According to executive producer Carol Mendelsohn, an upcoming episode of CSI titled “The Panty Sniffer” will find the team helping the LVPD in a stakeout to take down some major Ecstacy pushers. The episode will also feature some personal time between leading lady Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger) and another character familiar to CSI fans. “Catherine will spend a good part of the episode in a hotel room with Detective Vartann (Alex Carter),” Mendelsohn told TVGuide.com. “We’ve already established a little flirtation between them in a prior episode, and although it’s not very CSI, yes, there is a kiss.”

Over on New York, romance is an everyday occurrence for Danny Messer (Carmine Giovinazzo) and Lindsay Monroe (Anna Belknap), who got married last season and welcomed a daughter, Lucy, into the world. Lindsay has been absent for several episodes so far this season, but executive producer Pam Veasey assures fans she’s not going anywhere. “She’s a mom. We don’t want to ignore the fact that sometimes mothers take time off,” Veasey explained. “You’ll definitely see her being a mother and trying to juggle the life of being a crime-fighter, forensic scientist and a parent.”

Thanks to perlnoir on TalkCSI for the heads up.

As CSI Files previously reported, race car driver Danica Patrick guest stars as a driver who becomes the primary suspect when her major rival, played by Antonio Sabato Jr, ends up in the hospital after a fiery crash on the race track. “Obviously Danica races cars, but Antonio does as well,” executive producer Pam Veasey told TVGuide.com. “It was great to have them both on the show. They have a lot of experience behind the wheel.”

Fans will discover in the episode that Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise) and Lindsay Monroe (Anna Belknap) have experience with the sport as well. “Mac has a fondness of racing, and so does Lindsay,” Veasey said. “Those are two characters that know a lot about racing, which no one would expect. Lindsay knows about the mechanics of a car and totally gets into racing, being a Montana girl.”

“As a kid, [Mac] built his own soap-box derby car,” she continued. “So there’s a little reminiscing for him and a fun little moment, in which both Mac and Stella [Bonasera, Melina Kanakaredes] get in the cars and race them. Our actors got to peel against some pavement and burn some rubber.”

The opportunity to join New York couldn’t have come at a better time for Buckley. “When I booked CSI, I had $32 to my name and was living out of my car,” the actor revealed. “To go from that to this, getting to travel around the world and meet different people – I’m completely grateful!”

The success of the CSI franchise over the past decade is no surprise to Buckley. “They’ve got great writers and they’ve cast great actors,” he said. “And it’s such an old tale; it’s Sherlock Holmes. Who did it, and how did they do it? They took that old theory, made science sexy and took this fresh look. People really respond to that.”

The New York edition of the franchise sets itself apart, the actor added. “New York is a character on the show,” he explained. “I don’t know many people that aren’t fascinated by it. It’s so film noir. Then you throw an actor like Gary Sinise (Mac Taylor) into the mix and it speaks for itself.” But is there any rivalry between the three CSI series? “I think every CSI wants to be the top,” Buckley said. “It’s a healthy rivalry. [Executive producer] Pam [Veasey] expects to be number one and be the top. You can’t get complacent in the sixth season.”

Being on the air for so many years does have its advantages. “Going into your sixth season, it allows the writers to go deeper within the characters,” Buckley said. “We can get into the intricacies of them and what makes them tick. The audience really feels for these characters. They’re so invested in them.”

Fans may be invested in Buckley’s character now, but there wasn’t always much for the actor to work with. “When I joined the cast, there was no description of who Adam was,” he explained. “Pam Veasey has always said that my character is kind of the comedy of the show. But over the years he’s started to understand who he is and show his strengths.” And the actor behind the quirky lab tech does get “a fair bit” of input into his character. “That’s the wonderful thing about working with Pam Veasey and [executive producer] Peter Lenkov,” Buckley said. “They really take the time to listen to anything you have to say about your character.”

The actor has the opportunity to share his opinions about Adam as a character, but Buckley is not the science expert he plays on TV. “You know what, when I was in high school, I was a horrific student,” he revealed. “I’m a poster child for ADD, and I’m terribly dyslexic. Growing up, learning for me was next to impossible. So Adam’s journey of education and my journey of education are night and day. I’m sure my science teachers back in high school that watch the show now have a good laugh.”

