[Photo: Bauer-Griffin]

TV Guide just published an interesting article about some of the ways that CSI: Vegas will change without William Petersen in front of the camera. Of course, executive director Carol Mendelsohn has promised that William Petersen will still appear, in a future episode.

“Grissom will come back in an organic way, to visit or be on a case with the people that are his family,” she said.

Joked Laurence Fishburne: “Billy said he would be back to make sure I didn’t burn the joint down.”

We also learn that Fishburne’s character on the show was previously supposed to have a genetic anomaly that is common among serial killers, but that plan has changed:

“Very early research on the character had indicated that there was a syndrome that was sort of more prevalent in serial killers,” ececutive producer Naren Shankar said. “That turned out not to be the case.”

That’s a shame, actually. I would have enjoyed seeing such a great actor as Fishburne take on such a personal delimma on the show…

It’s also been announced that singer Taylor Swift will be a guest star on a future episode. She’s never acted before, so it’ll be intersting to see how she does in this new arena. According to reports, she’ll play the teenage daughter of parents who own a hotel.

I know, I’m still trying to digest the news that William Petersen is leaving the cast mid-season. So now I guess it’s important to find out how the writers & producers plan to handle all the big changes to CSI: Vegas’ cast in season 9.

Executive Producer for the show, Carol Mendelsohn, told the plans for the show to Michael Ausiello over at EW.com. Last season, Sara (Jorja Fox) left the show, then the finale saw the brutal shooting of Warrick (Gary Dourdan.) Now with Grissom (William Petersen) leaving, they have a lot of changes in store for us! Here’s the run-down of what we will need to expect in CSI season 9:

• We’ve already been told that Jorja Fox will be back for the season premiere, but now we find out that she will be in several of season 9’s episodes. I’ll report the details to you as they are released.
• Gary Dourdan will be back for the premiere only. According to Mendelsohn, “We’re not saying whether or not Warrick lives or dies, but we will say that the premiere may be the last time our loyal fans see the entire original CSI cast together.”
• Lauren Lee Smith (The L Word) joins the cast in the third episode as new CSI Riley Adams. Carol Mendelsohn: “She has a very distinct personality… a very wry sense of humor. She doesn’t take herself too seriously.” Executive producer Naren Shankar: “This is a person who, unlike the rest of our gang, has not had Grissom as a mentor. So there’s a very different relationship between Riley and Grissom.”
• A new male CSI, a professor of pathology will enter the cast sometime during the season. We don’t know the actor who will play this Grissom replacement yet, but the show has considered the likes of John Malkovich and Laurence Fishburne. This CSI may not be a supervisor like Grissom, but will fill the hole in the cast left by him. The character is said to also have “a very rare genetic abnormality,” whatever that means.
• Liz Vassey (lab rat Wendy) and David Berman (coroner David) will become regulars each week and Hodges (Wallace Langham) will have a more integral part in the cast.
• Somehow, the Miniature Killer will make another appearance and Grissom will be involved with that. (Very cool!)

I’m worried about the future of the show, but know that major cast changes were inevitable at some point. Hopefully, the integrity of the show will remain and we will come to love the new CSI as much as before. But don’t worry, as more information is released, I’ll report it here.

[Photo: © CTV]