Original 'CSI' Star Paul Guilfoyle Leaving After 14 Years

After 14 years on the force, another CSI original is going to be watching CBS crime procedurals as opposed to appearing on them.

Paul Guilfoyle will be leaving the series at the end of Season 14. The actor has played Las Vegas police captain Jim Brass since the show's debut in 2000, and has gone on to be one of only two cast members to be a regular in every season, alongside George Eads, who can't get enough of that ballistics/forensics/The Who-soundtracked goodness. Apparently, the decision to write Guilfoyle out of the show was that of the producers and not Guilfoyle himself, which seems to indicate that CBS is pretty much the only network willing to actually cut long-running, highly-visible cast members from its hit shows, if the various departures and deaths of the 2013-2014 season have been any indication.

Credit: CBS

In a statement, CSI executive producers Carol Mendelsohn and Don McGill remembered Guilfoyle:

"Paul made Capt. Brass a standout character. He is not just an original cast member, he is an original. In a show about forensics, fans always looked forward to the handcuffs coming out, and Capt. Brass putting his spin on the crime of the week, just as Paul Guilfoyle put his indelible stamp on the character and the show. He will be missed."

Guilfoyle's farewell episode will be the Season 14 finale, which airs Wednesday, May 7 at 9:00 PM ET on CBS.

Via: Zap2It