Forgive me for a moment if I'm at least somewhat amused by Kim Delaney's sudden departure from "CSI: Miami."
CBS made the rather surprising announcement without much in the way of explanation, releasing a statement that "the network, the production companies and the producers jointly arrived at this decision upon recognizing that the character of Megan Donner was becoming less integral to the series as the season progressed."
Conspicuously absent from that list was Delaney herself.
The reason I'm somewhat amused by all of this is that shortly before "CSI: Miami" premiered, I asked the show's producers why they felt the need to add Delaney to the cast in the first place. The rest of the cast — which will remain intact — had been introduced in an episode of the parent show, "CSI," that aired last spring. And with David Caruso, Khandi Alexander, Emily Procter, Rory Cochrane and Adam Rodriguez already on board, one more character hardly seemed necessary to me.
For their part, the producers insisted the addition simply meant "another fabulous actress to work off of," according to executive producer Ann Donahue. And that they were inspired by the chemistry that Caruso and "CSI" star Marg Helgenberger exhibited in that Miami-based episode of the original show that aired in May.
"What we saw on the screen between David and Marg Helgenberger was a lot of chemistry. It was hot," said executive producer Carol Mendelson.
So, before "CSI: Miami" went into production, they thought, "Wouldn't it be interesting to add another woman to the cast and really play up that heat?" Mendelson said.
Apparently, they've since decided things didn't get particularly hot between Caruso and Delaney, who reportedly got the role only after Sela Ward turned it down. Delaney has already filmed her last episode, which airs Nov. 25. The character's departure will be explained, and there are no plans to add to the remaining cast.
The other reason this is at least slightly amusing has to do with the fact that the "CSI: Miami" producers were gloating (at least mildly) over signing Delaney in the first place. When the actress left one Steven Bochco-produced series ("NYPD Blue") to star in another ("Philly") last season, both Delaney and Bochco made no secret of the fact that if "Philly" failed, she would be welcomed back on "Blue." And that, of course, didn't happen.
"We stole her," Donahue said with a smile. "We saw Mr. Bochco at a gathering about a week after that, and he congratulated us with a little twinkle in his eye because he knew that we had won her."
A hollow victory, it turns out.
E-MAIL: pierce@desnews.com