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."

I read that last night and I'm really upset. I thought for sure he'd be back for a few episodes this season. That leaves me with only three original cast members.

Oh well, there goes that show! I stopped watching when Sara left, but with Gary (Warrick) and now William gone I bet more people will stop watching.

Thanks for the info, C!!!

Then to top it all off I've just read that they are going to tear down the hospital that was used in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Well, damn.

I did the dance of joy when Sara left, and wanted to stab myself when Warrick left, but Gris is the heart and soul of the team.

He's the only real scientist at heart and the smartest one of the lot.

They're going to need to cast a few more peeps.

Katherine and her scary lips as well as Nick as his scary large head can't carry this show.

According to TVGuide Online--


The deal is at long last done for Laurence Fishburne to join CBS' CSI, filling the void that will be left by William Petersen's departure.

Fishburne will debut in this season's ninth episode — very tentatively slated to air Dec. 11, around the same time that Gil will go bye-bye — playing a former pathologist who is now teaching a college course in criminalistics. In the midst of a murder investigation, his character crosses paths with Grissom's team and ultimately joins the Las Vegas crime lab as a Level-1 CSI.

"Gil will definitely have an opinion on who this guy is," exec producer Naren Shankar previews for TVGuide.com. "The idea is, in Episodes 9 and 10, to see a lot of Billy and Laurence together."

As previously teased, Fishburne's alter ego (who currently is referred to simply as "the Professor" in the CSI writers room) is an expert at understanding how and why people commit acts of violence – tendencies he sees within himself. That said, previous reports that this newcomer shares a DNA trait with serial killers is not entirely accurate, insist the procedural's producers.

In a statement, Shankar and fellow CSI executive producer Carol Mendelsohn say that Fishburne topped their wish list for the role, calling him "a powerful and intense actor with an incredible range.

"If you distill CSI down to its essence, it's a collaboration," they continue, "and we are so looking forward to collaborating with Mr. Fishburne. For all of us at CSI, this is truly a dream."