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
criminologists as they use physical evidence
to solve grisly murders in this unusually graphic (and hugely
popular) 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
megahit with spin-offs
CSI:
Miami and
CSI: NY.
The tenth season of
CSI premiered on September 24, 2009 at
9 pm EST.
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. 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.
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). Zuiker 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.
Filming locations
CSI was initially shot at Rye
Canyon, a corporate campus owned by Lockheed Corporations 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.
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.
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.
Style
Stylistically, the show has drawn favorable comparisons to
Quincy and
The X-Files. 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, 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".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
Music
There was an instrumental theme song in the first season, which has
been replaced in syndication.
CSI's
theme song is
Who Are You, written by
Pete Townshend with vocals by
Roger Daltrey, both of
The
Who, as the
title track of their 1978
album. The show's spinoffs 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,
Method Man,
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 Season 2 episode "Slaves of Las Vegas",
The Turtles in "
Grave
Danger", and
Marilyn
Manson in
Suckers. Industrial rock band
Nine Inch Nails have also been
featured multiple times throughout the three series'. In the Season
9 episode "
For Warrick", The Martin
Brothers' "Stoopit" is heard from the club when Grissom discovers
Warrick's body and their "Dirtybird Records" label mate
Claude Vonstroke's "Chimps" is played from
the club while Grissom, Catherine and Nick attempt to recreate the
crime scene.
Plot
The series follows Las Vegas
criminologists as they use scientific methods
to solve grisly murders in this unusually graphic (and hugely
popular) drama, which inspired a host of other cop-show
'procedurals.' An immediate ratings smash for
CBS, the series adroitly mixes painstaking deduction,
gritty subject matter and intriguing characters. The network
quickly capitalized on its megahit with spin-offs
CSI: Miami and
CSI:
NY.
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. In
the episode "The Grave Shift," his
first day on the job was most troubling for him. In the episode
"No Way Out," he was held
hostage in the aftermath of a shootout in a neighborhood. In the
episode "Mascara," one of
Ray's former students was murdered, and in the end of "All In," Langston has 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 in the
tenth season that he was raised in Korea and his father, a soldier
and a veteran of the Korean War, was a violent man, often getting
into brawls off the battlefield and this is something which
disturbs Langston considerably. Also in the tenth season, Ray
travels to Miami and New York, involving a case that crosses over into
three CSI shows for the first time.
- CSI Level 3 Night Shift
Supervisor: Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger) is in command of the
night shift Las Vegas CSI unit. This character is loosely based on
real life CSI Yolanda McCleary. She was promoted with the
resignation of Gil Grissom in the
episode, "One to Go." Catherine 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." The 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.
- CSI Level 3 Night Shift
Assistant Supervisor: Nicholas "Nick" Stokes (George Eads) is second in command of the night
shift Las Vegas CSI unit. He was promoted in episode "Family Affair," by Catherine Willows. Nick is an easygoing
and friendly former college baseball player and fraternity member from Dallas, Texas
, with a degree in criminal justice from Texas A&M
University
and speaks fluent Spanish. Nick has shown to be an
emotional person through the series: He nearly cried when being
held at gunpoint in the episode "Who Are
You?." In the episode "Gum Drops," he
got very emotional searching for a missing little girl who was
thought to be dead. In the episode "Grave
Danger," he broke down and was on the verge of committing
suicide when buried alive in a glass coffin
and broke down once again in the episode "Turn, Turn, Turn," when
discussing the death of the victim with Dr. Ray Langston, and how he should have
seen the danger signs over the year and done something to prevent
it. He was also stalked in the episode "Stalker," when a repairman named Nigel
Crane (Doug Hutchison) thought that
Nick was his friend. Because of being molested at a young age, his
character is portrayed as more empathic than his co-workers, which
has drawn several rebukes from others.
- CSI Level 3: Greg
Sanders (Eric Szmanda) was
formerly the lab's DNA technician. Greg entered field training in
the episode "Who Shot Sherlock?,"
and he became a full-fledged CSI. He has an encyclopedic knowledge
of DNA and trace analysis. In the episode "Play with Fire" he was involved
in a lab explosion, which he survived and in the episode "Fannysmackin'," Greg is brutally beaten by a
gang of youths while rescuing a victim. Greg is also an Eagle
Scout. He 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 is promoted to CSI level 3
in the episode "19 Down."
