CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation intertitle
Genre	Police procedural, Mystery, Drama, Thriller
Format	Live action
Created by	Anthony E. Zuiker
Starring	Laurence Fishburne William Petersen Marg Helgenberger George Eads Gary Dourdan Eric Szmanda Jorja Fox Robert David Hall Wallace Langham Louise Lombard Liz Vassey Lauren Lee Smith and Paul Guilfoyle
Opening theme	"Who Are You" by The Who
Country of origin	United States Canada
No. of seasons	11
No. of episodes	229 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	40–45 minutes (without commercials) 90 minutes (2 episodes, with commercials)
Production company(s)	Jerry Bruckheimer Television Alliance Atlantis (2000-2007) CBS Productions (2000-2006) CBS Paramount Network Television (2006-2009) CBS Television Studios (2009-Present)
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Picture format	480i (SDTV), 1080i (HDTV)
Original run	October 6, 2000 – present
Chronology
Related shows	CSI: Miami CSI: NY CSI: Trilogy
External links
Official website

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (also known as CSI: Las Vegas) is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. It is filmed primarily at Universal Studios in Universal City, California.

The series follows Las Vegas criminalists as they use physical evidence to solve grisly murders in this unusually graphic drama, which has inspired a host of other cop-show "procedurals". An immediate ratings smash for CBS, the series mixes deduction, gritty subject matter and popular characters. The network quickly capitalized on its hit with spin-offs CSI: Miami and CSI: NY.

CSI was renewed for an eleventh season on May 19, 2010. It has been confirmed that the upcoming eleventh season will be Marg Helgenberger's last. Helgenberger, who portrays Catherine Willows, will only be in 19 episodes of the upcoming season. Helgenberger has been with the series since the pilot in October 2000.^[1]

CSI has been recognized as the most popular dramatic series internationally by the Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo, which has awarded it the "International Television Audience Award (Best Television Drama Series)" three times.^[2][3] CSI's worldwide audience was estimated to be over 73.8 million viewers in 2009.^[3]

Production

Overview

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Television and CBS Productions, which became CBS Paramount Television in the fall of 2006. Formerly a co-production with the now-defunct Alliance Atlantis Communications, that company's interest in the series is now owned by investment firm GS Capital Partners, an affiliate of Goldman Sachs.^[4] CBS Paramount acquired AAC's international distribution rights to the program. The show currently airs Thursdays at 9PM ET/PT on CBS.

The series has been heavily criticized—almost since its debut—by police and district attorneys, who feel CSI portrays an inaccurate image of how police solve crimes, and by the Parents Television Council, who note the level and gratuitousness of graphic violence, images and sexual content seen on the show. Nevertheless, CSI became the most-watched show on American television by 2002. The success of the show encouraged CBS to produce a franchise, starting in May 2002 with the spin-off CSI: Miami and then again in 2004 with CSI: NY. The series is now in syndication and reruns are currently broadcast in the US on the Spike and TV Land cable networks.

As of the fall of 2008, CSI commands an average cost of $262,600 for a 30-second commercial, according to an Advertising Age survey of media-buying firms.^[5]

Conception and development

During the 1990s, Anthony Zuiker caught producer Jerry Bruckheimer's attention after writing his first movie script. Bruckheimer wanted an idea for a television series. Zuiker did not have one, but his wife told him about a Discovery Channel show she liked about forensic detectives who used DNA and other evidence to solve cold cases (The New Detectives).^[6] Zuiker, who grew up in Las Vegas, started spending time with real-life LVMPD crime investigators and was convinced that there was a series in the concept. Bruckheimer agreed and arranged a meeting with the head of Touchstone Pictures. The studio's head at the time liked the spec script and presented it to ABC, NBC and Fox executives, who decided to pass. The head of drama development at CBS saw potential in the script, and the network had a pay or play contract with actor William Petersen who said he wanted to do the CSI pilot. The network's executives liked the pilot so much that they decided to include it in their 2000 schedule immediately, airing on Fridays after The Fugitive. Initially it was thought that CSI would benefit from The Fugitive, which was expected to be a hit, but by the end of the year 2000 CSI had a much larger audience.^[7]

Filming locations

CSI was initially shot at Rye Canyon, a corporate campus owned by Lockheed Martin, situated in the Valencia area of Santa Clarita, California. Other shows such as The Unit and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers have also been shot there.^[8]

