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CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

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This article is about the television series. For the computer game, see CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (computer game).
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
File:CSI Cast.jpg
The Cast of CSI
Created byAnthony E. Zuiker
StarringWilliam Petersen
Marg Helgenberger
Gary Dourdan
George Eads
Jorja Fox
Eric Szmanda
Robert David Hall
Paul Guilfoyle
Country of originUSA / Canada
No. of episodes128 (to date)
Production
Running time45 Minutes
Original release
NetworkCBS and CTV
ReleaseOctober 6, 2000 –
present

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (commonly referred to as CSI) is a popular, Emmy Award-winning CBS television series that trails the investigations of a team of forensic scientists as they unravel the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ranked first in the June 2005 Nielsen Ratings with a viewership of 60 million, the show serves as the backbone of CBS's leading Thursday lineup. The 2004-2005 season finale, directed by Quentin Tarantino, was watched by over 40 million viewers, making it one of the most watched shows in history. The show averages 30 million viewers every week. The show is produced in partnership with the Canadian media company Alliance Atlantis.

History

CSI was presented for review to ABC in 1999, only to be dismissed as too confusing for the average viewer. Creator Anthony E. Zuiker then took the show to CBS, which placed it in its Friday lineup, where it shot to the top of the ratings charts.

After its initial success, the show's time slot was moved to Thursdays in 2000 in an attempt to challenge NBC's Thursday lineup, which boasted popular shows such as Friends, Will & Grace, and ER. CSI maintained its ratings in its new timeslot, and when Friends came to an end in 2004, its ratings strengthened.

In 2003, CBS's then-corporate sibling Spike TV purchased the right to syndicate CSI for a record amount of $1.6 million per episode. The nightly reruns quickly became that network's top-rated show outside of WWE RAW.

Although the show is set in Las Vegas, Nevada, the production is actually based in Universal City, California. In May 2005, it was announced that the sound stage would be moving from Santa Clarita Studios to Universal Studios. CSI began production at Santa Clarita Studios in 1999. CSI is still expected to film on location in Santa Clarita because of its resemblance to the outskirts of Las Vegas. No reason was given for the move.

In July 2004, CBS briefly fired stars George Eads and Jorja Fox, allegedly over contract disputes. In addition, Eads had reportedly been hours late for work on the first day of filming for the fifth season, and Fox had allegedly failed to submit a letter to CBS confirming that she would be on time for shooting. The disputes were resolved in just over a week, and the two were rehired by CBS.

As for the show's broader social impact, it has been credited with an increase in college applications to forensic science programs, and has influenced the way victims, jurors, prosecutors and the general public view forensic science. This has been called the CSI effect.

Spinoffs

Characters

Template:Spoiler

Main characters
Role Actor Description
Dr. Gilbert (Gil) Grissom William Petersen The night shift team supervisor for the Las Vegas CSI unit, and a forensic entomologist with a degree in biology from UCLA. Nicknamed "The Bug Man," Grissom knows American sign language (ASL) and has inherited his mother's otosclerosis, a disease which was causing him to slowly go deaf which developed into a major plot thread throughout the third season. The surgery (and subsequent recovery) required to correct this onset of otosclerosis symptoms occurred in the unshown period between the third and fourth seasons. His hobbies include his work, cockroach racing, reading, solving crossword puzzles, and riding roller coasters.

His original team was made up of four main CSIs, with assistance from a team of technicians. During the first four seasons, his team included Catherine Willows, Nick Stokes, Warrick Brown, and Sara Sidle. With the creation of the swing shift team in the middle of the fifth season, his team now consists of Sara Sidle, Sofia Curtis, and Greg Sanders. In season five finale, he said that he wanted his team back. At the start of season six, the team is brought back together.

It has also been revealed that Grissom's father died when he was nine years old.

Catherine Willows Marg Helgenberger A blood spatter analyst. She was second-in-command of the nightshift for the first four seasons, assuming command when Grissom was out of town or otherwise on leave. She recently moved teams to become supervisor of the new swing shift team. Willows, originally from Bozeman, Montana, first worked as a stripper in order to pay her way through college at UNLV where she studied medical technology. She has a young daughter, Lindsey. Tragically, after her ex-husband's murder, she was unable to find evidence to assist in convicting his killer.
Sara Sidle Jorja Fox A materials and element analyst. A physics major at Harvard University, Sidle previously worked for the San Francisco coroner and crime lab. She was recruited by Grissom, a man she sees as more than just a boss.