Executive producer, Naren Shankar,
says that in the tenth season, Greg will get to gripe about his
role on the team when Sara (Jorja Fox) comes to visit. Shankar says
his complaining will pay off and he'll get a new job.[33649]
- Chief Medical Examiner: Dr.
Albert "Al" Robbins (Robert David Hall) is the head county
coroner of the Las Vegas Police Department.
Robbins' first appearance was in the episode "Who Are You?" and became a series regular from
season three onwards. He is married with 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 who transferred to the Las Vegas
crime lab from Los Angeles. Hodges' appearances provide some
comic relief, though most of the team
finds him obnoxious and irritating. Hodges' first appearance was in
the episode "Recipe for Murder,"
and he became a regular cast member starting with the episode
"Dead Doll." He has a crush on fellow lab
technician Wendy
Simms. He once got all the other lab techs to collaborate and
try to solve The Miniature
Killer case, discovering a key clue. 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 Hodge's sense of
smell for this chemical, however, is more acute than that of the
average person. While at a sci-fi convention in the episode
"A Space Oddity,"
Hodges and Wendy had to solve the murder of one of the stars.
- DNA Technician: Wendy
Simms (Liz Vassey) worked in
San Francisco, California for a time 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. Wendy is apparently
something of a klutz and has a reputation for being clumsy around
work. Wendy and Dr. Robbins have a big
disagreement over tainted blood evidence in the episode "Let It Bleed." Wendy also 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.
Actress Liz Vassey is added to main cast in the tenth season
premiere.
- Assistant 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, the main characters tease him about his supposed lack of
social experience. David marries at some point early in the seventh
season. He reveals his wife enjoys hearing all the grotesque
details of his job in the episode "Leapin' Lizards." 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. Actor David Berman is added to
the main cast in the tenth season premiere.
- LVPD Homicide Detective: Captain
James "Jim" Brass (Paul
Guilfoyle) was the head of the Las Vegas CSI, who is originally
from New Jersey. He was moved back to the police homicide division in the episode, "Cool Change" and remains captain in the
homicide division and works with the CSI team. His daughter,
Ellie (Nicki Aycox), has problems in season two, who is
a drug addict and a prostitute in Los Angeles. It was discovered in
the episode, "Ellie," that he is not
Ellie's biological father. In the episode "Bang Bang," Brass was shot twice by Willy
Cutler (Currie Graham), after
convincing him to release his female hostage (Kandiss Edmundson).
At the end of the episode, "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.
Brass has never been accused of being a "soft cop" and has shown
regard for the rules throughout the years. 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 "If
you want to rendition him to Gitmo, be my guest. But in this house,
we play by the rules." In the episode "You Kill Me," after David Hodges creates a fictional story in which
Brass uses his night stick on Bobby Dawson (Gerald McCullouch), Wendy Simms comments "Captain Brass isn't the
type of cop that smacks suspects around."
Former main characters
- CSI Level 2: Riley
Adams (Lauren Lee
Smith) was a former St. Louis police officer who became a CSI.
She made her debut in "Art Imitates
Life and came in as a second-level CSI to the understaffed Las
Vegas unit, a few weeks after the death of Warrick Brown. In episode, "No Way Out," she and fellow CSI
Ray Langston were held hostage in
the aftermath of a shootout in a neighborhood, but Riley was
successfully able to disarm the suspect. Actress Lauren Lee Smith
will not be back for the tenth season of CSI, said executive
producer Naren Shankar, on July 27,
2009 and says the decision to let Smith and her character go was
"an issue of how we were feeling the ensemble was working."
- CSI Level 3
Night Shift Supervisor: Dr. Gilbert "Gil" Grissom
(William Petersen) was the night
shift team supervisor for the Las Vegas CSI unit, and a forensic entomologist with a degree in
biology from UCLA
. He is known for being a very thorough and
methodical scientist, as well as a bit of a quirky introvert. It was revealed in the episode
"Way To Go" that he has been
in a relationship with fellow CSI Sara
Sidle. He successfully proposed marriage to her in the episode,
"The Case of the
Cross-Dressing Carp." The Grissom character is loosely based on
real life criminalist Daniel Holstein. 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. In his final scene as a
regular in “One to Go,” he is shown
meeting his fiancée, Sara Sidle, in the rain forest of Costa Rica
and they kiss. It was revealed in, "Family Affair," that Grissom and
Sara are now married.
