Gil Grissom might have taken the viewers with him

As previously reported here, William Petersen, known to fans as CSI Head Gil Grissom, recently left the show stemming from Petersen's desire to not be locked into a role and to resume stage acting. This did not bode well for the show, as viewership has dropped ever since his departure. This past week, "CSI" had 17.5 million viewers making it the most watched program of that night. Unfortunately, those numbers were much higher when Petersen was a member of the cast. "CSI" now actually has to face competition from shows such as "Bones" on the Fox Network and "Grey's Anatomy" on the ABC Network.