Press Tour: CBS boss talks "CSI"

CBS is here, for two days that will also include the network's corporate siblings CW and Showtime. We start with CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler. She gets lots of inside-baseball questions about working pilot season around the writers strike.

Tassler ducked a question about the future of summer series "Swingtown" by saying how proud she is of the show. I got a mike and asked if "being very proud of 'Swingtown' means there's any chance you're going to make more?" She said,  "You know what, look, I'm a little disappointed in the ratings. We haven't made that decision right now, but I am proud of the show. Creatively, I think they're doing a great job." She was necessarily diplomatic, but I think that was a "no" to more wife-swapping on the network.

Tassler told us that "CSI" isn't replacing Bill Petersen when he departs after 10 episodes this season - no, they're adding a new element. Sounds like classic execu-speak, but there may be some truth to it. The character being added is a doctor who has a DNA profile commonly associated with serial killers and struggles privately with the questions that presents. It's a "journey of self-discovery." They are currently trying to find "an actor of stature" to take the role. But he won't start off, anyway, by replacing Petersen's Gil Grissom as head of the CSI lab.

It's rare for an actor to leave a series in a successful run, especially when he's also an executive producer. But it's not unexpected from Petersen, and the transition has been in the planning for a while, she said. "Billy is an extraordinary guy...he's still an artist," and this is really a personal decision, she said. "I think it was just an artist's choice to perhaps change his life right now, but he's incredibly dedicated and supportive of the show."

Sarah Chalke will return to "How I Met Your Mother" for multiple episodes at the beginning of the season, but "right now I do not think that she is the mother," Tassler said. She said that despite what you read, Britney Spears' guest appearances did not "save" HIMYM from cancellation because it didn't need saving: "I think the show is beloved by most people in this room and by the audience. So it was never in danger. We just took awhile to make the announcement, but the show is something we're proud of and is doing great.""

The writers strike meant the network made some interesting decisions, running cleaned-up reruns of Showtime's "Dexter" on Sunday nights to mediocre ratings and buying the Canadian series "Flashpoint" for this summer, which did very well in its debut. Guess which experiment Tassler said she might repeat.

Katie Couric's up next, by satellite.