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'CSI': The Gang's All Here

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) It looks like we can finally close the book on the past week of “As ‘CSI’ Turns.”

CBS and “CSI” star George Eads reached an agreement Friday (July 23) that will allow Eads back on the series, a little more than a week after he was fired in a contract dispute.

So, despite much back-and-forth talk about contracts and oversleeping and the like, it turns out television’s highest-rated drama series will begin its fifth season with cast intact. Jorja Fox, who was also fired from the show last week, got her job back Thursday.

CBS confirms that Eads has rejoined the cast of the Las Vegas-set crime show. A network spokesman won’t reveal terms of the deal, but a source close to the production tells the AP that Eads’ salary of $100,000 per episode won’t change.

Eads and Fox, who play crime-scene investigators Nick Stokes and Sara Sidle on the series, were sacked last week after they didn’t show for their first day of work on the new season. Eads told TV critics this week that he simply overslept, while Fox reportedly didn’t return a letter stating she wouldn’t miss work as a negotiation tactic.

Fox’s letter eventually did arrive, clearing up her situation. Eads’ apology before the Television Critics Association - he was there to promote his upcoming TNT movie, “Evel Knievel” - helped open the door to his return.

“CSI” will resume production next week, with Fox and Eads on the set. “We are thrilled that Jorja and George could work things out with CBS and return to the show,” executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer tells the AP.