You'll Be Back...

While I think we can all agree that everyone on TV is overpaid, I think the most overpaid people are the ones hosting the national news programs every night on the major networks. These people make tens of millions of dollars in salary per year because, apparently, the people in charge of these networks don't understand that most of us could not care less about who hosts the news. With the internet being what it is nightly news programs are pretty much irrelevant. I have a phone and internet access, so my guess is I already know what happened today. That is why the average viewer age of people who tune in to these shows is about 80. But, for the sake of argument, let's say I did need to watch the nightly national news to learn about the day's events: would it really matter who was reading the teleprompter? Of course it wouldn't. I just need to know what happened, I don't particularly care who the person is that's telling me. That is why I'm always amused when a fill-in anchor takes a second to tell us that the regular host is on assignment. I really wasn't worried where they were. Hell, I barely noticed it was someone new.

Still, news anchors are downright vital compared to TV show actors and actresses. CBS is really pushing the next new episodes of CSI, because Marg Helgenberger is leaving the show and her last few appearances are going to be airing in the coming weeks. First off, who knew CSI was even still making new shows? I thought it only existed in re-runs on 10 different basic cable channels. It has reached the same level as the Law & Order franchise - no one watches it the day it airs, but everyone has seen the last five seasons twice because of the marathons that run on the USA network on rainy days. Secondly, the promoting of her final episodes is getting a little ridiculous. Do TV executives actually think people care about cast turnover? Much like with the news we just want the show - who actually reads the script is secondary. Sure, we might like one character versus another, but if the show is well-written we'll get over a cast switch pretty quickly.

I'll grant you that some characters on TV are more essential to their shows than others. (It would be really hard to shoot a show like Justified without Timothy Olyphant.) But, science-heavy crime dramas like CSI are especially immune to cast change because the market is so saturated with them. Half the time you can't even remember which character is on which show. Plus, they've done so many crossover episodes you can hardly remember who came from what franchise. Which brings us to Ms. Helgenberger. I can only assume she is leaving the show due to some kind of contract dispute. (She certainly can't be leaving to go back to her thriving film career.) I remember when William Peterson left CSI and everyone thought it was going to be the end of the line for the franchise. Turns out the show barely missed a beat. Here's all you need to know about her exit: the promos aren't even saying that Marg Helgenberger is leaving - they say her character, Catherine, is the one who is exiting. Doesn't exactly sound as if the show is expecting to go off the air without her.

In the end, this will probably be a good thing for Marg. I assume that standing over fake dead bodies and reciting science-heavy dialog week after week gets tiring after a few years and a break to do something else could be refreshing. However, I also expect her to be back on the show in the not-too-distant future. Much like when an athlete retires a little too early, only to come back within a year when they find out it's impossible to make that kind of money in an other walk of life, I think Marg is going to find out that people aren't lining up to offer her starring roles in the next Oscar contender. But, sometimes you just need to try something new to realize you had it pretty good where you were, even if that somewhere was getting a little repetitive.