William Petersen's `CSI' life of crime to end

[bhdean]

LOS ANGELES - William Petersen is leaving "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," a move that might have fans of his brainy crimebuster Gil Grissom screaming bloody murder.

Petersen has agreed to return for occasional guest appearances and will remain a "CSI" executive producer but his run as an original cast member will end this coming season, executive producers Carol Mendelsohn and Naren Shankar said Tuesday.
The air date for his final episode, the season's 10th, has yet to be determined but probably will be at the beginning of 2009, the producers said. The series debuted in fall 2000.
A number of familiar characters will return in the episodes building up to Grissom's departure, among them his former colleague and flame Sara Sidle, played by Jorja Fox; the Miniature Killer and sexy Lady Heather.
"Who better to turn to when you're a scientist in crisis," Mendelsohn said jokingly of Heather (Melinda Clarke).
The decision to leave was Petersen's, the producers said, declining further comment. A call to Petersen's publicist was not returned Tuesday.
The actor had taken a break during the 2006-07 season to perform in a play, with Liev Schreiber stepping in as a visiting investigator.
The long-running show remains key for CBS: "CSI" finished last season as the network's top-rated series, ranking No. 9 among all shows with an average weekly audience of 17 million. Spinoffs "CSI: Miami" and "CSI: New York" ranked 16th and 28th, respectively.
"CSI" is ready to deal with Petersen's loss, its producers said.
"Shows lucky enough to go this long inevitably have to deal with this kind of change," Shankar told The Associated Press.
A new male investigator will join "CSI," a role that has yet to be cast.
The producers were mum about specific plot points but said that Grissom will be reappraising his life after years of high-tech forensics investigations with the Las Vegas Police Department and after facing personal turmoil.
"We're talking about a man who has suffered a great deal of loss recently... A man thinking about the next phase of his life," Shankar said.
It's wrong to characterize it as a mid-life crisis, which summons the image of someone who buys a Porsche as a solution, Shankar and Mendelsohn said; Grissom is confronting far deeper issues.
"It's Grissom in transition and Grissom asking `Who am I?'" Mendelsohn said.
Besides, Shankar said, Petersen wouldn't buy a sports car.
"Billy would only buy a Prius," the producer said.

Shankar and Mendelsohn vowed that cast changes won't change "CSI."
"What makes shows go off the rails is they forget who they are. We're a crime-mystery-forensics drama" with a focus on exceptional cases, Shankar said.
"Whoever comes in and joins the team after Grissom is going to be a different guy. But the nature of the show and what fans get out of it, that's not going to change," he said. Petersen, in his role as executive producer, viewed "CSI" as a show about the "quiet heroics" of working people, Shankar said. That will remain true, with no new soap-opera twists or "jumping into bed."

[Woodmonkey]

I'm sorry to read this. I've enjoyed him in that part.

[ruckhumper]

Didn't kno that ..tho had heard JorjaFox who turns 40 this year (and had wanted to pursue other venues) was coming back.

A CSI fan, I'd like to see a spinoff drama that dealt with forensics anthropology, similar to work CILHI (currently called something else) that deals with repatriation of personnel from around the world who were listed as MIA -- not limited to American but to all nationalities (allies 'n axis) and gender (warrior 'n caregiver 'n resistance fighter) from current conflicts back through birth of Western Civilizations.

It would make for interesting material in scientific 'n technological ways (gadgetry) but also anthropological methodology ... add in human interest stories and resolutions as to how person(s) died, how unearthed 'n identified, and closure it brings to families who've been waiting so long. I'd like to see segments from Korea, WW2, WW1, American Revolution, British/French/Prussian Waterloo, the Boer Wars in S.Africa, even our War Between the States -- what the yankees call the "Civil War" 'n southerners refers to as the "War Against Northern Aggression", and of course from my war in SEast Asia (encompassing both Vietnams, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos), etc...

...per Bill Petersen, from the Internet Movie Database: William Petersen
did you know he was offered a role in "Platoon" (1986), but turned it down because it was a low paying job and the prospect of going to the Phillipines for weeks of training before filming didn't appeal to him, where he was reported to have said "I didn't want to live in a ditch for six weeks for no money." -- at time, Oliver Stone's film cost only $6 mil to make (way less than many films of that day).

Still, I'm a fan of Billy's 'n have enjoyed his work in film and on TV.