It seems CSI: Miami's Horatio Caine was destined to be played by a member of the NYPD Blue acting fraternity.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Jimmy Smits, who joined the cast of the New York cop show in its second season, was originally offered the lead role in the CSI spin-off. Ironically, the actor Smits replaced on NYPD Blue was none other than David Caruso, who eventually won the part of Horatio Caine.

Smits, who left NYPD Blue in 1998, has reportedly inked a pact with Warner Bros. television to develop a new series. The Hollywood Reporter said there is industry "buzz" that Smits may sign up with uber-producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who is behind many of the CBS network's family of crime shows, including CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, Without a Trace and Cold Case, which will debut this fall.

The trade paper noted there had been "no substantive conversations" between Smits and Bruckheimer Television, which is run by CSI executive producer Jonathan Littman. Any potential new series developed between the pair need not necessarily be crime-related.

Jimmy Smits, most recently seen in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, is probably best known for his stint on NYPD Blue and another critically-acclaimed television series, L.A. Law. His roles on the two shows earned the actor a collective total of eight Emmy nominations and one win.

CSI: Miami has several NYPD Blue connections in addition to Smits and star David Caruso. Kim Delaney, who played Megan Donner in the first ten Miami episodes, was a six-year veteran of the police drama, while Adam Rodriguez (Eric Delko), Khandi Alexander (Alexx Woods) and Wanda De Jesus (Adell Sevilla) all guest-starred in separate episodes of the series.

The original Hollywood Reporter article is available at Yahoo! News.

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