After the eleventh episode, filming shifted to the Santa Clarita Studios and only second unit photography, such as the shots of the Las Vegas streets, are done on location in Las Vegas, Nevada. Occasionally, when required, the cast will also shoot on location in Las Vegas, although more often the locations will be substituted by California locations. Santa Clarita was originally chosen for its similarity to the outskirts of Las Vegas.^[9] Some of the California locations include the Verdugo Hills High School, UCLA's Royce Hall, the Pasadena City Hall and the California State University. While shooting is filmed primarily at Universal Studios in Universal City, California, Santa Clarita's surroundings have proven so versatile that CSI still shoots some of its outdoor scenes there.^[10] In the fourth season DVD set, the special features reveal that the episode Suckers was mostly shot in Las Vegas during December 2003, near Christmas, where they filmed a Gothic club scene in a premises for rent, and in January 2004, some scenes were filmed at Caesars Palace.

Style

Stylistically, the show has drawn favorable comparisons to Quincy and The X-Files.^[11] The show's gadgets and occasional usage of yet-to-be-invented technology have moved the show nominally into the genre of science fiction and garnered it a 2004 Saturn Award nomination for best network television series. The series also occasionally steps into the realm of fantasy and Horror, such as a 2006 episode, "Toe Tags" which is told from the point of view of several corpses in the CSI lab who reanimate and discuss their deaths with each other.

The series is known for its unusual camera angles, percussive editing techniques, hi-tech gadgets, detailed technical discussion, and graphic portrayal of bullet trajectories, blood spray patterns, organ damage, methods of evidence recovery (e.g. fingerprints from the inside of latex gloves), and crime reconstructions. This technique of shooting extreme close-ups, normally with explanatory commentary from one of the characters is referred to in the media as the "CSI shot".^[12] Many episodes feature lengthy scenes in which experiments, tests, or other technical work is portrayed in detail, usually with minimal sounds effects and accompanying music—a technique reminiscent of Mission: Impossible. Often the lighting, composition, and mise-en-scene elements are heavily influenced by avant-garde film^[12]

Music

CSI's theme song is "Who Are You", written by Pete Townshend with vocals by Roger Daltrey of The Who,^[13] as the title track of their 1978 album. The original proposal was to have a themed song written, but the cast liked the idea of "Who Are You," which the producers dismissed through cost. The cast sent a VHS copy of the pilot episode to Townsend through his agent, and on deciding that he loved the series, renegotiated a new fee rate.

The show's spin-offs also use The Who songs as their theme songs: "Won't Get Fooled Again" for CSI: Miami and "Baba O'Riley" for CSI: NY, both recorded by The Who in 1971 for their album Who's Next. This was parodied in an episode of Two and a Half Men, where a CSI parody used "Squeeze Box" as its theme. The Who's Roger Daltrey made a special appearance in a season seven episode, "Living Legend", which also contained many musical references such as the words "Who's next" on a dry erase board in the episode's opening sequence.

Throughout the series, music plays an important role; artists like The Wallflowers, John Mayer, and Akon (with Obie Trice) have performed onscreen in the episodes "The Accused Is Entitled", "Built To Kill, Part 1", and "Poppin' Tags", respectively. The Wallflowers' "Everybody out of the Water" can be found on the CSI soundtrack CD. Mogwai is often heard during scenes showing forensic tests in progress (see Style, above) as are Radiohead and Cocteau Twins, but several other artists have lent their music to CSI including Rammstein—used heavily in Lady Heather's story arc. Sigur Rós can be heard playing in the background in the episode "Slaves of Las Vegas", The Turtles in "Grave Danger", and Marilyn Manson in "Suckers". A cover of the Tears for Fears song "Mad World", arranged by Michael Andrews and featuring vocals by Gary Jules, was used in the pilot episode and during three episodes of season six ("Room Service", "Killer", and "Way to Go"). Industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails have also been featured multiple times throughout the three series.

Plot

For the first 8 and a half seasons, Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger) was the Assistant Night Shift Supervisor. Her boss was Gil Grissom (William Petersen), who left in Season 9, leaving her to head up the team. Shortly after Grissom's departure, Raymond Langston (Laurence Fishburne) was hired at Grissom's request. Catherine's current team also includes her second in command Nick Stokes (George Eads), former lab tech Greg Sanders (Eric Szmanda), and senior field CSI Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox). They are assisted by lab tech David Hodges (Wallace Langham), as well as Detective Captain Jim Brass (Paul Guilfoyle). Medical examiners Al Robbins (Robert David Hall) and David Phillips (David Berman) provide vital information for the team. Former team members included Riley Adams (Lauren Lee Smith), who departed following Catherine's promotion; Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan), an original member of the team, who was killed at the end of the eighth season; and Sofia Curtis, who departed from the LVPD Homicide Division for unspecified reasons.

