TVSquad

Just because William Petersen signed a contract in May that said he was going to stay on CSI, doesn't mean that he's going to, you know, stay on CSI. As it turns out, Petersen, who does double-duty as Gil Grissom and executive producer of the long-running procedural, had a clause in his contract that is allowing him to leave the show after this season's tenth episode. Both Petersen and CBS are quick to point out, however, that we will not be seeing the last of Gil Grissom.

Petersen plans to remain actively involved in CSI and is maintaining his role as executive producer. Although he will no longer be a series regular, he's definitely not planning on leaving for good, saying, "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]."

WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS AFTER THE JUMP

(S08E17) Last week's special episode of CSI, the one written by the Two and a Half Men creators, was fun and light-hearted and filled with inside jokes and gags. Last night's show was the complete antithesis: brutal, bloody and in the end, shockingly sad. It was Gary Dourdan's last episode of the series. Warrick is gone and the only way you'll ever see him on CSI again will be in flashback or we discover a twin brother or lookalike cousin.

The show picked up on the storyline began last season, when Warrick bedded an exotic dancer from Pigalle who wound up dead. He was cleared back then, but never got over her death. We learn that he's been obsessively stalking Lou Gedda, the club owner whom Warrick believes had her killed. Before you can say, "what the heck is going on with the funeral with the two guys in the coffin," Warrick is caught seemingly red-handed (literally with blood all over his hands!) in Lou's office where the hulking body of the gangster has been riddled with bullets in his barber chair.

There's been a lot of flux on CSI, CBS's top rated, long-running, extremely popular forensics-procedural-crime drama (I think that covers all the categories, right?) At the end of last season, Jorja Fox decided not to come back to the show, and her role as Sara was written out in the first two episodes of the year. The producers left the door open for her to return -- they didn't kill her off -- but she's gone.

Tonight is the last of Gary Dourdan as Warrick. He's having trouble off-camera, a serious felony arrest earlier this month for drugs, so his leaving may have been a necessity even if he hadn't chosen to exit. Therefore, it's a good thing to be able to tell you that USA Today reports that Marg Helgenberger has inked a new contract with CSI for two more years. That, coupled with William Petersen's signing a new deal in April, means that CSI is in good shape for the foreseeable future. CBS should be doing the happy-dance.

The CSI/Two and a Half Men writers switch was a very clever promotion for CBS. Fortunately, the writers saw the opportunity to change places as more than just a publicity stunt. They really took the scripting seriously and came up with inventive episodes for each program. If this were a competition to see which team would deliver the better show, who would take on the task of writing winning TV in a genre not their own and succeed beyond expectations, the comedy scribes take the gold. Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn's CSI was pure genius, and if it were up to me, CSI should submit it for an Emmy.

But first there was Two and a Half Men. In an episode called "Fish in a Drawer" (and if somebody could explain what that title means, I'd be most appreciative), the story picked up after Evelyn married Teddy. In the teleplay by CSI regular writers Evan Dunsky and Sarah Goldfinger, Charlie and Courtney check out of the reception for a little romp in his room upstairs only to find Teddy's dead bod on the bed. Talk about spoiling the mood. Teddy wasn't only a corpse, he was a corpse with his pants pulled down around his ankles and lipstick stains on his hoo-ha. The cops were called in, a detective who was a dead ringer for Marg Helgenberger -- played by redhead Jamie Rose -- had the vaguely Bondian name of Jagov, Sloane Jagov. Naturally, Charlie had to make a move on her. He couldn't keep his eyes off her cleavage.

Last fall, CSI's Jorja Fox left the show. Two weeks ago, it was confirmed that William Petersen signed a one-year contract to stick around for the show's ninth season. This week, we learn that series regular Gary Dourdan decided to quit the show at the end of the current season.

Dourdan, who plays CSI Level 3 Warrick Brown, and CBS/Paramount came to a mutual decision not renew the actor's contract with the show.

Every time he thinks he's out, they pull him back in again! No, just kidding. It's not like that. This isn't Michael in Godfather 3. Nobody's forcing anyone.

However, it is true that William Petersen is returning to CBS's CSI for the ninth season. This is great news for fans of the show -- and the star -- because for years now he's been yelping about leaving the hit series to do other things. Last year, for example, he was written off the show for a brief hiatus in which Liev Schreiber was cast as a temporary replacement for Gil Grissom in the Las Vegas crime lab.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist, let alone a forensic specialist, to detect that the CSI franchise is hot. CBS currently boasts three shows with CSI in the title -- CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: New York -- four if you include the non-Jerry Bruckheimer produced military procedural NCIS. So, then, it shouldn't come as a surprise that CSI is expanding. No, there's not a new CSI TV show happening, but there is an amusement park variation on CSI coming to life at Magic Mountain, the Valencia, California tourist attraction. (By the way, isn't it nice that Valencia didn't get nuked for real like it did on 24 last season?)

It may sound a little bit like a headline from The Onion, but it's actually in the works, according to CSI producer Carol Mendelsohn.

Speaking at a Banff event in Canada earlier this week, Mendelsohn said she got a call from Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre, who suggested the switch. I'm not sure if it would be permanent, but it's something they could do for an episode or two. CSI will also go on location to San Francisco this season, and next season might go to London.

Maybe the Two and a Half Men writers can have Grissom sleep with a different woman every night, and maybe even hire a wisecracking kid to help with a murder investigation. He can be a prodigy who doesn't do well in school but is a genius at forensics.

For the past week, CBS has been running a sad preview for tonight's episode of CSI, the last one for star William Petersen (for a while anwyay). Liev Schreiber joins the cast soon.

Hey, I'll admit I don't watch this show (even though it's the MOST IMPORTANT SHOW IN THE UNIVERSE). So I ask fans: is this departure as big as they're making it out to be. Yes, yes, I know he's the star of the show and he's the leader of the team and all that. But the commercials make it sound, with the "you never thought he'd leave" voiceover and the tinkling piano and the emotion, you'd think that Lucy Ricardo was just hit by a bus or maybe Petersen had died in real life and this was his last show.

Why is Petersen leaving temporarily anyway? To star in a play? Burnt out? Contract negotiations? The episode preview should get into that: "People come and go...but you never thought he'd leave...but due to other commitments and just a feeling that he had to get away for a while, our star has to leave and will be replaced by another actor...tonight, on a very special CSI."

Don't panic, William Petersen fans, don't panic! It's only temporary.

Petersen is taking a break from the show for a handful of episodes starting January 12, and Schreiber will play another investigator who comes in to solve bizarre murders in Las Vegas.

I wonder if this is a tryout for Schreiber. It's often been rumored that Petersen would not stay with CSI forever, so maybe producers are taking this break as an opportunity to try out someone else in the role if Petersen decides to move on. I'm kinda surprised that Schreiber took the gig, since he's been focusing on movies and the stage for several years, but he could add something interesting to the show. Though I don't watch the show anymore. Is there anything interesting happening on any of the CSIs these days?