Just days away from CBS' announcement of its next fall season lineup, there's been much speculation as to the futures of the "CSI" shows, with pundits wondering whether timeslots will be swapped, or something will be dropped ("CSI: NY") or plopped into midseason.

Whatever changes might be in store, the grand old man of the franchise, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," is pretty much assured an eleventh season. And, it's well deserved, in the opinion of "CSI's" Robert David Hall.

He points out that the show remains in the top 20 among broadcast TV series, and "We're still doing better than 'ER' did in its 10th season."

As far as whether "CSI" still has some juice left, he tells us, "I sense it's an intangible spirit thing, and I still sense the spirit of our trying to make a little movie every two weeks. That's always been our goal."

Hall, known as coroner Al Robbins to "CSI" watchers, also feels that there's been "a kind of maturation of our characters -- certainly mine -- and there's confidence that comes with that. Sometimes, even without words, our characters get their personalities and thoughts across. Many times, it's in the eyes. The star of our show has always been discovery. All of our cast members keep good at discovering stuff," he says.

"People have grown as actors on this show. Our executive producer still cares what happens with us ... I don't even count the number of episodes I've done anymore, I just try to keep my attitude fresh. I still enjoy going to work. I would like to ride this pony to the barn, if possible. That's up to the fans."