CSI to Lose Gil Grissom

CBS

According to the program’s executive producers, Petersen’s character, Gil Grissom, will still make guest appearances but he will not be seen on a regular basis anymore. His final episode is expected to be shown early next year as part of the show’s tenth series. 

Executive producers Carol Mendelsohn and Naren Shankar told the Associated Press that the decision to leave the show was Petersen’s. Shankar said, Petersen’s character was "a man who has suffered a great deal of loss recently."

AP reported that the storyline that will bring about his departure would connect to Grissom “thinking about the next phase of his life,” Shankar added.

The executive producer, who insisted that the Las Vegas-based show would manage without the actor, stated, “Shows lucky enough to go this long inevitably have to deal with this kind of change.” 

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, CSI producers are looking for a high-profile actor to portray a new male character, which Mendelsohn said is not a Grissom substitute. First approached was John Malkovich, who reportedly turned the role down. Chief contenders include Laurence Fishburne and Kurt Russell.

Shankar declared, "Whoever comes in and joins the team after Grissom is going to be a different guy. But the nature of the show and what fans get out of it, that's not going to change." 

Petersen, who will remain as an executive producer, says he relishes ''knowing that I'll be more free to make choices'' that will give him the break he needs to portray roles away from Grissom. 

By now, he intends to star in Dublin Carol at Steppenwolf starting Nov. 13. He has also enlisted to make a go back to Victory Gardens Theater in a summer production that’s yet to be named, to be directed by the theater's director Dennis Zacek.