If the season opener of CSI is any indication—CBS gave critics screeners of the episode this week—William Petersen is going to get quite the emotional workout in his final 10 episodes as a series regular. He gives one of his strongest performances to date as he grapples with the aftermath of the climactic shooting of Warrick (Gary Dourdan) in last season’s cliffhanger shocker. The episode also brings Jorja Fox’s Sara (looking softer and prettier) back into the picture, at least temporarily.CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler, kicking off CBS’s portion of the fall-season TCA press tour on Friday morning, spent much of her session explaining the new character who will be introduced to eventually take over the team. Described by Tassler as “an outsider coming into the CSI unit … not immediately as the boss,” he’s a doctor and scientist with “an interesting genetic profile that, in certain sort of medical contexts, they’ve noti...
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Laurence Fishburne by John Sciulli/WireImage.com and David Strathairn by Jason Kempin/WireImage.com
At Friday's executive session, Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment, announced a new character on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.Tassler's description of the character, who will replace the departing William Petersen, was interesting, to say the least. He's a doctor and scientist who comes into the CSI as an outsider; he won't start off as the boss. Here's the catch: He's a bit of a DNA expert, and has identified a common profile among serial killers — in his own genes! Sounds a little Dexter-y, no?So, who do you think should play Dr. McSerialKiller? Tassler suggested they'd be looking for an actor of some stature to fill the role. My first thoughts: Oscar nominees Laurence Fishburne and David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck), both of whom can convey steely resolve and menace with equal skill. — Mickey O'Connor
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William Petersen by Robert Voets/CBS
I think I hear CSI fans everywhere screaming. We teased casting changes for the CBS drama in a recent Mega Minute, and alas, those changes include William Petersen, whose recently signed contract only guarantees his appearance until the upcoming season's 10th episode, a rep for CBS confirms, following a report from EW's Ausiello. Petersen isn't gone for good, though. He will be staying on as an executive producer, and has agreed to make special appearances throughout the remaining run of the series. This marks the third original cast member to leave the show, following Jorja Fox and Gary Dourdan's departures last season. Producers, however, promise a memorable exit for Grissom (including Fox's return next season for a multi-episode, Grissom-Sidle arc) and some exciting changes in the show's future. "We're out to add new characters to the show, and the show will change as a result," said exec producer Carol Mendehlson. "But that's a good thing."So, how do you feel about Petersen's c...
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Jorja Fox and William Petersen by Robert Voets/CBS
Posted by csifan...Cheers to CSI for keeping Sara and Grissom together. It's nice to see a mature, committed relationship on TV. It would have been easy to end it when Jorja Fox left the show. But they have taken the high road, typical for CSI, and have managed the difficult task of maintaining this intriguing relationship with little said onscreen. Well done, writers, and Mr. Petersen. Hope to see Ms. Fox back to appear with him again.For an opposing view, check out the Reader's Jeer of the Week.• For more Cheers & Jeers, including a review of CSI: Miami, check out the new vodcast.• Share your own raves and rants about other shows on the Reader Cheers & Jeers discussion board.• We may feature your Cheer or Jeer on TVGuide.com or in TV Guide magazine!
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Jorja Fox and William Petersen by Robert Voets/CBS
Posted by ladyhlives...Jeers to CSI and CBS for not allowing Grissom to move on. They clearly wanted to leave the audience thinking Sara called Grissom. Let it go! She was a wench, and he can do so much better. Why can't CBS understand the "relationship" with Grissom and Sidle was nauseating and ill- conceived from the start? Please let Grissom find someone new and worthy of him.For an opposing view, check out the Reader's Cheer of the Week.• For more Cheers & Jeers, including a review of CSI: Miami, check out the new vodcast.• Share your own raves and rants about other shows on the Reader Cheers & Jeers discussion board.• We may feature your Cheer or Jeer on TVGuide.com or in TV Guide magazine!