Sidle sometimes takes her assignments a bit too personally, especially if the victim is a woman. She was raised in a violent and abusive family, and lived in foster care after her mother killed her father. The details of this unpleasant past only started to be explicitly revealed during the latter part of the fourth season with a pattern of alcoholism seen to emerge. This culminated in a somewhat fortuitous escape from a driving under the influence (DUI) charge.

Warrick Brown Gary Dourdan A Las Vegas native and a chemistry major from UNLV, is an audio/visual analyst. A major theme of the first season (and especially the pilot episode) was his addiction to gambling and his subsequent attempts at recovery. He was also blackmailed by a judge over this issue, but he eventually told Grissom about it, and the judge was arrested.

He was part of Grissom's team for the first four seasons, but was transferred to the swing shift team under Willows in the middle of the fifth season. In the season five finale, we saw how close he is to his best friend, Nick Stokes. He has recently been married, between the fifth and sixth seasons, to a doctor named Tina.

Nick Stokes George Eads An easygoing and friendly former college baseball player and fraternity member with a degree in criminal justice from Texas A&M, is a hair and fiber analyst from Dallas, Texas. In Episode 203, "Overload," it is revealed that when Nick was 9 years old, he was sexually abused by a last-minute female babysitter.

He was part of Grissom's team for the first four seasons, but was transferred to the swing shift team under Willows in the middle of the fifth season. Unlike other CSIs, Nick had many troubles with suspects: In episode 106, "Who are You", he has a gun placed in his face. In episode 220, "Stalker", he is thrown out of a second-story window, and stalked by the murderer, being held at gunpoint by his stalker. In the season five finale "Grave Danger", he was kidnapped by Walter Gordon and buried alive for a ransom of one million dollars. Nick was also nearly arrested when a prostitute was found dead in her house only hours after he'd been there for a one-night stand (not paid for).

In season six, it is discovered that the daughter of Walter Gordon, Kelly Gordon, is involved in the murder of a lawyer who was handling her father's assets.

Captain Jim Brass Paul Guilfoyle Brass was the head of the CSI unit in Las Vegas until he was moved back to the police homicide division in the pilot episode. He was originally from New Jersey. He's now Captain in the homicide division and works usually with the CSI team. He's divorced and has a daughter named Ellie. It is revealed in episode 208, "Ellie," that she is not biologically related to Brass.

In two-part episode "A Bullet Runs Through It," Brass faces the guilt of accidentally killing a fellow officer in an intense shootout.

Greg Sanders Eric Szmanda A young lab technician who idolizes Grissom and has been endeavoring to get out in the field since episode 218, "Chasing the Bus." Near the end of the third season, he was injured in a lab explosion when an unknown substance was placed next to an active heat source by Catherine Willows. He recovered fully from the incident.

He sporadically worked in the field throughout the third and fourth seasons, and officially became a CSI Level 1 in the fifth season, joining Grissom's night shift. He failed his exam the first time around after urinating in the toilet at a crime scene.

Dr. Al Robbins, M.D. Robert David Hall The head county coroner. Married with three children, he's often the only one who understands Grissom. He has two prosthetic legs and likes playing in rock bands for fun.
Recurring characters
Role Actor Description
David Hodges Wallace Langham A lab tech who first appeared on season 3. Works in the Trace department. He always tries hard to succeed, and often sucks up to Gil and Catherine, ignoring the lower CSIs. Hodges also seems to have (or pretend to have) a Narssisistic personlity disorder.
Sofia Curtis Louise Lombard A CSI who became part of Gil's team after the mid-season 5 split. She soon considered resignation, upset at the fact that she had been demoted from acting day-shift supervisor.

A recurring character in season five, but in season six she moved from being a CSI to a Detective. She experienced emotional problems in the episode "A Bullet Runs Through It," after it appeared she shot a fellow police officer during a shoot out.

