CSI, CSI Miami, CSI NY Emmy FYC Ads

Here are the Emmy “for your consideration” ads for CSI, CSI Miami, and CSI NY that appeared in the current issue of Emmy Magazine (Issue No. 3, 2011).

Check out my blog home page for the latest information, at I Like To Watch TV

Follow “I Like to Watch TV” on Twitter and
also keep up with “I Like to Watch TV” via Facebook
I Like to Watch TV is also on Tumblr

CBS Fall 2011 Promo Tease

Here’s a promo for CBS’ fall 2011 lineup – and one that was clearly done before it was announced that Laurence Fishburne was leaving CSI!


Please note: I am sorry, but this video is no longer available.




Check out my blog home page for the latest information, at I Like To Watch TV

Follow “I Like to Watch TV” on Twitter and
also keep up with “I Like to Watch TV” via Facebook
I Like to Watch TV is also on Tumblr

CBS 2011-2012 Fall Schedule: Moving Day for CSI

Fall 2011 will mean moving day for one of CBS’ longest and strongest dramas: CSI will be airing on Wednesday at 10 PM ET. Here’s the new CBS schedule; all new shows and other changes have been noted, all times Eastern.

CBS TELEVISION NETWORK
2011-2012 PRIME TIME SCHEDULE

MONDAY
8:00-8:30 PM HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
8:30-9:00 PM 2 BROKE GIRLS (New)
9:00-9:30 PM TWO AND A HALF MEN
9:30-10:00 PM MIKE & MOLLY
10:00-11:00 PM HAWAII FIVE-0

TUESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM NCIS
9:00-10:00 PM, NCIS: LOS ANGELES
10:00-11:00 PM UNFORGETTABLE (New)

WEDNESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM SURVIVOR: SOUTH PACIFIC
9:00-10:00 PM CRIMINAL MINDS
10:00-11:00 PM CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION (New day and time)

THURSDAY
8:00-8:30 PM THE BIG BANG THEORY
8:30-9:00 PM HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN (New)
9:00-10:00 PM PERSON OF INTEREST (New)
10:00-11:00 PM THE MENTALIST

FRIDAY
8:00-9:00 PM A GIFTED MAN (New)
9:00-10:00 PM CSI: NY
10:00-11:00 PM BLUE BLOODS

SATURDAY
8:00-8:30 PM RULES OF ENGAGEMENT (New time)
8:30-9:00 PM COMEDYTIME SATURDAY
9:00-10:00 PM CRIMETIME SATURDAY
10:00-11:00 PM 48 HOURS MYSTERY

SUNDAY
7:00-8:00 PM 60 MINUTES
8:00-9:00 PM THE AMAZING RACE
9:00-10:00 PM THE GOOD WIFE (NT)
10:00-11:00 PM CSI: MIAMI




Check out my blog home page for the latest information, at I Like To Watch TV

Follow “I Like to Watch TV” on Twitter and
also keep up with “I Like to Watch TV” via Facebook

The CSI Franchise: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

All Photos CBS

I haven’t had too much time lately to be able to recap or review any of the CSI franchise shows, but I still watch all of them faithfully. Over the last few years, however, I found that my opinions of the respective shows – CSI (Las Vegas), CSI NY, and CSI Miami – have changed. The differences between the three series became most obvious for me with last week’s “trilogy” of episodes that crossed over the cities of Miami, New York, and Las Vegas. While the word “crossover” was used to describe this TV event, it really served as just a way to feature the newer kid on the CSI block, Laurence Fishburne. Many fans complained that they felt mislead about the trilogy, and I was disappointed that Fishburne was the only one to cross over. I do understand that crossovers can get expensive due to the actors’ salaries, so I guess I can’t fault CBS for trying to create a TV event without spending a fortune.

Here are my opinions on the shows of the CSI franchise, classified as the good, the bad, and the ugly.



The Good: I find myself now looking forward to episodes of CSI NY for many reasons. The cast has grown on me. With complex story lines for some of the key characters, I find myself becoming more interested in what happens to them. For example, Detective Danny Messer (Carmine Giovinazzo), after becoming paralyzed when shot in a drive by shooting, fought his way back to regain his ability to walk and is now walking without assistance. Detective Don Flack (Eddie Cahill), still reeling over the shooting death of Detective Jessica Angell (Emmanuelle Vaugier), drowns himself in drinking and bad behavior. In last night’s episode, “Cuckoo’s Nest” Flack gets mugged in the subway, and coupled with some tough love by Detective Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise), Flack decides to clean up his act. And while I’m on the subject of “Cuckoo’s Nest,” I should note that CSI NY is probably the best in the franchise in creating story lines that can span multiple episodes, as this one, which involved the second appearance of the “compass killer.”

CSI NY also does an excellent job of showcasing the city of New York, with frequent shots of the skyline and key landmarks. Again, last night’s “Cuckoo’s Nest” had some great scenes with the skyline as a backdrop The shots of the Unisphere at night with the fountains running full blast was also visually enjoyable.

CSI NY, which used to be the series that I had a hard time enjoying, has now become my favorite of the three


The Bad: CSI, once the king of all CSIs, has become a shadow of its former self, after loosing many of the key members of the cast – William Petersen, Jorja Fox, and Gary Dourdan. Unlike the Law & Order franchise, which is accustomed to a revolving door of actors, CSI’s success can be attributed in part to the stability of the cast. With so many cast changes over what seemed like a short period, the show seemed to be rattled a bit. The addition of Laurence Fishburne last season made the show a little more interesting for a while, but the show also seemed to become very dreary and gloomy with its story lines at the same time. The lighting also seems very dark and heavy, making the show feel almost depressing to watch. Sure, murder is never a happy subject, but it seems that the show spends too much time making everything look so heavy and oppressive that I can’t even enjoy the mystery of the crime itself. Fishburne is a fine addition to the show, but after the novelty of his character going through the ropes of becoming a CSI, he needs a new “hook” to keep fans intrigued.

I may be too harsh in calling the show “bad”, but I can’t say that it is good anymore, or that I enjoy watching it like I used to.


The Ugly: OK, you knew CSI Miami would be at the bottom of my list, didn’t you? It’s bad enough that we have to contend with the wooden yet scenery-chewing acting of David Caruso. But with the departure of Adam Rodriguez, a few more actors have been thrown in to the mix, and they are not necessarily adding much to the show. Eddie Cibrian was introduced to the series in a flashback when his character Jesse Cardoza was with the CSI Miami team before they got all glitzy and orange. Cibrian’s acting is as wooden as Caruso’s, and I suppose that they were hoping that with Cibrian’s good looks that no one would notice. (I did.) They’ve also added another CSI Walter Simmons (Omar Miller) who is hard to miss because he is so tall. He is also hard to miss because he is always spouting off every little detail about what he sees and what he knows, not only annoying his colleagues, but me as well. Calleigh Duquesne (Emily Proctor) is also getting very tiresome, with her sanctimonious attitude and her stiff, board-like posture, she is just plain grating.

The story lines are overly simplistic, the crimes so filled with ridiculous events and scenarios, the dialog so awful, and the acting so bad, that the show has become well known as the highest rated cheese-fest on television. (Don’t mistake this for meaning it is the highest rated TV show, I'm only talking cheese-fests.) The fact that they continue to over-saturate the colors – especially the orange Velveeta glow of Miami which makes it looks like the city is constantly on fire or worse yet, in a giant fondue – doesn’t help matters any. CSI Miami is so bad you almost HAVE to watch. And yes, I still do, but for the life of me I have no idea why. I could be an illness. Or maybe it’s because I don’t watch sitcoms and I need some comedy in my life? Regardless of my reasons, the show is virtually unwatchable at times, and if I missed an episode I wouldn’t be crying over it.


