CSI: VEGAS at TCA: Live-Blog

CSI is back, with revival series CSI: VEGAS, debuting 21 years after the groundbreaking show first bowed.

Follow along for a live-blog of the session (starting at 12:40 PM PT), which will include series stars William Petersen, Jorja Fox, Paula Newsome, Mandeep Dhillon, Matt Lauria, Mel Rodriguez, as well as EPs Jason Tracey and Anthony Zuiker…

12:41 PM PT: We’re kicking off with a trailer for the new series, as the team has to contend with one of their own possibly faking evidence.

12:44 PM: Zuiker has cards for us, doing a quasi-magic trick, showcasing the legacy of the show.

12:45 PM: Tracey cites CSI as one of the reasons he first wanted to start writing, so he’s happy to be working on this franchise.

12:46 PM: Newsome admits she was panicked and grateful when she got this job. She says she feels comfortable in her skin working with this cast, though. “The work is the same, the exposure is different.”

12:47 PM: “This has been a really unique experience because of COVID,” Lauria says. He notes the original team could do ridealongs and do hands-on training before the show started. He’s talked with real people and had “crash courses” in their trailer to learn how to capture prints, etc.

12:49 PM: Tracey notes they have a “fantastic blend” of new and returning faces. There will be people from “both eras out on the field.”

12:51 PM: “It feels [everything],” Fox says. “It is at once this sort of familiar thing in my mind, and also brand new…the world, weirdly enough, is even more topsy turvy than it was in 2000. But it was nice to be grounded with William Petersen and come back as Sara and Grissom. What a thrill.”

12:52 PM: “It’s an enormous challenge and responsibility of telling stories [about law enforcement],” Tracey acknowledges. While it’s not directly a cop show, he says they take their responsibility “very seriously.”

12:53 PM: Zuiker teases there are more surprise returns to come, but is coy about who the characters are.

12:54 PM: Petersen says he didn’t watch the show after he left, and didn’t really watch it when he was on it, either. “It was a thrill, it was unexpected, to be asked to start a new version of this,” he says. “I jumped at it, especially [exploring] Grissom and Sara and who we are now.” He calls it a “real thrill” to be able to do this with the CSI team again.

12:56 PM: Tracey says this season they’ll be spreading out the serialized arc, which Grissom and Sara are heavily involved in, while also juggling more episodic tales.

12:58 PM: Could they go back and revisit any former cases? Zuiker isn’t committing to it, but he notes they have some new demented cases and telling stories in 2021 allows for different kinds of TV episodes.

12:59 PM: “I’ve become more like Grissom, in that I appreciate the things he appreciates,” Petersen says. He says Grissom was like him in that they both kind of wanted to be on a boat.

1:00 PM: Fox says she felt a bit rusty with science when stepping back into the show. Petersen notes it’s a whole new lab, new machines, “technology Grissom wouldn’t have been comfortable with ten years ago.”

“Billy and I used to be really good at that stuff,” Fox says with a laugh. “Age caught up with me,” he jokes.

1:02 PM: Petersen says when the original show was on, he didn’t want to carry a gun, and it ended up (mostly) sticking. “The idea of being able to work with just the mind, as an actor, that was a challenge and a great opportunity to grow as a performer.”

1:03 PM: Genetics have changed a lot since the show went off the air. The original series taught viewers a lot about it, in general, but what scientists can do now has played into how they handle suspects, etc. “The science is like Disneyland,” Newsome says. The new information can help the investigators weed out suspects.

1:06 PM: Zuiker loves how the show re-introduces Grissom, but no spoilers!

1:07 PM: Fox praises how roles for women have changed in the past few years. Dhillon and Rodriguez praise how inclusive the show is, as well.

1:09 PM: Lauria praises the “fast-pace and high-octane” show, but he says he’s also gotten very good at doing gun residue testing on the fly. Petersen praises Lauria, saying he didn’t have a day off between episode 4 and 9.

1:10 PM: Petersen wraps up the panel by thanking the cast and producers for working so hard,  plus “CBS for giving us the opportunity to do it again in a completely new way.”

CSI: VEGAS, Series Premiere, Wednesday, October 6, 10/9c, CBS

RELATED:

• CSI: VEGAS Premiere: ‘Legacy’ Photos
• CSI: VEGAS: Watch a Teaser for CBS’ CSI Sequel
• CBS Officially Sets CSI Revival

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