Crime scene investigation no longer pays for Gary Dourdan.
The
CSI star, who has been with the ratings-grabbing CBS franchise since its 2000 debut, has chosen not to renew his contract, paving the way for his character's exit on the upcoming season finale.
According to
TV Guide, which first reported the news of Dourdan's departure, it was the star who informed producers that he would be leaving the show rather than the other way around.
No timetable for his exit has been announced, but his contract is set to expire next month, making the show's May 15 finale the likeliest venue for Warrick Brown's final bow.
The network, meanwhile, is refusing to discuss the shake-up.
"We can't confirm or deny this information," a CBS spokesperson told E! News.
Dourdan's Brown, a recovering gambling-addict-turned-top-CSI-analyst and sometime love interest to
Marg Helgenberger's Catherine Willows, ups the show's body count this season.
In November, fellow original castmember Jorja Fox, who played Sara Sidle, left
CSI after what could generously be described as rocky contract negotiations with show producers, eventually failing to come to terms on a mutually acceptable salary boost.
William Petersen, aka
CSI's stoic ringleader Gil Grissom, fared better earlier this month, when it was announced he had finally signed on to a ninth season, albeit for a reduced number of shows. His deal worked out to an average payday of $600,000 per episode, cementing his status as one of the small screen's highest paid actors.
CBS appears to be wasting no time in replacing Dourdan.
According to
TV Guide, producers have already issued a casting notice for a male series regular in his late 20s to early 30s to take on the role of Ray Santoro, a "handsome, smart and athletic" CSI who takes on the graveyard shift at the crime lab.
While fellow original full-timers Helgenberger and George Eads have yet to sign new contracts, both are expected to following Petersen's, rather than Dourdan and Fox's, footsteps and return to the show next fall.
