CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation intertitle
Created by	Anthony E. Zuiker
Starring	William Petersen Marg Helgenberger Gary Dourdan George Eads Jorja Fox Eric Szmanda Robert David Hall Wallace Langham Paul Guilfoyle
Opening theme	The Who: "Who Are You" Template:Infobox TV ratings
Country of origin	United States Canada
No. of episodes	170 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	40–45 Minutes
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	October 6, 2000 – present

Template:Two other uses CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (commonly referred to as CSI) is a popular, Emmy Award-winning CBS television series that trails the investigations of a team of Las Vegas forensic scientists as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths and crimes committed.

CSI is produced in partnership with the Canadian media company Alliance Atlantis. On May 16, 2007, CBS renewed the show for an eighth season. Season 8 began production in July and began airing on Thursday September 27, 2007.

There are two spin-offs to this show, CSI: Miami and CSI: NY.

Production

Conception and development

During the 1990s, Anthony Zuiker a Las Vegas tram shuttle driver, caught producer Jerry Bruckheimer's attention after writing his first movie script. Bruckheimer wanted an idea for a television series, Zuiker didn't have one but his wife told him about a Discovery Channel show she liked about forensic detectives who used DNA and other evidence to solve cold cases (probably The New Detectives). Zuiker started spending time with real-life LVPD crime investigators and was convinced that there was a series in the concept, Bruckheimer agreed and arranged a meeting with the head of Touchstone Pictures. The studio’s head at the time liked the script and presented it to ABC network executives, who decided to pass. The head of drama development at CBS saw potential in the script, plus the network had a pay or play contract with actor William Petersen who said he wanted to do the CSI pilot. The network's executives liked the pilot so much, they decided to include it in their 2000 schedule immediately, airing on Fridays after The Fugitive, a remake of the sixties show. Initially it was thought that CSI would benefit from The Fugitive, which was expected to be a hit, but by the end of the year 2000 CSI had a much larger audience.

Filming

CSI was initially shot at Rye Canyon, a corporate campus owned by Lockheed Corporations situated in the Valencia area of Santa Clarita, California. Other shows like The Unit and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers have also been shot there.

After the eleventh episode, filming shifted to the Santa Clarita Studios and only second unit photography, such as the shots of the Las Vegas streets are done on location in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Occasionally, when required the cast will also shoot on location in Las Vegas, but more often the locations will be substituted by California locations. Santa Clarita was originally chosen for its similarity to the outskirts of Las Vegas. Some of the California locations include the Verdugo Hills High School, UCLA's Royce Hall, the Pasadena City Hall and, as of October 2007, the California State University, Northridge campus.

On 2005, for CSI's sixth season, location again changed, and the entire soundstage was moved into the Universal Studios in Universal City, California. But even if there's no more indoor shooting in Santa Clarita, the city and the surroundings have proven so versatile that CSI still shoots some of its outdoor scenes there.

Music

CSI's current theme song used in the United States since inception in 2000, is "Who Are You", written by Pete Townshend with vocals by Roger Daltrey of The Who as the title track of their 1978 album. The show's spinoffs also use The Who songs as their theme songs: "Won't Get Fooled Again" for CSI: Miami and "Baba O'Riley" for CSI: NY, both recorded by The Who in 1971 for their album Who's Next. This was parodied in an episode of Two and a Half Men, where a CSI parody used "Squeeze Box" as its theme. The Who's Roger Daltrey made a special appearance in a season seven episode.

All throughout the series music plays an important role, artists like The Wallflowers, John Mayer and Akon (with Obie Trice) have even performed in the show (The Accused is Entitled, Built To Kill, Part 1 and Poppin' Tags respectively). The Wallflowers' "Everybody out of the water" can even be found on the CSI soundtrack. Mogwai is often heard during the 'science bits' as does Radiohead, but many other artists have lent their music to CSI such as Rammstein, Kasabian, Celldweller, Rob Zombie, Avril Lavigne, Bonobo, Zero 7, IAMX, Mobb Deep, Eminem, New Order, The Black Eyed Peas, The Turtles, Depeche Mode, Evanescence, Nine Inch Nails, The Game, The Stone Roses, Electronic, Peter Gabriel, Kaila Yu, Prodigy Gwen Stefani, Kate Bush, Placebo, Pantera and CSI actor Eric Szmanda's friend Marilyn Manson.

