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Topic: CSI (Read 399 times)

Rhune
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CSI
« on: May 13^th, 2002, 3:01am »

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I love this show! I was prety excited last week to have them introduce the CSI: Miami cast and do the tie-in episode so they can start the second series. I will be very happy to get CSI 2 times a week. Grin

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Re: CSI
« Reply #1 on: May 13^th, 2002, 2:09pm »

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That Face,That Face, That Horrible Face!

When a beautiful supermodel's body is found looking anything but super, the CSI team tries to find out how and why on the season finale of television's most watched drama, Thursday, May 16, 9/8c.

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Re: CSI
« Reply #2 on: May 15^th, 2002, 9:06pm »

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i love it when i recognize a set or better yet when i see the set! Wink

or, when they pretend the set it vegas! Angry

anyway, i absolutely love this show.

yes, i know, i need help. we have established this, right? Wink

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Rhune
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Re: CSI
« Reply #3 on: Jun 25^th, 2002, 9:06am »

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The network's new CSI spinoff, CSI: Miami, already stars former NYPD Blue detective David Caruso. Now the series, which will debut this fall, has added another Blue alum to its beat: Kim Delaney.
The Emmy-winning actress is back on the crime scene in another major city, having landed on her feet after the May cancellation of her ABC drama Philly. She will now be fiddling around with dead bodies in Florida as a senior investigator on CSI: Miami.

CBS has tagged Delaney to join the new Monday night series. The name of her character is not yet known, but she will apparently butt heads (and who knows what else) with the CSI department chief played by Caruso, who was introduced during a May sweeps crossover episode of the mega-hit CSI.

Caruso is back on prime-time after his ill-fated film experiment. He notoriously quit his NYPD Blue ( news - Y! TV) role as Detective John Kelly in the series' second season to try to make it in movies. Caruso was long gone by the time Delaney joined the Blue crew in 1995 as Detective Diane Russell.

In 2000, after six season on Blue and a 1998 Emmy for Best Supporting Actress, she relocated from Gotham to Philly. The ABC legal drama was especially created for her by Blue producer Steven Bochco. But, after just 21 episodes, ABC ended her tenure as defense attorney Kathleen Maguire.

It had capped a rough few months for Delaney, who was arrested for DUI in Malibu and, in February, pleaded no contest to the reduced charge of reckless driving and was sentenced to two years' probation.

It had been thought that Bochco might bring Delaney back to NYPD Blue, which has been renewed by ABC for a 10th season, but the producer killed that rumor last month when he told TV Guide, "I love Kim, obviously, but in the reality of how [Blue] has evolved, I don't think that it's a right fit anymore."

If Philly had only lasted 13 episodes, Delaney's contract had stipulated she could return to NYBD Blue for the remainder of last year, but the legal show staggered on longer, which meant Bochco had "no obligation" to provide Delaney with work.

But now producer Jerry Bruckheimer, the clout behind the CSI phenomenon, clearly thinks the attractive, popular brunette will fit right in on the new Miami franchise.

Filming on CSI: Miami begins in July, in Miami and Los Angeles. Other members of the ensemble cast include Emily Procter, Adam Rodriguez, Rory Cochrane and Khandi Alexander.

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Re: CSI
« Reply #4 on: Jul 26^th, 2002, 11:28am »

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'CSI' Digs Up Thursday Win for CBS
Fri, Jul 26, 2002 10:10 AM PDT

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Fast National ratings for Thursday, July 25, 2002

A repeat of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" blew away its competition Thursday, giving CBS a big win in the nightly ratings.

The Eye averaged a 7.0 rating/13 share in primetime to win by a wide margin. ABC snagged second with a 5.4/10 average, while NBC, 4.9/9, dropped to third. FOX trailed with a 3.3/6. UPN earned a 4.6/8 in the metered markets, while The WB managed only a 2.1/4.

CBS also won among adults 18-49 with a 3.9 rating. NBC posted a 3.2 in the demographic, followed by ABC, 2.5, and FOX, 2.1.

At 8 p.m., the eviction of Tonya Paoni on "Big Brother 3" earned a 6.0/11 for CBS. Repeats of "Friends," 5.9/11, and "Scrubs," 5.0/9, put NBC in second. ABC's movie "Metro" was next, followed by "WWE Smackdown" on UPN, 4.3/8. FOX's "Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction" averaged 3.5/7, while repeats of "Reba" and "The Jamie Kennedy Experiment" averaged 2.3/4 for The WB.

