CSI: Miami
Returning Drama, 10-11PM, CBS
May's season 8 finale ended dramatically, with most of the Miami CSIs--except leads Horatio Caine (David Caruso) and Eric Delko (Adam Rodriguez, who's returning full-time this season)--strewn about the floor of the lab, apparently suffering from respiratory distress at the hands of a demented professor. "All of our CSIs are in an extremely vulnerable position," says exec producer Barry O'Brien, "and--how do we survive this?--one of them may not survive." You mean like, say, Eddie Cibrian, who isn't signed on for season 9? "Anyone keeps an eye on contract negotiations," exec producer Marc Dube teases, "may get some sense [of what happens]." In more definite news, a large-scale prison break in Miami will bring back one of the show's most notorious villains. "It's going to serve as a season-long arc for us," O'Brien says. "Some of these former nemeses of Delko and Horatio are going to emerge and pose a tangible threat." OCT. 3