When "CSI: NY" returns this fall, Sela Ward will be the new face in the lab joining Gary Sinise and the rest of the crime scene investigators as they track down the bad guys.

"The first day my character shows up to work there's a dead body in their lab," Sela tells ET, which is first on the set for her debut. "So right away, the whole show is trying to solve this crime: Who is she? How did it happen? How did she get in here? [It is a] very interesting storyline. I'm sort of thrown into the fire right away."

While Sela will be replacing Melina Kanakaredes, who played Det. Stella Bonasera, she won't be playing the same character. Rather, her role will be as a former FBI agent who is coming in from Washington, D.C. and is an established crime scene investigator, so she starts on an equal footing with the rest of the team.

"We have been a very tight group of actors working together," Gary says when asked about Melina's departure, "so it's always going to be a change. This is the first series I've been on so it's all new to me. I did not know the series would last six years, so I imagine there will be all kinds of changes along the way."

So far, Gary says the addition of Sela has been great and the cast and crew have been holding off on hazing her.

"Give it time, give it time," he jokes. "We need to just let her into the environment of 'CSI: NY' for a little bit and then the fun begins!"

"CSI: NY" premieres its new season on a new night and time: Friday, Sept. 24 at 9 p.m. on CBS.