If you’re a fan of CSI:, the original version, then it’s almost impossible for you not to know that one of the original cast members is leaving after tonight’s episode.

If you somehow have remained clueless, stop reading now.  Otherwise, you might just end up feeling the way I do about these constant “behind the scenes” details and “spoilers.”

In case you don’t know, and you’re stubbornly still reading this, I’ll throw in one more delay before getting to the meat of the issue.  Actress Marg Helgenberger has just signed a two-year contract extension.  That will keep her on the show as long as William Petersen, who signed his extension back in April.

Just knowing those two details, it seems to me, kills a lot of opportunities for suspense in the medical drama.  Odds are if either of their characters fall into a life or death situation in the next 15 months or so, they’ll probably survive.  (They could always die and come back as their own ghost, but that’s more of a soap stunt.)

Actor Gary Dourdan is leaving the show and tonight is his last episode.  There may be suspense in how he departs:  will he be shot to death by a perp or arrested for something he’s done?  Will he catch a contagious virus from a contaminated crime scene or get hit by a drunk driver running from police?

Who knows.  But he’s leaving.

The thing is, why do I know that?  Why do I need to know that before I see it actually happen?

Shows like Entertainment Tonight, which used to be a decent show in its early days before it turned more tabloid than the National Enquirer ever dreamed of being, are constanty revealing details that the audience really shouldn’t know going in.

I watch all of those behind the scenes documentaries about how this effect was done or how that trick was pulled off, then I see the show and can’t help but be less than impressed with the magic because I now know there’s no doubt about it being a trick.

Sometimes I actually want to be surprised.  Just once — and this is quite a fantasy these days — I’d like to know what the ending will be only after I see the episode actually end.

Sometimes, I wish these behind the scenes reports would just shut up.