William Petersen Leaving CSI This Season

Michael Ausiello is reporting that William Petersen is leaving CSI by midseason. This season’s 10th episode will be his last as a full-time series regular. “Billy is leaving,” confirms executive producer, Carol Mendelsohn. “But he will remain throughout the run of the series an executive producer. And he will, whenever CBS asks, come back. I don’t think you’ve seen the last of Gil Grissom.”

Petersen seems almost reluctant to characterize his departure as a departure. Citing both his ongoing role as an executive producer and his intention to return on occasion as a guest star, he said, “I’m in a great place in terms of knowing that I’ll be more free to make choices. And I’m responsible enough to not do it in a way that would hurt [the show]. “I want it to work for the writers, I want it to work for the cast, and, most importantly, I want it to work for the audience,” he added. “I don’t want them to abandon the show.”

In the meantime, Mendelsohn is plotting a send-off for Grissom. Just as this is a year of transition for CSI, so too is it for Grissom. The events of last season’s finale – specifically the death of Dourdan’s Warrick – will push Grissom to the breaking point. “The easiest way to describe Grissom is ‘in crisis,’” Petersen says. “As a man. As a scientist. As a teacher. As a middle-aged person who has been very successful at what he’s done . . . [he] wonders, ‘What’s the point?’ “It’s all of a sudden becoming more difficult for him to do his job,” he continued. “What had been a sort of fun job for him to do, because he loved the solving of the riddle, has become ever more taxing and difficult.”

Jorja Fox will be back for “multiple” episodes, beginning with September’s season premiere – an hour that will also feature an appearance by Gary Dourdan’s Warrick, who was seemingly shot to death in last May’s finale. “We’re not saying whether or not Warrick lives or dies,” hedges Mendelsohn, “but we will say that the premiere may be the last time our loyal fans see the entire original CSI cast together.”

Previously-announced addition Lauren Lee Smith (The L Word) joins the cast in the third episode as new CSI Riley Adams. “She will come in to ostensibly replace Sara Sidle,” says Mendelsohn. “She has a very distinct personality . . . a very wry sense of humor. She doesn’t take herself too seriously.”

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.

Current cast members Liz Vassey (Wendy) and David Berman (coroner David) have been upped to full-fledged series regulars. Wallace Langham’s Hodges, meanwhile, will become more prominent.

Arguably the drama’s most infamous serial menace to date, the Miniature Killer, “will come back for an episode,” Mendelsohn reveals. “Grissom will cross paths with her.”

Finally, the show will celebrate its landmark 200th episode this spring with a blockbuster installment helmed once again by Petersen’s good friend (and To Live and Die in L.A. director) William Friedkin. Is it fair to assume that this could be the episode in which Petersen debuts as a very special CSI guest star? “Billy will definitely be on the set for Mr. Friedkin’s episode – whether it’s behind the camera or in front of the camera is TBD,” Mendelsohn teases. “I don’t think you’ll be able to keep him away once he’s back in L.A.”