- CSI Level 3: Warrick
Brown (Gary Dourdan) was
an audio-video analyst. Warrick was a Las
Vegas native and chemistry major from
UNLV
. A major facet of Warrick's character
portrayed in the show is that he was a recovering gambling addict, his recovery hindered by
the fact that he worked in Las Vegas. New CSI Holly Gribbs was killed at a scene in the
episode, "Pilot," while Warrick was out
laying a bet. He almost lost his job for not being with her at the
time. Grissom's friendship and support had helped him a great deal
in overcoming his addiction, but his compulsion was one of the
reasons used by Conrad Ecklie to
investigate and then split up the team in season five. Warrick was
married in season six, but divorced by season eight. Warrick's
character did not return for the ninth season, since actor Gary
Dourdan and CBS could not come to terms on a
contract. In the episode "For Gedda,"
Warrick Brown was shot and left to die; it was confirmed in the
season nine premiere, "For Warrick,"
that Dourdan's character was killed off by the gun shot of the
Undersheriff
Jeff McKeen. In the opening moments of the premiere, Warrick
dies in Gil Grissom's arms and it was
also revealed that he had a son.
- CSI Level 3: Sara
Sidle (Jorja Fox) was a
materials and element analyst. She was physics major at Harvard
University
, and previously worked for the San Francisco
coroner and crime lab. She replaced 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 is often socially awkward,
but brilliant at her work. Sara also has emotional difficulties
when dealing with abuse cases in her job. Sara accepted 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 leaves Grissom
a note, stating that she had to go face the ghosts of her past,
something that she could not do in Las Vegas. She made guest
appearances in season nine episodes 901,
902, and 905, and she meets Gil
Grissom in episode 910 in the Costa Rican
jungle. Actress Jorja Fox returned as Sara for the tenth season
premiere and was scheduled to return for five more episodes;
executive producer Carol Mendolsohn has since reported that the
length of Fox's stay remains unknown, but it will definitely be
more than the five episodes she was originally scheduled
for.[33650] It was revealed in "Family Affair" that Grissom and
Sara are now married.
- LVPD Homicide Detective: Sofia
Curtis (Louise Lombard)
was 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 considered
resignation, upset at the fact that she had been demoted from
acting day shift supervisor. In the sixth season, Sofia makes a
career shift from CSI to detective. Sofia was a recurring character
in the fifth season, and became a main character in the seventh
season. Actress Louise Lombard made her final appearance in the
episode "Dead Doll," as a special guest
star.
Notable guest stars
- Chad Michael Murray, in The
Accused Is Entitled, Season 3 Episode 2
- Dakota Fanning, in one of her
earliest roles, played an abuse victim in Season 1's episode
"Blood Drops."
- Misha Collins appeared in Season
5's episode "Nesting Dolls", as
Vlad.
- Marcia Cross, most notable for
portraying Bree Hodge on
Desperate Housewives,
appeared in the episode "Organ
Grinder" from Season 2.
- Grey's Anatomy and
Private
Practice star Kate
Walsh appeared in the 100th episode as a transexxual, in
"Ch-Ch-Changes".
- Clueless star Stacey Dash played a "newbie" lab tech who
flirted with Warrick in "Slaves of
Las Vegas" from Season 2.
- Kelly Rowan (Melinda Clarke's
co-star on The O.C.) also appeared
in "Slaves of Las Vegas" as
Eileen Nelson, the wife of a man who hated her. He made a girl from
an underground fetish club act like her, and his violence resulted
in him killing her. Coincidentally, Clarke and Rowan appeared in
the same episode prior to working together in 'The O.C.', though they did not appear in scenes
together.
- The Usual Suspects
star Stephen Baldwin appeared as
Jesse Acheson, who was investigated in Season 5's "Compulsion."
- The Who frontman Roger Daltrey guest starred as a missing mob
boss who comes back to Las Vegas to pay back his would-be killers
in Season 7's episode "Living
Legend."
