LOS ANGELES (Nov. 14) - Crime drama “CSI: Crime
Scene Investigation” tops the must-see fall television shows
for Americans, but more than a third of viewers said they would
no longer watch after the departure of star William Petersen,
according to an online poll released Friday.

The heavily-hyped remakes “90210″ and “Knight Rider” got
the biggest thumbs down as the most disappointing new shows on
U.S. TV, while the five-year jump ahead in the lives of the
“Desperate Housewives” was a hit with only 12 percent of
viewers in the season that began in September.

According to the AOL television poll,
(http://television.aol.com) the year-long delayed new season of
the Kiefer Sutherland thriller “24″, is the most anticipated
show returning early next year, getting 28 percent of votes.

“24″ just beat the 8th installment of “American Idol” in
January, which has been America’s most watched TV show of the
past four years.

Celebrity TV Casting

Emilio Estevez cast in ‘Two and a Half Men’ (CBS)
The ‘Mighty Ducks’ star will play brother Charlie Sheen’s old drinking buddy in an upcoming episode. The pair’s dad has also guest starred on the hit comedy.

Joe Thomas, Getty Images

Danneel Harris cast in ‘How I Met Your Mother’ (CBS)
She’ll play the (very hot) sister to Ted’s fiancee Stella (Sarah Chalke) on a episode to air during November sweeps. Another conquest for Barney? Perhaps. But we wouldn’t be shocked if she somehow comes between the (possible) future Mr. and Mrs. Moseby.

Getty Images

George Clooney NOT cast in ‘ER’ (NBC)
Despite how badly showrunner David Zabel wants to page Dr. Ross back to ‘ER’ for it’s 15th and final season, George Clooney still says thanks … but no thanks.

Getty Images

Mary McDonnell cast in ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ (ABC)
The ‘Battlestar Gallactica’ star is in final negotiations to join the medical drama for a three- to five- episode arc this fall/winter.

Getty Images

Scott Wolf cast in ‘CSI: NY’ (CBS)
The ‘Party of Five’ alum joins Chris Daughtry and Rumer Willis in the show’s 100th episode. They all play people named Mac Taylor — yep, a name shared by show lead Gary Sinise. Wouldn’t be so bad, except there’s a serial killer who’s decided he doesn’t really like Mac Taylors, so he’s offing them one by one.

Getty Images

William Fichtner cast in ‘Night & Day’ (TNT)
He’s signed on as the lead — an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms — in ‘24′ creator Joel Surnow’s pilot. Don’t worry, though — there are currently no plans to kill of Fichtner’s Mahone on ‘Prison Break.’ Fichtner will only star on the show should ‘Prison’ not return for a fifth season.

Getty Images

Anthony Edwards cast in ‘ER’ (NBC)
Dr. Mark Greene is returning to ‘ER,’ via flashback. Anthony Edwards was killed off the long-running hospital drama back in 2002 (it was a tumor), but will make an appearance in the show’s final season in a scene with new regular Angela Bassett. Sadly, it seems George Clooney won’t join him.

Getty Images

Oprah Winfrey cast in ‘30 Rock’ (NBC)
She’ll appear as herself on an upcoming episode of the Emmy-winning sitcom.

APTN / AP

Seth Green cast in ‘My Name Is Earl’ & ‘Heroes’ (NBC)
On ‘Earl,’ he’ll play Buddy Zaks, a former Make-a-Wish child whose dream of starring in an action movie was ruined by Earl. And he and buddy Breckin Meyer are in for a multi-episode stint as a pair of comic book geeks on ‘Heroes.’

Getty Images

Lauren Conrad cast in ‘Greek’ (ABC Family)
The leading lady of MTV’s ‘The Hills’ will give the accepted definition of “acting” a go — though she won’t have to stretch much — when she plays herself in a dream sequence for ‘Greek’s’ second season finale on Oct. 28.

Getty Images

“CSI” now in its eighth year, is currently the top-rated
drama on U.S. TV with a weekly average 21 million viewers.

But 37 percent said they would not watch once Petersen,
who plays night shift supervisor Gil Grissom, leaves midway
through the season. Another 41 percent said it depended how
good Petersen’s replacement Laurence Fishburne proved.

Audiences for network dramas and comedies have fallen
across the board this fall, partly because of interest in the
U.S. presidential elections and also due to the 14-week strike
by Hollywood screenwriters which cut short popular shows last
spring and reduced the amount of new fall offerings.

Some 49 percent of those taking part in the AOL poll said
they discovered new shows on U.S. cable TV thanks to the
strike, while 23 percent said they either took up yoga, rented
more DVDs, or played computer games like Guitar Hero.

A further 28 percent said they were not aware of the
writers’ strike.

The AOL poll received more than 600,000 votes and ran from
Oct 29-Nov 13.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)