Why Laurence Fishburne's Dr. Raymond Langston Left CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

Laurence Fishburne might be best known for his movie roles, but he's had a prestigious TV career as well. The actor has won six Emmy awards since he started back in the early 1970s and has appeared in a slew of well-known series, playing Cowboy Curtis in "Pee-wee's Playhouse," Jack Crawford in NBC's "Hannibal," and Earl Johnson in ABC's "Black-ish." Though he didn't win an Emmy for what was at the time his biggest TV role, Fishburne also starred in the CBS crime drama show "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" for multiple seasons, replacing the series' previous star William Petersen.

Petersen's Gil Grissom had been the series lead ever since the "CSI" pilot back in 2000. But with the actor set to depart the show in December 2008, the show's creatives pulled off a real coup by landing Fishburne as a replacement. The Oscar-nominated star of such classics as "Apocalypse Now" (which he landed thanks to a lie), "The Color Purple," "Boyz n the Hood," and "The Matrix" had an impressive résumé by the time he joined "CSI," debuting in the season 9 episode "19 Down" as doctor Raymond Langston. The former medical doctor worked with the Las Vegas Crime Lab to track down a serial killer and his accomplice, leading Grissom to offer him a job on the team before the season finale.

Fishburne remained with the show for 60 episodes, which, at the time, was his biggest TV role yet. (He has since appeared in 89 episodes of "Black-ish.") The actor also portrayed Langston in episodes from two "CSI" spin-offs, all of which had impressive runs of their own, from "CSI: Miami" and its 10 seasons to "CSI: NY" and its nine. By the end of the flagship series' 11th season in 2011, however, Fishburne had decided to return to the big screen once again.

Created by Anthony E. Zuiker, "CSI" aired for 15 seasons, wrapping up in 2015 after one of the most impressively consistent runs in modern TV history. Throughout that time, the show cycled through multiple stars and recurring cast members, with Laurence Fishburne starring in a relatively small number of episodes in the grand scheme of things.

Fishburne debuted in episode 9 of season 9, and stayed with the series for two and a half seasons before his contract ran out following the season 11 finale, "In a Dark, Dark House," in May of 2011. At the time, Fishburne seemed to suggest to Entertainment Weekly that he would return for season 12, saying, "I'm having a great time." He also spoke about his commitment to the role of Dr. Raymond Langston, saying he was "cognizant of the fact that [Gil] Grissom was a much-beloved character" and revealing that he actually sat down and "watch[ed] almost every episode of 'CSI' from season 1 until [he] came on." He added, "It was about understanding the world and becoming as immersed in the show as possible. I love it."

It came as somewhat of a surprise, then, when it became clear that Fishburne wouldn't be returning for season 12. Deadline reported the news, confirming that the actor's contract had ended and he'd opted not to renew for another season. The main reason appears to have been that he wanted to focus more on films, which was much less surprising considering his impressive big screen bonafides. At the time, Deadline stated that he was expected to return to movies "full-time" which was borne out in the following months when Fishburne was cast as Perry White in Zack Snyder's bleak superhero blockbuster "Man of Steel" (which kicked off DC's messy Extended Universe). At the time his departure from "CSI" was announced, he was also set to appear in Steven Soderbergh's thriller "Contagion," which oddly enough turned out to have been remarkably prescient in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.

Though it was somewhat surprising that Laurence Fishburne didn't return as Dr. Raymond Langston for season 12 of "CSI," given his commitment to his role, it also sort of wasn't. As Deadline reported, the show's producers certainly weren't surprised that the actor chose not to renew his contract, with one insider telling the outlet, "Nobody expected him to be on the show for seven years, it's Laurence Fishburne." What's more, at the end of season 10 of "CSI," Fishburne only renewed his contract for one season, so the writing was somewhat on the wall already.

There may have been more to the story, however. As Entertainment Weekly reported, Fishburne's movie star pedigree hadn't exactly translated to ratings wins in the wake of William Peterson's departure, with the show finishing its 11th season with a 3.3 rating among adults aged 18 to 49 and ranking at number 30. Perhaps this played into Fishburne's decision not to renew. After all, falling TV ratings aren't exactly the best look for an Oscar-nominated actor of his caliber.

Whatever the case, Fishburne certainly made good on his ambitions to appear in more movies. The same year season 11 of "CSI" wrapped up, "Contagion" debuted, with Fishburne going on to appear in three films in 2013 ("Man of Steel" included). He has since played the Bowery King in the "John Wick" movies (which contain a "Matrix" easter egg of their own) and, most recently, co-starred with Rami Malek in the solid, no-frills thriller "The Amateur."