‘CSI’ Plans Return: Who Will Join Gil & Sara in the Lab?
Jackpot! Original CSI: Crime Scene Investigation stars William Petersen and Jorja Fox are reportedly in negotiations to join the planned limited revival of the smash CBS procedural — CSI: Vegas — which was announced earlier this year ahead of the series’ 20th anniversary.
The 2000–15 drama followed introverted Sin City forensic entomologist Gil Grissom (Petersen) and his team — including blood spatter expert Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger) and materials and element analyst Sara Sidle (Fox) — as they used trace evidence to solve often grisly crimes. Five new investigators and lab analysts (yet to be cast) will reportedly join Grissom and Sidle:
- Hugo, a morgue-loving medical examiner
- Maxine, a scientist and former basketball coach who heads up the Crime Lab
- Josh, a take-charge guy from a family of petty thieves and scammers
- Allie, a Harvard-educated genius
- Chris, who started in the lab and moved into field work
(Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty Images)
Although CSI got off to a modest start ratings-wise, it pulled in more than 25 million viewers per week for several seasons. (No wonder it graced the cover of TV Guide Magazine 15 times!) The drama spawned the popular spinoffs CSI: Miami in 2002 and CSI: NY in 2004.
Despite the original series’ success, Fox and Petersen exited in Seasons 8 and 9, respectively (she returned for Seasons 10–15). Petersen — also an executive producer — vowed to stay involved, though: In 2008, he told TV Guide Magazine, “The show is important to me; I’m not abandoning it.” In fact, he returned in 2011 and again in the 2015 finale, when Grissom memorably sailed away with onscreen love Sidle — a joint appearance that drew more than 12 million viewers, the show’s highest ratings in three years. We’ll bet on Grissom anytime!
