CSI Casts Elisabeth Shue to Succeed Marg Helgenberger

Character comes into the lab with a troubled past involving Ted Danson's character

We'd heard that CSI was courting a "name" to fill Marg Helgenberger's very big shoes when she leaves the hit CBS drama later this season.

And now we know that name: Elisabeth Shue, she of Adventures in Babysitting and Karate Kid glory, (and oh yeah, that Oscar nomination for Leaving Las Vegas) has joined the original CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as a series regular. So when will she strap on her latex gloves and start solving crimes?

Shue's character will first appear in the Feb. 15 episode, right around the time that Marg Helgenberger is set to exit the show.

Shue will be introduced as the newest CSI on the team after completing an anger-management course. And rumor has it that her former boss, D.B. Russell (Ted Danson) fired her when they worked together in Seattle. "The first time things didn't go so well between the two of them," executive producer Don McGill says. "Maybe the second time's the charm, or not."

"While it's difficult to say goodbye to a beloved character like Catherine Willows, it's exciting to start a journey with a new CSI, especially when that character is played by Elisabeth Shue," executive producer Carol Mendelsohn says in a statement. "The new CSI also struggles with ‘brutal honesty issues' and suffers no fools."