Other artists have been mentioned in CSI though not played. Catherine once said of a murder that happened in a meat-packing plant "this is like that Morrissey album, Meat Is Murder" (this album is actually by The Smiths). Another example is when in a later episode Jim Brass asked a murder suspect, that started singing, if he "looked like Paula Abdul" to her.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Soundtrack was released on September 24, 2002.

Crew

Executive Producers: Jerry Bruckheimer, Carol Mendelsohn, Ann Donahue, Anthony Zuiker, Jonathan Littman, Naren Shankar, William Peterson, Cynthia Chvatal

Plot

The show follows the cases of the Crime Scene Investigation division of the Las Vegas Police Department, usually referred to by officers as the "Las Vegas Crime Lab". Anthony E. Zuiker chose to set the series in Las Vegas because—as mentioned in the pilot episode—that city's crime lab is the second most active in the United States, after the Federal Bureau of Investigation lab in Quantico, Virginia. The division solves crimes almost entirely through the means of forensics evidence, which may or may not come to the conclusion of a murder or accidental death. The bizarre conclusions of these cases often force one to question morals and beliefs and possibly human nature in general.

Style

Stylistically, the show has drawn favorable comparisons to Quincy and The X-Files. The show's gadgets and occasional usage of yet-to-be-invented technology have moved the show nominally into the genre of science fiction and garnered it a 2004 Saturn Award nomination for best network television series. The series also occasionally lapses into the realm of fantasy, such as a 2006 episode, "Toe Tags" which is told from the point of view of several corpses in the CSI lab who reanimate and discuss their deaths with each other.

The series is known for its unusual camera angles, percussive editing techniques, hi-tech gadgets and vehicles (the GMC CSI Mobile Analysis Unit), detailed technical discussion, and graphic portrayal of bullet trajectories, blood spray patterns, organ damage, methods of evidence recovery (e.g. fingerprints from the inside of latex gloves), and crime reconstructions. This technique of shooting extreme close-ups, normally with explanatory commentary from one of the characters is referred to in the media as the "CSI shot". Many episodes feature lengthy scenes in which experiments, tests, or other technical work is portrayed in detail, usually with minimal sounds effects and accompanying music — a technique reminiscent of Mission: Impossible. Often the lighting, composition, and mise-en-scene elements are heavily influenced by avant-garde film.

Characters

Main article: List of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation characters

See also: Minor characters in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

Main Characters

• Dr. Gilbert "Gil" Grissom, Ph.D. (William Petersen): The night shift team supervisor for the Las Vegas CSI unit, and a forensic entomologist with a degree in biology from UCLA. Grissom was born August 17 1956. He is known for being a very thorough and methodical scientist, as well as for being a bit of a misanthropist. Grissom was raised Catholic, and although he stops short of denying the existence of a Creator, he is devoted to his beliefs that religion is of little use in today's society and has had theological/philosophical debates with more than one member of the cloth. Gil is proficient in sign language and used to have otosclerosis (inherited from his mother) but he underwent corrective surgery. It has been confirmed that he has a relationship with Sara Sidle to the viewers on the sixth season finale "Way to go" and to the rest of the lab on the seventh season finale "Living Doll", when Sara was kidnapped. This character is loosely based in real life CSI Daniel Holstein. In the season 8 episode The Case of the Cross-Dressing Carp, he proposes marriage to Sara, who accepts.

File:CSI-season1-promo.jpg

Season 1 promotional photograph of the CSI main cast.

• Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger): Blood spatter analyst. She was second-in-command of the night shift for the first four seasons, assuming command when Grissom was out of town or otherwise on leave, and has often quarreled with Grissom and Eckley when she feels her authority is compromised. She has often requested promotions or ways to spend more time with her teenage daughter. Katherine's ex-husband, Eddie, and her father, Sam, were both murdered on episodes of the program. Willows, who has an open crush on her teammate Warrick Brown, holds a Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology from UNLV. She supported herself through college by working as an exotic dancer. This character is loosely based in real life CSI Yolanda McCleary.

• Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan): Audio-video analyst. A Las Vegas native and a chemistry major from UNLV, Brown is an audio/visual analyst. Warrick is also a recovering gambling addict which is hindered by the fact he works in Las Vegas. He was in fact gambling when new CSI Holly Gribbs was killed at a scene in CSI's first episode, and almost lost his job because of not being with her at the time. Grissom's friendship and support has helped him a great deal in overcoming his addiction. Warrick seemingly goes thru life with a bit of a chip on his shoulder, rarely smiling, though he does have a deep affection for his hometown and uses his experience as a former gambler and casino runner in his investigations. Warrick was married in season five.

• Nicholas "Nick" Stokes (George Eads): Hair and fiber analyst. An easygoing and friendly former college baseball player and fraternity member with a degree in criminal justice from Texas A&M University, Stokes is a hair and fiber analyst from Dallas, Texas. Stokes tends to "empathize instead of sympathize" with the victims, which has drawn several rebukes from others. Nick often jumps to conclusions about cases before he has all the evidence. He has had numerous female guest stars, usually victims or stippers, make advances toward him, but though Nick is clearly not homosexual, he seems to be happy as a bachelor and has reluctantly turned down all of the prospective ladyfriends advances.

• Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox): A materials and element analyst. A physics major at Harvard University, Sidle previously worked for the San Francisco coroner and crime lab and replace Holly Gribbs after helping investigate her death. She is completely devoted to her job and will go to almost any lengths to make sure justice is served, for both the victims and the criminals. Sara's alcoholic father used to beat her and her mother Laura, until one day Laura snapped and stabbed him to death; as a result Sara has difficulties with dealing with abuse cases against women and children in her job. Following her father's death and her mother's subsequent institutionalization, she was placed into foster care. Sara generally seems jaded, calloused and unhappy, but also wants to be recognized for her work. She dresses very conservative but her views are extremely liberal. She has a romantic relationship with co-worker Gil Grissom, which came out to the rest of the lab when she was kidnapped at the end of season seven. She accepts Grissom's marriage proposal in the season 8 episode "The Case of the Cross-Dressing Carp". As of October 16th, 2007, Jorja Fox announced that she has quit CSI: to pursue other roles. Her last episode is set to air in November 2007.

• Captain James "Jim" Brass (Paul Guilfoyle): Homicide captain. Brass was the head of the CSI unit in Las Vegas until he was moved back to the police homicide division in the second episode. He was originally from New Jersey. He continues to work with CSI despite problems in season two with his daughter, who is a drug addict and a prostitute in Los Angeles. It was discovered during a near-death experience in season five his is not Ellie's biological father. He is now captain in the homicide division and works closely with the CSI team. He is very often the one that leads questionings, and his sarcastic attitude makes these questionings darkly humorous, keeping in step with the show's feel.

File:CSI-season 6-promo.jpg

Season 6 promotional photograph of the CSI main cast.

• Gregory "Greg" Sanders or "Greg-O" (Recurring 1&2) (Season 3- ) (Eric Szmanda): The newest field worker on the CSI team since the season five episode "Who Shot Sherlock?". He idolizes Grissom, once had a crush on Sara Sidle and is known for his "wacky" behavior. He is also known for being naive about forensics field work, despite an encyclopaedic knowledge of DNA and trace analysis. Greg, a very intelligent child prodigy, grew into a man with an unconventional look and funny attitude. He is known to listen to heavy metal music such as Marilyn Manson while working, supposedly to help his concentration. Despite his rebellious image, he did not challenge Sara's assertion that he was a virgin upon entering college. He has hinted at romantic interest in numerous women, both in and out of the lab, during his tenure on the program, including a bit of a "crush-war" with Hodges over Mia Dickerson. Greg is an Eagle Scout.

• Dr. Albert "Al" Robbins (Recurring 1&2) (Season 3- ) (Robert David Hall): The head county coroner. Married with three children, he is close friends with Grissom, who is often the only one who understands him, and vice versa. He has two prosthetic legs, and it has been implied that he lost them in an accident while trying to dig up a floor at a crime scene.

