The news that William Petersen will depart CSI midway through the coming season is prompting a furious search for his replacement. It's a major decision for CBS, as CSI is still its most highly rated series, and one that is experiencing sudden and massive personnel changes after seven years of unusual stability.

The network has signaled that it is looking for an actor of genuine stature to fill the role, ideally someone better known now than Petersen was in 2000. The job was reportedly offered to John Malkovich, who said thanks but no thanks. But the new guy, when he is named, will likely fit a specific type that has come to characterize the leading men on CSI and its imitators (and except for Cold Case, all CBS procedurals are male-led). The template is an actor in his 40s or early 50s who is a familiar face from the film world, but not a "movie star" per se. This would describe Petersen, Gary Sinise (CSI: NY), Anthony LaPaglia (Without a Trace), and although he's a bit older, Joe Mantegna (Criminal Minds).

So what actors are out there who fit this description and might be willing to come on board CSI? Leaving out those who are still A-list film stars (Keanu Reeves, Johnny Depp), those who seem too independent-minded to ever consider series TV (Edward Norton, John Cusack), and those with other disqualifying issues (Tom Sizemore), here are some possibilities:

Eric Stoltz: Stoltz fits the Sinise/LaPaglia mold almost to a T. He's the right age at 46. He's a familiar name, but he's not the sort of guy who is going to be the unquestioned star of a big studio film. He has some of the same geek appeal Petersen has brought to the part of bug guy Gil Grissom. Most significantly, Stoltz has not eschewed television in the past, and in fact has an important role in the upcoming Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica. Stoltz even has experience stepping into the cast of a long-running series on CBS: he joined Chicago Hope late in that show's run.

Kevin Bacon: Subjectively, Bacon seems like too big a star to ever want to do a series, but people would have said the same thing about Alec Baldwin five years ago. While Bacon has been a film actor of note for 30 years now, he's mainly been a supporting player in major studio productions. Having just turned 50, he might be in the mood for a couple of years of a higher profile and relatively easy money. The success his wife has had with her show might also influence him in the direction of television.

Matt Dillon: He might be even less likely than Bacon, in that he's younger and probably less inclined to put films on the back burner, seeing as how he is only three years removed from an Oscar nomination. Still, Dillon would make an instant splash and it wouldn't hurt to ask.

Treat Williams: He's become primarily a television actor since the 1980s, best known for his long stint as the dad on Everwood. Williams might be a bit older than what CBS is looking for here and isn't really a "name," but he brings authority to everything he does and wouldn't embarrass the brand.

Jason Patric: His career as a leading man sank over a decade ago with the rest of Speed 2, and he's been strangely quiet since. Yet so many of his contemporaries have used television to revive their careers, including his Lost Boys co-star Kiefer Sutherland and even more dramatically, Patrick Dempsey, a bigger star now than he ever was 20 years ago. Patric has never seemed to want to work all that much, so a series might not be his thing, but stranger revivals have occurred.

Skeet Ulrich: Since his appearance in Scream over a decade ago, Ulrich has become better known for television than for movies, most recently as the star of the cult non-hit Jericho. He might not have the necessary stature, but he didn't get the blame for the failure of his last series and CBS might still want to use him again. Other actors who just lost series but might have star potential in the right role include Kevin McKidd, late of Journeyman, and Alex O'Loughlin, the well regarded star of Moonlight. But O'Loughlin in particular is probably too young to be considered for CSI.

There is another possibility: CSI could always hire a Petersen replacement who is clearly of lesser stature, and then simply say that Marg Helgenberger is now the star of the show. But the network seems to want to make a major splash, so look for a middle-aged character actor to get himself a major opportunity.

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