Luckily for Buckley, playing Adam isn’t all about pronouncing difficult scientific terms. Some episodes have given the actor the chance to delve into more emotional territory. “One of my favourites was the episode ‘The Party’s Over’,” he shared. “There’s a child that commits a murder and they send me into the interrogation room to talk with the kid. It was the first real episode where I got to sink my teeth into something – to get out of the lab and not be saying science words, and to emotionally connect to the dialogue.”

At the start of season six, Buckley was pleasantly surprised by his character’s romantic involvement with coworker Stella Bonasera (Melina Kanakaredes) in the premiere episode, “Epilogue”. “I remember showing up on the set and people asked me, ‘Have you seen the script yet?’ I took a look and I was like, ‘Oh, wow!’ I think it’s a great storyline,” he said. “Adam and Stella have always had a flirtatious thing back and forth. The guy needs some love! He’s in the lab all the time. Stella’s a sexy woman, so why not?”

Buckley enjoys working on CSI: NY, but he revealed that he has another ambition: to take his acting to the stage. “One of my dreams is to come to London and do a play,” he explained. “Not even one of the big shows – I would be happy doing a small theatre in a small town. Just to immerse myself in the work would be great!”

Source: Five.tv. Thanks to perlnoir on TalkCSI for the heads up.

Stella and Adam spent the night together in the season six premiere, “Epilogue”. After their brief affair, Stella told Adam the relationship should not continue. According to Veasey, Stella will keep her word. Even though the two characters will not get back together, fans can look forward to more spontaneous behavior from Stella this season. “She’s not going to limit herself,” Veasey said. “Her momentary enjoyable moment with Adam was one of those things. She’ll be a much more aggressive, live-in-the-moment type of character.”

As CSI Files previously reported, all three members of the CSI franchise will take part in a crossover during November sweeps. The episodes will air the week of November 9. The story starts in Miami when Horatio Caine (David Caruso) and his team discover a severed leg that belongs to a girl that went missing from Las Vegas the week before. Langston travels to Miami to solve the case. He is soon on the way to New York City after a girl he interviewed turns up in the Big Apple. The girl was hidden inside a semi-trailer truck. After the girl disappears, Langston and Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise) discover an interstate trucking ring that specializes in human trafficking and organ harvesting. The investigation then leads Langston back to Las Vegas, where the team discovers a prostitution ring that might be harboring the missing woman.

“The story is really a ticking clock story,” CSI: NY executive producer Peter Lenkov said of the New York portion of the storyline. “It is really a hunt for a suspect, but also saving a girl’s life. I think we put blinders on to get that done by the end of the episode. This [case] takes priority because it is real triage the way it lands in our lap. We realize soon after that time is of the essence. We elected in that episode to make it our sole focus.”

“They are all great episodes that blend together and lead you to the next,” New York executive producer Pam Veasey said. The challenge was to incorporate the crossover while still maintaining the integrity of each series. “Everyone stays true to their writing style,” Veasey explained. “What you fundamentally do is tell a CSI story, which is what we all have in common. Once it gets to your show, you will see each of the show’s take a different approach to a story that starts in Miami. We did all get together and talk about what the through-line would be. Obviously, Ray Langston travels through all of the shows. You have to find the consistencies with his character, how he would flow into each story.”

As CSI Files previously reported, CSI: NY co-executive producer Trey Callaway was one of the people who spoke out in support of preserving the pavilion, which was recently added to the New York State Register of Historic Places. The series will showcase the pavillion in the episode airing November 25, “Manhattanhenge”. In the episode, Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise) finds a key piece of evidence that lets him end a multi-episode storyarc involving a serial killer. A gate that is normally padlocked was opened so that a character could walk out of the rotunda.

“It’s exactly the kind of local icon we like to routinely feature on the show,” said executive producer Pam Veasey. “The structure is truly one of those ‘only in New York City’ kind of places.” Greg Godfrey, from the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park World’s Fair Association, said filming scenes for CSI: NY was a welcome way to rejuvenate the site. “It just adds to the current and past cultural legacy of the structure,” he said. “It shows what a recognizable icon it is, what potential it has.”

