{"id":8274,"date":"2009-11-17T07:36:46","date_gmt":"2009-11-17T15:36:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.csifiles.com\/content\/?p=8274"},"modified":"2009-11-17T07:36:46","modified_gmt":"2009-11-17T15:36:46","slug":"interview-allen-macdonald","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.csifiles.com\/content\/2009\/11\/interview-allen-macdonald\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Allen MacDonald"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

<\/p>\n

November sweeps has already seen the historic first three CSI show crossover, but there’s more excitement to come, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation<\/em> Producer Allen MacDonald<\/strong> 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<\/strong>), the departure of Lauren Lee Smith<\/strong> and Nick Stokes’ (George Eads<\/strong>) promotion.<\/p>\n

CSI Files:<\/strong> The three-show crossover scored big in the ratings last week. How did the plans for the trilogy originate?<\/p>\n

Allen MacDonald: <\/strong>It all started with [Executive Producer]\u00a0Carol Mendelsohn<\/strong>. \u00a0It\u2019s something she\u2019s been wanting to do for some time now.<\/p>\n

CSI Files:<\/strong> Was the crossover tricky to pull off?<\/p>\n

MacDonald:<\/strong> It was just a matter of scheduling on the part of all three shows.<\/p>\n

CSI Files:<\/strong> How was Ray Langston (Laurence Fishburne<\/strong>) chosen to be the character to tie it all together?<\/p>\n

MacDonald:<\/strong> Laurence and David Caruso<\/strong> (Horatio Caine) have worked together in features and very much wanted to work together again. \u00a0After that, it just snowballed. It was quite a kick to watch Langston interact on-screen with Horatio Caine and Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

CSI Files:<\/strong> What else can we expect from sweeps?<\/p>\n

MacDonald:<\/strong> A Dustin Lee Abraham<\/strong> episode involving the world of professional bowling and a decapitated human head bowling ball. Intrigued? \u00a0Believe me, by the time teaser is over, you\u2019ll be hooked. \u00a0It\u2019s gross \u2013 but in a fun way.<\/p>\n

CSI Files:<\/strong> 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<\/strong>) to Langston?<\/p>\n

MacDonald: <\/strong>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.<\/p>\n

CSI Files:<\/strong> Langston’s father seems to loom large in his mind. Are there plans to see him at some point?<\/p>\n

MacDonald:<\/strong> Not that I know of — the character is dead and there are no plans to depict him in flashbacks.<\/p>\n

CSI Files:<\/strong> Sara Sidle\u00a0sure is spending a lot of time away from her new husband! Are we meant to read anything into that?<\/p>\n

MacDonald:<\/strong> I think it\u2019s always been clear Grissom and Sara would have a non-traditional approach to marriage.<\/p>\n

CSI Files:<\/strong> What was behind the decision to have Sara and Grissom marry?<\/p>\n

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

CSI Files:<\/strong> What was behind the decision to promote Nick Stokes?<\/p>\n

MacDonald: <\/strong>To recognize his huge contribution to the team and his growth as an emerging leader. \u00a0Catherine (Marg Helgenberger<\/strong>) needed somebody to back her up and Nick seemed like the natural choice.<\/p>\n

CSI Files:<\/strong> Nick and Langston seem to be developing a friendship. Will we see more of this?<\/p>\n

MacDonald:<\/strong> Absolutely. \u00a0They\u2019re getting to know and trust each other.<\/p>\n

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

MacDonald: <\/strong>It\u2019s like he said to Sara in the premiere, he still feels he\u2019s being treated like the geeky DNA lab tech when, in fact, he\u2019s matured into a seasoned CSI capable of handling anything thrown his way.<\/p>\n

CSI Files:<\/strong> We’ve seen a bit more of Catherine in the leadership role this season. Will this continue?<\/p>\n

MacDonald:<\/strong> Yes.<\/p>\n

CSI Files:<\/strong> Is there any official word on the reason why <\/strong>Lauren Lee Smith (Riley Adams) didn’t return for the tenth season?<\/p>\n

MacDonald:<\/strong> 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\u2019s history \u2013 two episodes after Warrick\u2019s (Gary Dourdan<\/strong>) death and seven episodes before Grissom\u2019s departure. \u00a0As 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.<\/p>\n

CSI Files: <\/strong>Are there any plans for another Lab Rats episode this season?<\/p>\n

MacDonald: <\/strong>Yes. \u00a0It\u2019s going to be written by Liz Vassey<\/strong> (Wendy Simms) and Wallace Langham<\/strong> (David Hodges), who are working on it with [Executive Producer] Naren Shankar<\/strong> right now.<\/p>\n

CSI Files:<\/strong> Are you at work on a new episode now? Can you hint at what it might be about?<\/p>\n

MacDonald:<\/strong> I am. \u00a0And 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The CSI Producer discusses the big crossover, what’s coming up in the remaining sweeps episodes…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2906,2909],"tags":[3014,2910,2938,2932,2937,2924,3013,2964,2944,2926,2933,2958,2923],"class_list":["post-8274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-csi-lv","category-interviews","tag-dourdan","tag-eads","tag-fishburne","tag-fox","tag-helgenberger","tag-langham","tag-macdonald","tag-mendelsohn","tag-petersen","tag-shankar","tag-smith","tag-szmanda","tag-vassey"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","newsphere-slider-full":"","newsphere-featured":"","newsphere-medium":""},"author_info":{"display_name":"Kristine Huntley","author_link":"https:\/\/www.csifiles.com\/content\/author\/kristine\/"},"category_info":"CSI<\/a> Interviews<\/a>","tag_info":"Interviews","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csifiles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csifiles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csifiles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csifiles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csifiles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8274"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.csifiles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8278,"href":"https:\/\/www.csifiles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8274\/revisions\/8278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csifiles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csifiles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csifiles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}