Watching CSI

After 8 seasons it’s miracle that his much of the cast is still on board. With Jorja leaving in the fall I expected at least one cast member to follow sooner rather than later. According to TV Guide’s Ausiello, the next original cast member to leave is Gary Dourdan.

Sources confirm to me exclusively that original CSIer Gary Dourdan — whose contract is also set to expire next month — has informed producers that he is leaving the show. Although a precise timeframe is not known, CSI’s May 15 season finale could serve as Warrick’s swan song.

A spokesman for CBS would neither confirm or deny the story. I translate that to mean, “He’s quite but we are trying to convince him to stay.”

Eight years is looong time to do a serial. Filming something as complicated as CSI is like filming a mini movie every week. I can imagine it takes a toll on your life.

Supposedly CSI is already looking for a new cast member to play the part of   Ray Santoro “who transfers from Henderson to join the graveyard shift at the Las Vegas crime lab.”

WHEN TWO RECENT MURDERS ARE LINKED TO AN INCARCERATED CONVICT, THE CSI TEAM BREAKS HIM OUT OF PRISON TO HELP SOLVE THE CASE, ON “CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION,” THURSDAY, APRIL 24

Rapper Method Man Returns As Convict Drops

“Drop’s Out” - Brass and Nick get help from an unlikely source, an incarcerated criminal (Method Man), when investigating two murders that take place in the same apartment building, on CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION, Thursday, April 24 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

SERIES REGULARS:

Gil Grissom: William Petersen
Catherine Willows: Marg Helgenberger
Warrick Brown: Gary Dourdan
Nick Stokes: George Eads
Captain Jim Brass: Paul Guilfoyle
Greg Sanders: Eric Szmanda
Dr. Robbins: Robert David Hall
Hodges: Wallace Langham

RECURRING:

Drops: Method Man
David Phillips: David Berman
Archie Johnson: Archie Kao
Wendy Simms: Liz Vassey

GUEST CAST:

Officer Mitchell: Larry Mitchell
Jessica Jaynes: Anya Monzikova
Walter Jaynes: Grant Sullivan
Valinda Carlisle: Nikki Disanto
College Student: Omi Vaidya
Sherry: Octavia Spencer
Dale D: Al Shearer
Dana Espinoza: Cara Santana
Maria Espinoza: Ludo Vika
Mini-Britney: Terra Jole’

TELEPLAY BY: Dustin Lee Abraham & Allen MacDonald

STORY BY: Dustin Lee Abraham & Naren Shankar, one of the series’ executive producers

DIRECTED BY: Jeffrey Hunt

RATING: To Be Announced

Method Man is BACK!!

Episode details

Two promos for the price of one.

CATHERINE BECOMES PERSONALLY INVESTED IN THE CASE OF A YOUNG GIRL FOUND MURDERED BEHIND A COMEDY CLUB, ON “CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION,” THURSDAY, APRIL 10

“A Thousand Days on Earth” - The disturbing death of a 3-year-old girl has a great impact on Catherine as she searches for clues to her murder, on CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION, Thursday, April 10 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

SERIES REGULARS:

Gil Grissom: William Petersen
Catherine Willows: Marg Helgenberger
Warrick Brown: Gary Dourdan
Nick Stokes: George Eads
Captain Jim Brass: Paul Guilfoyle
Greg Sanders: Eric Szmanda
Dr. Robbins: Robert David Hall
Hodges: Wallace Langham

RECURRING CAST:

David Phillips: David Berman
Archie Johnson: Archie Kao
Wendy Simms: Liz Vassey

GUEST CAST:

Greg Fitzsimmons: Greg Fitzsimmons
Nora O’Toole: Jennifer Hall
Leo Finley/Dean: James Jay Paulson
Donald Balboa: Raymond Cruz
Boyd Waldrip: David Meunier
Grace Waldrip: Donnamarie Recco
Mechanic William: Stanford Davis
Amir Sayeed: Dariush Kashani
Maajida Sayeed: Rima Laham
Cordelia Doe/Inez: Baylee Rogers
Offended Guy: Nathan Baesel
Male Figure: Nathan Baesel
Heavyset Guy: Noah Harpster
Field Reporter: Suzanne Rico
Paula Francis: Paula Francis
Negotiator: Bobby Hosea
SWAT Officer Jack Parker: Vincent Duvall
Faith Waldrip: Ryan Simpkins
Tyler Waldrip: Ty Simpkins