The scenes for New York mark the first time the interior of the pavilion has been filmed since the 1978 movie The Wiz. (The observation deck of the pavilion was used in the 1997 film Men in Black, but not the interior.) The show also filmed scenes near other remnants of the 1964 World’s Fair, including the Unisphere and the Rocket Thrower. Those scenes will be featured in the episode airing November 18.

New York has been around since 2004, but Veasey said the current cast will be sticking around–at least for the time being. “[W]e really wanted everyone to come back this year,” she said. However, the possibility exists that an actor will eventually leave the show. “We are prepared for when it happens but we’re not preparing scripts for it,” she explained. “We’ll deal with it when it happens but what we like is that we’re sort of in our stride.”

“In the last few years our cast has really come together, we’re telling more personal stories because the audience is familiar with them and we’ve liked how they’ve grown,” Veasey continued. “We didn’t feel like we were finished so we didn’t want anyone to leave. We have a lot more personal stories to tell inside some really great twisty-turny topical crime stories.”

The show will immediately delve into personal storylines as season six gets underway. The shootout that ended season five will have repercussions for every member of the New York team. Danny Messer (Carmine Giovinazzo) and Lindsay Monroe (Anna Belknap) got married and had a child last season, and this year they “are facing a real challenge in their marriage. They’re going to face that challenge and continue to grow as a couple and as working parents with Danny’s big life-changing experience.”

Don Flack (Eddie Cahill) will have to deal with the loss of his girlfriend, fellow detective Jessica Angell (Emmanuelle Vaugier), who was killed in the season five finale. “[H]e was beginning a relationship with someone he really cared about and he is challenged with doing your job and having a passion for it when you feel like there was an injustice in the world and he’s not so much in love with the cop work and he starts dealing with that loss,” Veasey shared.

“With Hill Harper, who plays Sheldon [Hawkes], we wanted to reflect some of the things that are going on in the world and Hill Harper will be a victim of a Madoff-like financial situation where he loses everything,” she continued. “We thought most people think it won’t happen to them. When you sit down and plan your retirement and you wake up and you don’t have it anymore where do you start again and what outlet to do you have and what do you change?”

Stella Bonasera (Melina Kanakaredes) is “faced with letting go”, Veasey explained. “She’s doing what comes to mind for her best interest,” the executive producer added. “She’s the opposite of Sheldon, who was planning his retirement and she’s more about living today and taking chances and risks and you’ll see things like that. You don’t really expect that from her but she’ll be pretty aggressive in her own life not just as a CSI investigator.”

As for leading man Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise), “he has got to be stronger than his usual self,” Veasey revealed. “Usually he’s strong in his leadership in the answers of right and wrong in terms of crime fighting. He is the moral foundation of investigating a crime and putting someone away but when it comes to seeing everyone around you all feeling and changing and having reactions to loss and losses of all kind. Mac has got to be the emotional foundation, leader and he’s the guy they can all go to and he’s connected with each of them on all these different levels. It’s going to be a really fun, emotional year.”

In the ninth season finale of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, “All In”, Dr Ray Langston (Laurence Fishburne) shot someone for the first time. “The shooting has really driven home a couple of things for him,” executive producer Naren Shankar explained to TV Guide. “You’re going to see a much more confident, much more driven Dr Langston.” Shankar added, “I think the audience is hungry for Langston to kind of take the Sherlock Holmes mantle and be the guy who solves these crimes.”

“The theme this year is family,” he continued. “Catherine [Willows, Marg Helgenberger] is dealing with her new level of responsibility. Nick [Stokes, George Eads] is finding his place as more of a leader in the field. Greg [Sanders, Eric Szmanda] is still dealing with the fact that when you start out as somebody’s assistant, there’s still a tendency for people to treat him like he’s just the DNA guy with the goofy hair.” Shankar also revealed that the “little geeky romance” between Wendy Simms (Liz Vassey) and David Hodges (Wallace Langham) is going to continue during season ten.

With Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox) back in town after the departure of Riley Adams (Lauren Lee Smith), fans will find out what happened between Sara and Gil Grissom (William Petersen) after he left the show last season. “You definitely get some clues as to how things have been going in Grissom and Sara Land,” Shanker explained. One person that fans won’t be seeing, however, is Sofia Curtis. Despite the recent report that Louise Lombard would reprise her role during season ten, a CSI insider tells Ausiello that such a return “hasn’t been discussed.”

Over on CSI: Miami, Ausiello reports that Adam Rodriguez (Eric Delko) is committed to doing seven episodes of the eighth season before saying goodbye to the series. Delko’s girlfriend, fellow CSI Calleigh Duquesne (Emily Procter), shot at him in the season seven finale “Seeing Red” when he was trying to help his father, Russian mobster Alexander Sharova (Rade Serbedzija). Both characters will have to deal with the repercussions of their actions as the new season gets underway. “She’s upset that her boyfriend is hurt but has no remorse,” Procter told TV Guide. “I shot a scene the other day where she was like, ‘Look, he was not doing right, and I shot him. You’d shoot him too.’”

The end of Calleigh and Eric’s relationship might be on the horizon, Procter revealed. “It will only work out if he’s physically capable of continuing the relationship, which he may or may not be,” she said. “Calleigh may once again have to move on.”

While Delko is injured in the season premiere, the episode will flash back to his memories of 1997. Procter explained, “The story line is showing how everybody meets, and his first view of everyone–I was new on the force; Adam’s character was working as a tow truck driver; Horatio [Caine, David Caruso] had his same job.” In order to appear younger, “I sucked my stomach in really hard,” Procter said with a laugh. More seriously, she added, “And I tried to make Calleigh the way she would have been before the damage of her job–more Southern and light–less protected and more enthusiastic about everything. I’m hoping that it’s going to work. Either that or I’m just going to look really amped up.”

Newcomer Eddie Cibrian will join the team as Jesse Cardoza at the start of season eight. “He is utterly charming, absolutely gorgeous,” Procter said of her new costar. “Eddie’s really going to add a kind of sex appeal that we haven’t had. A little bit more open sexuality. Which is good!” She added, “In the second episode Eddie takes his shirt off, and maybe people are excited by that, and by people, I mean me.”

The third member of the franchise will also deal with a shooting in the season premiere. CSI: New York’s sixth season will jump forward in time after the shootout that ended the season five finale, “Pay Up”. “In the premiere, we’re trying to figure out who was responsible for the shooting,” executive producer Pam Veasey told TV Guide. “It’s approximately a month later, and we haven’t solved that crime.”

The premiere will answer the question of who, if anyone, was wounded by the flying bullets. “People are wondering who got hit, and someone did,” Veasey revealed. “There is a surprise.” She continued, “All of our characters are struggling with what happened [during the shooting], but Mac [Taylor, Gary Sinise] is really driven by finding the answer.”

Mac is driven to find the answer, but he isn’t the only one affected by the shooting. Newlyweds Danny Messer (Carmine Giovinazzo) and Lindsay Monroe (Anna Belknap) will face “a change as a result of that shooting,” Veasey promised. “It’s worth tuning in for, big time.”

Meanwhile, Don Flack (Eddie Cahill) is still dealing with the death of his girlfriend and fellow detective, Jessica Angell (Emmanuelle Vaugier). “His relationships with everyone are a little strained,” Veasey said. Dr Sheldon Hawkes (Hill Harper) will also deal with a personal problem during season six, but his troubles come in the form of “financial issues”, Veasey revealed.

Miami will be the first member of the franchise to air its season premiere on Monday, September 21 at 10:00pm ET/PT. New York will follow that Wednesday, September 23 at 10:00pm ET/PT. Rounding out the week will be CSI, which will debut the first episode of its tenth season on Thursday, September 24 at 9:00pm ET/PT.

The original spoilers are from the September 14th issue of TV Guide and Ausiello. Thanks to SpoilerTV for information and perlnoir from TalkCSI for the heads up.