- Ugly Betty and Disney Channel star America Ferrera had a guest starring role in
the Season 5 episode "Harvest."
- Frank Gorshin made his last ever
TV appearance in "Grave Danger", the
season 5 finale.
- Faye Dunaway played a prominent
ex-showgirl and mob mogul's former flame in the episode "Kiss-Kiss, Bye-Bye" in Season 6.
- Danny Bonaduce appeared as Izzy
Delancy, the Miniature Killer's first victim, in the two-part
Season 7 opener "Built to
Kill" as well as "Loco
Motives".
- Kevin Federline made his guest
appearance in the Season 7 episode "Fannysmackin'", starring as a street hoodlum
'Pig.'
- Ned Beatty made a guest appearance in
the episode "Sweet Jane" in Season
7, playing a serial killing dentist.
- Lost stars Ian Somerhalder, Josh Holloway, Emilie De Ravin, Elizabeth Mitchell, M.C. Gainey, Harold Perrineau and William Mapother have all guest starred.
Somerhalder portrayed a murder suspect name Tony Del Nagro in
Season 3's "Revenge Is Best
Served Cold." In Season 4, Holloway played Kenny Richmond in
"Assume Nothing," a casino valet who
was Nick's college baseball teammate. Both episodes were the third
and fourth season premieres respectively. Mitchell appeared as
Melissa Winters, a wheelchair-using prosecutor and friend of Sara's
with a deadly secret in Season 3's "One Hit Wonder." M.C. Gainey was a
deceased bounty hunter in the 4th season episode Homebodies. Perrineau played a reverend with a
sordid past and an exorcism patient who is missing in "Go To Hell" in Season 8. Mapother played a
snuff film maker in the aptly named Season 3 episode "Snuff."
- Before becoming a regular on CSI:
NY, Carmine Giovinazzo
made a guest appearance in "Revenge Is Best Served Cold",
making him one of the several actors to be in all three CSI
shows.
- Summer Glau of Firefly & Terminator: The Sarah
Connor Chronicles played Mandy Cooper in the Season 5
episode "What's Eating
Gilbert Grissom?".
- Juliette Goglia played Hannah
West in two episodes, a child prodigy who muddied the waters in two
murder cases her half-brother was involved in. Her cold,
calculating actions made Sara Sidle
rethink her career choice and she left at the end of the Season 8
episode "Goodbye and Good
Luck." Sara left her duty vest for new CSI Ronnie Lake, after
removing her name tag and throwing it into the garbage. The first
appearance was in the episode "The
Unusual Suspect" from Season 6.
- Constance Marie played detective
Carolina Flores in "Two and
a Half Deaths" from Season 8.
- Guest appearances have been made by no less than four of
The Shield cast members, namely:
Catherine Dent (Danny) in "Who Shot
Sherlock?" in Season 5 as Kay Marquette. Kenny Johnson (Lem) in
"Time of Your Death" in Season 6
as Randy Bolen. Walton Goggins (Shane) in "Empty Eyes" in Season 7 as Marlon Frost. Jay
Karnes (Dutch) in "For Gedda" in Season 8
as IA Detective
Dutch Wagenbach.
- Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage of MythBusters appeared as
scientists-observers in the Season 8 episode "The Theory of
Everything."
- Pauley Perrette acts as an
aspiring singer who befriends Catherine Willows' husband in
"Lady Heather's Box."
- Ally Sheedy as Sharon Turner in
Season 7 episode "Leapin'
Lizards".
- Method Man, as Drops, appeared in the
episodes "Poppin' Tags", "Big Shots" & "Drops
Out".
- Travis Barker played a rapper also
in the Season 6 episode "Poppin' Tags."
- Shanna Moakler, Former Miss USA,
appeared in the same episode as now ex-husband Travis Barker.
- Taylor Swift as Haley Jones in the
Season 9 episode "Turn,
Turn, Turn."
- Holt McCallany was in the Season
9 episode "Young Man
with a Horn." He previously played Det. John Hagen on
CSI: Miami.
- Heroes star Milo Ventimiglia played Bobby in the Season
1 episode "Friends &
Lovers." Star Zachary Quinto, the
villain Sylar, appears in the second season episode "Anatomy of a Lye" as Mitchell Sullivan, a
greasy chop-shop attendant. Stephen
Tobolowsky, Heroes' Bob Bishop, appears in the episode Two and a Half Deaths.
