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I know, I’m still trying to digest the news that William Petersen is leaving the cast mid-season. So now I guess it’s important to find out how the writers & producers plan to handle all the big changes to CSI: Vegas’ cast in season 9.
Executive Producer for the show, Carol Mendelsohn, told the plans for the show to Michael Ausiello over at EW.com. Last season, Sara (Jorja Fox) left the show, then the finale saw the brutal shooting of Warrick (Gary Dourdan.) Now with Grissom (William Petersen) leaving, they have a lot of changes in store for us! Here’s the run-down of what we will need to expect in CSI season 9:
- We’ve already been told that Jorja Fox will be back for the season premiere, but now we find out that she will be in several of season 9′s episodes. I’ll report the details to you as they are released.
- Gary Dourdan will be back for the premiere only. According to Mendelsohn, “We’re not saying whether or not Warrick lives or dies, but we will say that the premiere may be the last time our loyal fans see the entire original CSI cast together.”
- Lauren Lee Smith (The L Word) joins the cast in the third episode as new CSI Riley Adams. Carol Mendelsohn: “She has a very distinct personality… a very wry sense of humor. She doesn’t take herself too seriously.” Executive producer Naren Shankar: “This is a person who, unlike the rest of our gang, has not had Grissom as a mentor. So there’s a very different relationship between Riley and Grissom.”
- A new male CSI, a professor of pathology will enter the cast sometime during the season. We don’t know the actor who will play this Grissom replacement yet, but the show has considered the likes of John Malkovich and Laurence Fishburne. This CSI may not be a supervisor like Grissom, but will fill the hole in the cast left by him. The character is said to also have “a very rare genetic abnormality,” whatever that means.
- Liz Vassey (lab rat Wendy) and David Berman (coroner David) will become regulars each week and Hodges (Wallace Langham) will have a more integral part in the cast.
- Somehow, the Miniature Killer will make another appearance and Grissom will be involved with that. (Very cool!)
I’m worried about the future of the show, but know that major cast changes were inevitable at some point. Hopefully, the integrity of the show will remain and we will come to love the new CSI as much as before. But don’t worry, as more information is released, I’ll report it here.
[Photo: © CTV]
If i read that right and we are losing three main characters from CSI vegas, then i along with many others are not going to continue watching as all the characters together make a perfect show. I can’t imagine CSI with out them, ratings would take a tumble.
TPTB were playing up the new male character, Ray Santoro, for awhile then they got on to Bryce/Riley Adams the new girl. I think they decided that bringing in a new guys immediately after loosing an original team member wouldn’t be a good idea. Remember Ronnie, I kind of miss her. They are also try to establish new characters that have no history with Grissom or with Sara so these people won’t be influenced by Grissom’s way of investigating and they will establish their own way of doing things. As to Gary I think he may have burned some of his bridges at CSI. It was said that he was very vocal about the writers and producer playing up the Grissom and Sara Romance at the expense of the other characters.
Maybe Gary and Carol don’t get along. But I remember in April when news first came out that Gary was leaving, that producers were creating a new character to replace him. In May/June I heard that the producers had dropped the casting call. I’ve even heard a few articles mentioning that Gary was rehired. So the fact that Carol mentions Jorja and Billy’s replacements and not Gary’s makes me think that he might have been rehired and makes more appearances this upcoming season (probably during or after episode 10 of season 9, which focuses on the mole).
So sad, too bad. I’m done with the departures and the show. You can’t keep cutting the guts out of a prime-time saga and expect loyal fans to shive a git about the fascinating character interplay — which we really used to care about — any longer. No matter how clever the plot twists, I’m seeking entertaining relationships between my TV favorites on other shows & channels. So much for actors and their loyalty to fans. (Gather your loot and buy your island — see ya!!)
I don’t think that Carol M and Gary had the greatest relationship. When commenting on the losing of 3 cast members she said laud the incredible talents of WP and JF but made no mention of Gary. I think that Warrick lives but is paralysised or in a permanent vegitative state.
Today, July 16, they are saying that even Lady Heather is going to make an appearance as well as our favorite psycopath(?) Natalie. Just what Sara needs competition from an ex and someone with an axe to grind. We can take any small comment that the producer put out and make mountains out of them but the trueth is that we will just have to wait and see what the writers put down on paper and how the actors interpret it. Now the new guy with a genetic anbnormality what could it be the ability to detect BS when he hears it. Why does it have to be a man, John M and Laurence F, why not Kathleen Turner or Jo Beth Williams etc?
How do you know that Warrick will be back only for the the first episode of season 9? Exec producer Carol, never said the season premier would be the only time we would see Warrick. In actuality she really didn’t say anything to clue us in on Warrick’s fate so…….. Even Gary Dourdan himself has not admitted to leaving, stating to a reporter to ask Carol if he returns for season 9 or not.