LOS ANGELES (Just Laugh) - In an effort to step up the show's trademark realism, CBS announced this week that its popular television franchise "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" would be featuring an actual unsolved homicide in the 2003 season finale.

"We've learned so much about forensic science in the past three years, it only seemed right to work a real case," said star William Peterson, who is also an executive producer for the show.

Deals are being negotiated with several "C list" actors who hope to revive their careers with a guest spot on the show-- even a fatal one. Insiders report Fred Berry, who played Freddie "Rerun" Stubbs on the classic late-Seventies TV show "What's Happening?" has an inside track on the role, although Erik Estrada and Scott Baio have also been mentioned.

Reenactments of the death may require additional homicides, especially for the show's trademark "up close" special effects shots. "If you're going to show a bullet penetrating a body, you're going to have to do it from several angles. This may require more than one body," said Peterson. "Not that the victim is necessarily going to be shot." He added with a wink.

But whatever the method, count Marg Helgenberger as one cast member hoping for a quick solution: "If there isn't something unique about the victim or the murder-- like the killer used the only knife of its kind in the world, or the victim had some sort of unique vertebrae operation-- we may never solve it. That's what's great about the plotted episodes and why they usually only take an hour to solve."

Reportedly, if the show is successful, the producers of CSI will attempt a similar stunt with the popular spinoff "CSI: Miami." For that episode, former cast member Kim Delaney is expected to return, albeit for the last time.

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