‘CSI: Vegas’ gets the axe: Reboot cancelled by CBS after three seasons

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After three seasons, the case is closing on CSI: Vegas, a revival of the CBS hit drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation that initially ran for 15 seasons.

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The original series launched in 2000 and spanned 335 episodes, earning six Emmys and 39 nominations. Throughout its run, the cast at various points included William Petersen, Jorja Fox, Marg Helgenberger, Ted Danson, Elisabeth Shue, Laurence Fishburne, and more.

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Its popularity led to three spinoffs, including CSI: Miami (2002-12); CSI: New York (2004-13); and CSI: Cyber (2014-16).

CSI: Vegas rebooted the show in 2022 with a new group of Las Vegas Crime Lab investigators being led by Petersen’s Gil Grissom and Fox’s Sara Sidle. Wallace Langham also returned as David Hodges with newcomers Paula Newsome, Matt Lauria, Mel Rodriguez and Mandeep Dhillon.

But Petersen and Fox exited after Season 1, with Newsome (known for HBO’s Barry) taking the reins alongside Marg Helgenberger, who returned as criminologist Catherine Willows.

After Petersen and Fox’s departure, CSI: Vegas show runner Jason Tracey told TVLine that the door was open for Grissom and Sidle to return, “but we only asked them to come back to help us tell this finite number of episodes.”

Fox told fans that she couldn’t see herself sticking with the show without her series partner.

“For me, CSI has always been a love story,” Fox explained to fans on Twitter. “The story that people can find love in the darkest of places and times. I personally just can’t split Sara and Grissom up again. So goes Grissom…..So goes Sara. Wherever they go, they belong together.”

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According to Deadline, CSI: Vegas was a solid ratings performer, but was one of CBS’ least watched programs and the network already has several new series in the works this fall, including a Young Sheldon spinoff, a prequel to NCIS centring on a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs, a Matlock redo with Kathy Bates and a Sherlock Holmes-inspired offshoot that will follow Dr. John Watson.

In addition to saying goodbye to Vegas, CBS also announced its pulling the plug on the legal dramedy So Help Me Todd, which followed the relationship between an uber-successful lawyer (Marcia Gay Harden) and her private detective son (Skyler Astin). 

Series creator Scott Prendergast reacted to the news of the cancellation by thanking CBS for what “has been the best professional experience of my life.”

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“I took a story about me and my Mom and hundreds of people came together to build it into something else, something huge, something beautiful, something funny,” he wrote in an Instagram message. “Thank you to everyone involved, and to all our viewers. One million thank yous will never be enough.”

With both shows boasting a sizable audience, viewers can expect to see online fan campaigns being launched in hopes another network or streamer will pick them up.

CBS has yet to make a final decision on The Equalizer, although it is expected to return this fall, and NCIS: Hawai’i.

In the meantime, the series finales of CSI: Vegas and So Help Me Todd will air next month.

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