CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (commonly referred to as CSI or CSI: Las Vegas) is a popular, Emmy Award-winning CBStelevision series that trails the investigations of a team of Las Vegasforensic scientists as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths and crimes committed. The show has spurred two spinoffs with each enjoying their own success. The first spin-off, which debuted in September 2002, is set in Miami (CSI: Miami) and the show's second is set in New York City (CSI: NY). CSI is produced in partnership with the Canadian media company Alliance Atlantis.
Contents
1Series premise
2Style
3Cast
3.1Main cast
3.2Supporting cast
4Characters
4.1Main characters
5Episode list
6U.S. television ratings
7Audience response
8Criticism
9Trivia
10Soundtrack
11Awards
12DVD releases
12.1Region 1 DVD releases
12.2Region 2/4 DVD releases
13Online sales
14Broadcast details
15See also
16References
17External links
Series premise
The show follows the cases of the Crime Scene Investigation division of the Las Vegas Police Department, usually referred to by officers as the "Las Vegas Crime Lab." Anthony E. Zuiker chose to set the series in Las Vegas because—as mentioned in the pilot episode—that city's crime lab is the second most active in the United States, after the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia.[1] The division solves crimes almost entirely through the means of forensics evidence, which may or may not come to the conclusion of a murder or accidental death. Keeping in theme with the setting, investigations often lead to taboo subjects, such as sexual deviations. The bizarre conclusions of these cases often force one to question morals and beliefs and possibly human nature in general.
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 2004Saturn Award nomination for best science fiction, fantasy, or horror television series.
The series is known for its unusual camera angles, percussive editing techniques, hi-tech gadgets, detailed technical discussion, and graphic portrayal of bullettrajectories, 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.
Although violence plays an important role in the series, in terms of the investigators' actual conduct, the series is actually less violent than its immediate spin-off, CSI: Miami in that the Las Vegas investigators rarely use deadly force. In fact, at least one member of the crime lab has expressed distaste for carrying a firearm (Gil Grissom), and at least two others are hinted at as having barely passable firearms expertise (Warrick Brown and Nick Stokes).
Although most episodes cover the solving of two (usually unrelated) cases, a few episodes focus on a single case. In general, the crime is solved, but in some cases, they fail (which makes the story more realistic).
Las Vegas CSI Head Investigator 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. Grissom was born August 171956 (Season 2 Ep. 13 - "Identity Crisis"). He is very methodical and scientific, as well as having a congenital medical condition (inherited from his mother), which threatened to take away his hearing until he had it corrected by surgery.
Las Vegas CSI Level 3 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. In order to pay for her studies, she first took a job as a cocktail waitress, until finding the job of an exotic dancer as a more lucrative position. In the finale of season 3, Catherine finds out that her father is Sam Braun, a very rich casino owner in the city who has been a family friend for as long as she can remember. She has one daughter (Lindsey) and is a single mother. Following the split up of the team in season five, she became supervisor of the new swing shift team. Following the reunion of the night shift team in Season 6, she returns to her previous position as Grissom's right (and left) arm.
Las Vegas CSI Level 3 Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan): A Las Vegas native and a chemistry major from UNLV, Brown is an audio/visual analyst. Warrick also is a recovering gambling addict which is hindered by the fact he works in Las Vegas. He didn't use any therapy to get over that addiction: it is Grissom's friendship and support that has helped him the most. It is said in one episode that he has a barely passable expertise with firearms.
Las Vegas CSI Level 3 Nicholas "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 University, Stokes is a hair and fiber analyst from Dallas, Texas. Stokes tends to "empathize instead of sympathize" with the victims, which has drawn several rebukes from others. As Warrick, he has said that he isn't that good with a firearm.
Las Vegas CSI Level 3 Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox): A materials and element analyst. A physics major at Harvard University, Sidle previously worked for the San Franciscocoroner and crime lab. She is completely devoted to her job and will go to almost any lengths to make sure justice is served, for both the victims and the criminals. Her alcoholic father beat her mother (Laura) until Sara's mother snapped and stabbed him to death; as a result Sara has difficulties with dealing with abuse cases against women and children in her job. Following her father's death and her mother's subsequent institutionalization, she was placed into foster care.
