Ted Danson Joining CSI Cast

Ted Danson's new role won't involve as many hijinks as Cheers, but there'll still be plenty of late nights. The actor is joining CSI next season as the graveyard shift supervisor at the Las Vegas crime lab. Laurence Fishburne is leaving the show and CBS had considered actors including Tony Shaloub, Robin Williams, and John Lithgow for the role before settling on Danson, sources tell Entertainment Weekly.

"From the moment we all started talking about the role, it was clear he couldn't be more perfect," CSI executive producer Don McGill says. "Intelligence, wit, warmth, depth of character and emotion, he brings it all. And now he'll have to bring latex gloves, too." Producers say Danson's character will be more lighthearted than Fishburne's—just don't expect Norm and Cliff to be turning up. (More Ted Danson stories.)