CSI Files
Captain
It's the end of one chapter and the start of another.<p><I>CSI: Crime Scene Investigation</I>'s leading man <font color=yellow>William Petersen</font> (Gil Grissom) will be leaving the show early next year. His final episode has been filmed and will air in January. "I was supposed to have finished up with <I>CSI</I> in May, but we were hit by the writers' strike, and I wanted to wait and take my character out in the right way," Petersen told the <A class="link" HREF="http://www.suntimes.com/">Chicago Sun-Times</a>. "So I ended up wrapping the last episode on a Friday this fall, [and] heading back to Chicago to start rehearsals on a Monday. No break, but I'm having a great time."<p>The rehearsals were for <I>Dublin Carol</I>, the play Petersen is currently performing at the Steppenwolf Upstairs Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. The actor won't stop with <I>Carol</I>--he is set to star in <I>Blackbird</I> next summer at Victory Gardens Theatre. "Working in the theater just requires so many different muscles," Petersen explained. "It's like being a marathon runner as opposed to using those fast-twitch muscles of the 100-yard dash you can use [on] TV. Aside from becoming familiar with some of the medical terms or Latin words, I wouldn't even learn my lines for the show. I could just depend on my short term memory. That is not the case with a play."<p>Even though Petersen is leaving <I>CSI</I>, that doesn't mean he's gone for good. "I've spent more time being that man than I have myself for the past nine years," the actor said. "And I left because I thought I had nothing left to bring to him. In fact, I stayed on the show two years longer than I thought I would. I still like the producing end of things — the micro-managing. And I might be back when [film director] <font color=yellow>William Friedkin</font> returns to direct our 200th episode."<p>In an unscientific, unofficial poll done by AOL television, 37% of viewers said they would stop watching <I>CSI</I> after Petersen left. Another 41% of those polled said they would wait to see how <font color=yellow>Laurence Fishburne</font> (Dr Raymond Langston) fared as <A class="link" HREF="http://www.csifiles.com/news/111008_01.shtml">Petersen's replacement</a> before they would decide whether or not to stop watching the show. The AOL poll included 600,000 votes and ran from October 29-November 13. (Please note that this is a web poll and its results only reflect the views of those who participated.)<p>The original article about Petersen is from the <A class="link" HREF="http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/stage/1278582,william-petersen-csi-steppenwolf-111408.article">Chicago Sun-Times</a>. Information about the AOL poll can be found <A class="link" HREF="http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE4AD2R920081114">here</a>.<center></center>
and I think the ratrings will go down upon his departure.. sorry but he's well loved and some think he is CSI