Archie Johnson Archie Kao A lab tech who's a computer and audio/video technical expert.
Bobby Dawson Gerald McCullouch A lab tech who's a ballistics expert.
David Phillips David Berman Assistant Coroner who's sometimes called "Super Dave".
Conrad Ecklie Marc Vann Former dayshift supervisor who became Assistant Director of the Crime Lab in season 5. He is known for his strict regulations and sticks to them at all times. Conrad and Gil have a very rocky relationship and it was Conrad, in his pursuit to try to spite Gil, who split the CSI team in the middle of season 5. But in Grave Danger (Season 5 finale), he set aside their personal differences and helped the team locate and rescue Nick.
Sam Vega Geoffrey Rivas A homicide detective.
Vartann Alex Carter A homicide detective.
Former characters
Role Actor Description
Holly Gribbs Chandra West Holly was a brand-new CSI in "Pilot." She did not appear to do well under pressure and did not react well to her first autopsy. Warrick left her alone on her first case to go gambling. The murderer returned to the scene, took her gun from her, and shot her 3 times. She subsequently died in surgery.
Cyrus Lockwood Jeffrey D. Sams Detective Lockwood appeared in a number of episodes throughout seasons two and three. He was killed in the episode "Inside the Box", when he walked into an armed robbery.
Paul Millander/Judge Douglas Mason Matt O'Toole Paul Millander appears over a three episode arc, "Pilot," "Anonymous" and "Identity Crisis" as a transgender serial killer who compulsively re-enacts his own father's murder, a staged suicide, and forces his victims to record a suicide note stating their name, address, that they cannot do it anymore and that they love their mother. He uses a rubber molding of his own hand to plant his own fingerprints at each crimescene, and later, in "Anonymous", plants a print of Grissom's at a crime scene. Millander taunts Grissom by visiting the CSI offices after Grissom discovers that Millander is the real killer at the end of "Anonymous" and then dissappears until later showing up as a Judge in "Identity Crisis." Each victim has the same birthday, August 17th, and each victim in sequence counts back one year starting with 1958. August 17th is also Grissom's birthdate, and his is the next year in line in "Identity Crisis." I won't spoil what happens, but its a neat arc.

Criticisms

While CSI is categorized in the science fiction genre, its immense popularity is seen as having influenced the public’s perceptions of the criminal justice process and real life crime scene investigators. Because of this, CSI has its share of criticisms.

Questionable science and technology

While the science and technology portrayed in the series is often accurate or mirrors sound scientific principle, there have been times when non-existing methods and technologies have been used. The show's official website on CBS details all the different kinds of evidence, tools, and procedures used by real-world investigators, however. Some of the futuristic methods and technologies are:

  1. Blue clay moulding: In one early episode, a victim was stabbed to death with a knife. In the medical lab, in order to reconstruct the murder weapon, a "blue clay" like moulding material was poured into the knife wound. It set and when removed, revealed a perfect reconstruction of the offending weapon. In reality, such a process would result in "blue clay" all through the body as knife wounds do not leave "perfect moulds" in the shape of the weapon.
  2. Image enhancement: Like many TV or crime-related movies, CSI falls foul of a standard fallacy regarding image enhancement. Often, a photo or still frame from a security camera will be frozen and "enhanced". In the lab they will zoom in on a certain aspect of the image and reveal previously unseen details. In one particular episode in the spin-off show CSI: NY, security camera footage of a woman was enhanced until they had her eye in all its detail on screen. A reflection on the eye was then further enhanced to reveal information which led them to a suspect (in this case, a basketball player).
  3. Sound isolation. Similar to the use of image enhancement, the CSI audio-visual lab is apparently able to take a single composite audio track and completely remove from it various foreground sounds, voices, music, etc., revealing extremely low-level background sounds with perfect rendition.
  4. Chemical and Technical Inconsistencies: For example, luminol/blood reactions are seen to occur in a matter of seconds, despite the reaction taking several hours in ambient conditions.

Instrumentation is also idealized, especially with regard to the time-frame actually required to achieve the given analysis.

  1. Instant DNA test: Similarly, DNA verification results are often shown to be obtained in a matter of minutes. In reality these tests can take weeks.
  2. Fancy Vehicles: While most CSI units drive normal police enforcement vehicles such as a Chevrolet Impala or Ford Crown Victoria, CSI has many fancier vehicles such as:

Jeep Grand Cherokee (Season 1, Episode 1) Chevrolet Tahoe (Season 1, Ep. 2 -2002) GMC Yukon Denali (2002 - Now) GMC Yukon Denali XL ("Grave Danger" - to present) Dodge Charger (Season Six)

The expository dialog in CSI often presents erroneous statements as scientific fact. For example, in the episode "Overload," the investigators claimed that an ungrounded appliance could not be protected by a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter; that a car would protect you in a lightning storm by virtue of the insulation provided by the rubber tires; and that the terminal velocity of a falling human is "9.8 meters per second squared (these are not even the right physical units for velocity)." (9.8 meters / second squared being the rate of acceleration due to the Earth's gravity, not the terminal velocity of a human - the point at which further acceleration is canceled by air resistance - which is approximately 120 mph requiring a fall of about 573 meters or 13-14 seconds of free-fall) All of these claims are wrong. (One, however, was corrected by Grissom)

"CSI effect" on real cases

There are concerns that such TV shows cause juries to have unrealistic expectations about forensic evidence presented in court. This has come to be known as the "CSI effect".

