The door is not closing on CSI: Vegas!
CBS on Wednesday announced a formal pickup for CSI: Vegas Season 2, but there’s a huge catch.
The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that William Petersen will not be returning on-screen.
Instead, the franchise veteran will remain an executive producer on the second season of the revival.
Fellow original star, Jorja Fox, has not closed a deal to return, but there’s plenty of time between now and production picking up.
Paula Newsome, Matt Lauria, Mandeep Dhillon, and Mel Rodriguez are all locked in to return.
“The incredibly talented CSI: Vegas creative team and cast did a superb job this first season, brilliantly updating and portraying the CSI universe with fresh stories and a new crime lab, proving that after 20 years, the CSI fan base is still hungry for more and ready to embrace a new chapter in this illustrious franchise,” said Amy Reisenbach, executive vp current programs at CBS of the pickup.
CSI: Vegas Season 1 averaged 3.71 million total viewers and a 0.4 rating among adults 18-49 in live + same-day ratings.
Those numbers would usually spell doom for a show on CBS, but the post-airdate viewing found the show surging to almost 7 million viewers.
It also experienced a bump of 83% in the demo on DVR, enjoying the biggest bump of any new fall drama.
Showrunner Jason Tracey recently told TV Fanatic that the door is always open for returning cast members.
At the time, Jason revealed he was hopeful for William and Jorja to return, but that the intention was to launch a new generation of the franchise with Grissom and Sara before leaving them in a “great place.”
The renewal marks the first CBS scripted drama pickup for the 2022-23 TV season.
The FBI franchise, NCIS, NCIS: Hawai’i, S.W.A.T., Blue Bloods, and Magnum P.I. are all locks to return.
Bull is on the bubble, and with zero buzz and less than stellar ratings, it will probably say goodbye for good.
What are your thoughts on this very early pickup?
Do you think the show will work without Grissom and Sara?
Hit the comments.
Remember you can watch CSI: Vegas online right here via TV Fanatic.
CBS will make more renewal and cancellation decisions early next year.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.