this arc will lead.

The CSI Producer discusses the big crossover, what’s coming up in the remaining sweeps episodes of CSI and the return of a memorable nemesis. Lights spoilers inside!

November sweeps has already seen the historic first three CSI show crossover, but there’s more excitement to come, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Producer Allen MacDonald promises. In addition to teasing the episode he’s at work on now–which brings back a familiar face–MacDonald discusses the return of Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox), the departure of Lauren Lee Smith and Nick Stokes’ (George Eads) promotion.

CSI Files: The three-show crossover scored big in the ratings last week. How did the plans for the trilogy originate?

Allen MacDonald: It all started with [Executive Producer] Carol Mendelsohn.  It’s something she’s been wanting to do for some time now.

CSI Files: Was the crossover tricky to pull off?

MacDonald: It was just a matter of scheduling on the part of all three shows.

CSI Files: How was Ray Langston (Laurence Fishburne) chosen to be the character to tie it all together?

MacDonald: Laurence and David Caruso (Horatio Caine) have worked together in features and very much wanted to work together again.  After that, it just snowballed. It was quite a kick to watch Langston interact on-screen with Horatio Caine and Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise).

CSI Files: What else can we expect from sweeps?

MacDonald: A Dustin Lee Abraham episode involving the world of professional bowling and a decapitated human head bowling ball. Intrigued?  Believe me, by the time teaser is over, you’ll be hooked.  It’s gross – but in a fun way.

CSI Files: Bringing in a new leading man after eight and a half seasons is obviously a big challenge. What do you feel was the most difficult thing about the transition from Gil Grissom (William Petersen) to Langston?

MacDonald: Just simultaneously having to do two very important things at the same time: giving Grissom the emotionally satisfying send-off he deserves while simultaneously setting up Langston, and making him a unique, compelling character in his own right, instead of trying to simply recreate Grissom.

CSI Files: Langston’s father seems to loom large in his mind. Are there plans to see him at some point?

MacDonald: Not that I know of — the character is dead and there are no plans to depict him in flashbacks.

CSI Files: Sara Sidle sure is spending a lot of time away from her new husband! Are we meant to read anything into that?

MacDonald: I think it’s always been clear Grissom and Sara would have a non-traditional approach to marriage.

CSI Files: What was behind the decision to have Sara and Grissom marry?

MacDonald: We felt it was a natural conclusion to where we left them both at the end of “One to Go” in the rainforest of Costa Rica.

CSI Files: What was behind the decision to promote Nick Stokes?

MacDonald: To recognize his huge contribution to the team and his growth as an emerging leader.  Catherine (Marg Helgenberger) needed somebody to back her up and Nick seemed like the natural choice.

CSI Files: Nick and Langston seem to be developing a friendship. Will we see more of this?

MacDonald: Absolutely.  They’re getting to know and trust each other.

CSI Files: Greg Sanders (Eric Szmanda) is expressing a little job dissatisfaction this season with regards to the assignments he’s getting. What’s behind Greg’s disgruntled attitude?

MacDonald: It’s like he said to Sara in the premiere, he still feels he’s being treated like the geeky DNA lab tech when, in fact, he’s matured into a seasoned CSI capable of handling anything thrown his way.

CSI Files: We’ve seen a bit more of Catherine in the leadership role this season. Will this continue?

MacDonald: Yes.

CSI Files: Is there any official word on the reason why Lauren Lee Smith (Riley Adams) didn’t return for the tenth season?

MacDonald: From what I understand, it was felt Riley never quite gelled with the rest of the team because she was introduced at a pivotal point in CSI’s history – two episodes after Warrick’s (Gary Dourdan) death and seven episodes before Grissom’s departure.  As a result, the character got a bit lost in the shuffle, which is not a reflection on Lauren, who is a spectacular actress and was much-loved on the set.

CSI Files: Are there any plans for another Lab Rats episode this season?

MacDonald: Yes.  It’s going to be written by Liz Vassey (Wendy Simms) and Wallace Langham (David Hodges), who are working on it with [Executive Producer] Naren Shankar right now.

CSI Files: Are you at work on a new episode now? Can you hint at what it might be about?

MacDonald: I am.  And the only hint I can provide is that it would be the completion of a CSI storyline trilogy involving Sara Sidle and a very, very smart young girl.

Executive producer Carol Mendelsohn admitted that CSI stumbled a bit during season nine, which saw the departure of leading man William Petersen (Gil Grissom) and the placement of Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger) as the head of the team. “We look at last season in a way not dissimilar from the fans,” she said. “We may have shortchanged a number of our characters in being focused on the transition from Grissom’s team to Catherine’s. We’ll try to make up for that this season.”