Another concern with CSI is not its factual flaws, but conversely, the raised awareness of forensic science — to the point of paranoia — that it encourages amongst criminals. FBI agents and police detectives have expressed distress that CSI is educating criminals in how to leave a "squeaky clean" crime scene. In shootings, shell casings are more frequently being removed from the scene of the crime; rapists and molesters wear condoms to prevent semen samples from being available; stabbings and other crimes often leave no fingerprints; and many criminals have found ways to be generally more stealthy at what they do.

The weakness of this argument is revealed when, to the contrary, the program sends criminals the message that no matter how much they try to cover up their crimes, forensic scientists can track them down. And unless the criminal is exceptionally intelligent, it will be next to impossible to clear away all the evidence. As Delko said on the February 6, 2006 episode of the Miami spinoff, "Criminals only clear away what they can see." Most criminals simply are not that smart. Other crime shows—"Diagnosis Murder", for instance—feature episodes in which doctors and police themselves use the access they have to information to commit crimes in ways that are difficult to detect. (Sherlock Holmes once said that "Doctors make the cleverest criminals" for that reason.)

Crime labs in some countries have also reported an increase in the number of submissions being made to them by police investigating crimes. As most labs are usually under a back-log of work, the increase adds to the time taken to process evidence.

Controversy

The show has often been criticized for showing what is believed to be gratuitious amounts of graphic violence, gruesome images and sexual content, more than what is normally acceptable on network television and the limits of the television rating for certain episodes. However, spokespeople for the show explained that the content is not meant to be gratuitious at all and that it is necessary and relevent to the plot of episodes. For example, if a woman is killed in a ritualistic fashion after consuming illegal drugs at an adults only nightclub, it would be necessary to show some of that content.

Style

Stylistically, the show has drawn favorable comparisons to Quincy and The X-Files. The show's characteristic gadgetry and occasional use of yet-to-be-invented technology has moved the show nominally into the genre of science fiction and garnered it with a 2004 Saturn Award nomination for best science fiction, fantasy, or horror television series.

The series is known for its unusual camera angles, percussive editing techniques, high-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. Many episodes feature lengthy scenes in which experiments, tests, or other technical work is portrayed in detail, usually with no sound except accompanying music—a technique reminiscent of Mission: Impossible. Often the lighting, composition, and mise-en-scene elements are heavily influenced by avant-garde film.

R1 DVD releases

DVD Name Release Date
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 1 March 25 2003
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 2 September 2 2003
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 3 March 30 2004
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 4 October 12 2004
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 5 November 29 2005

R2 DVD Releases

DVD Name Release Date
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 1 Part 1 July 1 2002
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 1 Part 2 October 7 2002
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Complete Season 1 December 8 2003
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 2 Part 1 June 8 2003
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 2 Part 2 October 6 2003
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Complete Season 2 March 15 2004
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 3 Part 1 April 5 2004
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 3 Part 2 July 5 2004
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Complete Season 3 July 26 2004
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Complete Seasons 1 - 3 August 23 2004
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 4 Part 1 May 9 2005
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 4 Part 2 July 11 2005
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 5 Part 1 April 24 2006
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 5 Part 2 June 26 2006
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Grave Danger - Tarantino Episodes October 10 2005

Broadcasters

Episode list

Main article: List of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episodes