Don’t get me wrong, the CSI franchise is still good television, just some of it is better than others. And I am sure there are many out there who don’t agree with my assessment of each show. But the fact that CSI NY has only improved with age and grown on me may mean that CSI can recover from all the cast changes and be back on the top of my list. But CSI Miami? Sorry, I don’t see any hope that show will every make it out of the bottom for me.


All Text Content (Recaps, Review, Commentary) © iliketowatchtv.blogspot.com unless otherwise noted

Check out my blog home page for the latest information, at I Like To Watch TV, here.

CSI “A Space Oddity” Goes Where No CSI Has Gone Before

All Photos from CBS

In this light and entertaining episode of CSI (CBS) “A Space Oddity” the show pokes fun at the sci-fi genre and its fans. It seems to take the old Star Trek culture and throws in a bit of the “new” Battlestar Galactica’s as well – including quick cameos by BSG star Grace Park, who is seen in the crowd right before (new) Battlestar Galactica’s producer Ron Moore yells, “You suck!”

But let’s start from the beginning. There is a sci-fi convention going on, it’s the 4th annual WhatifitCon, and Hodges (Wallace Langham) is there. He’s watching a scene from the old (fictional) sci-fi show “Astro Quest” and haggling with a dealer on buying the original “space force micro probe” that was used by Commander Artemus Bishop on the show. He buys it, and then runs into his work colleague Wendy (Liz Vassey) who is dressed as “Yeoman Malloy”. She proceeds to comment, “You have a micro probe” a comment that most men would get offended by if they weren’t really holding a sci-fi micro probe in their hands. But things get dicey when someone finds a dead body at the convention – it’s Jonathan Danson (Reg Rogers), who is working on a remake of Astro Quest – a “redux” of the show. Hodges places a call to Captain Brass (Paul Guilfoyle) - and when Brass doesn’t seem to know who he is, Hodges has to tell him he’s from Trace. When Hodges tells him where he’s at, Brass asks him where he got his number. When Hodges tells him they have a situation, and Brass asks him to be more specific, Hodges tells him, giving a the classic "Dr. McCoy" Star Trek line – “He’s dead, Jim.”

When the CSIs come to investigate the scene, Nick (George Eads) tells Hodges and Wendy to beam themselves back to the lab to get them out of their way. While Nick and Riley (Lauren Lee Smith) work the scene, Brass speaks with Melinda Carver (Jaime Ray Newman) who has been putting up the money for the Danson’s project. Brass wonders if that was a motive for Carver to kill Danson.

While everyone is working on the case, Hodges is busy fantasizing about Wendy, placing them both – in his mind – in various scenes from the show. Very, very funny stuff, and right on target as far as the mimicry of the original Star Trek series.

Later. the lab support team, along with Greg Sanders (Eric Szmanda), are back at the lab, watching a video taken from the night before. It showed Jonathan Danson talking about the Astro Quest Redux that he was working on, which is grittier and darker. In fact, it was a great – and funny – parody of the newer version of Battlestar Galactica. This is where Grace Park and Ron Moore are spotted, and I think I may have even caught a fleeting glimpse of Rekha Sharma, who played Tory on the new BSG. It seems that Danson couldn’t measure up, in his mind, to the original mythology of the show because those people were “fictional constructs”. He decided to go into this new darker direction, and when he shows a clip of his vision of the new show to the audience, we get a rather visceral reaction from the crowd, and Ron Moore yells out “You suck!” I am sure that Rom Moore heard words just like that when he did his own remake and vision of Battlestar Galactica.

Despite the fact that the team finds evidence that Danson used the convention set as a place to have a “whole lot of geek love on the command chair” (as Nick said), it seems that Danson’s escapades aren't what got him killed. It was his vision of Astro Quest Redux that did it, and by none other than Dr. Penelope Russell (Kate Vernon). Russell said Danson stole his entire idea from her. By the way, Kate Vernon had a prominent role on this last season of Battlestar Galactica as well, playing Ellen Tighe (who turned out to be a cylon!).

Sorry. I digressed for just a moment into sci-fi nerdery.

The whole case served as the perfect backdrop for the show to have some fun as it parodied the genre and Star Trek, both in Hodges’ fantasies, and in some of the lines delivered by the cast. For example, when Brass enters the upstairs sci-fi playroom of two sci-fi geeks much to their surprise, he states dryly, “Red alert.” And when “Super” Dave (David Berman) is asked by Doc Robbins (Robert David Hall) to finish stitching up the body, David says, “I’m not a seamstress. I’m a coroner’s investigator, dammit!” Unless you have been living under a rock for the last 40 years, most viewers should be able to pick up on all the references to Star Trek.

Staying somewhat in the background this episode was Dr. Raymond Langston (Laurence Fishburne) and Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger). This was fine with me, because the show needed some lightening up a bit, and Marg is looking a little too scary lately. There was one scene she was in where her face looked a little alien to me. I think it’s time for a new look for Marg.

It’s the inner struggle of the geekish Hodges, who has normal desires where it comes to Wendy, that is the real point of interest in this episode. But, he’s hampered by rules covering relationships at work, plus his own inability to express his true feelings. Using the normal geekery of sci-fi as a backdrop couldn’t have been more perfect for the both of them as they navigate a possible step forward in their relationship.

CSI “A Space Oddity” was highly enjoyable. I think the show excels when they get away from the dark, seedy side of their murder cases. Death is never funny, but in this case, I think it’s OK to make an exception.




All Text Content (Recaps, Review, Commentary) © iliketowatchtv.blogspot.com unless otherwise noted


Check out my blog home page for the latest information, at I Like To Watch TV, here.

CSI “Mascara” Bad For The Eyes

Photo CBS

The 200th episode of CSI, “Mascara” was an odd episode that was actually a chore to watch. The show seemed to make a point of noting it was the 200th episode, but then only features the long-time cast members for only very short scenes. It was, however, directed by William Friedkin, who also directed “The French Connection.”

It seems that a woman that was once a student of Dr. Raymond Langston (Laurence Fishburne) was found murdered. She had been working on her thesis, and it seems while doing the research, she appears to have stumbled on a serial killer. Since Langston knew her, he decides to work the case.

The problem is that the victim never became interesting. And Fishburne’s handling of the case was somewhat lifeless and plodding. It didn’t help any that the suspects involved a bunch of masked wrestlers, and there was too much time spent on wrestling scenes. There was one mysterious section where one of the wrestlers, who was in a tanning booth, is shot and killed by the woman’s murderer as the wrestler exited the tanning booth. As they both struggle, the wrestler who was shot seems to incapacitate the shooter in a choke hold, but then the shooter picks up the gun and shoots the other guy dead. And then…nothing. It was like that this killing had never happened, because they seemed to cut to the killer’s arrest for the murder of Langston's friend and that particular shooting was never mentioned again.

Langston also had a completely out of character meltdown - at least out of character for what we know of him. He breaks a few windows in his anger over the woman's murder and the murderer himself. Is this part of a plan to give Langston a dark, unpredictable side, and make us wonder if he really is the controlled, stable man he appears to be? It’s a shame that that he had such a meltdown over a character that viewers may not have cared about, in an episode that was so forgettable.

On a side note, Fishburne is starting to look pregnant, and Helgenberger looks even more skeletal. They need to swap diets for a while.