"CSI" dominated the 9 p.m. hour with a 9.3/16 and was by far the night's top-rated show. ABC's movie, 4.8/9, finished in a virtual tie with NBC, which had repeats of "Will & Grace" and "Just Shoot Me." "Smackdown" improved to 5.0/8 in its second hour, while FOX's "The Pulse" averaged 3.1/6. "Jamie Kennedy" and "Off Centre" managed only a 2.1/4 for The WB.

ABC took 10 p.m. with a new "Primetime Thursday," 6.6/12. A rerun of "The Agency" averaged 5.9/11 on CBS, while "ER" earned a 4.6/9 for NBC.

Ratings information provided is from fast national data, except for UPN and The WB, whose results are taken from the top 53 metered markets. All numbers are preliminary and subject to change.

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Rhune
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Re: CSI
« Reply #5 on: Aug 1^st, 2002, 9:08pm »

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ET First Look at 'CSI: Miami'

August 01, 2002
When the Las Vegas CSI team jetted down to Miami for an episode of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" last season, it was the beginning of a whole new series. This fall, CBS premieres "CSI: Miami," starring former "NYPD Blue" detective DAVID CARUSO.

Caruso, who makes his return to TV as Horatio Caine, was happy to be cast in a series that will partially shoot in the Florida city where he now resides. "I think the tumblers were clicking," the Emmy nominated actor recently reported. "The producers were trying to cast the show, I know there were a number of names being considered, and I just kind of fell into place."

Joining Caruso when the series premieres on Monday, Sept. 23, at 10 p.m., will be KIM DELANEY, another "NYPD Blue" alum. Although both actors worked on the STEVEN BOCHCO series, they never did so at the same time. So a chance to act with the "amazing" Caruso was part of the reason Delaney decided to sign on. But before she said yes, she said no.

"They sent me a letter with a tape of the show," Delaney tells ET about how the producers wooed her when she expressed her desire to take some time off. "A really sweet letter saying, 'Dear goddess.' I don't remember every single line, but it [said], 'We would love to have you. "CSI" Miami" is missing one thing -- you. Will you please consider it?'"

The lure the producers cast worked, and they reeled Delaney in for a meeting. "They were so smart, so energetic and so excited," she continues, "there was no reason to say no."

The former "Philly" star, who was not in the pilot episode, will play Megan Donner, a DNA expert who used to be Horatio's boss. She's been off for a while, and when she returns, their roles are reversed. Not only is Horatio now her boss, but he has her old office. It is the perfect set up for conflict between two strong characters.

"I think forensics is just fascinating," Delaney adds. "We find body parts in sharks and we have plane crashes. Going through and figuring out the evidence -- I think everybody's interested in how things work."

EMILY PROCTER was also enticed to join the cast of the new Miami-based drama. Procter says bye-bye to her co-workers in "The West Wing" and heads to the humid climes of Miami to report for CSI duty. The blonde actress, who will play Calleigh Duquesne, was already a fan of the series when she was approached to sign on.

"[JORJA FOX and I] did a movie together five years ago, and then I followed her onto 'The West Wing.' When she left, I started watching her new show ("CSI") and I got hooked," the blonde actress shares.

For more on "CSI: Miami," tune in to tonight's ET and catch the cast on location in the Florida Everglades.

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Re: CSI
« Reply #6 on: Sep 24^th, 2002, 2:19pm »

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'Miami' Nice As CBS Wins Monday
Tue, Sep 24, 2002 10:02 AM PDT

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Fast National ratings for Monday, Sept. 23, 2002

Just as its predecessor "CSI" does, "CSI: Miami" brought big ratings to CBS Monday night, giving the network a win on the first official night of the 2002-03 season.

CBS averaged a 13.0 rating/20 share for the night, well ahead of second-place ABC's 9.6/15. NBC, 7.0/11, was third. The WB scored a 6.9/10 in the metered markets. FOX averaged 4.7/7 and UPN 3.5/5.

CBS led among adults 18-49 with a 7.2 rating. ABC averaged 6.2, NBC 4.6 and FOX 3.3.

The season premieres of "The King of Queens," 9.4/15, and "Yes, Dear," 9.8/15, took the 8 p.m. hour for CBS. The WB's "7th Heaven" scored a 7.2/11, followed by a celebrity "Fear Factor," 6.7/11, on NBC. "The Drew Carey Show," 6.6/11, and "Whose Line Is It Anyway?," 6.5/10, put ABC in fourth. FOX's "American Idol in Vegas" special was fifth. The season premieres of "The Parkers" and "One on One" averaged 3.4/5 on UPN.

