As reported by ex-TV Guide now-EW columnist Mike Ausiello, William Petersen is leaving “CSI:” somewhere near the mid-point of the upcoming season. This comes after the CBS mega-hit has lost Jorja Fox and Gary Dourdan over the past year.
Willy will stay on as an executive producer and show up once in awhile, whenever ratings start to dip. Ausiello also says the show is looking to replace Petersen with a name actor. From his piece today:
Another new CSI, this time a male, will be brought in later this fall, but “he will not appear on the landscape as a CSI to begin with,” teases Mendelsohn. “He’s a professor with background in pathology. He will appear when Grissom is investigating what will be a two-part case. He will help Grissom and the team bring the perpetrator to justice, and then this character will stay around and ultimately become a CSI.” And although Mendelsohn says the new guy (who will possess a very rare genetic abnormality) will “not necessarily [replace Grissom as] supervisor,” he’ll inevitably be branded Petersen’s replacement — if for no other reason than the caliber of actor being sought for the role: Kurt Russell, Laurence Fishburne and John Malkovich are said to be at the top of CBS’ wish list. Of the three, Mendelsohn would only confirm that Malkovich was approached, adding that “scheduling conflicts” had quickly taken him out of the running.
A few things here. Why is this still the highest rated show on TV? I never got caught up in the “CSI:” hype, but I guess it never fails that the old fogies of middle America eat up any procedural show thrown out there.
Secondly, would Kurt Russell really take the job? The guy’s career has slowed of late ["Posedion" Remake anyone?] but I can’t seem biting here. I’m sure it’s an enormous paycheck, but it’s still TV. And the whole “big name actors moving to TV gigs” trend is about over. James Woods and “Shark” proved it might not be worth the risk.
However, I wouldn’t put it past Fishburne. If you saw his performance in “21,” I’m willing to bet you could expect him to power “CSI:” for a few seasons before he gets bored and asks to be killed off.
ANYWAY, this show bores me, and this post bores me. Nothing will change. “CSI:” will still dominate the ratings wars and brains will continue to be less intelligent as a result.
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