My opinion that this 200th episode of CSI was a dud and it was a shame that the episode didn’t better honor the veteran cast members of the show that the fans have come to appreciate all these years. As for me, I’m getting out the makeup remover to clean “Mascara” out of my mind.

All Text Content (Recaps, Review, Commentary) © iliketowatchtv.blogspot.com unless otherwise noted

Check out my blog home page for the latest information, at I Like To Watch TV, here.

CSI “No Way Out” A Rare Dud

All Photos CBS
This week’s episode of CSI was somewhat of a rarity. It was a resounding dud, a complete 180-degree change from the previous week’s interesting Nick Stokes (George Eads) feature titled “Turn Turn Turn .”

“No Way Out” involves a case that later puts CSIs Dr. Raymond Langston (Laurence Fishburne) and Riley Adams (Lauren Lee Smith) in a hostage situation. On the surface, it sounds interesting, but I actually found myself becoming very confused about mid-way into the episode, and eventually fell asleep while watching it. (Good thing I set the DVR to record the show anyway).

There were several problems with the episode. I knew it was off to a bad start when we see a group of CSI entering, with guns drawn, what looks like a darkened warehouse and possible crime scene. I found myself wondering why CSIs would be entering a building in this manner, since it seemed as if it would be unlikely they would be entering a scene that had not been previously secured by police. My suspicions turned out to be correct when it was revealed this was just a training session. We learned that in this training session that they can call each other by the wrong names as code to tell them something is wrong. Right off the bat, I felt like I had just been robbed of five minutes.

They are then called to a real crime scene where a fight had broken out and a person from the neighborhood crime watch was shot and killed, along with a young boy who was likely shot by an errant bullet. And this is when I started to really lose the show. At one point, there were almost too many people involved in solving this crime that I couldn’t keep track of who they were pursuing. At one point, the entire CSI crew is looking over a giant enlarged photograph of the neighborhood where the crime occurred, and I asked myself, why would anyone spend the money to make a picture like that when the could have just blown up a digital image on a large monitor? It didn’t make sense to make such a large print. Then the dialog begins between them, which seemed to have been written in a manner that gave everyone a line or two. The problem is that all of this dialog was delivered with the excitement of a grade school student being forced to read lines of a play from a textbook to the whole class. It was stiff and lifeless, not to mention that it confused me as to who or what they were targeting in their investigation.

Then comes the even more ludicrous part. When Riley and Langston go back to a house to investigate, they stumble upon a ringing phone, which is coming from behind a closet wall. Langston finds a panel that he opens, exposing a doorway to a darkened basement. Rather than turn on a light, they use flashlights, with Riley, who is allowed to carry a gun, going down the steps first. When they see chemicals all over the place, they make what I think was a CSI blunder – they keep entering the basement and continue looking around. Shouldn’t their first call have been for backup and for Hazmat? I guess not. Even worse, Riley says later that Hazmat wants them to check it out first and tell them what is down there before they come in. Excuse me, but wouldn’t it make more sense for Hazmat to enter and area and make that determination – along with the proper protections and precautions – and determine how to handle it? It seemed very backwards to me. Of course, things go badly when Langston sees blood on the floor, and whispers for Riley to get out, as it seems there may be another hidden room. Instead of saying nothing and just pulling her out, he had to even whisper that he found blood, which seems to draw out a kid with a gun behind another fake wall, with a second kid injured in the room. (Lots of fake walls in drug houses, I guess.)

As Riley and Langston are held hostage, they convince their captor to let them work on the injured kid. Had it not been for Fishburne’s acting skills, the episode would have been a total loss. Smith’s overly stiff acting just sucked all the life out of what should have been an even more dramatic scene. The training session came in handy for Riley who called Sanders by her name in order to tip him off there was a problem at the scene. (I still felt like I lost five minutes from that training scene.) At the end, when everyone is saved – which was a foregone conclusion – they all stand outside and Catherine (Marg Helgenberger) gives Langston a big hug, making me wonder why she didn’t also hug Riley, since Riley actually helped to save the day too.

Speaking of Marg Helgenberger, I am finding her to be looking scarier by the week. I hate to hone in on someone’s appearance, but she is looking too gaunt and her face is mask-like. Her hair is so straightened that it seems pasted to her head, and she is actually starting to look worn out. I think she needs to gain a few pounds and do something about adding some life to that hair to help brighten her face. OK, my shallow comments on that subject are over.

Fishburne adds an exciting air to the show, and brings a spark to every scene he is in, despite the fact that his character is low key by nature. Sadly, there are supporting players on the cast that are beginning to drag the show down - Eric Szmanda and Lauren Lee Smith are the two that first come to mind, but Helgenberger is also finding herself on the list of becoming tiresome. Maybe “No Way Out’ was an aberration and we can only hope that “no way” will it happen again.



All Text Content (Recaps, Review, Commentary) © iliketowatchtv.blogspot.com unless otherwise noted

Check out my blog home page for the latest information, at I Like To Watch TV, here.

CSI "The Grave Shift”: Fishburne ‘s Perfect Performance

In this episode of CSI, ‘The Grave Shift”, Dr. Raymond Langston (Laurence Fishburne) has his first day on the job. And what a first day it was, starting off with a burglary and then adding in an apparent arson including a homicide.

Both cases were interesting. But what made the show even more interesting was watching Langston come to the realization of what kind of world his just entered. It’s a world where he seems to be told he’s not to care about the people involved in the case, just the evidence. He seems to find this hard to deal with, and when he makes his last attempt to help a young man whose mother was involved in a robbery, he gets thanked for his concern with a spit in the face.

I have to admit that while I was never much of a fan of Fishburne that I thought he nailed his performance. It was as if you were actually the mind of Dr. Langston, thinking about trying to do what he thought was right, yet finding that not everyone can, or should be helped. It was also interesting to watch him as he came to a crime scene thinking he was prepared, and finding in some cases he was over prepared, and in others, under prepared. Watching him at the end of the episode practicing dusting fingerprints showed that despite the way his day went, he was resolved to get better in his job. And maybe that spit in the face was a wakeup call he needed to make him fully understand the world of crime and forensics, and his role in it. I suspect that we will also see him wearing different attire in future episodes, seeing that his tie was cut off because he got “evidence” on it, and his nice shoes seemed ruined from walking in the burned out home.

In what I though was a direct slap to CSI Miami – and it made me laugh – was when one of the other CSIs Riley Adams (Lauren Lee Smith) tells Langston that they are not social workers. As regular viewers of CSI Miami know, Horatio Caine (David Caruso) is always sticking his nose in other people’s business, especially when there are kids involved. CSI in Las Vegas doesn’t have the desire to go there, at least not often, thankfully.

In also a reference to Gil’s departure, Conrad Ecklie (Marc Vann) tells Catherine (Marg Helgenberger) that he doesn’t want to turn Grissom’s office into a shrine. Catherine doesn’t seem to want to move in to the office, so she gives the office to Nick (George Eads). Nick does a nice thing by sharing the wealth with his co-workers, allowing some of them to move in there with him.

Of course we were treated to the normal bitchery of Hodges (Wallace Langham) who seems to be a little threatened by Langston and gives him a hard time just because he can. But even Hodges seems to be won over. When Langston asks him a question Hodges says he didn’t know the answer, Langston remarks that this isn’t Hodges' reputation. This seems to bring a smile to Hodges' face. Later, when Langston realizes the detonator for the explosion in the house was a cornmeal timer, and Langston creates an explosion by making his own cornmeal timer, Hodges looks at Langston as if he was in love.