WRITTEN BY: Evan Dunsky

DIRECTED BY: Kenneth Fink

RATING: To Be Announced

The folks over at the the William Petersen Appreciation Page(if you haven’t been over there you should really check it out) have kicked off a letter writing campaign to show Billy how much his fans care. Here’s how it’s going to work:

We[WPAP] are inviting our site visitors to email to us their letters addressed to Billy, or scan for us your sketches/artwork. We will print them all, collect and display them in a classy binder and have them delivered to Billy during the run of Dublin Carol. We cannot guarantee any responses, but we can guarantee they will be delivered. We will contact Billy beforehand to make him aware of the project and to expect a package from us.

Rest assured that we will not be reading your letters; we will treat them as private. They can be as short or as long as you wish, we will just print them out with no cost to you and you will not have to worry about finding the time to get to the post office. Anything sent in color will be printed out in color. We will arrange everything for you.

There is plenty of time to work on your letters or artwork as our deadline is 31st October 2008, this gives both you and us plenty of time to get the package ready. At this time we do not know the exact date it will be delivered, but as soon as it is we will let everyone know. We will also post regular updates on our LJ in respect of the project.

You can write about anything you like. If you want to write but you are not quite sure what to say, here are some ideas:

• Wish him all the best with his upcoming play, or to “Break a Leg” as they say.
• Send him a Holiday greeting.
• Send a simple “thank you” for an autograph or photo.
• Perhaps a specific character or Billy himself has inspired or helped you in some way.
• Maybe you had the opportunity to speak to him once but were too shy to do so.
• Maybe you got to see the play last time, but unfortunately didn’t see Billy in person to share your thoughts on it.
• If you plan to see the play, let him know you are excited about it (please keep in mind he may read these after the production has finished.)
• Maybe you can’t go to the play this time but you hope to see him perform on stage one day.

They will only accept letters via email. Email letters and artwork to wpapfanprojects[at]yahoo.com

I can’t believe they deleted the scene from this week’s ep. At least CBS released it on the internet. I do wish they’d include a tiny bit more character development on the show. Notice that the pic of Grissom and Sara has the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. Is this relationship pre-Vegas? Interesting…

William Petersen will one busy man over the next couple of years. In addition to his winter run at Steppenwolf, he’ll also star in “as-yet-undetermined project directed by Dennis Zacek, his longtime mentor and Victory Gardens’ artistic director” during the Summer of 2009. Victory Gardens is a “ seminal institution within the Chicago Theater Movement of the 1970s and 1980s, dedicated by mission to serving playwrights and producing world premiere plays.” The theater recently celebrated it’s 30th season. Zacek has been the artistic director for over 20 years, producing more than 150 shows including Jim Sherman’s The God of Isaac and Lonnie Carter’s Lemuel.

The William Petersen project will run July 3-Aug. 9, 2009. For tickets call Tickets: (773) 871-3000. So much Billy so little time.

Bit ‘o Trivia: Victory gardens were private gardens planted during WWI and WWWII in order to ease public food consumption during war.

Source

Thanks to a reduced work load, William Petersen will definitely be back for Season 9. Woohoo!

Under a one-year pact with “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” producer CBS Paramount Network TV, Petersen will appear in a reduced number of episodes for a salary said to be in the neighborhood of $600,000 an episode. Petersen, who was reportedly earning about $500,000 per episode, making him one of the highest-paid primetime actors, also serves as an executive producer on the show. (Each season is about two-dozen episodes.)

Billy plans to revise his role in a Dublin Carol at Chicago’s legendary Steppenwolf Theater from November 13-December 21. No word on who(if anyone) will sub for him as Liev Schreiber did in Season 7. We know Liev won’t be back because his character bit the dust at the end of his run. This is great news only if the SAG(the Screen Actors Guild) decides not to strike. The first bad sign is SAGs separation from the The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. When unions decide to divide, you can bet that negotiations are more than just perfunctory. Stay tuned.  Hopefully we aren’t in for another strike.

