Too Much 'CSI'? We'll Find Out Soon, Says Petersen

William Petersen (Gil Grissom) appeared on CBS's The Early Show yesterday live from Chicago, where he cut his acting teeth treading the boards.

Petersen was in town to receive the "Illinois Arts Legend Award for an Artist" from the Illinois Arts Alliance (story). "If you told me 30 years ago I would be a legend, I'd think it would be something in the newspapers or being in jail," he told Early Show anchor Harry Smith (via the William Petersen Appreciation Page).

The actor said he was very fortunate to begin his career in Chicago theatre, which "nutured such a great group of talent". Smith reminded Petersen that another member of that group was Gary Sinise, who recently landed the lead role of Mac Taylor in CSI: New York. The anchor then asked him whether there was too much CSI on television.

"Well, we're going to find out pretty soon," Petersen replied with a smile, "because the water is rising. I know Law & Order's doing another spin-off. It's a different mentality, television today. I think with all the reality shows and scripted dramas being so hit and miss, I think that once they find something that seems to work for the audience, they have a tendency to keep jamming it."

Petersen said he always thought CSI "would find an audience that was very interested in it, because forensics was something everybody knew was going on, but they didn't have a handle on it, especially after the OJ trial." But he said that he never imagined it would be such a "massive success". "I thought we'd get an audience, but I didn't know it was going to be millions and millions of people," he said.

To watch a video clip of Petersen's appearance on The Early Show, head over to the William Petersen Appreciation Page.

Discuss this news item at Talk CSI!
 Add CSI Files RSS feed to your news reader or My Yahoo!
Also a Desperate Housewives fan? Then visit GetDesperate.com!