There are more investigations in Mel Rodriguez’s future…
CBS has renewed its freshman drama CSI: Vegas, starring the 48-year-old Latino actor, for a second season to premiere during the 2022-2023 broadcast season.
A sequel to the groundbreaking 2000 series, season 1 of CSI: Vegas was led by the original series’ stars William Petersen and Jorja Fox.
Petersen had only signed on to reprise his role as Gil Grissom in the initial 10-episode installment. He’ll not continue as an actor but will remain an executive producer for Season 2. According to sources, Fox’s contract allows her to continue as Sara Sidle if she chooses to, and the series’ producers are hopeful that she may come back.
“The incredibly talented CSI: Vegas creative team and cast did a superb job this first season, brilliantly updating and portraying the CSI universe with fresh stories and a new crime lab, proving that after 20 years, the CSI fan base is still hungry for more and ready to embrace a new chapter in this illustrious franchise,” said Amy Reisenbach, EVP Current Programs at CBS.
CSI: Vegas improved its Wednesday night 10:00 pm time slot by +60% in viewers, according to Nielsen data. While it got off to an inauspicious start in linear ratings, the series proved a strong delayed viewing/streaming draw. Through the first nine episodes (as of Dec. 1), CSI: Vegas added +3.10m viewers (6.81m from 3.71m, +84%) with 7-day playback. This is the highest playback of any new drama on any network, per CBS. The first season of CSI: Vegas is streaming on Paramount+. No streaming data is being released, but, according to sources, the revival has been performing very well on the platform.
Additionally, CSI: Vegas‘ ratings followed an unusual trajectory. Possibly helped by the serialized, season-long arc, the numbers started consistently picking up after the traditional post-premiere dip.
Season 1 opened a new chapter in Las Vegas – the city where it all began, introducing a serialized storytelling to the classic crime procedural drama. Facing an existential threat that could bring down the entire Crime Lab and release thousands of convicted killers back onto the neon-lit streets of Vegas, a brilliant new team of investigators led by Maxine Roby (Paula Newsome) enlisted the help of old friends, Gil Grissom (Petersen) and Sara Sidle (Fox), to investigate a case centered around former colleague David Hodges (Wallace Langham). This combined force deployed the latest forensic techniques to follow the evidence – to preserve and serve justice in Sin City. The first season also starred Matt Lauria, Mandeep Dhillon and Rodriguez.
CSI: Vegas is produced by CBS Studios in association with Jerry Bruckheimer Television and distributed internationally by ViacomCBS Global Distribution Group.