- The Office
co-stars John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson,and Melora Hardin have all made guest appearances.
Krasinski in the Season 5 episode "Who
Shot Sherlock." Wilson appeared as a purse snatching thief in
the Season 1 finale "Strip
Strangler." And Hardin appeared as the sports book manager in
season 5's "Big Middle."
- Carlos Alazraqui as a Reno cop
in Season 9's "Let it
Bleed" (a nod to his role in Reno
911!).
- Allison
Scagliotti-Smith, known for her role in Drake & Josh, played fast food
restaurant employee Mindy Crenshaw in the Season 9 episode
"Deep Fried and Minty
Fresh."
- Wil Wheaton guest-starred as
homeless murder suspect Walter in Season 5 episode "Compulsion."
- Battlestar
Galactica producer Ronald
D. Moore along with
Galactica actors Grace
Park and Rekha Sharma, make cameo
appearances in the 2009 episode "A Space Oddity". (The three appear
in a science fiction convention scene, with Moore shouting angrily
at a man while Park and Sharma play audience members). Another
Galactica alumnus, Kate Vernon,
is a major guest star in the same episode. Tricia Helfer also appears as dead model
"Ashleigh James" in the final episode of Season 2 "The Hunger Artist."
- Kellan Lutz played Chris Mullins in
"Empty Eyes".
- Willie Garson plays the "sexy
kitty" in season 4's "Fur and
Loathing."
- D.B. Woodside from Buffy and the
second President Palmer from 24 plays a convicted sex offender in the
season 5 episode "Harvest."
- Nana Visitor who plays Kira Nerys from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
appears as a wrongly convicted murderers' ex-wife in the fifth
season episode "Mea Culpa"
- Robia LaMorte, Buffy's Jenny Calendar played murder victim Joan
Marks in season 2's "You've Got Male"
- Courtney Jines from Spy Kids 3-D guest starred as Jessica Rachel
Trent, the sister of Jennette
McCurdy, who killed an elderly woman for a cat. The episode was
"Cat's Cradle", from season 2.
- Jennette McCurdy from
Nickelodeon's show iCarly guest starred as
Jackie Trent, the sister of Courtney
Jines who killed an elderly woman for a cat. The episode was
"Cat's Cradle", from season 2.
- Cory Hardrict guest starred as
Ross Davis, a character in whose bike is stolen. The episode was
"Early Rollout" from season 4.
- Dawson's Creek
actress Meredith
Monroe appears as a nun in the seventh season episode "Double-Cross." Sean Patrick Flanery from Boondock Saints also appears in
this episode as a used car salesman.
- Alan Tudyk, (Wash) from Firefly plays Carl Fisher a
convicted sex offender in the seventh season episode "Burn Out."
- Peter Stormare, the Cosmonaut
from Armageddon,
John Abruzzi from Prison Break, etc. Appears as "Binky" the
brothel owner in the seventh season episode "Ending Happy."
- Megan Hilty, Broadway actress most
notably recognized for her portrayal of Glinda the Good in the
Broadway musical "Wicked" and Doralee Rhodes
in the new musical "9to5" appears as Kiwi Long,
fast food manager at Choozy's Chicken in the Season 9 episode
"Deep Fried and Minty
Fresh."
- D.B. Sweeney guest starred as Kyle Goode in the
Season 4 episode "Early Rollout."
- Former Married...with
Children and Futurama actress Katey Sagal guest starred as Annabelle Bundt in
the season 8 episode "Two and a
Half Deaths."
- Tim Blake Nelson of Oh Brother, Where Art Thou plays
a mild mannered employee who kills one of his co-workers in Season
10's "Working Stiffs."
- Wayne Knight of the same episode
plays Tim Blake Nelson's not-so-friendly boss.
- Liev Schreiber, portrays Michael
Keppler from Trenton, who replaces Grissom during his sabbatical
leave in Episodes 12, 13, 14 and 15 of season 7.
- Evan Rachel Wood of True Blood
guest starred as Nora Easton in the episode "Got Murder?"
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 206. 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 and the pilot 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.
- 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, but they do
not talk.
