Fishburne joins ‘CSI’

As a devoted fan of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” Laurence Fishburne feels sorry for the act that has to follow William Petersen, the face of the long-running hit CBS show.

“Being a fan, I don’t know how I’m going to feel when the new guy shows up,” he says.

By the way, the “new guy” is Fishburne.

The square-jawed actor, whose authoritative voice and distinctive features have made him a formidable force on stage and screens big and small for almost three decades, is joining the cast of the top-rated “CSI” as criminal pathologist Dr. Raymond Langston.

Langston will be introduced tonight (9 p.m., KREM-2 in Spokane) in the first of a two-part installment in which Petersen’s Gil Grissom, who heads up the CSI investigative team, abruptly announces that he’s leaving the unit.

Petersen’s last episode is Jan. 15, in which Langston officially joins the team as a lower-level investigator.

“I’ve tried to approach this with an open mind – and a great deal of humility as well,” says Fishburne.

“And I’m not fooling myself – I am filling the shoes of a man who is irreplaceable,” he adds. “Once I recognized that, then I knew exactly what my responsibility was.

“My purpose is to serve the show. That’s one of the most important things to remember. This is not about me. This is about the audience.”

He’s still figuring out his new character.

“I’m in the process of discovering who he is,” Fishburne says. “All I know is that I bring a certain gravity and weight to the series, and the writers and producers have carefully constructed a character that allows me to play to my strengths.”

Though Langston is a professor, he has a sense for the theatrical. When he is first seen, he’s in the shadows, preparing to conduct a class that will feature an interview via satellite with a serial killer (Bill Irwin).

“A tremendous amount of thought went into that,” says co-executive producer Carol Mendelsohn. “We wanted our audience to have the same kind of anticipation of this guy that Grissom has. He’s a man of magnetism and power who is leading the class into a very dark place.”

Fans of “CSI” should not expect dramatic changes in the show’s format or structure, adds co-executive producer Naren Shankar.

“The DNA of the show will remain the same,” Shankar says. “Billy Petersen had always said this show is about people doing their job. Laurence will bring a new dimension and vibe to it.”