TCA press tour: It’s true; Petersen’s leaving ‘CSI’

Friday, July 18

Weather: Gray and overcast. Temperature in the International Ballroom, Beverly Hilton: absolutely freezing. Unless somebody can get the AC dialed back, I am hiking to Macy’s over lunch to buy a parka.

Network du jour: CBS, the only network to send out pilots for screening in advance of press tour. They receive a smattering of applause for that. Clapping also restores some feeling to our fingers.

Topic No. 1: William “Billy” Petersen’s departure from “CSI.” “Billy is leaving after Episode 10, but that’s not the last you’ll see” of Gil Grissom, says CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler, right, confirming what producers have already confirmed. Why is he going? “Billy is an extraordinary guy, he really is. Don’t forget his roots in theater. He’s still an artist and (this might add up to) an artist’s choice to perhaps change his life right now.” I’ll see the “CSI” executive producers tonight but am unlikely to get more of a story. They (and CBS) are talking up new characters who will freshen the show. My feeling is that Grissom/Petersen is the heart of “CSI,” the thing that keeps it so superior to the spinoffs, and I don’t know that I’ll make much effort to watch without him. However, since he apparently is leaving, I think it would be nice for Gil to get out of the crime game altogether. Maybe he and Sara could raise alpacas. Or do something with bugs — are there commercial bug farms?

Nina also confirms, by the way, that she is about to start studying to become a cantor. Most network presidents, when they leave, end up working for studios. Becoming a cantor is an interesting alternative choice.

On the cancellation of “Moonlight” (get a grip, now) Nina says the outcry she’s hearing isn’t as loud as the one over “Jericho” and is largely “actor-centric.” And she loved Alex O’Loughlin, too.

The CBS News team is here via satellite, and Katie Couric does everything but sing a chorus of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” to emphasize that she’s not leaving the network anytime soon. True? You never really know.

Up next are two new shows, “Worst Week,” a comedy adapted from a British series, and “Eleventh Hour,” another British adaptation, this one billed as “science fact, not science fiction.” We haven’t seen it. Then a break for my parka-shopping expedition.