All in all, a great start for Fishburne. In this one episode, I think they have established what kind of person that Langston will be. While he seems to be a bit of a perfectionist in what he does, he may be a little naïve in what he faces in his new job. I am sure there are more challenges to come. But for his first outing as a CSI Level One, I thought Fishburne was just perfect. I think that CSI will continue to do very well in the ratings and may even draw in new fans with Fishburne on the team. And, like Hodges, I found myself loving the character at the end of the show. I can’t wait to learn more about him, and I think it will be an interesting experience for viewers!


All Text Content (Recaps, Review, Commentary) © iliketowatchtv.blogspot.com unless otherwise noted


Check out my blog home page for the latest information, here.

CSI “One To Go” : Grissom Departs, Goes To Grissom Heaven

All Images From CBS

The departure of Gil Grissom – and William Petersen – from the forefront of the CSI series has finally come. While this episode of CSI (CBS), “One to Go” was dark and depressing, Gil isn’t really sad, though. He'll be on to better things. His colleagues are thankful of the support that Gil has given them over the years, but in the end they know they have to let him go. At the end of the show, the sad picture of Gil Grissom walking with his back to the audience is replaced by images of Gil as he arrives in what is probably his own personal heaven - lots of nature, lots of bugs, and Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox).

But the case in this episode wasn’t all that great. I am not a big fan of serial killer storylines, which seems to glamorize and stylize murder in such a horrid way. This episode is a continuation of the episode “19 Down” where the CSI team work on the resurgence of murders seemingly at the hand of the Dick & Jane killer. Grissom brings in a college professor, Dr. Raymond Langston (Laurence Fishburne), in on the case as a consultant, which makes Langston happy because he feels his serial killer lecture helped to enable more murders at the hands of a possible accomplice. Later, when the case is over, Grissom offers Langston a job, which we all know he will take seeing that Fishburne’s addition to the cast was so well publicized. I think Fishburne will do a fine job and hopefully bring a new spark to the show.

My opinion is that no one cared about this case anyway, at least not the viewers. Everyone wanted to see how the team was dealing with Gil’s departure. Some people got their chance for goodbyes in “19 Down” and the rest of the gang was able to finish in “One to Go.” It was touching to see Gil and Nick (George Eads) say their farewells, and hysterical to watch Hodges (Wallace Langham) pontificate, Grissom rolling his eyes.

One thing that has been bugging me with the series as late is that it seems that every time they are in the lab or when Capt. Brass (Paul Guilfoyle) is in interrogation, everything looks so blue. It reminds me of when I was a kid and we used to look through the glass bottles of “Halo” shampoo, which was a blue color. It would always make everything look so cold. Maybe they are purposely going for a cold, sterile look by putting what looks like a blue filter on these shots, but it is hard on my eyes and it just looks too darn depressing.

But it brought a tear to my eye watching Gil walk away, but even more so to see him enter a jungled rain forest area in Costa Rica, filled with plants and of course lots of bugs. You could almost feel the delight Gil would be feeling as the camera turns its lens to a bug sitting on a large leaf. And while I am not a Gil/Sara “shipper”, I think it was a nice touch to have them be with each other at the end, both of them probably feeling a kind of joy that had been missing for a good part of their recent lives. It was a fitting farewell to a character that spent so much time analyzing the seedy, ugly side of people’s lives to be rewarded with a happy ending, and hopefully, a much happier life.



Check out my blog home page for the latest information, here.

CSI “19 Down”, One to Go?

It’s unusual for a CSI episode to end with the words “To Be Continued”, but Thursday’s episode “19 Down” did just that. It seems that a serial killer is somehow back to work again…even though he’s been in jail. It’s suspected there has been an accomplice involved all along.

But the real news in the episode was Gil Grissom (William Petersen) telling his group that he was leaving, and the show introducing university professor Dr. Raymond Langston, played by Laurence Fishburne. What was interesting in the episode was the reaction of Gil’s colleagues to his leaving. Catherine (Marg Helgenberger) said she knew it even before Gil did, Hodges (Wallace Langham) was clearly hurt and a little bent out of shape that he heard of Grissom’s leaving via the grapevine, and Gil’s comments to "Super” Dave (David Berman) seemed to really tear at Dave’s heart and made me a little teary eyed myself. It’s going to be a sad day when William Petersen leaves the show, but since many viewers have already prepared themselves for it, it shouldn’t be too traumatic.

The real test for the show will be how Fishburne’s character will be integrated into the team. I’ve said before that I have never been a big fan of Fishburne and I was underwhlemed when I heard he was joining the cast. But I have to admit that his limited appearance in “19 Down” was just enough to pique my interest. With only this brief exposure to go on, he seems like a very intense character, much more so than the introspective Grissom. Maybe this will turn out to be a good match for the show.

What displeases me more is that CSI seems to be taking a very dark turn with its stories as of late. This episode made me even more disappointed in the direction the show is taking. Sure, CSIs must deal with all kinds of crime, many not so pretty in nature. But it seems like serial killers must be everywhere if we look at the world from the eyes of CSI. We just seemed to get over the miniature killer and now we have a new nutball to worry about. Are serial killers the only way that this show can sustain a continuing story line? Another problem with serial killers in CSI and other shows is that they always seem to be portrayed as evil geniuses that seem to plot and scheme their murders as if they are artwork. It seems to glorify who I see as really sick, sick people. Thinking of real serial killers we’ve seen over the years, none of them seemed particularly bright to me, just crazy. Sure, last night’s serial killer did come off as being a sicko, but the fact that he actually got a chance to be interviewed for a college lecture seems to give him the fame and importance he wanted. Why reward someone like that with all that attention?

What was also odd was letting this serial killer actual see his audience, especially if there is a chance that he does have an accomplice out there. Granted, Gil didn’t tell Dr. Langston that he had suspicions the killer had a partner, but still, why even give the killer a chance to target someone else in some other manner? Funny was the ditzy blond who was told to put on a sweater to cover her cleavage and arms, yet she still let her cleavage clearly visible. What part of cover up didn’t she understand? Also, the professor should have covered the attire long before anyone came to that lecture.

One thing that was a true amusement to me was Gil deciding to throw away his crossword puzzle with one word left blank – which I assume is where they got the title for the episode “19 Down”. It seemed that Gil was ready to put aside his structured job as head of the CSI team, where he had to make sure every I was dotted, every T was crossed, and every blank filled in. Sure, he probably had the answer in his head, but he didn’t feel the need to finish it off and actually write it in. He had already mentally moved on. But what was the missing word? Take a look, and see if you can figure it out. Does the missing word mean anything, or is it just a tease to make fans crazy? The second half of this two-part show is titled “One to Go” which may speak to Gil's going, so maybe we need to see the whole story before we decide.



Check out my blog home page for the latest information, here.

CSI: "Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda" Didn’t Work

Last night’s episode of CSI, "Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda" just didn’t work for me. Maybe I was still on overload from the colorful and enjoyable CSI NY from the night before (”My Name is Mac Taylor” ) , but the original recipe CSI seems to have become so dark and dreary. In fact, it reminded me a lot of how CSI NY was when that show first started.

In this episode, a mother and daughter are murdered, and the husband is the primary suspect. But, after some generic CSI work and some dogged questioning by Captain Jim Brass (played by the underrated Paul Guilfoyle), they get their man. Well, they really get their woman when the murderer turns out to be the daughter of someone who was killed by the mother and daughter’s husband when he was living under another name. (!) But she gets HER man when she kills him while she has him digging up her father's grave.

