‘CSI’ Revival Close to Series Order at CBS, Adds 3 Cast Members

CBS is still developing a revival of the long-running crime procedural CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and three new faces have joined the planned event series. The new show will reportedly feature original series stars William Petersen and Jorja Fox, who would be joined by new members of the Las Vegas crime lab. CSI became an international phenomenon shortly after it debuted in 2000 and ran 15 seasons, ending with the 2015 movie-length episode “Immortality.”

CBS is “nearing” a series order for the CSI project, but has not officially greenlit it, Variety reported Friday. However, the fact that casting is already underway should be a good sign for the revival. The three new stars cast are Paula Newsome, Matt Lauria, and Mel Rodriguez, who should all be familiar to TV viewers. Newsome recently starred as Detective Janice Moss on HBO’s Barry and had a 12-episode arc on NBC’s Chicago Med. She also starred in NCIS, Suits, Pretty Little Liars, and How to Get Away with Murder. Lauria starred in CBS All Access’ Tell Me a Story and Apple TV’s Dickenson. Rodriguez starred in Fox’s The Last Man on Earth and the short-lived Showtime comedy On Becoming a God in Central Florida with Kirsten Dunst.

The CSI revival talks began in February 2020, when Deadline reported that Fox and Petersen were approached to play their parts from the original series. Jason Tracey, who worked on CBS’ Elementary and USA Network’s Burn Notice, was hired to write the script. In August 2020, TVLine reported that Petersen and Fox were in “advance talks” to come back. CBS has not commented on the project.

The original CSI, later dubbed CSI: Vegas, became a cash-cow for CBS at the height of its popularity, attracting major guest stars and even attracting filmmaker Quentin Tarantino to direct an episode. Three shows spun out of the main series, CSI: Miami (2002-2014), CSI: NY (2004-2013), and CSI: Cyber (2015-2016). The franchise followed crime scene investigators, who helped detectives put together a crime and find the culprits after the crime.

Like NBC’s Law & Order franchise, the show survived a rotating main cast. Petersen starred as Gil Grissom in the show’s first nine seasons, while Fox starred as Sara Sidle for most of the show’s entire run. After Petersen left, Laurence Fishburne joined as Raymond Langston to lead the series until Ted Danson’s D.B. Russell was introduced. Other members of the original cast include Marg Helgenberger, Gary Dourdan, George Eads, Paul Guilfoyle, Eric Smanda, and Robert David Hall.