Lauren Lee Smith leaves 'CSI'

By Rick Porter

July 27, 2009 5:08 PM

Lauren Lee Smith's tenure on "CSI" has turned out to be a relatively short one.

Smith, who joined the cast of the long-running CBS crime show last season, is now leaving after just one year. The new season will open with her character, Riley Adams, having departed the Las Vegas crime lab.

Executive producer Naren Shankar says the decision to let Smith and her character go was "an issue of how we were feeling the ensemble was working."

"When we brought in the character of Riley, it got lost in the shuffle a little bit because we had lost Warrick, we had lost Sara, and then in the middle of last season Grissom finally left," Shankar tells TV Guide. "I think, as a result, the character never quite found its footing in terms of the rest of the gang."

The lab won't be down a person for the entire season, though. Jorja Fox, last seen reuniting with Grissom (William Petersen) in the Central American jungle on Petersen's last episode as a regular, will reprise her role as Sara Sidle in five episodes this season. She'll make her first appearance in the season premiere.

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| Comments (26)

26 Comments

like anyone one knows who she is! please stay...lol

meow | July 27, 2009 5:56 PM

great more sara ugh riley never even got a chance they spent more time on lawrence fishburne

Katie | July 27, 2009 6:12 PM

Odd picture. It doesn't even look like she did on CSI. I liked her but they never really connected her to the other characters and quite frankly that was the problem with most of the season. Grissom was the glue that held the others together. As one by one, the characters disappeared, we were down to two of the originals. Too much change too soon.

Cath | July 27, 2009 6:15 PM

shes no britney spears or madonna for sure, this girl is FUGLY! good thing shes gone, didnt add much added value to the show.

meow | July 27, 2009 6:59 PM

When I was watching season 9, without Riley in a few scenes, it didn't shoot my mind off where she was. I guess her character wasn't noticeable enough. They'll have to find a great replacement for her and after Sara's five episodes debut. May be two lab techs like Archie and Wendy?

WCS | July 27, 2009 7:16 PM

That's too bad, I liked her character. She wasn't the "newbie" like Lawrence Fishbourne's character was, just new to Las Vegas.

I think the producers should have given her another chance. :(

robinepowell | July 27, 2009 9:17 PM

They're dumping her to bring back Jorja Fox!?! Remember her, the one who first whined about her contract, then quit to seek greener pastures, but apparently now wants back in because she didn't get the jobs she thought she would. Obviously loyalty is not a priority with the showrunners.

arial | July 28, 2009 12:58 AM

I really shouldn't be stunned anymore by online meanness and lack of courtesy.

It's unfortunate that things didn't work out for Lauren Lee Smith, but I am thrilled that Jorja Fox agreed to return to help out the show. It is certainly making CSI interesting again.

Danielle | July 28, 2009 1:16 AM

I liked her character. I don't know why anyone thought she got lost.

Neve H | July 28, 2009 4:18 AM

I certainly rather have more Riley than Sara, but I will agree her character kind of got lost. I didn't feel like she added anything to the show either until the ep where she and Fishburne's character were held hostage by the two kids in the basement, one of whom had been shot. I thought that was a little bit of a turning point, making us care more about Riley and Fishburne (is it sad I can't remember his character's name right now?) In fact, I thought that show and from there on I saw a little bit of a bond growing between her Nick but that she had some serious trust issues to work out. I had bought into her by the end of the season.

But I'd be OK letting her go and having NO MORE Sara.

AndreaC | July 28, 2009 6:06 AM