Hello, flist! Been offline for 2 days. Well, not completely - I did have access at work/school/whatever and read CNN (a lot of good sites [like LJ] are blocked, but at least CNN isn't \o/) where I found this linked to on the entertainment page:
http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2008/07/william-peterse.html
(which is probably already everywhere on my flist)

Btw, I'm not trying to say anything with the icon I chose for this entry. It's just that I don't use it very often.

You know that fancy new CSI contract that William Petersen inked last May? Turns out there was a ticking time bomb buried in the fine print: He'll be gone by midseason! And not "off too do a play" gone like he was back in 2006. No, this season's 10th episode will be his last as a full-time series regular.

It had to happen one day. *sigh* I hope that doesn't make the show worse. ...Wait, that sound kinda wrong. I'm not trying to say it's bad already...although it's not as good as it used to be.
Did he put that in quotes because the to is spelled wrong?

"Billy is leaving," confirms the show's executive producer, Carol Mendelsohn. "But he will remain throughout the run of the series an executive producer. And he will, whenever CBS asks, come back. I don't think you've seen the last of Gil Grissom."

What do I care if he stays as an executive producer? But yay for more Grissom!

Neither does Petersen. In fact, in an exclusive interview conducted on July 11, the eight-year CSI vet seemed almost reluctant to characterize his departure as, um, a departure. Citing both his ongoing role as an executive producer and his intention to return on occasion as a (very special) guest star, he said, "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].

"I want it to work for the writers, I want it to work for the cast, and, most importantly, I want it to work for the audience," he added. "I don't want them to abandon the show."

I want it to work for the audience too, but I'm starting to think it's not possible to make both the writers and the cast happy. Now with the writers' fave characters gone this could be a new chance for the rest of the old characters. But because I'm not much of a positive thinker I'm afraid the new character will get more attention. Because, you know, they got interesting backstories we need to learn about.

CBS has to be concerned about that, too. Although no one expects

the Spanish Inqusition

ratings to nosedive when Petersen leaves, the network's top-rated show is staring down its biggest challenge ever. His sorta swan song, coupled with Jorja Fox and Gary Dourdan's exits last season, brings to three the number of original cast members CSI will have lost in a year's time.

Yeah, three in one year! And I'd been so happy that after so many seasons we still had our original cast. *sigh*

"This will be a year of transition for the show," concedes Mendehlson. "We always knew it was coming, and I'm glad it didn't come until now." At this point, she's confident that, like Law & Order and ER, CSI is a franchise that can weather such cast shifts. "There's never going to be another William Petersen, and there will never be another Jorja Fox," she hastens to add. "But we are not out to just replace those actors. We're out to add new characters to the show, and the show will change as a result. But that's a good thing."

I hope it will be like with NCIS. I liked Kate, but I also like Ziva, and the show stayed the same. I want CSI to stay the same...or go back to what it once was.
So she adds Jorja, but not Gary too?

In the meantime, Mendelsohn is plotting one hell of a send-off for her leading man. Just as this is a year of transition for CSI, so too is it for Grissom. The events of last season's finale -- specifically the death of Dourdan's Warrick -- will push Grissom to the breaking point. "The easiest way to describe Grissom is 'in crisis,'" Petersen told me. "As a man. As a scientist. As a teacher. As a middle-aged person who has been very successful at what he's done... [he] wonders, 'What's the point?'

One hell of a send-off? This does include a wedding, right? Because I really want a GSR wedding. The thought makes me grin. It doesn't need to be a big part of the ep (actually I'd prefer a short scene), but I'd just like it to be there. Also, there's gotta be cake in the breakroom. Because they never should have used this line if there isn't going to be cake in the breakroom.
Wait, what? Grissom in a crisis? Okay, it's good that it does something to Grissom. But I'm afraid that Nick won't get enough attention. I mean, Warrick's death has to be worse for him than for Grissom.

"It's all of a sudden becoming more difficult for him to do his job," he continued. "What had been a sort of fun job for him to do, because he loved the solving of the riddle, has become ever more taxing and difficult."

Helping Grissom through the crisis will be his true love, Sara, played by Fox, who is returning for multiple episodes, starting with the season premiere. While Petersen confirms that Sara will figure into Grissom's final arc, he stops just short of saying the couple will ride off into the desert together at the end of episode 10. "I wouldn't want to say exactly what we're going do -- I want people to watch, certainly," he chuckled. "But Sara is involved... It's often darkest just before the dawn."

See? They're totally gonna marry. And everyone will be happy, no? I'll be happy that Gris & Sara are happy together. And those who don't like GSR can be happy that both characters are gone and they don't have to watch the romance anymore.
I don't get that "It's often darkest just before the dawn." Huh?

And lest anyone read any hidden meaning into that statement, the actor reiterated, "For me, it's a really good situation. I don't want the audience to think it's not... [It isn't] like there's something going on, like 'Petersen's unhappy,' 'cause it's not true. It's quite the contrary. "

That explains why he's having trouble labeling his departure a... well, you know. "My biggest problem with leaving the show at any point isn't leaving Grissom -- I'm an actor, it's time to do other things," said the stage vet, whose first post-CSI gig will be a return to the theater -- and to Connor McPherson's play, A Dublin Carol -- this fall in his hometown of Chicago. "[The hard part will be saying goodbye] to the cast and crew. [So] I'm going to stay as involved as I'm allowed to be throughout the remainder of this show. Until they turn off all the lights."