CBS stands firm on 'CSI' firings :: Namibia Internet Gateway cc ::

Articles: CBS stands firm on 'CSI' firings

Posted by admin on Monday, July 19, 2004 - 01:01 AM

In this case, CSI means Contract Seriously Ignored.
So says CBS, which is defending the firings of CSI stars George Eads and Jorja Fox in a salary dispute. "A contract is a contract," says Les Moonves, who oversees CBS as co-president of Viacom. "There were certain veiled threats about their not showing up. There comes a point where we all have to look out for the future of the network-television business." (Of the six broadcast networks, only CBS and NBC made money last year.) CSI: Crime Scene Investigation begins its fifth season in September. The firings will force a rewrite of the season premiere and shut down production until next week. CBS renegotiated with the two actors after the second year, Moonves says, and offered them raises after season four. They had seven-year deals, and each reportedly made roughly $100,000 per episode. "When somebody doesn't show up for work, that says to us that, 'OK, they don't want to work for us anymore,' " Moonves says. Moonves declines to comment on whether the two could return to TV's highest-rated drama. But he says the show is looking at casting other actors or building up other ensemble members. The intent is for no one else to leave, he adds. CSI creator Anthony Zuiker says the dismissals saddened him but he understands the reasoning. "It is show business, and the show must go on," he says. Carmine Giovinazzo, who stars in the new CSI: NY, sounds surprised by the salary dispute. "I'd be shining Moonves' shoes and caddying for him every weekend if I was making that much money," he says.

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