Fans lamenting the firing of Jorja Fox (Sara Sidle) and George Eads may have reason to hope, as reports leak out that Fox is in talks with CBS to return to CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

According to Variety (via Yahoo! News), representitives for Fox are claiming she did indeed sign CBS's letter promising to come to work during salary negotiations, but because the letter was mailed and not faxed CBS may have assumed the actress never signed the letter. Reuters (via Yahoo! News) noted that both Fox and Eads were offered a $20,000 per episode raise (from $100,000 to $120,000), but that the stars were reportedly holding out for more money.

While promoting the TNT movie Evel Knievel in which he stars at the Television Critics Association press tour, Eads claimed he overslept the first morning of CSI filming. "I overslept," he said. "And I don't mean I overslept 10 minutes, 30 minutes. I woke up white as a sheet 3½ hours after I was supposed to be on the set, and called to say I was on my way to work, and they said, 'Don't bother.'"

Eads claimed he was surprised over the network's response, maintaining that his absense was not "because I was holding out for more money. It's never been about cash for me. It's never been about money for me. That's not what this is about." He felt that CBS reacted in an extreme manner, relating it to a football coach firing a player for showing up late. "I'd expect the coach to have me run hills and run wind sprints until the sun goes down," he said, "not, you know, completely fire me."

Eads said he hopes to have the situation resolved by this weekend. He contacted CBS and "apologized nine ways to Sunday," though he did say he has yet to speak to CBS chief Les Moonves. "If after I've spoken to him from my heart he knows exactly what the situation is, he's the boss. It's still up to him," Eads said of Moonves. "I want all this to work out. CSI is a part of who I am," he added.

Meanwhile, Eric Szmanda (Greg Sanders) has negotiated a deal with CBS with little fanfare. Szmanda will receive both a raise and increased screentime. Marg Helgenberger (Catherine Willows) is reportedly seeking a raise as well, but as of yet nothing official has been negotiated.

The original reports can be found at Variety (subscription required), Reuters, at Yahoo! News here and here and U-Daily Bulletin.

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