'CSI' To Air In Normal Time Slot This Week

See Also: 'Butterflied' Episode Guide

CSI: Crime Scene Investigations will indeed go head to head with NBC's new reality show The Apprentice, but the showdown will take place on Thursday, January 15th instead of the night before.

Variety reports that on Friday CBS decided to air the new CSI episode, "Butterflied," in its original timeslot, 9pm Eastern time on Thursday, as opposed to the special date and time of Wednesday, January 14th at 8pm Eastern time. The Wednesday timeslot would have put CSI up against The Apprentice, the new Donald Trump reality show, which was scheduled to air in its timeslot, Wednesday at 8pm, for the first time. The debut episode aired last Thursday after Friends.

On Friday, NBC decided to move The Apprentice to Thursday for its second week. The show is now scheduled to air an hour long episode at 8:30pm on Thursday, pitting its last half hour against CSI's first half hour. NBC will air a new Friends flashback episode before The Apprentice, and a new episode of Will & Grace after it.

According to the Variety article, The Apprentice was moved to take advantage of the Friends lead-in. The comedy is in its last season, and enjoying healthy ratings. CBS gave no reasons for moving CSI back to its original timeslot.

When CSI and The Apprentice went head to head last week, CSI emerged the victor, with a 19.3/28 score to The Apprentice's 12.6/18 for the hour (story). The Apprentice scored better in the slot where it wasn't facing CSI, earning a 15.7/22 for the 8:30pm half hour.

For more on this story, Variety subscribers can check out the article here.

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