CSI Season 13 – Henry Andrews Gets a Raise

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After seven years doing his due diligence, toxicology specialist Henry Andrews has at long last received an overdue promotion on CSI. Of course, I don’t mean the character of Andrews was promoted – he’ll still be doing the exact same job he’s been doing for last seven years – but the actor playing him, Jon Wellner, has been given series regular status after spending more than 60 episodes as a recurring character. I’m happy for Wellner, but I’m not naïve enough to believe he got the bump up because of his seniority. There were definitely other factors at work here.

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Consider this: CSI has been on the air for 12 years with Season 13 coming to us in the fall. That’s a long time for a series to be around for, and the longer it lasts the harder it is to bring back the cast year after year. Besides Wellner, The Hollywood Reporter reported the show has managed to lock down some of the original cast with one-year deals, but they haven’t been able to stop everyone from leaving. Ted Danson replaced Laurence Fishburne last year, and Elisabeth Shue turned up a little later to take over for Marg Helgenberger. So what does that have to do with Wellner and his promotion? Well it can be just as hard to bring back recurring characters as it is to bring back the main ones. It’s more than likely Wellner’s promotion was part of the deal to ensure his return for Season 13.

Obviously I’m not there in the negotiation rooms to know for certain that’s how this promotion happened, but I have hard time believing anything else. CSI is definitely floundering, and there are still cast members who have not signed on for the next season. It just seems likely Wellner was promoted to keep the numbers up than because of his importance. You have to acknowledge whoever Wellner’s agent is though. However this shook out, he must have fought to get Wellner that promotion, so good for him.