Cast

Main characters

• CSI Level 2: Dr. Raymond (Ray) Langston (Laurence Fishburne) comes into contact with the CSI team in the course of a murder investigation and joins the Las Vegas Crime Lab as a Level-1 CSI. Langston is a medical doctor who used to work in a hospital. A co-worker murdered 27 patients, and all the evidence showed up before him, but he never put the evidence together. Ray had trouble for the most part of his first season. In the episode "The Grave Shift", his first day on the job was most troubling for him. Ray was held hostage in the aftermath of a shootout in a neighborhood, one of Ray's former students was murdered, and Ray once had to shoot and kill a murderer in self defense, the first time he takes a life in the line of duty. Ray graduated to CSI 2 in the tenth season opener and was explained that he spent his time off taking every class and seminar he could to really become the CSI that Gil Grissom saw in him. Ray also revealed that he was raised in Korea and his father was a veteran soldier of the Korean War, who was violent by getting into brawls off the battlefield and this disturbs Langston about his past. Also, Ray traveled to Miami and New York, involving a case that crosses over into all the three CSI shows for the first time. In the tenth season finale, while in custody, the Dick and Jane Killer stabbed Ray and Ray's fate is unknown.
• CSI Level 3 Night Shift Supervisor: Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger) is in command of the night shift Las Vegas CSI unit. She was promoted with the resignation of Gil Grissom. Born in Las Vegas, Catherine Willows was raised by her single mother, a cocktail waitress and showgirl. Catherine failed to excel to her full potential in school, despite her intelligence and sharp mind. Catherine left school and began work as an exotic dancer in order to support her boyfriend's career. She became interested in crime solving when she befriended a regular at the dance club, who encouraged her to return to school. She attended West Las Vegas University where she graduated with a degree in Medical Science. Catherine joined the CSI team as a lab technician, after which she worked her way up to the role of supervisor under Gil Grissom. Catherine has one daughter, Lindsey Willows (Kay Panabaker), and had a stormy relationship with ex-husband Eddie Willows (Timothy Carhart) until his murder in episode, "Lady Heather's Box". Her relationship with her father, Sam Braun (Scott Wilson), also occasionally created conflicts in cases. In the episode, "Built to Kill", Braun is shot and dies in Catherine's arms. On July 26, 2010, actress Marg Helgenberger told TV Guide that season eleven will be her final season with the show and that she will only appear in 19 of its episodes.[1]
• CSI Level 3 Night Shift Asst. Supervisor: Nicholas (Nick) Stokes (George Eads) is second in command of the night shift Las Vegas CSI unit. He was promoted by Catherine Willows. On leaving Texas A&M University, Nick joined the police department, then took a job with the Dallas Crime Lab, specializing in hair and fiber analysis. He joined the Las Vegas Crime Lab and found he could be his own man, and still be part of a high-achieving team. Nick has shown to be an emotional person throughout the series: He has been held at gunpoint, gets emotional with certain cases, was on the verge of committing suicide, and has been stalked. In the tenth season finale, while in pursuit of serial killer Dr. Jekyll, Nick was shot, but was able to kill Jekyll and live.
• CSI Level 3: Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox) is a materials and element analyst. She majored in physics at Harvard University, and previously worked for the San Francisco coroner and crime lab. She replaces Holly Gribbs after helping investigate her death. She is devoted to her job and will go to almost any lengths to make sure that justice is served. She also has emotional difficulties when dealing with abuse cases in her job. Sara accepts a marriage proposal from co-worker Gil Grissom in "The Case of the Cross-Dressing Carp". A few episodes later, in, "Goodbye and Good Luck", Sara leaves the team following a difficult case. She makes guest appearances in season nine and she meets Gil Grissom in "One to Go" in the Costa Rican jungle. Actress Jorja Fox returned as Sara for the tenth season. It is revealed in "Family Affair" that Grissom and Sara are now married.
