CSI: William Petersen’s Farewell!

It’s a sad time for CSI fans. Tomorrow night is William Petersen’s final episode.

The show’s veteran star is making his exit after eight seasons with the hit procedural drama, and the cast and producers he’s leaving behind are feeling the pain.

My L.A. counterpart, OK!'s Carole Glines, got the scoop on how they're coping while  visiting the set during the winter TCA conference.

“We all got tears in our eyes,” while shooting Petersen’s character Grissom’s last episode, producer Naren Shankar shared.  

Star George Eads, who plays Nick, said everyone experienced a lot of “sadness” on the set. “It was kind of awkward because we all wanted to have a moment alone with him. He didn’t want that. He’s not that kind of guy.”

Actor Robert David Hall, who plays Doc Robbins, said Petersen “threw a nice party for all of us.”

Although it’s goodbye, all hope Petersen will come back to the scene of the crime as a future guest star.  The way his finale show is written, “Grissom will come back at some time,” promised producer Carol Mendelsohn.

Without spilling the beans on Petersen’s final storyline, Shankar revealed it is “extremely moving. It felt like a natural place to end the show. Billy was definitive about how he wanted to leave the show.”

Laurence Fishburne, who will fill Petersen’s big shoes as the new male lead on the show as Dr. Raymond Langston, joked that William will be back, “to make sure I don’t burn the place down.”  

Fishburne revealed he’s signed on for a season and a half so far, so CSI is definitely staying put!

Catch CSI, Petersen’s final ep., Thursday at 9 p.m. on CBS.