Meanwhile, Nick (George Eads) and Hodges (Wallace Langham) work on an average case of a car accident that they discover was caused by two guys horsing around and knocking mailboxes off their posts with a baseball bat. In hitting one mailbox where they owner has filled with concrete, they lose control of the car and crash. The man who filled his mailbox with concrete is arrested for their deaths. Can someone explain to me why? He didn’t force these guys to vandalize his mailbox. Is it because he created the conditions that ultimately lead to their deaths? The only redeeming part of that dull case was Nick and Hodges horsing around like two kids.

The cornerstone of the story was Gil Grissom’s (William Petersen) attendance at a transfer hearing for Natalie Davis (Jessica Collins), the miniature killer. Since Sarah was nearly killed by the miniature killer, Gil has an interest in the hearing. Her original verdict was she was guilty, but ruled mentally ill and sent in for treatment. Now that her treatment has seemed to make her well, ADA Valerie Nichols (Amy Aquino) is working to have her sent to prison to serve her sentence. She is being opposed by Natalie’s attorney (Joshua Malina). Gil gets sucked in when Nichols asks for Gil's testimony on his original interrogation of Natalie and how she went a little nutty at that time, and her apparent state of mind now.

Natalie’s attorney questions Gil’s motives, but he denies having any. The court rules Natalie should go to prison. While she is being led from her room to prison, Gil apologies that he couldn’t help more, and she says she has changed, but that people who do bad things should be punished. When she leaves, Gil scans the room and notices that she scooped out her soap. This causes him to look at a floor tile, which he pries away from the floor. Connected to the underside of the tile, he finds a small female figure dressed in a prison uniform, hanging with a rope around its neck. I presume she made the figure of herself using the soap.

I hope that the whole miniature killer story is now over. I think it ran its course long ago, but maybe they needed this one last reference for some sort of closure, so when Gil fades off into the sunset that the whole storyline is wrapped up nice and tidy. What I realized after this episode is that while I have some concerns about Laurence Fishburne replacing William Petersen, that I think I am ready for him to move on. It seems of late many of the episodes he’s been in just seem so dark and depressing to me that it sucks all the enjoyment out of the show. In fact, while I think that Paul Guilfoyle does a fantastic job in his role as Capt. Brass, I also get the same feeling from every scene he’s in. I don’t mind the occasional downer scenes – after all, this is a crime show we’re talking about – but I wish they would at least lighten up the scenes, literally, a bit. The lighting is dark, the colors drab, it just isn’t very pleasing to watch for a long period of time. It could be that I am still on color overload from this week's episodes of CSI Miami and CSI NY.

The other thing I noticed is that CSI seems to be downplaying the traditional Las Vegas scene a lot. Sure, we see many shots of the city skyline, but it seems they actually spend very little time in the most active parts of the city. My perception may be wrong, though. It still seems odd that the show is set in such a colorful place, yet they don’t seem to play that up. It’s always the seedier side of the city that is portrayed. Maybe no crime happens in the casinos, or it’s just too expensive for them to either film there or recreate various casino scenes in their studios. Maybe the casinos don’t want the insides of their casinos filmed for security reasons, or they just don’t want people to think of the area a crime-ridden. Either way, I hope they get themselves out of the dark and drab sets, because it really drags me down.

Still, CSI is one of the best crime dramas on television, but it’s slipping a little in my book. I hope Petersen’s eventual absence from the show and Fishburne’s arrival doesn’t push the show down further.




Check out my blog home page for the latest information, here.

CSI “For Warrick” Gripping, Yet Anticlimactic

It should have been no surprise to any follower of CSI that Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan) wasn’t going to survive a point blank bullet to the head, given to him courtesy of Undersheriff McKeen (Conor O'Farrell). So in a sense this episode, while covering such a sad topic as the death of a long time CSI, was somewhat anticlimactic. Viewers had months to prepare. And thanks to the endless teaser commercials for the episode, even Gil’s anguish over finding Warrick and not being able to save him seemed to have the drama sucked out of it.

Also expected was the return of Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox), the only surprise being that she looked like she’s curled her hair and gained a few pounds. It not only seemed to age her a bit, but it also gave the character a bit of a more calming, stable appearance. If fact, despite the reasons she returned to the CSI crew, she actually looked happier and more rested than her character has ever looked.

Hopefully, the CSIs re-learned a hard lesson – that the person who “finds” the body or “stumbles” on the crime is often the likely perpetrator of that crime. Warrick’s shooting and his resulting death clearly threw them off kilter and they didn’t check McKeen for any evidence immediately at the scene. Of course, if McKeen were checked for gun shot residue (GSR) right away, the episode wouldn’t have needed the hunt for Warrick’s killer, or the drama from finding that it was McKeen who murdered him, and that McKeen was the insider for Lou Gedda, the notorious local crime figure that Warrick had been chasing down.

A little strange to me was the scene where Gil Grissom (William Petersen) is rushing to work on the crime and Sara stops him, implying what she has to show him is critical. It’s a video of Warrick taking about trying to gain custody of his son, but also talking about his admiration for Gil. While I am sure this was important to add to the whole tone of the grief that Warrick’s colleagues were feeling, it really didn’t seem critical to the resolution of the crime itself. It probably could have waited. Also surprising to me was when the usually prickly Conrad Ecklie (Marc Vann) let them all work on the case; as they were all so close to Warrick it could have presented conflicts. But, maybe Ecklie has softened a bit over the years and concluded that those that knew Warrick best would be able to sort through his life, and the evidence, to determine his killer.

One plus for the show is that they kept the forensics simple. The episode instead focused on the range of emotions for Warrick’s colleagues as they dealt with his murder. In a way, the downplaying of the usually stylized presentation of the forensics helped to create a very dark and depressing tone which one would expect from the death of one of their own.

And the grief seemed very real for Doc Robbins (Robert David Hall) and even for the show’s usual drama queen Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger). In fact, I thought Marg was completely believable in her apparent shock and horror when arriving at the crime scene. Interesting was Captain Jim Brass (Paul Guilfoyle), who over the years has been at odds with Warrick, but now seemed to be silently enraged at Warrick’s death. Of course, Guilfoyle has always played Brass as one who is constantly simmering underneath. But clearly Brass was worried that once Nick (George Eads) went off on his own to chase down McKeen that it could turn out badly. It was probably because Brass was hiding the same feelings about McKeen that Nick was showing right out on the surface. Luckily, Nick fired his gun at McKeen and “missed”, meaning if McKeen survived his wounds, Nick and the rest of the CSI team will take pleasure in the ensuing prosecution and McKeen’s jailing.

Of course, the obligatory scene where Gil must remove his bloody clothes was expected the minute that Gil came upon Warrick in the alley. Still, it was interesting to see that Gil still went through the motions in a rather clinical fashion, yet with a look on his face that showed an inner pain that he knew he could not let out. But the gripping scene was his eulogy at Warrick’s funeral service where it seemed that even while Gil was honoring Warrick, he was reflecting too on his own direction in life. It was probably the most emotional episode for Gil Grissom, and probably is also the set up for Petersen’s upcoming departure from the show.

All in all, while there were no surprises, the episode was solid and seemed to appropriately set the stage for the changes to come for the cast and the show. It may take a while to work through all the fallout from Warrick’s death. Hopefully, the dark pall that is hanging over the show won’t continue too long. The team – and the viewers – needs to move on.

Check out my blog home page for the latest information, here.

Laurence Fishburne Joins CSI: I’m Underwhelmed

The news is out, Laurence Fishburne will be joining the cast of CSI. And despite the fact that I can be a somewhat resilient TV watcher, this change doesn’t thrill me.

