For the past week, CBS has been running a sad preview for tonight's episode of CSI, the last one for star William Petersen (for a while anwyay). Liev Schreiber joins the cast soon.

Hey, I'll admit I don't watch this show (even though it's the MOST IMPORTANT SHOW IN THE UNIVERSE). So I ask fans: is this departure as big as they're making it out to be. Yes, yes, I know he's the star of the show and he's the leader of the team and all that. But the commercials make it sound, with the "you never thought he'd leave" voiceover and the tinkling piano and the emotion, you'd think that Lucy Ricardo was just hit by a bus or maybe Petersen had died in real life and this was his last show.

Why is Petersen leaving temporarily anyway? To star in a play? Burnt out? Contract negotiations? The episode preview should get into that: "People come and go...but you never thought he'd leave...but due to other commitments and just a feeling that he had to get away for a while, our star has to leave and will be replaced by another actor...tonight, on a very special CSI."

Well, kind of... yeah. For those that have caught the new promo for the next episode of CSI, it touts Grissom's departure from the Vegas lab. The episode, appropriately titled "Leaving Las Vegas," airs next Thursday, January 4. But we sort of knew this anyway. We even reported a few months ago that Liev Schreiber was joining the cast as a new lead investigator named Michael Keppler.

So at this point, I suppose you shouldn't be worried. The episode description even says that Grissom is only leaving for a four week sabbatical. But then I went digging.

Here's some news for all you John Mayer fans: the singer will appear on the season opener of CSI! Mayer has a new album coming out, titled Continuum, and he'll perform two songs ("Waiting on the World to Change" and "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room") on the two-parter when it airs on CBS September 21 and 28.

Danny Bonaduce also guest stars, as a dead rock star. His dead body is a wonderland.

(S06E21) I normally don't watch this show, which means I never review it. That being said, I'm glad I tuned in last night because it was fantastic. It case you couldn't pick up on it, the title (and the entire story) are an homage to the Kurosawa classic Rashômon. The episode, just like the film, gave the deatils of the crime from everyone's point of view. The "mama" in Rashomama refers to the victim, a prominent Vegas lawyer who happened to be the mother of the groom at a wedding.

It took the team almost 9 hours to process the crime scene, and then it all fell apart because Nick, Greg, and Sara decided to get a cup of coffee. While they were sitting in the diner, someone stole Nick's SUV and it had all the evidence in it. That's, um, what do you call it? Oh, right - not good.

When I reviewed last week's episode, I made a few remarks that the writers for this show weren't really doing much to expand the backstories for the main characters. They didn't hear me, because this week was the same deal. I want more than just a case. Give me something on Mac's wife who died in the 9/11 attacks. Give me something on Lindsay's background (we found out she likes opera... that's it). Give me anything on Stella or Danny. I'll say this much. I'm not the only one who must feel this way because out of all the shows I cover for TV Squad, this one receives the fewest comments and last week's didn't get any.

Back to the review... there were two cases. Surprise!  A dead college student is found on the subway tracks and a commodities broker hung himself out his window. Let's solve some crime.

First and foremost, yes, I am not Tom; He was called away at the last minute, so I will be your tour-guide through Las Vegas tonight. Don't worry though -- you'll be returned to your regularly scheduled reviewer next week. I'm not quite sure what's up with CSI this year, it just hasn't been "doing it for me" though. It's like watching an Olympic sprinter who is so far ahead of their competition, it's ridiculous, and then you see that stutter. You know their pace is off, the question is, are they going to fall flat on their face or recover and try and win the race? It seems like they've completely dropped the fact that the teams were split, and I know there was some resolution to that, but it was still an interesting concept that has fallen by the wayside. It seems like the blond agent with the slight accent is only on when everyone else is too busy, yet she's a part of the main team. Ah well-- On with the show!