‘CSI’ season 15 to only produce 18 episodes; is the end near?

Anytime that your show stays on the air for a decade and a half, you inevitably are going to wonder whether or not the clock is getting set to strike. For “CSI,” that time may finally be here.

According to TVLine, the long-running CBS drama is seeing its episode order this season cut from 22 to 18, which is the first time that the network has done this willingly with the show. There was a shorter order back during the Hollywood writers’ strike, but that was not something that they could control.

With all of this potentially looking like bad news, the report claims that this is not necessarily the case. After all, you also have to remember in here that the network has a ton of inventory coming up that has yet to even air, including the “CSI: Cyber” spin-off, the seventh and likely final season of “The Mentalist,” and the ambitious new “Battle Creek” from Vince Gilligan and David Shore.

While the ratings for “CSI” are about on par with “The Mentalist” last year, the reality here is that the ratings are not that great despite its difficult timeslot, and this show cannot be that cheap to make given how long it’s been around. Therefore, we would not be stunned to find out that this season is the end.

With that being said, is it too much for a little advance warning? What we’d be truly sad about is seeing the show end without a series finale, which happened to “CSI: Miami,” “Without a Trace,” and many other great CBS procedural shows over the years.

What do you think: Should this be the end of the road for “CSI” after its lengthy run? Let us know.