At 9 p.m., "Everybody Loves Raymond" started the season with two episodes, averaging 14.6/22. ABC's "Monday Night Football," 11.2/17, was second, followed by the end of "Fear Factor," 7.8/11, and the season premiere of "Crossing Jordan," 6.3/9, on NBC. "Everwood" put The WB in fourth, while FOX remained in fifth with its "Idol" concert. "Girlfriends" and "Half and Half" each earned a 3.6/5 for UPN.

"CSI: Miami" continued the winning streak for CBS at 10 p.m., averaging 14.7/24. "Monday Night Football" stayed consistent with an 11.2/18, while "Crossing Jordan" finished with a 7.2/12.

Ratings information provided is from fast national data, except for UPN and The WB, which are the results of the overnight metered markets (the top 53 markets across the country). All numbers are preliminary and subject to change, especially for live broadcasts.

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Re: CSI
« Reply #7 on: Oct 8^th, 2002, 6:08pm »

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The stars of CBS' forensics drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation should be far from deadbeats after receiving killer pay hikes.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, William Petersen, who plays tight-lipped crime-lab honcho Gil Grissom on the Thursday night hit, is pulling down $225,000-$250,000 an episode, up from the $100,000 he received last season, after the network decided to (quietly) take care of its top-rated cast.

And when we say "take care of," we mean money-wise--and toy-wise. (Last spring, the show's regulars each got a high-definition plasma screen TV, worth $20,000 a den-hogging unit, the paper says.)

Petersen's pay hike, which covers his duties both as an actor and producer, moves him into the upper-echelon ER ranks of Noah Wyle ($400,000 per, as of a TV Guide salary study last December).

CSI cohort Marg Helgenberger, as the steely Catherine Willows, also saw zeroes added to her pay stub, from $75,000 per episode last season to the current $150,000 per, according to the Reporter.

For those running out of fingers on which to tabulate, Petersen's annual take for a year's work on CSI (i.e., 23 episodes) should hit $5.2-$5.75 million; Helgenberger's haul, $3.45 million.

With her raise, Helgenberger now stands as one of TV's all-time highest-paid women in a drama series, topping the $100,000 an episode Gillian Anderson (news) earned in her later years on The X-Files (news - Y! TV).

Gary Dourdan, George Eads and other unnamed CSI regulars also received "substantial" (but not specified) raises, the paper says.

None of this is to indicate that the CSIers are all about the cash. After all, if they'd really wanted to make boatloads of bills, the actors would have done a sitcom--a higher-profit, cheaper-to-produce "art" form in which Frasier's Kelsey Grammer (news) can make $35.2 million a season (at $1.6 million at episode for 22 episodes), and the six friends of Friends can gross $22 million each (at $1 million an episode for 22 episodes).

As for CSI's payroll, no one with the power to cut the checks is commenting on the Reporter's report, but CBS' motives for across-the-board raises seem pretty clear: Keep 'em happy--and avoid a Rob Lowe (news)-West Wing falling out.

CSI is the Eyeball's first hit drama since, arguably, the more heavenly days of Touched by an Angel (news - Y! TV). It is the network's first hip network drama hit since, arguably, forever.

Last week, the series was watched by 28.5 million people, besting its top time-slot rivals, NBC's 9-10 p.m. comedy block of Will & Grace (news - Y! TV) (20.6 million) and freshman entry Good Morning, Miami (16 million).

In addition to threatening (and possibly ending) the Peacock's legendary Thursday night domination, CSI has flat-out replaced ER as TV's top-rated drama. (To be sure, ratings for the latter remain strong--and competitive. Last week's ER was watched by a non-sickly 25.1 million.)

CSI debuted on CBS in October 2000 (back when Petersen was making a mere $75,000 an episode, and Helgenberger a lowly $50,000). CBS cloned the series in the off-season, hoping to replicate its dry Las Vegas cases in a tropical clime with CSI: Miami.

So far, the plan has worked: the Floridian CSI, starring David Caruso (news) and Kim Delaney (news), is a top 10 hit and the highest-rated new drama.

If the original CSI stars are feeling crowded by the upstart competition, they can take heart--and take solace in their big, fat wallets.

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Re: CSI
« Reply #8 on: Nov 7^th, 2002, 8:09am »

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'CSI' Creator Looks Overseas
Wed, Nov 6, 2002 04:13 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - How do you say "blunt force trauma" in French?