• David Hodges (Recurring 3–7) (Season 8- ) (Wallace Langham): A lab technician who was transferred to the Las Vegas crime lab from the Los Angeles crime lab. Hodges' appearances provide some comic relief, though most of the team finds him obnoxious and irritating. He always tries to ingratiate himself to Grissom, who occasionally does acknowledge Hodges' expertise, albeit grudgingly. Hodges' first appearance was in the third season episode "Recipe for Murder", and he became billed as a regular cast member starting with the season 8 episode "Dead Doll." He had a crush on fellow lab technician Mia Dickerson, and once got all the other lab workers to collaborate (behind Grissom's back) and try to solve the miniature case, coming up with a theory which Grissom unhappily admitted was likely quite accurate.

• Detective Sofia Curtis (Recurring 5-6,7-) (Season 7) (Louise Lombard): A CSI who became part of Grissom's team after the mid-season five split, decided by the Assistant Director of the crime lab, Conrad Ecklie. She soon considered resignation, upset at the fact that she had been demoted from acting day shift supervisor. In season six, Curtis makes a career shift from CSI to detective. When considering a case or crime scene, she thinks out loud, and explains to Grissom that this is the best way for her to concentrate, to notice, to understand, and to remember everything. A recurring character in season five, Sofia became a regular character in season seven, and Louise Lombard was billed in the opening credits. Sofia appeared in the season eight premiere, "Dead Doll," but Louise Lombard was no longer listed in the opening credits (replaced by Wallace Langham). She was, instead, billed as a "Special Guest Appearance." In the opening credits for the season 8 episode "Go To Hell," however, Louise Lombard was once again billed as a main cast member, only to be yet again replaced by Langham as David Hodges in The Case of the Cross-Dressing Carp.

Guest stars

Aisha Tyler, Liz Vassey and Liev Schreiber have all had recurring roles in the series. Tyler played Mia Dickerson, a DNA anylist for two seasons, Vassey played Wendy Simms, also a DNA anylist, and Schreiber appeared as Grissoms short term replacement, Michael Keppler. Another popular recurring actress is Xena: Warrior Princess villain Melinda Clarke, who plays Lady Heather, a diabetic who is also a brilliant and beautiful sexual-dominatrix who delved into cyber sex and owned her own brothel, while capturing the infatuation of Grissom. The two went so far as to go on a date, which Gil ended early when he though Lady Heather may be involved in a crime. Archie Kao, of Power Rangers fame has played Archie Johnson, an Audio-Video expert on the series since 2001.

CSI has also had many celebrity guest stars. Some of the guest stars that have appeared on the show are actress and model Stacy Dash, (Clueless) who played a lab technician that flirted with Warrick, rapper Method Man, who has appeared twice as troublemaker "Drops" (who Brass strongly dislikes), and pro-skateboarder Tony Hawk, who played a murder victim. James L. Avery, Sr., who played Uncle Phil on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Kelly Rowan of The O.C. both appeared in season three. Star Trek:The Next Generation star Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher) guest starred in season five, playing a homeless man, and one of the first roles for actress Dakota Fanning was playing a molestation victim in the seventh episode of season two.

Lost stars Harold Perrineau and Josh Holloway both appeared in episodes of the Las Vegas based CSI. Perrineau played a pedifile turned priest who made a failed attempt at an exorcism in season eight, and Holloway made an appearance as a hotel valet who played catcher on Nick Stoke's college baseball team. Elizabeth Mitchell, also of Lost, also guest starred in an episode. Other notable guest stars who have appeared on CSI were comedians Gilbert Gottfried and French Stewart, actresses America Ferrera, Faye Dunaway, and Shanna Moakler, as well as Tony Curtis, Danny Bonaduce, Kevin Federline, Stephen Baldwin and others. David Caruso, Emily Procter, and the rest of the original cast of CSI:Miami also appeared on the original series, episode 22 of season two, which was the genesis of the CSI:Miami spinoff.

Episodes

Main article: List of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episodes

There were twenty three episodes in the first season, including the two part pilot episode written by Anthony Zuiker, the series' creator. There were twenty three episodes each of the three following (Seasons two to four). There were twenty five episodes in Seasons five and twenty four in Seasons six and seven. The total number of aired episodes to date is 174.

A two part crossover episode with Without a Trace will air on November 82007. The first hour will be on CSI and the second hour will be on Without a Trace.

