‘CSI’ and Laurence Fishburne rebound in ratings

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Last week we wondered whether the exit of star William Petersen from CBS’ ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’ signaled a ratings decline for the forensics drama.

Well, maybe not.

On Thursday, ‘CSI’ rebounded with 20.1 million total viewers, according to early data from Nielsen Media Research. That was much higher than the previous week’s 17.6 million for the first episode since Petersen’s departure, and it was the fourth most-watched ‘CSI’ this season. The results offer evidence that viewers may be adjusting well to Petersen’s replacement, Laurence Fishburne.

We still think given the age of Thursday’s top series that the night is ripe for a programming shakeup.

But the durability of ‘CSI’ suggests that that shakeup might not happen as soon as we thought.

-- Scott Collins