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Well, it's that time of year again. For the seventh year running, this fall season we'll see a new season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation hit our screens.

Since its debut in the fall season of 2000, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has been a major draw for the CBS Network. It became the most watched program on television in the 2002-2003 season, and has since remained in the top 3 most popular shows ever since. As of the sixth season each episode attracted an average of 30 million viewers, and 90 million people have seen the show in the past year.

The sixth season closed with a spectacular two-parter in which Detective Jim Brass was left fighting for life after a hostage negotiation went wrong. When murderer Willie Cutler took a woman hostage in a Vegas hotel room, Brass volunteered to negotiate. However, when things went awry Cutler fired three shots at Brass - and one of the shots breached his bulletproof vest, a bullet lodging in his heart.

After Brass was rushed to hospital in critical condition, CSI Gil Grissom was informed that Brass had nominated him as his medical proxy, which meant that Grissom had to decide whether to allow doctors to perform risky surgery to remove the bullet or - equally dangerous - leave the bullet where it was and risk a stroke. Grissom, believing that Brass would have wanted it, ordered the surgery.

Meanwhile, Brass' estranged daughter Ellie arrived, more interested in how much she'd get from her father's pension scheme than in his well being. Grissom tried to make Ellie understand how much Brass cares for her, but Ellie seemed unwilling to listen. By the time Brass regained consciousness she had left, but Brass' CSI family were still by his side.

The season closed on a surprising note with Grissom finally getting together with Sara Sidle - a story arc that has been several years in the making.

So what does the next season have in store for CSI fans? Well, while the show will no doubt continue with the format that has seen it become one of the most successful shows on TV the main story in the coming season must revolve around the CSIs relationships. With a new romance blooming between Grissom and Sidle it will be interesting to see how these two loners will adapt to the new situation.

On that count, at least, even the stars of the show don't know how it will turn out. Jorja Fox, the actor who plays Sidle, didn't know that she and Grissom were getting together until just a few days before filming, but she believes that this one is for keeps: "These two people, they have a lot in common. They're both really not great with people in many respects, and they're emotionally detached in many respects. If two people like that can kind of find each other, there's something really beautiful in that."

But it won't just be the relationship between Grissom and Sidle hogging the limelight. As we saw in the penultimate episode of season six Warwick Brown's marriage is on the rocks. After spotting his wife Tina with another man in the Lucky Dragon Casino Warwick confronted her, not realizing that she was planning a surprise party for Warwick's birthday. If Tina walks out on him, will Catherine offer Warwick a shoulder to cry on?

We'll have to wait and see... the story will unfold during the seventh season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation on CBS this fall.