Reception
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, 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.
Reception of the show is good with ratings making it the number one
show on the
CBS network several times in its
history, although it has been criticized for its inaccurate
portrayal of how police investigations are performed and for its
often extremely violent depictions of the crime.
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.
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.
A
grassroots campaign started on August
2007, upon rumors of
Jorja Fox leaving the
show, 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. 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. 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.
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. 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, being ranked the worst show for
family prime-time viewing after the 2002–2003 and 2005–2006
seasons. The PTC has also targeted certain
CSI episodes
for its weekly "Worst TV Show of the Week" feature. In addition,
the episode "
King Baby" aired in February
2005, which the PTC named the most offensive TV show of the week,
also led the PTC to start a campaign to file complaints with the
FCC with the episode; to date, nearly 13,000 PTC members complained
to the
Federal
Communications Commission about the episode. The PTC has also
asked
Clorox to pull their advertisements
from
CSI and
CSI: Miami because of the
graphically violent content on those programs.
Law enforcement reaction
Another criticism of the show is the depiction of police procedure,
which some consider to be decidedly lacking in realism. 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.
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.
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.
LGBT
The
LGBT (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender) issues community has criticized the show for its
negative representation of LGBT characters. Despite the general
overall displeasure, the fifth season episode "
Ch-Ch-Changes" was received
positively by transgenders in particular. 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.
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.
Also, 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.
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. 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.
The CSI effect can also be related to the younger generation
watching the show. The alluring and captivating techniques that the
investigators use to find evidence and capture the criminal seem to
be a distant reality of what real investigating entails. There are
the same concepts of going out into the field, collecting all the
evidence, going back to the lab, identifying different objects,
collecting fingerprints, talking to suspects, but CSI tends to
paint a very different picture of how things play out in actual
life. For one, there isn't the option of having a camera zoom in on
a hair particle, embedded in a carpet covered in blood. Real crime
scene investigators have to extensively search a crime scene which
takes time. Things don't go as smoothly and quickly as they do on
the show. The younger generation watching this show may grow up
with the fascination and intent on becoming a crime scene
investigator. They watch the show and see how they find a
fingerprint bring it back to the lab and within a commercial they
have found and apprehended the suspect. There is this illusion the
show creates that seems will disappoint a generation of kids
wanting to pursue this profession. All the technology shown in the
show is not what real CSIs use. Although a fiction show all the
techniques they use seem to add a feeling of "good thing they have
that machine otherwise they'd be back at square one." It takes real
CSIs a lot of time to fit all the pieces together that the
television show does seamlessly in an hour showing. It all ties
back to the expectation that the show translates into the real
world.
CSI: The Experience
Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry opened an exhibit in
CSI's honor on May 25, 2007 called: "CSI: The Experience".
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.
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.
| Season |
Timeslot (EDT) |
Season Premiere |
Season Finale |
TV Season |
Rank |
Viewers
(in millions) |
| 1 |
Friday 9:00 pm/8c (from October 6, 2000 – January 12,
2001)
Thursday 9:00 pm/8c (from February 1, 2001) |
|
|
2000–2001 |
#10 |
17.80 |
| 2 |
Thursday 9:00 pm/8c |
|
|
2001–2002 |
#2 |
23.69 |
| 3 |
Thursday 9:00 pm/8c |
|
May 15, 2003 |
2002–2003 |
#1 |
26.20 |
| 4 |
Thursday 9:00 pm/8c |
|
May 20, 2004 |
2003–2004 |
#1 |
25.27 |
| 5 |
Thursday 9:00 pm/8c |
|
May 19, 2005 |
2004–2005 |
#2 |
26.26 |
| 6 |
Thursday 9:00 pm/8c |
|
May 18, 2006 |
2005–2006 |
#3 |
24.86 |
| 7 |
Thursday 9:00 pm/8c |
|
May 17, 2007 |
2006–2007 |
#5 |
20.00 |
| 8 |
Thursday 9:00 pm/8c |
|
May 15, 2008 |
2007–2008 |
#5 |
19.53
|
| 9 |
Thursday 9:00 pm/8c |
|
May 14, 2009 |
2008–2009 |
#4 |
19.03 |
| 10 |
Thursday 9:00 pm/8c |
|
Spring 2010 |
2009–2010 |
#7 |
16.55 (to date) |
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.
