Entertainment Weekly

5 things we learned at the 'CSI' farewell salute

At the last event of this year’s PaleyFest Fall TV Previews at the Paley Center for Media, the cast and producers of CSI gathered Tuesday night in Los Angeles for a panel to say farewell to the groundbreaking series, which is ending its run after 15 seasons.

Though season 15 ended earlier this year, but the whole series is going out with a bang: It will conclude with a two-hour TV movie, which airs Sunday, Sept. 27, and reunites the current cast with beloved characters who already left the series.

The PaleyFest panel, which was moderated by EW’s own Lynette Rice, included creator and executive producer Anthony E. Zuiker; co-creators and executive producers Ann Donahue and Carol Mendelsohn; executive producers Jonathan Littman and Jerry Bruckheimer; William Petersen (Gil Grissom), who returns for the finale after having left the show; Jorja Fox (Sara Sidle); Marg Helgenberger (Catherine Willows), who returns for the finale; Ted Danson (D.B. Russell); Eric Szmanda (Greg Sanders); Paul Guilfoyle (Captain Jim Brass), who returns for the finale; Robert David Hall (Dr. Al Robbins); Jon Wellner (Henry Andrews); David Berman (David Phillips); Wallace Langham (David Hodges); and Elisabeth Harnois (Morgan Brody).

Here are five things we learned at the lively goodbye panel.

[…]

2. This cast really loves each other …

Rice asked the cast to go in a circle and each share their first impression of the person sitting to their right. Their answers ranged from sincere to sarcastic, but all spoke with deep affection for the people sitting around them. Danson called Helgenberger ’the most elegant, gracious, and welcoming lady that I’ve worked with’ before Helgenberger told Petersen, ‘I can’t imagine taking this ride with anybody else.’

Fox said to Guilfoyle, completely seriously, ‘You have this New York sensibility, and this wit, and [you’re] down-to-earth, and you took risks, and you were just so classy, and kind of Austin Powers.’ Guilfoyle broke the rules and replied to her, calling Fox ’the heart of this whole group.’ Berman revealed that he officiated Wellner’s wedding and threw his bachelor party, adding, ‘To get to work with my best friend every single day is pretty amazing.’ Wellner paid it forward to Szmanda: ‘He’s so dreamy!’

3. … except Jorja Fox and William Petersen – at first

Fox sat to Petersen’s right, and when his turn came to recall their first meeting, he turned to her and said, ‘Did we meet at lunch?’ Rather than answering the question, Fox replied, ‘You drove me crazy.’ For the first how many months? ‘Like six. And then, I don’t know … I realized we were kind of stuck together.’

Petersen was not evidently bothered by Fox’s admission. He fondly recollected their first lunch together and said, ‘Every time I was able to do a scene with you, it was like falling off a log. I think that Grissom fell for you because you got him. And you got me, too.’ The audience aww-ed, and Fox amended, ‘I adore you so much.’

[…]