• CSI Level 3: Greg Sanders (Eric Szmanda) was was educated in a private school for gifted students and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University. After a stint with the San Francisco Police Department, Greg joined the Las Vegas Crime Lab as a DNA technician and was soon yearning to find a place beyond the lab conducting fieldwork with the CSI team. Greg also wrote a book about the history of Las Vegas, and often becomes intrigued with cases that date back to "old Las Vegas" when it was run by the mob. Greg entered field training in the episode "Who Shot Sherlock?", and he became a full-fledged CSI. Greg is promoted to CSI level 3 in the episode "19 Down".
• Chief Medical Examiner: Dr. Albert (Al) Robbins (Robert David Hall) is the head county coroner of the Las Vegas Police Department. Robbins's first appearance was in the episode, "Who Are You?", and became a series regular from season three onwards. He is married and has three children. Robbins was close friends with CSI, Gil Grissom, and since Grissom's departure, Robbins has been shown to be developing a similar sort of friendship with new CSI, Ray Langston, and he is also close friends with David Phillips, the assistant coroner. He has two prosthetic legs, and it has been implied that he lost them in an accident while trying to dig up a floor at a crime scene; this disability is drawn from actor Robert David Hall himself, who lost his legs in a road traffic accident.
• Trace Technician: David Hodges (Wallace Langham) is a lab technician with a B.A. from Williams College, was transferred to the Las Vegas crime lab from the Los Angeles crime lab, where his superiors felt he had an attitude problem. Hodges's appearances provide some comic relief, though most of the team finds him obnoxious and irritating. Hodges's first appearance was in the episode, "Recipe for Murder", and he became a regular cast member in the episode, "Dead Doll". He once got all the other lab techs to collaborate and try to solve The Miniature Killer case, discovering a key clue. In the episode, "You Kill Me", Hodges invented a board game and enlisted the help of his fellow lab colleagues to help him with the game. It is also noted that Hodges has an uncanny sense of smell, and is able to identify many key chemical compounds by their scent alone, such as cyanide, which to those who possess the gene like Hodges does, smells like bitter almonds, but Hodges's sense of smell for this chemical, however, is more acute than that of the average person. Hodges has a crush on fellow lab tech Wendy Simms. We see continuous flirting between them in every scene that they share. He attempts to keep their relationship professional, though the romantic tension remains.
• Asst. Medical Examiner: David Phillips (David Berman) (nicknamed "Super Dave") is the assistant coroner to Chief Medical Examiner Al Robbins. He received his self ascribed nickname after saving the life of a victim during an autopsy. Due to his line of work, he is not fazed by much. Though earlier in the series, his co-workers tease him about his supposed lack of social experience. David marries at some point early in the seventh season and he reveals his wife enjoys hearing all the grotesque details of his job. During the eighth season, signs show his wife is attempting to change his look. In the ninth season, David performs his first solo autopsy, indicating his advancement in the lab hierarchy.
• LVPD Homicide Det.: Capt. James (Jim) Brass (Paul Guilfoyle) is captain in the homicide division and works with the CSI team. Brass used to have Grissom's job as the supervisor, but after CSI Holly Gribbs was murdered on her first day, he lost his position to Grissom. Brass was then given the position as a homicide detective. He usually serves as the legal muscle for the CSI team and the one who does most of the arresting and interrogating of suspects. Brass has never been accused of being a "soft cop" and has shown regard for the rules throughout the years. Brass does not like it when the CSIs try to take dangerous matters into their own hands. In the episode, "Who and What", after the FBI's Jack Malone slams a suspect's head on the table, Brass rushes in and pulls him off, saying in Las Vegas we play by the rules. In the episode, "You Kill Me", a lab tech creates a fictional story in which Brass uses his night stick on a suspect and another tech comments that Captain Brass isn't the type of cop. His estranged daughter Ellie (Nicki Aycox), is a drug addict and prostitute in Los Angeles. It was discovered in the, "Ellie", that he is not Ellie's biological father. In "Bang Bang", Brass was shot twice by Willy Cutler (Currie Graham). At the end of "Built To Kill" Brass is seen in a tattoo parlor, having the date of his shooting (May 11, 2006) tattooed just below the bullet scar.