If CBS asks "CSI" creator Anthony Zuiker for another spinoff of television's most popular show, he'd like to set it somewhere outside the United States.

"It should be 'CSI: London' or 'CSI: Paris,' someplace outside the country, so that when aired in North America you're bringing them into a world that you don't see often," Zuiker tells the Chicago Tribune. " 'CSI: New Orleans' or 'CSI: Los Angeles' or New York or Chicago feels like more of the same," he says.

Wherever a third "CSI" franchise would set up shop Zuiker says he doesn't want to do another until at least the 2005-06 season. While "CSI" is TV's top-rated show and its spinoff, "CSI: Miami," is in the Nielsen top 10, Zuiker is concerned about giving viewers too much of a good thing.

"The lesson to be learned from ['Who Wants to Be a] Millionaire' was that you can't oversaturate the market."

It's a concern not to be taken lightly. Forensic science is TV's current fascination. In addition to the two "CSIs," CBS has the similarly themed missing-persons drama "Without a Trace," while NBC airs "Crossing Jordan," about a Boston medical examiner.

Add to that documentaries on Court TV, the Discovery Channel and elsewhere, and it's hard not to see something about forensics on TV any given night of the week.

Still, Zuiker realizes that the people who sign his paychecks might want another show in the near future.

"If the viewership dictates we should do a spinoff by Season 6, then we'll re-evaluate it," he says. "But for now it's two and two only."

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Re: CSI
« Reply #9 on: Nov 7^th, 2002, 5:12pm »

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NEW YORK (AP) -- In the matter of CBS' "Crime Scene Investigation" triumph, here are some numbers to ponder:

No. 1: the season-to-date rank for "CSI," which not only unseats past champs "ER" and "Friends" but has boosted its audience by 29 percent from a year ago.

No. 1: the rank among new fall shows seized by its spinoff, "CSI: Miami."

No. 60: the grade of sun block worn by that show's star, David Caruso, the famously fair-skinned actor who walked away from "NYPD Blue" a decade ago and is now savoring his TV comeback in the Florida sun.

"It works great," says Caruso, who coincidentally lives in Miami, looking pleasantly pale and not a bit burned. "It saves my life every day."

The original "CSI" surprised everyone when it became the sleeper hit of the 2000-01 season. When "CSI: Miami" premiered this fall to excellent reviews and spectacular ratings, nobody blinked.

Its expected success has sealed the status of the CSI franchise's co-creators, Ann Donahue, Carol Mendelsohn and Anthony Zuiker, as one of TV's hottest producing teams.

And it just may have redeemed Caruso after years in career purgatory.

Caruso plays chief forensic investigator Horatio Caine who, like his Las Vegas-based "CSI" counterpart, Gil Grissom, leads a team of scientific sleuths as they analyze blood, fiber and random body parts to discover how a murder went down -- and who did it.

Airing Monday at 10 p.m. EST, "CSI: Miami" had the most-watched September drama debut since "ER" in 1994, with an audience of nearly 23 million. It has since put the squeeze on time-slot rival "Crossing Jordan," a second-year NBC drama about a sexy, smart Boston medical examiner.

If shows like "Crossing Jordan" could crib from the "CSI" formula of brainy cops and tell-tale corpses, why shouldn't "CSI" feed the craze with an authorized spinoff?

That was the plan devised by CBS boss Leslie Moonves last January as he cast an envious eye on another NBC show, "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" -- the third in the "Law & Order" drama line.

Different settings, different storytelling
But how to supplement the quirky "CSI" with anything but a rip-off?

Fans delight in how "CSI" (Thursday nights at 9 p.m.) lets them have their whodunit both ways. A mystery is methodically unraveled by lab geeks in rubber gloves. But, without warning, tidy science erupts into gross theatrics -- including those flash "fly-throughs," when the camera plunges into a bloody bullet wound or careens through a ruptured digestive tract.

The cast includes Jorja Fox, George Eads and Gary Dourdan along with fetching Marg Helgenberger and William Petersen as the nerdy hunk Gil Grissom, who, ruled by clinical detachment, is given to morbid quips at the murder scene. ("I think we've got a little murder here," he sized up a killing at a dwarfs' convention.)

All in all, "CSI" seemed one-of-a-kind.

Not true, says Zuiker. "The difference in cities changes the storytelling," he says.

"Leslie said, 'Pick a city," recalls Donahue. Philadelphia? Chicago? "Leslie said no."