“We were out of our rhythm a bit last year,” George Eads (Nick Stokes) explained. “We needed to go back to the garage and find what inspired us, and there’s some good stuff with what’s happening on the show now.” That includes the return of Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox), who is scheduled to appear in several episodes this season. “I’m very pleased with what they’ve come up with to bring Sara back,” Fox said. “You do get to learn a little about what she’s been up to. I was pleasantly intrigued.”

With the departure of Riley Adams (Lauren Lee Smith), the return of Sara adds some more estrogen into the mix. Helgenberger said she doesn’t mind working with the guys, “But there needed to be more of a presence of female power. So I was thrilled to have Jorja back. She’s just the coolest chick on the planet.”

CSI won’t waste time telling what happened after Grissom and Sara reunited in the jungle last season. “The audience will know in very short order the status of Grissom and Sara,” Mendelsohn promised. “I can say that between the time they left and now, there are no little Grissoms out there.”

The rest of the team has something in store for season ten as well. Newcomer Dr Ray Langston (Laurence Fishburne) has a wife, “and we may get to meet her,” Fishburne revealed. The character will also deal with a serial killer who is “doing these strange operations on people, putting something inside them that doesn’t belong there.”

Dr Al Robbins (Robert David Hall) will help Langston with the serial killer, and he might get some help of his own in the morgue. “We have an idea for a new character who may join the coroner’s office,” Mendelsohn shared. Meanwhile, Dr Robbins gets a chance to take part in the action at the start of the season. “Dr Robbins is the defender of the coroner’s office,” Mendelsohn explained.

Greg Sanders (Eric Szmanda) will be looking for respect as part of the CSI team. “He’s not happy with the way thing have been, and he wants them to change,” Szmanda said. “This is something he’s been holding in all this time, and it’ll be a shock to everyone.”

Season ten will include an episode that centers around the Las Vegas Crime Lab’s technicians. Budget cuts, meanwhile, will force techs like Wendy Simms (Liz Vassey) and David Hodges (Wallace Langham) to spend more time in the field. Mendelsohn revealed that Hodges, who still holds a torch for Wendy, will have a “slight misstep and actually come bearing gifts for Catherine.”

The full article can be found in the September 28-October 4 issue of TV Guide.

• One of the items up for bid in the first annual Ride 2 Recovery eBay Charity Auction is a CSI: New York set experience and wrap party with leading man Gary Sinise (Mac Taylor).
• Marc Ecko, the artist who created illustrations for CSI creator Anthony Zuiker’s upcoming Digi-Novel Level 26: Dark Origins, described the book as “CSI on amphetamine.”
• You can see pictures of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation stars Marg Helgenberger (Catherine Willows), Jorja Fox (Sara Sidle), Wallace Langham (David Hodges) and Laurence Fishburne (Dr Ray Langston) signing bikes to be auctioned for Events of the Heart, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating women about the dangers of heart disease. (Source: Jorja All Around)
• Spreety TV Online has provided a video full of tips and tricks on maximizing the CBS online viewing experience. “If people just knew how much TV is online, there would be mass abandonment of the old TV,” Spreety co-founder Ron Laughton told TransWorldNews. “We created Spreety to educate people about the legal places to watch free TV online.”

Having a steady job on CSI is “a very easy thing to do”, Langham told Herald.ie. “[T]he bills are paid, everybody’s fed, you know, life is comfortable — and the fact that I can hang on to a No1 television show and go and do stuff like Little Miss Sunshine or The Great Buck Howard, stuff like that, is just a dream career.” However, the actor admitted that he wants to keep his career growing. “[M]y intention is to move forward in larger ways,” he explained. “I don’t have a specific gameplan, but the general idea is to, see how I can expand as a creator.”

Before joining the cast of CSI, Langham’s resume included The Larry Sanders Show from 1992 to 1998. “I’ve got to say, it’s an extreme honour to be part of television history,” he said. “I feel like lightening struck twice, in a way. Sanders in and of itself was like Christmas every week, just to go in and read a script, and see what we could get away with. And every year when we would finish a season, I would just thank Garry [Shandling] for putting me on it, because it was a life-changing experience. And then to be on something as wildly popular as CSI, that’s a real bonus.”

Langham credits “people’s desire to solve a mystery” for the success of CSI. “They want to work along with the detectives, I believe, and then there’s a deep sense of the macabre in a lot of people,” he continued. “I think that people do genuinely like the blood and the guts. Luckily, it’s all fake and make-believe, but there are so many different ways to kill someone that I think it’s fascinating [laughs]. We do a lot for the public!”

The original interview is from Herald.ie.