'CSI: Vegas' Producer Hints at Upcoming Appearances by Familiar Faces From Original Series

By Stephen Andrew

CSI: Vegas executive producer Anthony Zuiker, who is the creator of the CSI franchise, has hinted at the show possibly featuring appearances by some familiar faces from the original series. CSI: Vegas currently has original stars William Petersen, Jorja Fox and Wallace Langham as part of the cast, but during a CBS TCA panel Zuiker teased others could return. "Anytime we can get any of our veterans back, it's such a great plus for all of our fans," he said, according to Deadline.

"We have a couple more surprises in store," he continued. "I could probably say that. But the fantastic blend of the original cast members with a brand new, diverse team in 2021 and beyond is such a great treat for the CSI fans and the franchise." CSI: Vegas creator/executive producer Jason Tracey spoke during the panel as well, revealing that the show will consist of the traditional CSI case-of-the-week stories. However, it will also feature "a serialized arc that you saw begins in kind of dramatic fashion with an attack on Brass and on the lab itself, and sets in motion something that Grissom (Petersen) and Sara (Fox) primarily drive through the course of the season, but becomes something that involves all of our new characters as well."

The producers were asked about the evolution of forensic technology, something CSI has long been known for utilizing. Zuiker addressed the possibility of revisiting older cases with new tech by saying, "Science has changed, technology has changed, forensics has changed, and I think the great benefit to the franchise for CSI: Vegas is you can really see the upgrade, in not only the storytelling, but the cinematic storytelling, and the forensic gadgets, and just how to tell stories in 2021 versus 2000 proper." He added, "That's what's really, really exciting. Because we have a whole treasure trove of never-heard-before episodes, 814, we can go back and explore those for many, many seasons."

Tracey then offered an example of how CSI: Vegas is staying up-to-date on modern investigative technology. "One of the big ones that's changed the most in the last five or six years since the show has been on the air is in the area of genetics," he said. "The show I think taught the world a lot about what DNA is, but now what scientists are able to do with DNA is really something special. And that's one of the reasons why our new character played by Paula [Newsome], Max Roby, is running the lab, is from a genetics background. What she's able to do, sort of parsing what that double helix tells you about somebody's traits phenotyping. We can now build a story around a pool of suspects, Agatha Christie style, that has brown hair and blue eyes in a way that 10 years ago that was simply impossible." CSI: Vegas debuts on CBS on Oct. 6.

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