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William Petersen by Robert Voets/CBS
The evidence is in and it's irrefutable: Grissom will remain on the CSI beat for at least one more season — albeit with an asterisk.Sources confirm to me exclusively that William Petersen — whose pact with the show was set to expire in May — has agreed to stick around through the 2008-09 TV season. Although the specifics of his new deal were not disclosed, a CSI insider tells me it's both lucrative (read: reportedly 600K per episode, up from 500K) and brimming with "out" clauses (read: the asterisk I spoke of earlier). In fact, Petersen already has his first "out" lined up: This fall, the actor will return to the stage in Conor McPherson's A Dublin Carol, which kicks off a six-week run in his hometown of Chicago in mid-November. As you'll recall, Petersen missed four episodes of CSI in early 2007 to headline a Rhode Island production of Dublin Carol. Shakespearean thesp Liev Schreiber stepped in to fill the Grissom void, only to get shot to death in his final episode...
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Gary Dourdan, CSI
Tonight’s CSI (9 pm/ET on CBS) was directed by Oscar-winner William Friedkin, the film legend behind two of the 1970s’ biggest blockbusters — The French Connection and The Exorcist — and the man who also helped launch the career of CSI’s William Petersen by giving him the lead in 1985’s To Live and Die in L.A.
"Every year [Petersen] says to me, ‘Why don’t you do a show for me,’ and so I made the time to do it. It was terrific — I really did it for the opportunity to work with Billy again," explains Friedkin.
That said, Petersen’s Gil takes a backseat tonight to Warrick — as the investigator’s job begins to suffer because of his pill addiction. "[
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Jorja Fox, CSI
Question: Jorja Fox's last CSI episode just aired, and that got me to thinking about all the brouhaha back when the relationship between Grissom and Sara was revealed in the Season 6 finale. At the time, there were dire predictions that this was the end of the rope for the series. It had become a soap, turned a corner, jumped the shark, etc. Looking back at it now, do you think that the romance — its reveal, and the way it was woven into Seasons 7 and 8 — was a detriment to the show? An asset? My personal opinion is that the creators did a very nice job of keeping the relationship believable and not letting it overtake the procedural nature that is the show's hallmark. That said, Season 7 was perhaps one of CSI's best, not because of the romance storyline but because of the writing (the "miniature killer" and Liev Schreiber arcs) and the artistic gambles the creators took: dead bodies that spoke, a "monster movie"-style episode, the incredibly cute "clip show" featuring the lab rats.
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Jorja Fox in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation by Ron P. Jaffe/CBS
On last week’s episode of CSI, in the crossover stunt featuring Without a Trace’s Jack Malone, Sara Sidle was shown as visibly shaken at an especially unsettling crime scene, walking away as if she’d had enough. Her psychological unease and emotional exhaustion had been well established even before last season’s cliff-hanger that left her trapped under a car in the desert, as fans wondered all summer if TV’s top procedural was going to kill off one of its own. Thankfully, CSI (as usual) took the high road, and this story reaches its destination tonight.Unless you’ve been in solitary the last few months, you know that tonight’s heavily promoted (and for once, worth the hype) episode marks Sara Sidle’s, and Jorja Fox’s, departure from the series. Without going into the specifics (which would be wrong), let me just say this is a terrific farewell: melancholy, creepy and, most important, providing a dignified exit for an important character w...
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Batman and Robin. Starsky and Hutch. Hasselhoff and his talking car. Prime time has always featured plenty of crime-busting partners. And coming up, two of TV's toughest solo acts — Gil Grissom (William Petersen) and Jack Malone (Anthony LaPaglia) — join forces to catch a killer in a special CSI-Without a Trace crossover. Inspired by the real-life saga of a murderer who rode the rails to hunt his victims, the story begins on CSI, when a murder investigation by Grissom's team turns up a link to a case that Jack and the FBI have been pursuing for years...read more
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