When Miami got the nod, Donahue and her partners realized that "the heartbeat of the city would dictate the show." Where "CSI" was arid, nocturnal and neon-lit, "CSI: Miami" would be balmy, brooding and as orange as the sun.

Emily Procter (the Southern belle Republican on "The West Wing") was signed. Then Rory Cochrane, Adam Rodriguez and Khandi Alexander.

But just days before the scheduled start to film the "CSI" season finale -- which was set in Miami to introduce the spinoff -- there was still no Caine.

Then Caruso got a phone call.

"Grissom is analytical. He enjoys figuring out mysteries," says Mendelsohn. "Caine wants to get the bad guy. That gives a different tone to the entire show, and David Caruso had the right urgency."

Caruso and his wife, Margaret, a former flight attendant he married in 1996, were already happily residing in Miami.

"A weird irony," says the 46-year-old native New Yorker, who made his first trip to South Florida to film a 1997 TV movie, "Elmore Leonard's Gold Coast."

"We were really knocked out," he says, and before long he and Margaret had made their home in South Beach and partnered with friends in a clothing boutique.

'I lost everything'
Of course, much of the Miami-set series, like "CSI," is shot around Los Angeles. Caruso is OK with that, but is thrilled with the eye-popping Miami-area location footage. "It's helping create who and what we are," he raves.

During a recent visit to New York, the red-haired actor -- known for searing, sometimes combustible performances -- seems affable, open, even light-hearted.

He speaks with pride about his show, and doles out credit in every direction: co-stars, crew, the Donahue-Mendelsohn-Zuiker triumverate, the original "CSI."

Then, without prompting, he addresses the indiscretion for which, until now, no statute of limitations has seemed to apply: his defection eight years ago from the hit drama that launched him, just a few episodes into its second season.

The high-profile movies that Caruso left "NYPD Blue" to make flopped, and once that box-office verdict was handed down, he received the maximum sentence from the industry and public alike.

"I lost everything, I was at zero," he recalls matter-of-factly. "And it's easy to connect that to a sense of death: 'I'm gonna perish if I lose this career.' But while that is devastating when it's happening, you get this gift, this pearl of knowledge: You DON'T die."

Caruso might have been pardoned in 1997 if his initial comeback bid had been in a series that caught on. But the swift demise of crime drama "Michael Hayes" obscured the fact that not only was Caruso's on-screen performance up to snuff, but no reports of his off-screen performance squared with the "difficult" image that had dogged him since "NYPD Blue."

CBS exec Moonves, who had taken a chance on Caruso for "Michael Hayes," recommended him to the "CSI" producers.

In May, Moonves officially announced "CSI: Miami" to advertisers at the network's annual fall-season "upfront" presentation at Carnegie Hall. Savoring the memory, Zuiker says, "I know we could have touched the clouds."

But a few weeks later, storm clouds were gathering.

As production commenced in July on "CSI: Miami," something seemed to be missing.

"We felt the show needed a stronger female presence to work in conflict with Caine," Zuiker says. That meant a new character and another big casting decision made under the gun.

Battle between the shows
After Sela Ward turned down their offer, Kim Delaney, whose lawyer drama "Philly" had failed to get a second-season pickup from ABC, signed on for the role of Megan Donner, described as a DNA specialist "whose trust in science creates conflict with Caine, who relies more on gut instinct."

Meanwhile, there was real-life conflict afoot, as "CSI" stars fumed over "CSI: Miami."

In a Chicago Sun-Times story, Petersen called the spinoff premature and voiced concern that it would stretch Donahue, Mendelsohn and Zuiker too thin. "If our show starts to suffer," he warned, "I'll go beserk."

Helgenberger, interviewed on NBC's Emmy pre-show in September, told Matt Lauer, "As far as I'm concerned, there's only one 'CSI,' and that's the one nominated tonight."

Such outbursts reflect "the normal growing pains of a show and the normal conflicts of success," says Zuiker, hastening to add, "a large part of our success has to do with Billy Petersen and Marg, and they have every right to be territorial."

Apparently, nerves were calmed with conciliatory talk and pay hikes (the Sun-Times reported the per-episode salaries of Helgenberger and Petersen were doubled to $150,000 and roughly $250,000, respectively).

And Zuiker and his partners remain focused on "CSI." Another team produces the spinoff under their diminishing supervision, and fine-tunes its personality.

"Those producers are finding what the show is, through us," says Zuiker, reckoning that "CSI: Miami" will take as much as 18 months "to find its voice.

"It will only be a great show when we step off," he declares. But a smash variation on the "CSI" theme isn't such a bad way to start.

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