Which CBS show did CSI follow on Fridays when it premiered?

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Which CBS show did CSI follow on Fridays when it premiered? CSI followed The Fugitive.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000, at 9 p.m. Eastern on Friday nights. The network placed it after The Fugitive, a contemporary remake of the 1960s crime series starring Tim Daly. CBS hoped the established remake would provide a useful lead-in for the unfamiliar forensic drama.

That scheduling plan quickly changed in practice. CSI performed strongly from its first episodes and soon attracted a larger audience than The Fugitive. Its final Friday episode aired on January 12, 2001, before CBS moved CSI to Thursdays at 9 p.m. beginning February 1.

A common mix-up is remembering Survivor as CSI's original lead-in. Survivor was the important Thursday lead-in after the move, not the show that preceded CSI on Friday at its premiere. The Fugitive also should not be confused with later CSI franchise titles or with the original 1960s series.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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