Reception

For the 2001 season CBS decided to move CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, along with the hit franchise Survivor, to Thursday night, ending NBC’s long dominance of this television hours, because even though they had a long-standing and popular Must See TV lineup (such as Friends and Will & Grace) they couldn't compete to CSI's 30 to 40 million viewers a week. CBS became the most-watched network on American television, with CSI being the most-watched program on television for the 2002–2003 TV season and the most-watched scripted show for five consecutive seasons, from the 2002–2003 season through the 2006–2007 season. Since 2003, it is also the top-rated drama series in America and in 2007 remains among the top five programs every season (usually behind American Idol).

The 2004–2005 season finale, directed by Quentin Tarantino and entitled "Grave Danger", was watched by over 35 million viewers on May 19 2005, twice that of the nearest competition..

It the fall of 2005 ABC began airing the second season of Grey's Anatomy at the same time as CSI, prompting a TV ratings battle between the two popular shows. Grey had over 3 million more viewers than CSI in that season's premiere. Since then it has been a constant fight between the two shows, because even when CSI beats Grey in the ratings, CSI always had lower ratings among the younger viewers, the category most wanted by advertisers. Some critics have said that CSI is now taking the characters into more romantic paths so as to compete with Grey, although this has been denied by Carol Mendelsohn. Also, the fact that for the first time ever CSI ended a season with a cliffhanger (Sara Sidle trapped under a car) has been compared to Grey's Anatomy, that has ended every season with cliffhangers. The cliffhanger resolution gave CBS its fruits since season eight premiered with over 4 million viewers more than Grey, also winning in the young people category.

Public reaction

CSI's popularity has led to websites, online discussion forums and a large amount of fan-made art to be made, they are second in amount of fan fiction (of a TV show) in FanFiction.Net, with over 17 thousand stories, Buffy the Vampire Slayer being the first, with over 30 thousand. On September 27 2007, after CSI's season eight premiered, a miniature model of character Gil Grissom's office (which he was seen building during season seven) was put up on eBay. The auction ended October 7th, with the prop being sold for $15,600; CBS donated the proceeds to the National CASA Association.

On August 2007, upon rumors of Jorja Fox leaving the show, a grassroots campaign started. Organized by the online forum Your Tax Dollars At Work, many of its nineteen thousand members donated to the cause, collecting over $8,000 for gifts and stunts targeted at CBS executives and CSI's producers and writers. Some of the stunts included a wedding cake delivery to Carol Mendelsohn, 192 chocolate covered insects with the message "CSI Without Sara Bugs Us." to Naren Shankar and a plane flying several times over the Universal Studios of Los Angeles with a "Follow the evidence keep Jorja Fox on CSI" banner. Another side of the campaign includes mailing the show's producers a dollar, so as to save Fox's contract "one dollar at a time". As of October 16, according to the site's running tally, more than 20,000 letters with money or flyers have been mailed to the Universal Studios and to CBS headquarters in New York from forty-nine different countries since the campaign started on September 29. The money sent will allegedly go to charity. This campaign is reminiscent to CBS's Jericho fans reaction over the show being cancelled. On that occasion, fans sent over 20 tons of nuts to CBS headquarters.

Criticism

• CSI has often been criticized for the level and gratuitousness of graphic violence, images, and sexual content. The CSI series (along with its spinoff shows) have pushed the boundary of what is considered acceptable viewing for primetime network television. The series had numerous episodes on sexual fetishism and other forms of sexual pleasure; see especially the recurring character of Lady Heather, a professional dominatrix. CSI has been ranked as among the worst prime-time shows for family viewing by the Parents Television Council nearly every season since its debut, being ranked the worst show for family prime-time viewing after the 2002–03 and 2005–06 seasons. The PTC has also targeted certain CSI episodes for its weekly "Worst TV Show of the Week" feature. In addition, the episode King Baby aired in February 2005, which the PTC named the most offensive TV show of the week, also led the PTC to start a campaign to file complaints with the FCC with the episode; to date, nearly 13,000 PTC members complained to the FCC about the episode. The PTC has also asked Clorox to pull their advertisements from CSI and CSI: Miami because of the graphically violent content on those programs.

• Another criticism of the show is the depiction of police procedure, which is decidedly lacking in realism. For instance, the show's characters not only investigate crime scenes (as their real-world counterparts would), but they also solve cases, which falls under the responsibility of detectives, not CSI personnel. However, some Detectives are also registered CSIs, although this is exceedingly rare in actual life. CSI shares this characteristic with its UK equivalent, Silent Witness.