U.K. ratings
CSI airs new episodes on UK terrestrial channel
FIVE on Tuesday nights at 9:00 pm;
viewership is usually around 4 million. Repeats are shown on
Five USA throughout the week, with viewing
figures around the 2 million mark. Episodes are also shown on the
channel
Living. CSI is generally
top on the network rank. But these ratings on Five barely reach the
2 main U.K. channels,
BBC 1 &
ITV 1, when their ratings of number 1 are usually
around 8-14 million viewers.
Awards and nominations
Awards
ASCAP Award:
ASC
Award:
- Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Episodic TV Series
– 2006
- Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Episodic TV Series
– 2005
Emmy:
- Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series –
2007
- Outstanding Cinematography For A Single-camera Series –
2006
- Outstanding Sound Editing For A Series – 2003
- Outstanding Makeup For A Series (Non-Prosthetic) – 2002
Saturn Award
- Best Network Television Series – 2004
Screen Actors Guild
Award
- Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series – 2004
Nominations
Emmy:
- Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (Original Dramatic
Score) – 2007
- Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup For A Series, Miniseries Or
Special – 2007
- Outstanding Makeup For A Series (non-prosthetic) – 2007
- Outstanding Cinematography For A Single-Camera Series –
2007
- Outstanding Single-camera Sound Mixing For A Series – 2006
- Outstanding Sound Editing For A Series – 2006
- Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series – 2005: Quentin Tarantino
- Outstanding Makeup For A Series (non-prosthetic) – 2005
- Outstanding Single-camera Sound Mixing For A Series – 2005
- Outstanding Sound Editing For A Series – 2005
- Outstanding Cinematography For A Single-Camera Series –
2004
- Outstanding Drama Series – 2004
- Outstanding Makeup For A Series (Non-Prosthetic) – 2004
- Outstanding Single-Camera Sound Mixing For A Series – 2004
- Outstanding Drama Series – 2003
- Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series – 2003: Marg Helgenberger
- Outstanding Makeup For A Series (Non-Prosthetic) – 2003
- Outstanding Makeup For A Series (Prosthetic) – 2003
- Outstanding Single-Camera Sound Mixing For A Series – 2003
- Outstanding Cinematography For A Single-Camera Series –
2002
- Outstanding Drama Series – 2002
- Outstanding Makeup For A Series (Prosthetic) – 2002
- Outstanding Single-Camera Sound Mixing For A Series – 2002
- Outstanding Sound Editing For A Series – 2002
- Outstanding Art Direction For A Single-Camera Series –
2001
- Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series – 2001: Marg Helgenberger
- Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Series –
2001
- Outstanding Sound Editing For A Series – 2001
The series has also been nominated for multiple
Golden Globes,
Screen Actors Guild Award,
Writers Guild of America
Award,
Directors
Guild of America Award, and
Producers Guild of America
Award
DVD releases
Region 1 DVD releases
| # |
DVD Name |
Episodes |
Release Date |
| 1 |
The Complete First Season |
23 |
|
| 2 |
The Complete Second Season |
|
| 3 |
The Complete Third Season |
|
| 4 |
The Complete Fourth Season |
|
| 5 |
The Complete Fifth Season |
25 |
|
| 6 |
The Complete Sixth Season |
24 |
|
| 7 |
The Seventh Season |
|
| 8 |
The Eighth Season |
17 |
|
| 9 |
The Ninth Season |
24 |
|
The US
box sets are distributed by CBS
Home Entertainment and Paramount
Pictures, 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.
