Ted Danson: Television’s Chameleon?

Ted Danson will be returning to network TV on September 21st to join the cast of CSI for its 12th season.

CSI has been on CBS for 12 seasons- Ted is no stranger to long running series, as he was the star of Cheers for 11 years- just one of the different characters he's played on TV.

Let's take a look at Ted's roles through the years as we prepare to see how CSI will be with him on the show!

From 1982 to 1993, millions of Americans enjoyed the antics, the schemes, romances and general fun at Cheers.

Ted Danson starred as the fictional retired Boston Red Sox pitcher Sam Malone who owned a bar - named.. Cheers

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Cheers was a great show- there's no denying it.

I think you would be hard pressed to declare that the show would have been as successful without Ted Danson.

Ted WAS Sam Malone.

To see Ted play a character different from Sam Malone was weird for me.

Maybe that's why I never really took to liking Becker which ran for six seasons (1998-2004) on CBS:

In Becker, he just came across as so mean and crass to me, I had a hard time believing the character would have any friends at all.  Give credit to Ted Danson for playing a character so completely different than people had become accustomed- to roaring success.

Ted returned to television in 2009-  HBO's "Bored To Death".  The show is about hopeful writer Jonathon who makes money on the side by being a gumshoe.

Ted plays the character's editor and friend George- again, a completely different character than Sam Malone or Becker:

You may have also seen him playing "himself" on Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and as the bad guy on "Damages"- both great roles.

It's easy to see why CBS picked Ted to join CSI"s cast: He's likable, he's older (for the older viewership of the show) and he's a damn good actor.

Here's the first look at D. B. Russell - a more lighthearted supervisor to the CSI crew:

I'm looking forward to watching CSI again- with this new character played by an old friend-- what do you think?