• DNA Technician: Wendy Simms (Liz Vassey) worked in San Francisco, California before moving to Las Vegas to take the DNA tech position in "Secrets and Flies". In the episode "Lab Rats", she helps David Hodges investigate the case of The Miniature Killer. The two characters have an ongoing rivalry which obscures a strong mutual attraction. Hodges complains that Simms tries to take over everything and thinks she's "too cool" for the lab. Simms insults Hodges by calling him "freakboy" and "loser" but appreciates his investigative thoroughness. She had a role in an independent horror flick playing a girl who is cut in half by a guy with a chainsaw. Hodges feels the mutual attraction to her as well but fears the effect on his work that a relationship would produce, since he finds her distracting enough as it is.
• CSI Level 2: Riley Adams (Lauren Lee Smith) is a former St. Louis police officer who became a CSI. She makes her debut in "Art Imitates Life" and comes in as a second-level CSI to the understaffed Las Vegas unit, a few weeks after the death of Warrick Brown. Adams was a non-conformist who joined law enforcement to rebel against her parents, who are psychiatrists. The character was on the show for only one season; executive producer Naren Shankar said on July 27, 2009, that the decision to let Smith and her character go was "an issue of how we were feeling the ensemble was working".^[15] In the season 10 opener, Catherine finds a report from Riley, written before her departure, criticizing Catherine's leadership skills.
• CSI Level 3 Night Shift Supervisor: Dr. Gilbert (Gil) Grissom (William Petersen) is the night shift team supervisor for the Las Vegas CSI unit, and a forensic entomologist with a degree in biology from UCLA. He was born on August 17, 1956 as an only child to a middle class family in Santa Monica, California. Grissom became a CSI in about 1985 and became supervisor for the Las Vegas CSI unit night shift on the first season second episode. Grissom is often regarded as well-educated methodical scientist, but unusual in his approach toward his work and social life, as well as a bit of a quirky introvert. In the series, some of his comments and actions can be seen to dumbfound his co-workers and superiors. His relationship with his subordinates in the office is portrayed as being a father figure to the team, however very professional in his work. It is revealed in the episode, "Way To Go", that he has been in a relationship with fellow CSI, Sara Sidle. He proposes to her in the episode, "The Case of the Cross-Dressing Carp". In the ninth season, Grissom announced his retirement and in his final scene as a series regular, in “One to Go,” he is shown meeting his fiancée, Sara Sidle, in the rain forest of Costa Rica and kissing her. It is revealed in "Family Affair" that Grissom and Sara are now married. The Grissom character is loosely based on real life criminalist Daniel Holstein.^[16] Actor William Petersen was originally reported to have renewed his contract for the show's ninth season, but the Associated Press reported on July 15, 2008, that Petersen was leaving the show as a regular in the ninth season's tenth episode in order to pursue more stage acting opportunities. He will return for guest spots during the show's run, as needed.^[17]
• CSI Level 3: Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan) is an audio-video analyst. Warrick is a Las Vegas native and chemistry major from UNLV. A major facet of Warrick's character portrayed in the show is that he is a recovering gambling addict, his recovery hindered by the fact that he works in Las Vegas. New CSI Holly Gribbs is killed at a scene in the episode, "Pilot", while Warrick was out gambling. Holly's death almost loses his job for not being with her at the time. Grissom's friendship and support has helped him a great deal in overcoming his addiction, but his compulsion is one of the reasons used by Conrad Ecklie to investigate and then split up the team in season five. Warrick is married in season six, but divorces by season eight. Actor Gary Dourdan and CBS could not come to terms on a contract for the ninth season and in the episode, "For Gedda", Dourdan's character is shot and left to die. In the ninth season premiere, Grissom discovers Warrick's body in his car, but he dies before revealing his attacker, Undersheriff Jeffery McKeen, who is later apprehended and arrested. Papers were found in Warrick's apartment disclosing that he had a son. Warrick's funeral is held a few days later and Grissom delivers an emotional eulogy.
• LVPD Homicide Det.: Sofia Curtis (Louise Lombard) is a CSI who became part of Grissom's team after the mid–season five split, decided by the Assistant Director of the crime lab, Conrad Ecklie. She soon considers resignation, upset at the fact that she has been demoted from acting day shift supervisor. In the sixth season, Sofia makes a career shift from CSI to detective. Actress Louise Lombard made her final appearance to date in the episode "Dead Doll", as a special guest star.