Region 2/4 DVD releases
Region 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
| DVD Name |
Release dates |
| Full season |
Part 1 |
Part 2 |
| CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation Season 1 |
December 8, 2003 |
July 1, 2002 |
October 7, 2002 |
| CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation Season 2 |
March 15, 2004 |
July 28, 2003 |
October 6, 2003 |
| CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation Season 3 |
July 26, 2004 |
April 5, 2004 |
July 5, 2004 |
| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Seasons 1–3 |
August 23, 2004 |
| CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation Season 4 |
November 21, 2005 |
May 9, 2005 |
July 11, 2005 |
| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Seasons 1–4 |
December 12, 2005 |
| CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation Season 5 |
June 26, 2006 |
April 24, 2006 |
June 14, 2006 |
| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Seasons 1–5 |
October 2, 2006 |
| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Grave Danger – Tarantino Episodes |
October 10, 2005 |
| CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation Season 6 |
June 4, 2007 |
February 26, 2007 |
June 4, 2007 |
| CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation Season 7 |
February 25, 2008 |
September 3, 2007 |
February 25, 2008 |
| CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation Season 8 |
February 16, 2009 |
September 22, 2008 |
February 16, 2009 |
| CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation Season 9 |
TBC |
March 25, 2010 |
July 2010 |
Region 4
| DVD Name |
Release dates |
| Full season |
Part 1 |
Part 2 |
| CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation Season 1 |
November 27, 2003 |
October 21, 2002 |
April 9, 2003 |
| CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation Season 2 |
October 28, 2004 |
October 27, 2003 |
March 30, 2004 |
| CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation Season 3 |
October 4, 2005 |
March 18, 2005 |
September 13, 2005 |
| CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation Season 4 |
November 8, 2006 |
May 12, 2006 |
August 17, 2006 |
| CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation Season 5 |
January 24, 2007 |
Not released |
Not released |
| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Grave Danger – Tarantino Episodes |
June 6, 2007 |
| CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation Season 6 |
December 5, 2007 |
Not released |
Not released |
| CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation Season 7 |
December 3, 2008 |
Not released |
Not released |
| CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation Season 8 |
July 15, 2009 |
Not released |
Not released |
Blu-ray Releases
CBS Home Entertainment
(distributed by
Paramount)
released the first season on
High
Definition Blu-ray disc onMay 12,
2009.
[33651]Unlike its DVD counterpart
[33652], this release is in its original 16:9
widescreen format and feature 7.1 surround sound.
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.
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. The game is
also available for download on various
iPod
devices.
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.
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 releashed a manga version of CSI
written by Sekou Hamilton and drawn by Steven Cummings. It deals
around five teenage kids 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. In typical manga form the graphic novel is full of
classic manga icons such as sweatdrops and anger marks though does
not over-do it.
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 States |
NetFlix |
7, 8 and 9 (streaming with Instant play for Netflix
customers) |
| United Kingdom |
Demand Five |
6, 7, 8 and 9 (immediately after airing) |
| Germany |
RTLnow |
6, 7, 8 and 9 (one week before airing) |
See also
References
- Through "Entertainment AB Funding LLC"
- "The CSI Shot: Making It Real", CSI: Crime Scene
Investigation Season 3 DVD (bonus feature), Momentum Pictures,
April 5, 2004.
- Zap2it/com
- CBS CSI Gil Grissom’s rare office replica TV
prop Retrieved on 2007-10-22.
- "Is CSI On the Hunt for a New Jorja Fox?",
TVGuide.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
- Campaign Updates Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
- Flyover pictures and videos Retrieved on
2007-11-06.
- "CSI Boss Vows Jorja Fox is 'Coming Back'",
TVguide. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
- "'CSI' fan says losing Sara would be a crime".
Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
- "'CSI' Fans Launch Save Jorja Fox Campaign",
EW.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
- "Fans donate to charity", CSI Files. Retrieved on
2008-January 15.
- CSI Content Retrieved on 2007-November 28.
- Broadcast Indecency Campaign Retrieved on
2007-November 28.
- N. J. Schweitzer and Michael J. Saks The CSI Effect: Popular Fiction About Forensic
Science Affects Public Expectations About Real Forensic
Science. Jurimetrics, Spring 2007
- Donald E. Sheldon, Young S. Kim and Gregg Barak A Study of Juror Expectations and Demands Concerning
Scientific Evidence: Does the 'CSI Effect' Exist?
Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology
Law
- Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
- Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
- Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
- ABCmedianet.com
- Buchanan, Levi. "IGN: CSI: Miami",IGN Entertainment. Retrieved
October 13, 2008. CBSGames.com
- "CBS and Gameloft Use Real Phone Calls to Unravel Clues and
Solve Crimes in 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation(TM) - The Mobile
Game'", Thomson Reuters. Retrieved October 13, 2008. Reuters.com
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