Yes, he’s a big name. Yes, he’s well known by many people. But I’ve never been much of a fan. To me, it seems that Fishburne always plays the same type character: the tough guy or the bad guy or the mean guy or the dark, angst-y guy, or all of the above. He has always seemed one-dimensional. He's quite unlike William Petersen before Petersen came on CSI to play Gil Grissom. Sure, Petersen had done films, but he wasn’t quite a household name, and he seemed to be cast in varying roles with varying persona. Sometimes adding a big name to a show just means big expectations that never get fulfilled.

I’m willing to give the cast change a chance, don’t get me wrong. After all, if I’ve weathered the years of the revolving door with the Law & Order franchise, I think I can handle some cast changes at CSI. It’s not like I’m not prepared for it. But I’m just disappointed in the cast selection AND in Fishburne’s character background (below). Can’t we just have someone in charge that doesn't have some weird, wacky twist to his or her psyche?

So while I will still watch the show, I feel I need to come clean and say that I’m not happy about it. Believe me, it’s not about Petersen leaving. While he was critical to the show in it’s earlier years, he actually seems a little more dispensable now, seeing that he’s almost been a background player for a while. But Fishburne just doesn’t light any fire for me. In fact, I feel like his presence may be a little too heavy for the show. OK, I’m getting ahead of myself. I’ll watch…but it better be good.


Here’s the story from EW.com:

It's Official: Laurence Fishburne Joins 'CSI'

by Michael Ausiello

Talk about the worst-kept secret in the TV biz: More than a month after we first brought you news of the talks between Laurence Fishburne and CSI, CBS is now confirming that the Oscar-nominated actor is joining the cast this season as William Petersen's pseudo replacement.

Says CBS: "Fishburne will play a former pathologist who is now working as an itinerant college lecturer, teaching a course in criminalistics. His focus is on understanding criminal behavior, how and why people commit acts of violence -- tendencies he disturbingly sees within himself. In the course of a murder investigation, he comes into contact with the CSI team and ultimately joins the Las Vegas Crime Lab as a Level-1 CSI."

Says me: He's got some funky serial killer DNA!

"CBS asked us, 'Who's at the top of your dream list?' CSI executive producers Carol Mendelsohn and Naren Shankar said in a joint statement. "Without hesitation, we said Laurence Fishburne. He is a powerful and intense actor, with an incredible range....If you distill CSI down to its essence, it's a collaboration -- and we are so looking forward to collaborating with Mr. Fishburne. For all of us at CSI, this is truly a dream."

"I am elated and delighted to be joining the cast of CSI," said Fishburne. "I look forward to a wonderful collaboration with the creative and talented team of such a successful and distinguished show."

Fishburne will debut in this season's ninth episode, right around the time Petersen departs.



Check out my blog home page for the latest information, here.

The Bizarro World of CSI Miami

All Orange, All the Time

I admit it, I was tired of the Olympics and decided to watch a few episodes in a row of CSI Miami (the show I sometimes love to hate) on A&E last week. I came to the conclusion that CSI Miami is set in some Bizarro-like world. This series has become so stylized that it’s not even real anymore. This partly has something to do with the story lines, which I’ve commented before are somewhat laughable. But there is a lot more to this show that makes it hard to accept that it’s set anywhere near reality. I state my case with these facts:

Fact #1: All the women are dressed to the nines (often in white) when examining bloody, messy crime scenes, and have perfect posture while collecting evidence. Everyone knows that no real woman would wear such nice clothes if there were a chance that a speck of dirt would get on them, much less blood. And why is it that the women are constantly showing cleavage, even when examining dead bodies, and men are always conspicuously covered up, wearing jackets or long sleeved shirts? Don’t the guys get a little hot wearing all those clothes in the Miami heat? And what man would wear dark colors all the time, as does Horatio, in Miami?

Fact #2: In one episode, they had a tidal wave that floods a bank, but the streets everywhere else look perfectly normal and the city itself looks virtually normal after that. Not to mention that Horatio only seems worried about one singular crime that he doggedly follows, despite the fact that there must be tons of other things the police should be doing in a disaster like a tidal wave. I guess in Miami they have super duper drains that helped all the tidal wave water drain right off, and along with it, all the debris was cleaned away as well.

Fact #3: The sky always has an orange glow, from the top down. It doesn’t matter if the sun is high in the sky, rising, or setting, the sky is often completely orange. In fact, everyone else has an orange color to them, like the whole cast was dipped in a self-tanner every day for six weeks.

Fact #4: It almost never rains. In fact, I have a hard time remembering when it every really DID rain on the show.

Fact #5: The medical examiner performs autopsies almost like she is making love to the bodies, and calls the dead people "baby girl" and "baby boy" even when they are adults. It's sickening, actually. And the morgue looks lighted like a Hollywood set.

Fact #6: There are never any overweight people in town, all the women have perfect bodies and wear designer clothes. They have the best looking criminals in the world.

Fact #7: The fact that Horatio Caine (David Caruso) has a son staggers the imagination. The thought that any woman would have sex with him is beyond belief. In fact, just look at the women that seem to be so smitten with him. They must have some sort of vision problem. There is no way in the real world that women would be even remotely attracted to someone like Horatio. Or, maybe it's his sunglasses that exude special pheromones that make him so attractive? Now that his sunglasses of magical powers are broken, maybe all the women in the world are finally free of his spell? We can only hope.

Fact #8: Miami is supposed to be such a large, vibrant city, so why is it that when a crime is committed out in the open on the streets, there are almost never any witnesses? Do the people living in and visiting Miami have a sixth sense that tells them to get off the streets or go indoors before any crime is committed?

Fact #9: Everyone lives in spacious homes or apartments, often on or overlooking the beach. People work in beautiful offices or trendy nightclubs. There is no “bad neighborhood” in Miami, and crimes never happen anyplace other than designer homes and offices. Well, sometimes there are warehouses by the docks where crimes happen, but even those look overly clean.

Fact #10: They always seem to find a magic piece of evidence that ties the whole case together.


If one looks at other crime dramas, such as Law & Order or even the other CSI shows like CSI and CSI NY, they all seem to have some level of believability. While the Law & Order franchise seems to be truest to the grittiness of crime in a big city, even CSI and CSI NY seems to be able to transmit some feeling of reality amidst the glitzy effects and sets.

So, you be the judge. Watch a few episodes of the Law & Order franchise (they are hard to miss), or CSI or CSI NY, and then take a look at CSI Miami. I think you’ll agree that the only place Horatio Caine and his band of criminalists can exist is in Bizarro world. And, maybe that’s a fitting place for them. But I’m not sure it’s a safe place anymore for any viewers who like good television. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the show. But I do think it's only fair to help viewers see what it is and what it's not. It's not real drama, and it's not all that good. But it can be fun to highlight how bad it really is. In fact, some people make that their own cottage industry. Me? I just like adding fuel to the fire, because it just adds to the orange glow.



Check out my blog home page for the latest information, here.

The Problem with The Emmys

It seems that every year, the Emmy nominations miss someone or something. This year, I think there were quite a few obvious snubs. One would think that with The Sopranos out of the picture, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences - AKA the Emmys - would have finally taken a look at some performers or shows that it overlooked in previous years during the time that they fawned over The Sopranos. But no, the Emmys still seem to have blinders on when it comes to certain performers, genres, or even networks.

Here’s who and what I think they missed.

SNUBBED!