Awards

Trivia

  • A alternate intro, or possibly a re-dub, video featuring Rammstein's song, Rosenrot can be found here [2]. The video is from episode,"A Bullet Runs Through It".
  • There is a CSI comicbook series produced by IDW publishers. The comicbooks feature two different art styles throughout with a conventional style for the bulk of the story and a darker and more abstract style for the investigators' imaginings of how the crimes occured based on the evidence they find.
  • CSI is the most watched American TV show in the Netherlands.
  • It was William Petersen's idea to have his character be named Grissom, as Petersen is a devoted fan of the US space program (in particular, astronaut Gus Grissom).
  • Six years before CSI premiered, Marg Helgenberger and Gary Dourdan starred together in a TV pilot called "Keys". The premise of that pilot was very similar to the current premise of CSI.
  • There were rumors of a fourth CSI series, to be set in London and using "Eminence Front" as its theme tune, but the show never materialized and there are not presently any plans for such a spinoff.
  • You often hear the characters referring to a four-nineteen (4-19,4/19, etc.) or sometimes a 4-45. These are the Las Vegas Metro 400 Event codes. The often-used 419 stands for 'deceased person,' while the less-used 445 is 'explosive device threat'. See External links for more examples.
  • CSI's theme song is "Who Are You", written by Pete Townshend of The Who as the title track of their 1978 album. The show's spinoffs also use 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.
    • However, the initial UK broadcast of the first season (on Channel Five) used an alternative track to "Who Are You". Since this no longer occurs, the reasoning behind it is still unclear, although it has been suggested that events surrounding Pete Townshend at the time may have led to the decision.
  • The show is also known to use Radiohead's music in many episodes; a total of four Radiohead songs appeared in the span of three episodes at the end of the show's third season.[3]
  • Anthony E. Zuiker chose to set the series in Las Vegas because that city's crime lab is the second most active in the United States, after the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia.
  • The show utilizes a wide array of tactical flashlights; the most often-used light is the Surefire M4 Devastator.
  • Episode 1.20: Sounds of Silence - At the end of the episode, Grissom talks to Dr. Gilbert in American Sign Language. What he is saying is that his mother lost her hearing when she was eight years old. He once asked her, 'what is it like to be deaf?' and she told Grissom, who loved to swim, that it was like being underwater. She also taught him that being deaf does not make one inferior and that deafness can be a blessing.
  • Episode 3.5: Abra Cadaver - This episode features a guest appearance by Tom Noonan. Noonan and series star William Petersen played villain and hero, respectively, in Manhunter.
  • Episode 3.15: Lady Heather's Box - In this episode, Lady Heather tells Grissom that she runs an own website for pornographic stuff. She tells that the site is called http://www.ladyheather.com. When you really go to that site, you will be redirected to the official CSI site.
  • Episode 202: Chaos Theory - This episode may have been at least partially inspired by Thornton Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey which contains at least similar themes and philosophy.
  • Episode 223: The Hunger Artist - Title (and plot somewhat) taken from a short story by Franz Kafka called A Hunger Artist.
  • Episode 406: Fur and Loathing - While many people comment that this episode is everything from "really weird" to "the funniest episode ever!" and "One of the best!!!!" [4], those in the furry fandom tend to feel that the episode, which involves the murder of a fursuiter caught in a tryst, lacks research and focuses mainly on the more sexual, yiffy aspects of the fandom, despite rumors that the producers had consulted a member of the furry community on the creation of the script; the original script was reported to have been far more degrading to the fandom than the actual script used.
  • Episode 419: Bad Words - One of the two cases in this episode involves the death of a champion word game player. The word game involved is Logos, a Scrabble-like game which uses circular tiles and no board. It also involves the word EXVINS, a plural of EXVIN, defined by the victim to his opponent (the suspect) as a "wine aficionado who no longer drinks." Both words are correctly regarded as phonies (fake words) as both the American and British Scrabble lexicons (Official Scrabble Players' Dictionary and Official Scrabble Words respectively) don't list them. Furthermore, Sara said to Gil that the word EXVINS is not even "in the OED."
  • Episode 508: Ch-Ch-Changes - The outlaw doctor who performs "benevolent" sex reassignment surgery goes by the name "Dr. Carl Benway." Dr. Benway is the name of "an amoral physician" in much of the writing of William S. Burroughs. "Ch-Ch-Changes" is a variation on the song "Changes" from the David Bowie album Hunky Dory. (The lyrics to "Changes" could be interpreted as Bowie's mediation on physical and emotional metamorphosis in a time of questioning one's true gender.)
  • Episode 524-525: Grave Danger: Vols. I & II- This season finale episode directed by Academy Award winner Quentin Tarantino has a very similar situation to a part of Tarantino's second Kill Bill film: CSI Nick Stokes is captured and buried alive in a Plexiglas coffin while an Internet camera broadcasts the whole thing to CSI headquarters. In Kill Bill Vol. 2, the Bride (Uma Thurman) was also buried alive in a coffin.
    • Also, this episode was postponed by Channel Five when it was due to be shown in the United Kingdom as it featured a suicide bomber. The episode was planned to be shown on 12th July 2005, just days after the London Bombings. However, the day it was planned to be shown, it was revealed suicide bombers committed the atrocities in London. Channel Five quickly pulled it from schedules and showed it the next week instead.
    • Tarantino has stated that this episode was heavily inspired by the 1972 made-for-tv movie The Longest Night where a woman is kidnapped and buried alive for ransom.
  • Over a dozen cast members from 24 have made guest appearances on the show.
  • Episode 615: Pirates of the Third Reich- At the end of the episode, Grissom says stop to Lady Heather. This redirects to episode 315, when Lady Heather says that Grissom could always say stop.
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