CBS is looking to toast the 20th anniversary of one of its most successful franchises with a revival.
The network is in talks with CSI: Crime Scene Investigation original series creator Anthony Zuiker, Jerry Bruckheimer and the show’s creative team to bring back the procedural with a new, limited series, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter. CBS and producers CBS TV Studios declined comment as the CSI limited series is still in the dealmaking stages. Reps for Jerry Bruckheimer Television also declined comment.
Jason Tracey (Elementary) will write the script for what sources say will be a limited series designed to help celebrate CSI‘s 20th anniversary. The flagship series, which ran for 15 seasons and spawned spinoffs Miami, New York and Cyber, originally premiered on Oct. 6, 2000. Bruckheimer is spearheading the revival and selected Tracey for the job after the latter started his career on the prolific producer’s Just Legal and Cold Case.
Sources say the new potential limited series will be set in Las Vegas, like the flagship that started it all. As for the cast, William Petersen — who led the series for 10 seasons as Gil Grissom and returned for CSI‘s two-hour series finale in 2015 — is said to be among the original stars being eyed for a possible return for the untitled drama.
Talks for a CSI revival first started in July 2018 when rumors circulated that a new take could be produced for CBS All Access, the subscription streaming service that is controlled by ViacomCBS-owned CBS TV Studios. Then, last summer, executives at Bruckheimer’s company reminded the studio that 2020 was the flagship’s 20th anniversary. JBTV then reached out to Tracey, who developed the pitch with the company and Zuiker over the summer. The pitch was taken to CBS in October, with the broadcast network engaging. What remains unclear, for now, is if any CSI update would be a short-order and closed-ended one-off series or if it would be a show that could live on (again) for multiple seasons.
During its 15-season run, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was recognized twice as the most-watched TV show in the world. (CBS’ NCIS — which is now in its 17th season and has birthed two spinoffs, L.A. and New Orleans — now holds that honor.) With its long run and three spinoffs, CSI was a cash cow and became a multibillion-dollar franchise for CBS. A revival could also bring new interest to the massive CSI franchise library (parts of which are streaming on Hulu) at a time when programs with a sizable fan base and episode tally are being used to help launch new platforms. (To that end, Dick Wolf just cashed in with a streaming deal with Peacock that covered six of his shows and is said to be worth between $300 million-$400 million.)
(Excerpt) Read more in: The Hollywood Reporter