Episodes

There were twenty-three episodes in the first season, including the two part pilot episode written by Anthony Zuiker, the series' creator. There were twenty-three episodes each of the three following (Seasons two to four). There were twenty-five episodes in Season five and twenty-four in Seasons six and seven. There were only 17 episodes in Season 8, due to the WGA strike. The total number of aired episodes to date is 229. There have also been crossover episodes with its CSI sister shows, CSI: Miami and CSI: NY.

The 200th episode of CSI aired on April 2, 2009.

Crossovers

• "Cross Jurisdictions", an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, was also the pilot episode of CSI: Miami.
• A two-part crossover episode with Without a Trace aired on November 8, 2007. The first episode was on CSI with the second part on Without a Trace. (NOTE: The two episodes have not aired together in syndication packages, but are both included in the CSI Season 8 DVD Set.)
• On May 8, 2008, the episode "Two And a Half Deaths", written by Two and a Half Men writers Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn, was aired. The episode focused on the death of a sitcom star of a show based on Roseanne, which Lorre wrote some of the episodes. A number of writers of CSI wrote an episode for Two and a Half Men, "Fish In A Drawer", where Charlie's house is investigated following the death of Charlie's stepfather. George Eads (Nick Stokes) was the only actor to appear on both CSI and Two and a Half Men, but portraying different characters. The stars of Two and a Half Men also appeared in part of the CSI episode. They can be seen outside of the dressing trailer, dressed in tuxedos; all three appear to be smoking cigars, but they do not talk.
• During the tenth season, the first three-way CSI crossover occurred with sister series CSI: Miami (for the second time) and CSI: NY (for the first time) in a three part story. The "CSI: Trilogy" storyline starred Laurence Fishburne as Dr. Raymond Langston as he starts off on CSI: Miami in the episode "8x07: Bone Voyage", continues his journey on CSI: NY in the episode "6x07: Hammer Down", and ends with CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in the episode "10x07: The Lost Girls". These episodes originally aired November 9, 11, and 12, 2009, respectively.

For the 2001 season CBS decided to move CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, along with the hit franchise Survivor, to Thursday night, ending NBC's long dominance of these television hours, because even though they had a long-standing and popular Must See TV lineup (such as Friends and Will & Grace) they could not compete with CSI's numbers per week. CBS became the most-watched network on American television, with CSI being the most-watched program on television for the 2002–2003 TV season,^[18] and the most-watched scripted show for five consecutive seasons, from the 2002–2003 season through the 2006–2007 season.

The 2004–2005 season finale, directed by Quentin Tarantino and entitled "Grave Danger", was watched by over 35 million viewers on May 19, 2005, twice that of the nearest competition.^[19]

CSI has been nominated numerous times for industry awards and has won nine awards during its history. The program has spawned several media projects including an exhibit at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, a series of books, several video games, and two additional TV shows. It has reached milestone episodes, such as the 100th, "Ch-Ch-Changes", the 150th, "Living Legend", which starred Roger Daltrey from The Who and the 200th, "Mascara", airing on April 2, 2009.

Internationally, broadcasts of the show are popular. Show creator Anthony Zuiker said in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, "The running joke really is that 'CSI' airs in every country but six: North Korea, Uzbekistan, Iran, Iraq, and a couple of others I probably can't even name."^[20]

Public reaction

CSI's popularity has led to the creation of websites, online discussion forums and a large amount of fan-made art.

On September 27, 2007, after CSI's season eight premiered, a miniature model of character Gil Grissom's office (which he was seen building during season seven) was put up on eBay. The auction ended October 7, with the prop being sold for $15,600; CBS donated the proceeds to the National CASA Association.^[21]

A grassroots campaign started on August 2007, upon rumors of Jorja Fox leaving the show,^[22] organized by the online forum Your Tax Dollars At Work. Many of its nineteen thousand members donated to the cause, collecting over $8,000 for gifts and stunts targeted at CBS executives and CSI's producers and writers. Some of the stunts included a wedding cake delivery to Carol Mendelsohn, 192 chocolate-covered insects with the message "CSI Without Sara Bugs Us." to Naren Shankar and a plane flying several times over the Universal Studios of Los Angeles with a "Follow the evidence keep Jorja Fox on CSI" banner.^[23][24] Other protests included mailing the show's producers a dollar, so as to save Fox's contract "one dollar at a time". By October 16, 2007 according to the site's tally, more than 20,000 letters with money or flyers had been mailed to the Universal Studios and to CBS headquarters in New York from forty-nine different countries since the campaign started on September 29, 2007.^[25][26][27] Fox and Mendelsohn chose to donate the money to CASA, a national association that supports and promotes court-appointed advocates for abused or neglected children.^[28]

Criticism for violent and sexual themes

CSI has often been criticized for the level and explicitness of graphic violence, images, and sexual content. The CSI series and its spin-off shows have been accused of pushing the boundary of what is considered acceptable viewing for primetime network television.^[29] The series had numerous episodes on sexual fetishism and other forms of sexual pleasure (see especially the recurring character of Lady Heather, a professional dominatrix). CSI has been ranked as among the worst prime-time shows for family viewing by the Parents Television Council nearly every season since its second,^{[30][31][32][33]} being ranked the worst show for family prime-time viewing after the 2002–2003^[34] and 2005–2006^[35] seasons. The PTC has also targeted certain CSI episodes for its weekly "Worst TV Show of the Week" feature.^{[36][37][38][39][40][41]} In addition, the episode "King Baby" aired in February 2005, which the PTC named the most offensive TV show of the week,^[41] also led the PTC to start a campaign to file complaints with the FCC with the episode;^[42] to date, nearly 13,000 PTC members complained to the Federal Communications Commission about the episode.^[43] The PTC has also asked Clorox to pull their advertisements from CSI and CSI: Miami because of the graphically violent content on those programs.^[44]