• Some Police and District Attorneys have criticized the show for giving members of the public an inaccurate perception of how police solve crimes. District Attorneys state that the conviction rate in cases with little physical evidence has decreased, largely due to the influence of CSI on jury members. For more information, see the article CSI Effect.

• The LGBT community has criticized the show for its negative representation of LGBT characters. However, as the majority of the non-regular characters in the show are—by the show's very nature—criminals or suspects, it is only natural that all of the aforementioned guest characters are portrayed in a less than positive light. Furthermore, the fifth season episode "Ch-Ch-Changes" was received positively by the transgender community in particular. Furthermore, the season 5 episode "Iced" featured one of very few openly gay characters that was not a victim or criminal, as the victim's neighbour.

Franchise

Main article: CSI franchise

Like NBC’s Law & Order franchise, CBS went on to produce their own franchise starting in September 2002 with the spin-off CSI: Miami, set in Miami, Florida. Another spin-off debuted September 2004 with CSI: NY, set in New York City. Also, a number of comic books, video games and novels based on the series have been made. The series was found to be in the same "universe" as fellow CBS police-drama Without a Trace during a crossover episodes airing in late October of 2007.

CSI Effect

Main article: CSI Effect

The "CSI Effect" (sometimes referred to as the "CSI syndrome") is a reference to the phenomenon of popular television shows such as the CSI franchise, Law & Order, Silent Witness and Waking the Dead raising crime victims' and jury members' real-world expectations of forensic science, especially crime scene investigation and DNA testing. This is said to have changed the way many trials are presented today, in that prosecutors are pressured to deliver more forensic evidence in court.

CSI: The Experience

Main article: CSI: The Experience

Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry opened an exhibit in CSI's honor on May 25, 2007 called: "CSI: The Experience". There is also a supporting Web site designed for the benefit of people who cannot visit the exhibit at CSI: The Experience Web Adventure, designed by Rice University’s Center for Technology in Teaching & Learning.

The Mobile Analysis Unit

File:2007 GMC Yukon Denali.jpg

2007 GMC Yukon Denali

In the fifth season, General Motors donated two GMC Yukon XL Denalis to the series, these SUVs were later modified and introduced to the fans as the GMC CSI Mobile Analysis Unit in the Tarantino-directed season five finale "Grave Danger". The GMCs not only gave the show a new level of hi-tech gadgetry, but also was an element that set the series apart from their CSI: Miami and CSI: NY which don't have any SUV tailored to this extent. The GMCs were given a six inch height difference from standard Denalis so that the trunk could be used by the CSIs as a rain shield as they use laptops equipped with the databases from the lab to process critical evidence on the spot. The third row has been removed to make way for a set of organized stainless-steel drawers which contain everything from adhesives to swabs and other tools used to collect and process evidence on the spot. Once the new bodies were released for the 2007 generation of GMC SUVs, the show switched to using the newest Denalis with a new Mobile Analysis Unit as well.

U.S. television ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation on CBS.

Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.

Season	Timeslot	Season Premiere	Season Finale	TV Season	Ranking	Viewers (in millions)
1st	Friday 9:00pm/8c (from October 6 2000–January 12 2001) Thursday 9:00pm/8c (from February 1 2001)	October 6 2000	May 17 2001	2000–2001	#10	17.80
2nd	Thursday 9:00pm/8c	September 27 2001	May 16 2002	2001–2002	#2	23.69
3rd	Thursday 9:00pm/8c	September 26 2002	May 15 2003	2002–2003	#1	26.20
4th	Thursday 9:00pm/8c	September 25 2003	May 20 2004	2003–2004	#2	25.27
5th	Thursday 9:00pm/8c	September 23 2004	May 19 2005	2004–2005	#2	26.26
6th	Thursday 9:00pm/8c	September 22 2005	May 18 2006	2005–2006	#3	24.86
7th	Thursday 9:00pm/8c	September 21 2006	May 17 2007	2006–2007	#4	20.51
8th	Thursday 9:00pm/8c	September 27 2007	May 15 2008	2007–2008

Awards and nominations

Awards

Emmy:

• Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series - 2007
• Outstanding Cinematography For A Single-camera Series - 2006
• Outstanding Sound Editing For A Series - 2003
• Outstanding Makeup For A Series (Non-Prosthetic) - 2002

