CSI: Crime Scene Investigation cancelled after 15 seasons

It is the end of an era for one of television’s long-running staples: American broadcast network CBS has pulled the plug on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation after a 300 episode run.

The 15th season in the series was cut by four episodes and ended on February 15 with 18 episodes, the second shortest season apart from the season affected by the writer’s strike.

The series will receive its proper farewell on Sunday, September 27 when original cast members William Petersen (Gil Grissom) and Marg Helgenberger (Catherine Willows) return for an “epic” two-hour movie event.

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CSI was one of CBS’ most widely watched and globally syndicated shows. It inspired the creation of similar crime procedural shows like Criminal Minds and NCIS as well as direct spinoffs of its own, including CSI: Miami, CSI: New York and the recent addition of CSI: Cyber. 

However, ratings for the mother show have been falling in recent years from a peak of over 26 million average during the early seasons to just 8 million for the final season.

The network also confirmed that Ted Danson (D.B. Russell) will move from CSI to become a season regular on CSI: Cyber.

Both CSI: Miami and CSI: NY ended abruptly after 10 seasons and 9 seasons, respectively, without a proper series finale.

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