Law enforcement reaction

Another criticism of the show is the depiction of police procedure, which some [2] consider to be decidedly lacking in realism.^[45] For instance, the show's characters not only investigate crime scenes ("process", as their real-world counterparts do), but they also conduct raids, engage in suspect pursuit and arrest, interrogate suspects, and solve cases, which falls under the responsibility of uniformed officers and detectives, not CSI personnel. Although some detectives are also registered CSIs, this is exceedingly rare in actual life. It is considered an inappropriate and improbable practice to let CSI personnel to be involved in detective work as it would compromise the impartiality of scientific evidence and would be impracticably time-consuming. CSI shares this characteristic with similar British drama series, Silent Witness.

The cities of North Las Vegas and Henderson, and other surrounding townships and counties, will not allow Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department or companies contracted for work under them to come into their jurisdictions, unless the crime occurred on a border of the cities and/or townships. Furthermore, CSIs contracted to LVMPD don't travel to other counties, such as Nye County, or Pahrump, or any other places in Nevada, due to each county having different laws in regards to what is considered law enforcement within that particular county.

Some police and district attorneys have criticized the show for giving members of the public an inaccurate perception of how police solve crimes. Victims and their families are coming to expect instant answers from showcased techniques such as DNA analysis and fingerprinting, when in real life processing such evidence can take days or even weeks. District attorneys state that the conviction rate in cases with little physical evidence has decreased, largely due to the influence of CSI on jury members.^[46]

However, not all law-enforcement agencies have been as critical; many CSIs have responded positively to the show's influence and enjoy their new reputation. In the UK, Scene Of Crime Officers (SOCO) now commonly refer to themselves as CSIs. Some constabularies, such as Norfolk, have even gone so far as to change the name of the unit to Crime Scene Investigation.^[47] Also, recruitment and training programs have seen a massive increase in applicants, with a far wider range of people now interested in something previously regarded as a scientific backwater.^[48]

LGBT

The LGBT (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) issues community has criticized the show for what they consider to be negative representation of LGBT characters.^[49] Despite this criticism, the fifth season episode "Ch-Ch-Changes" was received positively by transgenders in particular.^[50] Furthermore, the season 5 episode "Iced" featured one of a very few openly gay characters on the show who were not victims or criminals, as the victim's neighbor.^[50]

Franchise

Like NBC's Law & Order franchise, CBS went on to produce their own franchise starting in September 2002 with the spin-off CSI: Miami, set in Miami, Florida. Another spin-off debuted September 2004 with CSI: NY, set in New York City. A number of comic books, video games and novels based on the series have been made. The series was found to be in the same "universe" as fellow CBS police-drama Without a Trace during a crossover episodes airing in early November 2007. It is also within the same universe with Cold Case because of the series' crossover with CSI: NY. William Petersen confirmed that a CSI movie is in the works that will star Gil Grissom.^[51]

CSI effect

The "CSI effect" (sometimes referred to as the "CSI syndrome") is a reference to the phenomenon of popular television shows such as the CSI franchise, Law & Order, Silent Witness, Crossing Jordan and Waking the Dead raising crime victims' and jury members' real-world expectations of forensic science, especially crime scene investigation and DNA testing.^[52] This is said to have changed the way many trials are presented today, in that prosecutors are pressured to deliver more forensic evidence in court.^[53]

CSI: The Experience

In 2006, The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History developed a traveling museum exhibit called "CSI: The Experience". On May 25, 2007, Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry was the first museum to host the exhibit, and the exhibit's opening featured stars from the TV series.^[54] There is also a supporting Web site designed for the benefit of people who cannot visit the exhibit at CSI: The Experience Web Adventure, designed by Rice University's Center for Technology in Teaching & Learning and Left Brain Media.^[55]

Ratings

American ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation on CBS.

Note: U.S. network television seasons generally start in late September and end in late May, which coincides with the completion of the May sweeps.