Source

Marg indulged in a manicure and pedicure on Tuesday. While a French manicure was applied to her tootsies she read a magazine and Richard Price’s The Lush Life. The book shows the ” hidden cracks, the underground networks of control and violence beneath the glamour.” of the “new” New York. It’s an “Xray of the street in the age of no broken windows and “quality of life” squads” (Price also wrote Clockers)

Marg looks great without all the movie star makeup.

(more…)

CBS released a photo montage featuring behind-the-scenes snaps of new episode filming. We see a backstage action from all three shows. If you are crime drama fan like myself you’ll also enjoy the photos of NCIS and Criminal Minds.

We’ve seen glimpses of Grissom’s apartment over the years. The first was in Season 2(Burden of Proof, 2×14) when Catherine came over for a drink and encouraged Grissom to reach out to Sara. In Season 7(Leapin Lizards 7×22), Grissom and Sara were shown watching TV in his(or their) bedroom. He walked out of the room and she finds the love letter he never sent.

Grissom’s Divine Comedy gives us the most comprehensive look we’ve ever seen.

Check out the March 31st issue of TV Guide.

There are also some great spoiler photos of Catherine(she’s such a snoop and I love her for it) holding a picture of Grissom and Sara. Grissom is a cutie in his bathrobe.  I’m glad to get another glimpse of Grissom’s pooch.  Can’t wait to see the promo for this one.

TV Guide Scan Source

Looks like William Petersen will take another leave of absence to reprise his Dublin Carol role. In season seven, Grissom took sabbatical so that Billy could do the play in Rhode Island.  This time in he’ll preform in his  hometown of Chicago.
Dublin Carol in the Steppenwolf Upstairs Theatre
Nov. 13-Dec. 21, 2008
By Conor McPherson
Directed by ensemble member Amy Morton
Featuring William Petersen

Tickets for the subscription series are now on sale by calling (312) 335-1650 or by visiting www.steppenwolf.org. (Tickets for Dublin Carol are now on sale only to Steppenwolf subscribers; single tickets will go on sale at a later date.)

Typcialy the cast takes some time off during the holidays.  Still, we’ll definately need another storyline that explains Grissom missing a few eps.  I HATED to miss the last production.  Chicago is a little more doable for me so maybe I can make it this time around.

GRISSOM AND HIS TEAM BATTLE THE FLU WHILE INVESTIGATING A DANGEROUS LAS VEGAS GANG THAT IS MURDERING KEY WITNESSES IN A GRAND JURY CASE, ON “CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION,” THURSDAY, APRIL 3

Bonnie Bedelia (”Big Love”) Guest Stars as Deputy District Attorney Madeline Klein

“Grissom’s Divine Comedy” - Grissom and his team battle the flu when they are called upon by DDA Klein (Bedelia) to investigate the deaths of several key witnesses for a grand jury case against a dangerous Las Vegas gang, on CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION, Thursday, April 3 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

SERIES REGULARS:

Gil Grissom: William Petersen
Catherine Willows: Marg Helgenberger
Warrick Brown: Gary Dourdan
Nick Stokes: George Eads
Captain Jim Brass: Paul Guilfoyle
Greg Sanders: Eric Szmanda
Dr. Robbins: Robert David Hall
Hodges: Wallace Langham

RECURRING CAST:

David Phillips: David Berman
Archie Johnson: Archie Kao

GUEST CAST:

DDA Madeline Klein: Bonnie Bedelia
Cody Cook: Natasha Gregson Wagner
Officer Mitchell: Larry Mitchell
Richard O’Malley: Jack McGee
Judge: Van Epperson
Marie Leahy: Ashley-Nicole Sherman
Tim O’Shea: Dave Shalansky
Juror #1: Susan Merson
Raphael Gomez: Daniel Louis Rivas
Special Guard Ron Pen: Andrew Hawkes
Emilio Alvarado: Robert LaSardo
Discharge Guard: Kim Delgado
Don Cook: David Burke
Juror #2: Andy Forrest

TELEPLAY BY: Jacqueline Hoyt

STORY BY: Jacqueline Hoyt and Carol Mendelsohn, one of the series’ executive producers

DIRECTED BY: Richard J. Lewis

Is there still hope for a GSR reunion? CBS is still keeping the fan base stirred up with this one.