After all these years, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation gets something increasingly rare -- a chance to thank its loyal fans.
Once a series crosses the asset/liability line into the red zone, the networks these days tend to pull the plug so fast it makes your head spin. TV is a brutal bottom-line business with precious little room for sentiment.
That's evidently not the case with the venerable CSI. CBS will air a series-ending two-hour CSI movie at 8 p.m. today. I expect impressive ratings as longtime and former fans drop by for the final curtain.
The movie, titled Immortality and airing in two parts, will serve as a fitting end for the series that debuted Oct. 6, 2000, ran for 337 episodes and spawned three spinoffs -- CSI: Miami, CSI:NY and CSI:Cyber. Only the last one is still standing.
CSI was ranked among TV's top 10 shows for its first 11 seasons, and was in the top 3 from 2001 to 2006.
In its heyday, the powerhouse drew 26 million viewers each week. Even last season with only 18 episodes, CSI ranked No. 34 and pulled in a respectable 11.2 million each week.
Longtime fans are in for a treat tonight.
In the finale, Gil Grissom (William Petersen) and Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger) return to help the CSI team solve "a catastrophic case that paralyzes all of Las Vegas."
The case involves an explosive attack on the Eclipse Casino, co-owned by Willows, who left the series about halfway through Season 12 to work for the FBI.
Petersen and Helgenberger ought to be worth the price of admission alone. This marks the first time in six years that Petersen has returned to the show.
Grissom was the series' main protagonist for the first nine seasons, and his slowly revealed romance with subordinate Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox) fascinated viewers.
The couple got engaged in Season 8. Then Sara burned out and left the team and Las Vegas.
When Petersen left the series in Season 9, the writers sent Grissom to meet up with Sara in the jungles of Costa Rica. Fans enjoyed a rare moment of happily-ever-after closure.
Or so it seemed at the time.
Fox and Sidle returned to the show in Season 10 and we learned Sara and Grissom had gotten hitched. Alas, it was revealed in Season 13 that they broke up.
What about now? A CBS promo for the finale promises to tie up the Sara/Grissom storyline, but how?
"Do you love him?" Lady Heather asks Sidle in the teaser.
"I do," Sidle replies with tears in her eyes. Then the scene switches to the docks as Sara walks toward Grissom. Their eyes meet and ...
Let's hope those two crazy kids work it out and get back together.
But, wait. Lady Heather, our favorite TV dominatrix, is in the mix. Grissom has never been able to think straight with her around.
In addition, CBS hints that current night shift supervisor, D.B. Russell (Ted Danson), and Sidle "make decisions regarding the future of their crime-fighting careers."
It's no secret to any CSI fan who doesn't skip through the commercials that Danson is taking Russell over to CSI:Cyber when that series returns at 9 p.m. Oct. 4. (Peter MacNicol won't be back.)
And for those who wonder where Petersen is, he has joined the cast of WGN's Manhattan. Season 2 kicks off at 8 p.m. Oct. 13. Petersen plays Los Alamos' new commander, the deeply religious and enigmatic Col. Emmett Darro.
In addition to those folks mentioned above, there will be an extensive list of past and present cast members on hand for tonight's swan song.
Those scheduled to appear include Eric Szmanda (investigator Greg Sanders), Robert David Hall (coroner Dr. Albert Robbins), Paul Guilfoyle (homicide detective Jim Brass) and Wallace Langham (lab technician David Hodges).
Guest stars will include Katie Stevens (American Idol, Faking It) as Catherine's daughter, Lindsey Willows, and Melinda Clarke (The O.C.) as Lady Heather, plus a number of familiar faces (if not familiar names) we've seen over the years.
Noticeably absent is original cast member George Eads, whose forensic investigator Nick Stokes departed to run the CSI lab in San Diego at the end of Season 15.
Also not around is Laurence Fishburne (Hannibal), whose Dr. Raymond Langston was a part of the team for Seasons 9, 10 and 11 before resigning.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Petersen noted that CBS put the movie together fairly quickly after deciding another season wasn't in the works.
"We didn't have much time to really cogitate about it," Petersen said. "But that's appropriate because that's how it was when we first created the drama in the first place.
"It was the right idea, at the right time, with the right people, at the right place, and we weren't bothered by anybody. The network left us alone because they didn't think it would be much of a deal."
Turns out it was quite a big deal.
Style on 09/27/2015