LVMPD Homicide Detective Captain James "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 second episode. He was originally from New Jersey. He continues to work with CSI despite problems in Season Two with his daughter. He's now Captain in the homicide division and works closely with the CSI team. He is very often the one that leads questionings, and his sarcastic attitude makes these questionings darkly humorous, keeping in step with the show's feel.
Las Vegas CSI Level 1 Gregory 'Greg' Sanders (Eric Szmanda): The newest field worker on the CSI team since the season 5 episode "Who Shot Sherlock". He idolizes Grissom, once had a crush on Sara Sidle (a crush that he might not have totally lost), and is known for his "wacky" behavior. He is also known for being naive about forensics field work despite an encyclopaedic knowledge of DNA and Trace Analysis. Greg, a very intelligent child prodigy, grew into a man with an unconventional look and funny attitude. He is known to listen to heavy metal music such as Marilyn Manson while working, supposedly to help his concentration. Despite his rebellious image, he didn't challenge Sara's assertion that he was a virgin upon entering university.
Las Vegas Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Albert 'Al' Robbins (Robert David Hall): The head county coroner. Married with three children, he is often the only one who understands Grissom, and vice versa. They are close friends. 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.
Las Vegas CSI Level 3 Detective Sofia Curtis (Louise Lombard): A CSI who became part of Gil's team after the mid-season 5 split, courtesy of Ecklie. 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 became a main character in season seven. When considering a case or crime scene, she thinks out loud, noting what she is thinking and seeing. On her first appearance, she explained to Grissom that it was the best way for her to concentrate, to notice, to understand, and to remember everything.
There are 23 episodes each in seasons one to four. There are 25 episodes in season five and 24 in season six. The seventh season has started airing in the United States, Canada and in the United Kingdom. The current number of aired episodes to date is 159.
U.S. television ratings
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation on CBS.
Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, along with CBS's hit franchise Survivor, was instrumental in CBS instantly becoming a major competitor on Thursday nights, as well as becoming the most-watched network on U.S. television. It was announced on December 19, 2000 that CBS was going to move CSI (from Fridays) and Survivor (from Wednesdays) to Thursday nights starting in February 2001 to challenge NBC's long-standing and popular Must See TV lineup, which included the hit shows, Friends and Will & Grace. As a result, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was the most-watched program on television for the 2002-2003 TV season[8] and has been in the top 3 of the most-watched TV programs every season since the 2001-2002 TV season.
The 2004-2005 season finale, directed by Quentin Tarantino and entitled Grave Danger, was watched by over 40 million viewers on May 19, 2005.
Criticism
CSI has often been criticized for the level and gratuitousness of graphic violence, images and sexual content. The CSI series (along with its spinoff shows) have pushed the boundary of what is considered acceptable viewing for primetime network television.[9] The series had numerous episodes on sexual fetishism and other forms of sexual pleasure.
Another criticism of the show is the depiction of police procedure, which is decidedly lacking in realism.[10] For instance, the show's characters not only investigate crime scenes (as their real-world counterparts would), but they also solve cases, which falls under the responsibility of detectives, not CSI personnel.
Police and District Attorneys in particular dislike the show as it gives members of the public an inaccurate perception of how police solve crimes. 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.[11] For more information, see the article CSI Effect.
The LGBT community has criticized the show for its negative representation of LGBT characters. However, this claim is not very well supported, as nearly all non-regular characters on CSI are criminals, and therefore portrayed in a negative manner.[12]
Trivia
There are several James Bond references. This includes the name of one of the writers, Sarah Goldfiner (Goldfinger was the name of a James Bond villain), Grissom is revealed to have read the James Bond novels, one murder was committed with a Walther PPK which was a gun Bond was famous for, and when one murder is committed, you see the victim through a gunbarrel, similar to the James Bond gunbarrel sequence except the gun fired and killed the person it was looking at.
The show is known to also 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.[14]
Another frequently used musical artist is Marilyn Manson, who is also friends with CSI actor Eric Szmanda. Szmanda appeared in the video for Manson's song "sAINT".
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 special features split up) before finally being sold as a single box set. After being almost 12 months behind the region 2 releases for a while now, the region 4 releases are speeding up, with distributors foregoing the usual release pattern of "Part 1, Part 2, Complete Series" for season 5 and simply releasing it as a complete box set.
