Exclusive: Underbelly Star Joins CSI Sitcom Spoof

It's not Christine Baranski, but this'll do nicely. The sublime Rachael Harris (Notes from the Underbelly, Fat Actress) will play even-tempered sidekick to Cybill Shepherd's Katey Sagal's unhinged sitcom diva in that stuntastic episode of CSI penned by Two and a Half Men scribes Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn. And should there be any lingering doubts that Lorre and Aronsohn modeled Sagal and Harris' characters after Shepherd and Baranski, both of whom the writers worked with on Cybill, this next little tidbit should erase them: Sources confirm what I hinted at last August, that the duo first offered the second-banana role to Baranski herself. That's right, they wanted Baranski to play Baranski! But for whatever reason — possibly this one — she wasn't able to do it. Um, have I told you lately how much I'm looking forward to this episode?