Battlestar Galactica – Most notably, Mary McDonnell should have received a best actress nomination. Her performances as President Laura Roslin were consistently riveting. In fact, where I had previously jumped off the Battlestar Galactica train for a while, McDonnell’s performances were one of the things that drew me back in. Same for the likes of Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck) and Tricia Helfer (Six) and Edward James Olmos (Admiral Bill Adama). The Emmys doesn’t have a good feel for the sci-fi genre, and it shows by many snubs for acting and for the show itself.

SNUBBED!

Vincent D’Onofrio, Law & Order Criminal Intent – How could the Emmys ignore D’Onofrio’s nearly painful performance in the episode “Untethered”? It was one of THE most uncomfortable episodes I’ve seen on television in a while. D’Onofrio’s character Robert Goren being subjected to torture seemed very real. Sure, D’Onofrio gets panned every now and then for his overacting, but in this episode, and a few others this past season, he was able to perfectly relay the inner pain and conflict of his on-screen persona. The episode “Untethered” was almost a visible representation of his grief and turmoil that he’d faced in previous episodes. The Emmys also seem to hate Dick Wolf or the entire Law & Order franchise, which it has consistently snubbed year after year. I just don’t get it.

SNUBBED!

Robert Sean Leonard, House – Sherlock Holmes needed Dr. Watson as his sounding board, and Dr. Greg House needs Dr. Wilson for his. Likewise, part of the success of Hugh Laurie’s performances (Laurie was nominated) is the interplay between House and Dr. James Wilson. In many cases, Leonard had the better lines of the two, and he delivered them with the perfect blend of wit, disgust, concern, and annoyance. Robert Sean Leonard's Wilson is the Yin to Hugh Laurie's Dr. House Yang. OK, that sounded dirty but it's not. Leonard plays Wilson so well it almost makes one forget that it’s just a TV character that we’re watching.

SNUBBED!

CSI (the franchise) – Like Dick Wolf and Law & Order, the Emmys seem to loathe the CSI franchise. I can understand why they ignore CSI Miami. Yes, I watch the show faithfully but regular readers of my blog know that it’s more for the camp and comedy than the acting of David Caruso. But CSI and CSI NY – the latter which I am warming up to more and more – is filled with great performances by many of its lead characters. William Petersen has created such a deep, complex character in Gil Grissom, yet it seems the Emmys overlook him because Grissom is so low key and clinical. Despite the fact that Gary Dourdan is on the outs with the show, he turned in several memorable performances this past season. It seems that the Emmys don’t like procedural-type shows, but the CSI franchise has done a lot to create episodes that stay with the format but are told in creative ways. I don’t know what they expect from this show, but the millions upon millions of viewers this franchise receives can’t be wrong.

My conclusion is the Emmys are broken and they need fixing. It seems that even though the number of television shows have expanded as more cable channels develop their own offerings, the number of nominees haven’t increased proportionally. It seems wrong that, for example, that the outstanding lead actor in a drama category only has five nominees, the same as the number of nominees for movies/miniseries, the latter having far fewer in overall numbers of shows. Maybe they need to up the number to 10 nominees to give others a fighting chance, or, at least just to recognize the performance? So what if they have a bigget crowd for the Emmy dinner and show.

It would also be great if there were a way to obtain viewer input to determine nominees. For the Emmys to ignore shows that are clearly hugely popular makes the Emmys look like a bunch of elitist snobs who think the common people don’t really know what makes great television.

Bottom line: The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences are becoming less relevant to the viewing public, since they rarely represent what viewers think is the best television. For what it's worth, for those I mentioned above that were not nominated, there are many viewers out there who appreciate your efforts and our award to you is continuing to watch your shows.

Check out my blog home page for the latest information, here.

William Petersen Leaving CSI; Fan Angst Ensues

Well, fans may be still reeling from Jorja Fox leaving CSI and Gary Dourdan’s release from the show via his character being shot, but there’s one more hit fans must endure.

Several sources report that William Petersen, who plays Gil Grissom on CSI, is leaving the show. (The release from AP is below.)

Can this show take all these changes? The answer is probably yes, they can.

My opinion is that Gil Grissom has been drawing more and more into the background in the last few seasons, so his absence may not be such a complete shock. Those that hoped for a Sara/Gil pairing, though, may be disappointed that their story probably won’t get told, but I’m not one of them. Personally, I was growing very tired of Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox) and her constantly depressing character. Gil, on the other hand, was such a complex character that it was always nice to see another dimension to his persona being revealed. In fact, I found his working relationship with Hodges (Wallace Langham) to be very interesting. But as far as Gil himself, his involvement in cases doesn’t seem as necessary as it once was.

I’m also glad that they managed to kill off Grissom’s previous temporary fill-in, Michael Keppler (Live Schreiber) because he just didn’t fit. So CSI fandom I am sure will be buzzing with potential replacements. Since Chris Noth just decided to leave Law & Order Criminal Intent for greener pastures, maybe forensics would be a nice leap for him? I am sure that there are many people already lining up to step into the role as top dog in the Las Vegas crime lab. As long as it’s not Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger), I’ll try to be happy with whomever they chose.



William Petersen's `CSI' life of crime to end
By LYNN ELBER – 12 hours ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) — William Petersen is leaving "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," a move that might have fans of his brainy crimebuster Gil Grissom screaming bloody murder.

Petersen has agreed to return for occasional guest appearances and will remain a "CSI" executive producer but his run as an original cast member will end this coming season, executive producers Carol Mendelsohn and Naren Shankar said Tuesday.

The air date for his final episode, the season's 10th, has yet to be determined but probably will be at the beginning of 2009, the producers said. The series debuted in fall 2000.

A number of familiar characters will return in the episodes building up to Grissom's departure, among them his former colleague and flame Sara Sidle, played by Jorja Fox; the Miniature Killer and sexy Lady Heather.

"Who better to turn to when you're a scientist in crisis," Mendelsohn said jokingly of Heather (Melinda Clarke).

The decision to leave was Petersen's, the producers said, declining further comment. A call to Petersen's publicist was not returned Tuesday.

The actor had taken a break during the 2006-07 season to perform in a play, with Liev Schreiber stepping in as a visiting investigator.

The long-running show remains key for CBS: "CSI" finished last season as the network's top-rated series, ranking No. 9 among all shows with an average weekly audience of 17 million. Spinoffs "CSI: Miami" and "CSI: New York" ranked 16th and 28th, respectively.

"CSI" is ready to deal with Petersen's loss, its producers said.

"Shows lucky enough to go this long inevitably have to deal with this kind of change," Shankar told The Associated Press.

A new male investigator will join "CSI," a role that has yet to be cast.

The producers were mum about specific plot points but said that Grissom will be reappraising his life after years of high-tech forensics investigations with the Las Vegas Police Department and after facing personal turmoil.

"We're talking about a man who has suffered a great deal of loss recently... A man thinking about the next phase of his life," Shankar said.

It's wrong to characterize it as a mid-life crisis, which summons the image of someone who buys a Porsche as a solution, Shankar and Mendelsohn said; Grissom is confronting far deeper issues.

"It's Grissom in transition and Grissom asking `Who am I?'" Mendelsohn said.

Besides, Shankar said, Petersen wouldn't buy a sports car.

"Billy would only buy a Prius," the producer said.

Shankar and Mendelsohn vowed that cast changes won't change "CSI."

"What makes shows go off the rails is they forget who they are. We're a crime-mystery-forensics drama" with a focus on exceptional cases, Shankar said.

"Whoever comes in and joins the team after Grissom is going to be a different guy. But the nature of the show and what fans get out of it, that's not going to change," he said.

Petersen, in his role as executive producer, viewed "CSI" as a show about the "quiet heroics" of working people, Shankar said. That will remain true, with no new soap-opera twists or "jumping into bed."


