Hey everyone, Jana here,

James Van Der Beek has come a long way from being the whiny Dawson, the boy with his own creek. JVDB has tried to maintain his TV presence with parts here and there or in a few shows as the star. ‘Don’t Trust The B—- in Apartment 23‘ was an entirely ridiculous plot with JVDB playing himself and ‘Friends With Better Lives‘ did not hold widespread appeal to fans or advertisers and it was canceled. Some people might slink off into the unknown depths after a couple of failures, but you don’t know JVDB apparently. You don’t make a name for yourself by crying on a ridiculous teen drama without being able to rise above the petty crap a show like that can saddle you with.

It seems his persistence has paid off and CBS doesn’t want to lose him. He has gained a lead opposite Patricia Arquette in  ‘CSI Cyber‘. The ‘CSI” spinoff is inpired by the work of a real-life cyberpsychologist Mary Aiken.  Arquette will star as Avery Ryan, heading up the Cyber Crime Division of the FBI, a unit at the forefront of solving illegal activities that start in the mind, live online, and play out in the real world.

JVDB will play FBI Agent Elijah Mundo, an expert in battlefield forensics recruited by Ryan for his war efforts in Afghanistan. A self-proclaimed action junkie, Mundo often will put himself at risk to seek permanent justice, while Ryan will level his diehard behavior with her expertise in psychology. Together they will fight the world’s toughest cyber crimes.

If you’ve been on the internet once in your life, you leave a digital fingerprint. The world is full of people the world over that will take that information to use for their own reasons. We’ve all seen the headlines comprised of crime rings and cyber-security, usernames and passwords can easily be sourced with a few clicks of the computer. Government breaches are less common to hear of than general banking institutions, but still possible.

CBS Entertainment Chairman Nina Tassler and head of casting Peter Golden came up with the idea to pursue JVDB for the role. He became the top choice and liked the idea after meeting with co-creators/executive producers Carol Mendelsohn and Anthony Zuiker.

I’ve long thought the crime procedurals needed to take a break. Especially the ‘Law and Order‘ and ‘CSI‘ spinoffs, but it looks like CBS has a new strategy of how to change up the formula, they are hoping to infuse some comedy. His background in comedy and drama is part of the reason Van Der Beek was so attractive to CBS. They are showing the same hopeful outlook for Ted Danson, who has recently been cast on the main ‘CSI’ series. Recently acquired for ‘CSI: Cyber’ is Peter MacNicol and Charley Koontz who also follow the pattern with comedy experience.