‘CSI: Cyber’: Franchise creator still hopeful on future despite timeslot bump

At the moment, we would say that the future for “CSI: Cyber” is not looking particular great. The show is going to be heading off the CBS schedule in March, and following that, there is no timetable for its return. While this does not spell cancellation for certain, we’d also say that things are not looking particular great, either.

Luckily, someone out there in franchise creator Anthony Zuiker seems to have a little more optimism about both the future of this show, and also the franchise in general. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter on the subject of if we are nearing the end of all things “CSI,” he had the following to say:

“I don’t think so … We’re going to go ahead and do 22 [episodes] as ordered and then you sit tight in May and see how the schedule shuffles around and you hope to continue. We have the biggest stars in television in terms of Ted Danson, Patricia Arquette and James Van Der Beek; it’s an amazing franchise and a very solid show. Because the future of crime is cyber, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t continue.”

We’re not going to argue against many of Zuiker’s claims, mostly because there is validity to them. However, the problem is that cyber-crime in general is not as eye-catching in promos or in marketing campaigns as shows that deal with things that are a little more visceral, and therefore it has trouble attracting viewers; also, the poor timeslot Sunday nights at 10:00 p.m. Eastern (which has already taken the lives of “The Mentalist” and “CSI” proper) is not something that benefits it at all.

If you want to read more about some of CBS’ latest schedule-shifts, be sure to head over here right now! Also, you can sign up here to get some more TV news on everything we cover, sent right over to you via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: CBS.)