Check out my blog home page for the latest information, here.

CSI Miami’s Horatio Caine: Undead

Horatio resurrects. These sunglasses...probably not.

In what seems like an attempt impart god-like powers on Horatio Caine (David Caruso), the first episode of the new season of CSI Miami is entitled “Resurrection."

We all know that Horatio thinks he’s a superhero, but c’mon, “Resurrection” for the episode title? Pul-leeze! He may have special powers, but I don’t think that there is anything in his utility belt – or with his sunglasses – that would make him rise from the dead. Of course, rumors have it – from several sources – that the whole shooting on the tarmac was staged by Horatio so he could get to the bottom of the shootings in the season finale, Going Ballistic.

The premier dates, and episode names for all the CSI franchise shows have also been released, and are as follows:

CSI: For Warrick October 9
CSI: Miami: Resurrection September 22
CSI: New York: Veritas September 24

I know I’ll be staying tuned for Horatio’s “resurrection.” But the burning question remains: Will the sunglasses also be magically restored?


Check out my blog home page for the latest information, here.

CSI Dethrones CSI Miami as #1 In The World

Number One Show
It’s official. David Caruso’s eyeglass-wearing, sideways-posing Horatio Caine and CSI Miami has been knocked off the top of the list of the most popular shows in THE WORLD. The news is enough to crack Horatio’s sunglasses, or at least create a minor earthquake in David Caruso’s me-niverse.

Who’s number 1? Well, it’s the “original recipe” CSI, starring William Petersen as the super-intelligent, but low key, Gil Grissom. Gil, by the way, doesn’t seem to wear sunglasses that often. Could this be the defining difference?

Not Number One
Don’t believe it's true? Here’s the story from the New York Post:

'CSI' EARTH'S NO. 1 SHOW

'CSI" is officially the most popular TV show on the planet.

According to a new study, nearly 84 million viewers around the globe watched the CBS crime drama in 2007.

It beat out its sequel, "CSI: Miami," and "House," according to the ratings firm Eurodata, which ranks shows by their worldwide ratings.

With 61.5 million viewers, "Desperate Housewives" snagged the title of top comedy, while "The Bold and the Beautiful" was dubbed the most-watched soap in the world (26.2 million viewers).

The biggest show in the US, "American Idol," did not place because different versions of it are seen in different countries.

"CSI" debuted in 2000 and has been renewed for a ninth season. It follows a group of Las Vegas crime scene investigators who use science and high-tech gizmos to solve grisly murders.

It has spawned two popular spinoffs so far, "CSI: Miami" and "CSI: New York."

Check out my blog home page for the latest information, here.

CSI Dream Interpretation Guide

For one of my Law & Order blogs, I put together a Law & Order Dream Interpretation Guide to help fans make sense of what it means when they dream of a Law & Order character.

Since there are millions of CSI fans out there, it made perfect sense to do the same thing for the CSI franchise shows. So here’s your handy guide to the CSI Dream Interpretation Guide. Don’t go to sleep without it!


CSI
Gil Grissom (William Petersen): Gil represents detachment. If you a man dreaming of Gil, it means that you just want to be left alone. If you’re a woman dreaming of Gil, it means you just want to be left alone, too. If you have a hobby and you dream of Gil, be careful your hobby doesn't become an obsession.

Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan): Dreaming of Warrick means that you are taking chances or gambling with someone or something important to you. Be very careful before proceeding. Oh, and remember, trust no one.

Nick Stokes (George Eads) You are having some serious concerns about your hair. If you’re a woman, you may not know how to style it. If you’re a man, you think you are losing it too fast. Seek help from a professional hair stylist.

Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger): Did you wear something to work or a party that was too revealing? Probably so. If Catherine appears in your dream, it means that your wardrobe may be completely inappropriate for the work you do or the life you lead.

Captain Jim Brass (Paul Guilfoyle): You have done something very, very bad and it will catch up with you someday. If you are sure you haven’t done anything wrong, then seeing Jim Brass in a dream will make you sure that you never will.

Greg Sanders (Eric Szmanda): No mater what you seem to do with your appearance, people think you’re a bit of a nerd. Oh wait, you ARE a nerd.

Dr. Al Robbins (Robert David Hall): You have a habit of doing or saying completely inappropriate things in the wrong places. Still, no one seems to mind because deep down they think you are hilarious. Either that, or you or you are dead.

Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox): You are sucking the life force out of everyone around you. You could be depressed. Seek professional help immediately, or leave town ASAP so as not to bring down those around you!

Dave Phillips (David Berman) : For some reason, you’re just feeling “super.”

David Hodges (Wallace Langham): You believe that you are smart and that you exude confidence. Truth is, you annoy the living daylights out of everyone around you, probably because they just don’t really understand you. You want very much to be liked, but you may be trying too hard.


CSI NY

Detective Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise): You may be taking life too seriously. Lighten up and let loose! If you are dreaming Mac has lost his legs, you’re afraid that you’ve done something in your life that people will never, never let you forget.

Stella Bonasera (Melina Kanakaredes): If you’re a woman dreaming of Stella, it could represent that you spend way too much time styling your hair. If you’re a man, you just want to keep dreaming.

Danny Messer (Carmine Giovinazzo): You are overly emotional and have a short fuse. You may also be unintentionally playing around with the emotions of those around you. Be mindful of the feelings of others.

Sheldon Hawkes (Hill Harper): You feel the need to make a career change. Either that, or you may feel that you need to improve your health because it may prevent you from reaching the morgue too soon.

Detective Don Flack (Eddie Cahill): If you are a woman, you don’t want to wake up right away. If you’re a man, you don’t want to wake up right away either because he is just so...so...pretty.

Lindsay Monroe (Anna Belknap): If you a woman, you may be a little too naïve. If you’re a man, you could be feeling guilty for a relationship gone bad.

Dr. Sid Hammerback (Robert Joy): Time to get some new eyewear. Maybe a pair of glasses that split at the middle? Either that, or you might be dead.


CSI Miami
Lieutenant Horatio Caine (David Caruso): If you are a man, dreaming of Horatio means you could be showing tendencies of megalomania. And, for some reason, you think some people just don’t like you and are talking and writing nasty things about you behind your back. Seek professional help immediately. Better yet, go out and buy yourself a good pair of sunglasses, they’ll make you feel more powerful. If you are a woman dreaming of Horatio, wake up, it’s a nightmare!

Eric Delko (Adam Rodriguez): Dreaming of Delko may mean that your brain is feeling taxed and overworked. Don’t worry about it, because you probably won’t remember the dream when you wake.

Dr. Alexx Woods (Khandi Alexander): You are afraid you are going to lose your job. Either that, or you might be dead.

Detective Frank Tripp (Rex Linn): You are getting tired of playing second banana. Stand up for yourself!

Ryan Wolfe (Jonathan Togo): You have a feeling that people think that you really don’t serve much of a purpose or that you are worthless. They could be right.

Calleigh Duquesne (Emily Procter): Did someone turn on the air conditioner? You are feeling awfully cold.

Yelina Salas (Sofia Milos): If you are a woman, people perceive you as a user and manipulator. If you’re a man, someone is using YOU. Be especially wary of an in-law.

Tim Speedle (Rory Cochrane): Someone is trying to give you a message from the grave. Pay attention to what they are telling you.

Natalia Boa Vista (Eva La Rue): If you are dreaming of Natalia, it could mean that you overslept. Your brain is trying to explain the bright orange glow of the sun shining on your eyes. Wake up!

Check out my blog home page for the latest information, here.