Nominations

Emmy:

• Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (Origanal Dramatic Score) - 2007
• Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup For A Series, Miniseries Or Special - 2007
• Outstanding Makeup For A Series (non-prosthetic) - 2007
• Outstanding Cinematography For A Single-Camera Series - 2007
• Outstanding Single-camera Sound Mixing For A Series - 2006
• Outstanding Sound Editing For A Series - 2006
• Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series - 2005: Quentin Tarantino
• Outstanding Makeup For A Series (non-prosthetic) - 2005
• Outstanding Single-camera Sound Mixing For A Series - 2005
• Outstanding Sound Editing For A Series - 2005
• Outstanding Cinematography For A Single-Camera Series - 2004
• Outstanding Drama Series - 2004
• Outstanding Makeup For A Series (Non-Prosthetic) - 2004
• Outstanding Single-Camera Sound Mixing For A Series - 2004
• Outstanding Drama Series - 2003
• Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series - 2003: Marg Helgenberger
• Outstanding Makeup For A Series (Non-Prosthetic) - 2003
• Outstanding Makeup For A Series (Prosthetic) - 2003
• Outstanding Single-Camera Sound Mixing For A Series - 2003
• Outstanding Cinematography For A Single-Camera Series - 2002
• Outstanding Drama Series - 2002
• Outstanding Makeup For A Series (Prosthetic) - 2002
• Outstanding Single-Camera Sound Mixing For A Series - 2002
• Outstanding Sound Editing For A Series - 2002
• Outstanding Art Direction For A Single-Camera Series - 2001
• Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series - 2001
• Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Series - 2001
• Outstanding Sound Editing For A Series - 2001

DVD releases

Region 1 DVD releases

DVD Name	Release Date
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 1	March 25 2003
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 2	September 2 2003
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 3	March 30 2004
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 4	October 12 2004
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 5	November 29 2005
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 6	November 14 2006
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 7	November 20 2007

The US box sets are distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment, while the Canadian box sets are distributed by Alliance Atlantis.

Region 2/4 DVD releases

Region 2 and 4 DVD releases have followed a pattern whereby each season is progressively released in two parts (each of 11 or 12 episodes, with special features split up) before finally being sold as a single box set. After being almost 12 months behind the region 2 releases for a while now, the region 4 releases are speeding up, with distributors foregoing the usual release pattern of "Part 1, Part 2, Complete Series" for season 5 and simply releasing it as a complete box set.

Region 2

DVD Name	Release dates
	Full season	Part 1	Part 2
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 1	December 8 2003	July 1 2002	October 7 2002
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 2	March 15 2004	July 28 2003	October 6 2003
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 3	July 26 2004	April 5 2004	July 5 2004
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Seasons 1–3	August 23 2004
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 4	November 21 2005	May 9 2005	July 11 2005
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Seasons 1–4	December 12 2005
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 5	June 26 2006	April 24 2006	June 14 2006
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Seasons 1–5	October 2 2006
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Grave Danger - Tarantino Episodes	October 10 2005
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 6	June 4 2007	February 26 2007	June 4 2007
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 7	TBA	September 3 2007	TBA

Region 4

DVD Name	Release dates
	Full season	Part 1	Part 2
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 1	November 27 2003	October 21 2002	April 9 2003
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 2	October 28 2004	October 27 2003	March 30 2004
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 3	October 4 2005	March 18 2005	September 13 2005
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 4	November 8 2006	May 12 2006	August 17 2006
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 5	January 24 2007	Not released	Not released
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Grave Danger - Tarantino Episodes	June 6 2007
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 6	December 5 2007	Not released	Not released
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season 7	TBA	TBA	TBA

Online sales

Country	Store	Available Season
United States	iTunes Store	6 and 7 After episode airs on TV. You can purchase the "season pass" which allows you to download each episode after it airs on television.
United States	Amazon Unbox	6
United States	Xbox Live	6 and 7 (About a week turnaround from air to download)
United Kingdom	Five Download	6 and 7
Germany	RTL now	6 and 7

See also

• CSI franchise
• CSI: Miami
• CSI: NY

External links

• CSI Official wiki at CBS
• "CSI" at Yahoo! TV
• CSI: The Experience
• CSI:Web Adventures
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