CSI: Vegas renewed for season 2 but William Petersen won’t be back

After dominating television for 15 seasons, CSI finally came to a close in 2015, but it wouldn’t lay dormant for long. A revival series, CSI: Vegas, debuted earlier this year and brought several members of the original cast with it, including William Petersen as Gil Grissom and Jorja Fox as Sara Sidle, and it seems that we haven’t seen the last of the good folks at the Las Vegas Crime Lab. CBS announced today that they have renewed CSI: Vegas for season 2.

Unfortunately, William Petersen had only signed on to play Gil Grissom for one season of CSI: Vegas, but he will remain on board as an executive producer for season 2. As for Jorja Fox, her contract leaves the door open for Sara Sidle to return and although the producers are hopeful she’ll be back, no decision has been made yet. “The incredibly talented CSI: Vegas creative team and cast did a superb job this first season, brilliantly updating and portraying the CSI universe with fresh stories and a new crime lab, proving that after 20 years, the CSI fan base is still hungry for more and ready to embrace a new chapter in this illustrious franchise,” said Amy Reisenbach, EVP, Current Programs, CBS.

Although the ratings for CSI: Vegas didn’t reach the heights of the original series, it did perform well when delayed viewing/streaming numbers were taken into account. Season 2 of CSI: Vegas will premiere during the 2022-2023 broadcast season.

The first season of CSI: Vegas opened a “brand new chapter in Las Vegas, the city where it all began” as the city faces an “existential threat that could bring down the Crime Lab, a brilliant team of forensic investigators must welcome back old friends and deploy new techniques to preserve and serve justice in Sin City.” In addition to William Petersen and Jorja Fox, CSI: Vegas also starred Paula Newsome, Matt Lauria, Mel Rodriguez, Mandeep Dhillon, and Jamie McShane, as well as franchise veterans Paul Guilfoyle (Jim Brass) and Wallace Langham (David Hodges).