DVR ratings

The show ranked number three in DVR playback (3.07 million viewers), according to Nielsen prime DVR lift data from September 22 to November 23, 2008.^[66]

UK ratings

CSI airs new episodes on UK terrestrial channel FIVE on Tuesday nights at 21:00; viewership is usually around 3 million. Repeats are shown on Five USA throughout the week, with viewing figures less than the million mark. Episodes are also shown on the channel Living.

Awards and nominations

DVD releases

Region 1 DVD releases

The US box sets are released by CBS DVD (distributed by Paramount), while the Canadian box sets are distributed by Alliance Atlantis. The first season DVD release differs from all subsequent seasons in that it is available only in 1.33:1 or 4:3 full frame, rather than the subsequent aspect ratio of 1.78:1 or 16:9 widescreen, which is the HDTV standard aspect ratio.

The first season is also the only DVD release of the series not to feature Dolby Digital 5.1 surround audio, instead offering Dolby Digital stereo sound.

The Blu-ray disc release of Season One is 7.1 DTS sound and 1:78:1 widescreen.

Region 2/4 DVD releases

Regions 2 and 4 DVD releases have followed a pattern whereby each season is progressively released in two parts (each of 11 or 12 episodes [with the exception of Season 8, in which part 1 contained 8 episodes and the Without a Trace crossover and part 2 contained the remaining 9 episodes] with special features split up) before finally being sold as a single box set. After having been almost 12 months behind region 2 releases after the first four series, region 4 releases are speeding up, with distributors simply releasing season five as a complete box set.

Region 2

• * = Re released in slimline full season packaging, Seasons 1–8 were released in 2 parts between 2003 and 2009.

Region 4

Blu-ray releases

CBS Home Entertainment (distributed by Paramount) released the first season on High Definition Blu-ray disc on May 12, 2009.[3] Unlike its DVD counterpart CSI: Crime Scene Investigation#Region 1 DVD releases, this release is in its original 16:9 widescreen format and feature 7.1 surround sound. Features on the Season 1 BR set are also in High Def.

Season 9 was released on September 1, 2009. Like the Season 1 Blu-Ray release, it features a 16:9 widescreen transfer with DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround sound. Extras include commentaries, featurettes and BD-Live functionality.^[69]

Other releases

The CSI franchise has also been released as a series of mobile games. In Fall 2007, CBS teamed up with game developer Gameloft to bring CSI to mobile phones. The first of the series to be published was CSI: Miami. The game features actual cast members such as Horatio Caine, Alexx Woods and Calleigh Duquesne who are trying to solve a murder in South Beach with the player's assistance.^[70] The game is also available for download on various iPod devices.^[71]

In spring 2008, Gameloft and CBS released "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation – The Mobile Game" which is based on the original series in Las Vegas, NV. This game introduces the unique ability to receive calls during the game to provide tips and clues about crime scenes and evidence. As for the storyline, the game developers collaborated with Anthony E. Zuiker (the series creator) to ensure that the plot and dialogue were aligned with the show's style.^[72]

Books

• True Stories of CSI: The Real Crimes Behind the Best Episodes of the Popular TV Show (published 08/09) – Katherine Ramsland follows the evidence and revisits some of the most absorbing episodes of the phenomenally popular C.S.I. television franchise, and explores the real-life crimes that inspired them. She also looks into the authenticity of the forensic investigations recreated for the dramatizations, and the painstaking real-life forensic process employed in every one of the actual cases—from notorious mass-murderer Richard Speck, to the massacre of Buddhist monks in an Arizona Temple, to a baffling case of apparent spontaneous combustion.

• In September 2009, Tokyopop released a manga version of CSI written by Sekou Hamilton and drawn by Steven Cummings. It centers around five teenagers working at the Las Vegas Crime Lab as interns as they try to solve a murder case of a student at their high school, which leads to a shocking discovery. Grissom and Cathrine are seen now and then, as well as some of the other CSI characters.

Video games

Online sales

Country	Store	Available Season
Philippines	iTunes Store	6, 7, 8 and 9 (after episode airs on TV)
United States	Amazon Unbox	6, 7 and 8
United States	Xbox Live	6 and 7 (approximately one week after airing—no longer offered)
United Kingdom	Demand Five	6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 (immediately after airing)
Germany	RTLnow	6, 7, 8 and 9 (one week before airing)

See also

• CSI (franchise)
• CSI: Miami
• CSI: NY
• CSI: Trilogy
• List of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episodes

References

External links

• CSI Official wiki at CBS
• CSI at Yahoo! TV
• CSI at TVGuide.com
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation at the Internet Movie Database
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation at TV.com