Petersen Had Qualms About 'CSI: Miami'

William Petersen, CSI's driven Gil Grissom, said he was upset when he learned that CBS and producer Jerry Bruckheimer planned to create a spinoff of the ratings-winning show.

Speaking to the new Men's Health magazine, Best Life, Petersen said he wasn't even told about the spinoff initially. "Les Moonves (the CEO and president of CBS) and Jerry Bruckheimer knew they couldn't have me in the meeting. They knew they couldn't tell me about it because they knew I'd be furious," he said.

When they told him that they wanted to beat potential copy cat shows to the punch, Petersen remained unconvinced. "My attitude was, well, then let everybody else do it. Don't rip yourself off," he said.

Petersen's worries also centered around those who work on the show being taxed by working on both CSI and CSI: Miami. "It made for a hard year here because a lot of the guys who work on our show have to work on that show, and it costs us. It's like a baseball team opening up another baseball team right across the street," Petersen commented.

Petersen did say that he was asked to produce CSI: Miami but that he turned it down because of his commitment to CSI. "I'm here for this show. These are the people I agreed to work with. This is the show that I agreed to do. I'm not going to exploit the show and sell myself out," he said.

Despite his reservations about Miami, he expressed pleasure that the show is successful. "It's fine. I'm pleased David Caruso and all those other actors have jobs, and the other CSI is doing well," he said.

For more from Petersen about his early days in theater and his initial reluctance to do television, read the transcript of the interview at the William Petersen Appreciation Page.

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