CSI and its spin offs

Elmo

Why is CSI: Crime Scene Investigation so much better then its spin off CSI:Miami.

Is CSI:New York any better?

tvnutz

People always slate me for this but I think Miami is far better than Vegas.I havnt seen New York yet,although I think Gary Sinsie is a great actor. I just prefer Miami overall,I love Caruso and he is more of a cop,but knows all the science stuff,while Grissom is just the science geek :P who doesnt even carry a gun anymore.Sara is so annoying,Catherine looks like her face is about to fall off! WIlliam Petereson has one facial expression for the enitre show and I just hate him!If there was another lead I might think the show was the best one.

koneko

I haven't seen NY, but Las Vegas is great. Can't get into Miami at all, all of the characters are annoying.

Grissom might have his little cheesy lines ("Friday night.... it's murder" *cringe*) but he's a good character.

Jammer

i like lv and miami the same, they're both excellent. Grishum is ur kind of straight by the book kinda chap, where hurashio (sp?) runs mainly on instinct. Both have their good points. Haven't seen new york yet, what channel is it on?

Hyzepher

I have watched all of CSI & CSI:NY - both are excellent. Couldn't get into CSI:Miami - just didn't have the same air about it.

NY is great ans although a few episodes are flat, the series has a lot of potential and the characters are as good as LV

Hyzepher

TheLedge

the CSI series are OK, but the Law & Order shows are far better.

CSI is too 'Hollywood' with all its slow-mo & techie science bits(which are interesting all the same...) Also, 90 % of the actors have to be stunningly beautiful. Best looking bunch of cops i ever saw!

As for that Horacio lad, worst case of overacting I've ever seen. what an absolute joker.

i watched the NY one the last day. it wasn't bad, but it wasn't particularly rivetting. Sinise was average.

Law and Order:SVU any day over the CSI trash. At least that makes you think a bit, and isn't obsessed with visual effects to improve the quality of the show.

in fairness what would you expect from the Bruckheimer school of bad boys 2.

ixoy

Agree with TheLedge - Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit are all superior to the CSI franchise.

'C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation' and 'CSI: Miami' relies too much on quick cuts and science montages. It's always about "the evidence" as well, so there's never any association or feeling for the victim or perpetrator. As a result I never feel involved in a case and just watch Grissom make smart-ass remarks. It seems very Bruckheimer really: slick, well produced, but ultimately hollow.
'CSI: Miami' made me laugh at Caruso's OTT ego-centric performance. Still though it suffers from the fact that it's not different enough to its siblings: they gather evidence, do their science thing, et voila...

'Law & Order', OTOH, has a nice mix: we've got the Law and the eh... Order. It's a nice mix.
'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' is sufficiently different to L&O as well because it focuses on a different set of perpetrators. It's also more character focused, with the detectives taking a personal interest in it. Here we actually believe they care about the victims. Far more emotionally affecting.
'Law & Order: Criminal Intent' is different again because it basically just has three characters. It's very much grounded in the performance of its lead and more of a brain wracker than an emotional teaser - as you try and race through the shifting plotlines. Plus the two make a great pair - some classic chemistry (non-sexual) between them whenever they're doing their setups.

tvnutz

I think Caruso's overacting is what makes Horatio good,unlike Grissom,boring same face Grissom. :P

Speaking of CSI,

Quentin Tarantino has signed to direct the season-finale episode of primetime's most-watched series, CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=597&ncid=763&e=8&u=/nm/20050224/tv_nm/television_tarantino_dc

TheLedge

ixoy, thanks for your shared opinion.

its comforting to know that I'm not the only one who can see the shallowness of the CSI franchise.

Zoton

ixoy wrote:

'C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation' and 'CSI: Miami' relies too much on quick cuts and science montages. It's always about "the evidence" as well, so there's never any association or feeling for the victim or perpetrator. As a result I never feel involved in a case and just watch Grissom make smart-ass remarks. It seems very Bruckheimer really: slick, well produced, but ultimately hollow.

I find that the most interesting part of the show myself, as a scientist. The show is mainly about the foresics, and characters come second. The CSI las vegas cast all irritate the hell out of me so i stopped watching. Much prefer CSI:Miami.
Though it does bug me when i see them making errors in the lab.

John R

TheLedge wrote:

ixoy, thanks for your shared opinion.

its comforting to know that I'm not the only one who can see the shallowness of the CSI franchise.

Of course it is shallow, most cop shows are. In it's own way L&O is just as shallow, although it is painted in a grittier canvas.

The only cop show on at the moment that is in any way original or artistic is The Wire, in every way a worthy successor to the brilliant early series of Homicide: Life On The Street.

tvnutz

I think CSI is watchable,but in no way brilliant,and in no way deserving of 30million viewers a week! The Wire,what I have seen of it so far,very good stuff.I also think among the Jerry Bruckheimer produced shows,Without a Trace and Cold Case are far better than the CSI shows.

humanji

I could never really getinto Miami as I just felt it was a rip off of the Las Vegas CSI. Horacio just comes off as a really bad copy of Grissom. And I've only seen the first episode of New York and that does seem to be the exact same formula except with different character names and location. Still, I do watch them when they're on. It's easy viewing.

ixoy

John R wrote:

The only cop show on at the moment that is in any way original or artistic is The Wire, in every way a worthy successor to the brilliant early series of Homicide: Life On The Street.

Oh agreed. I love 'The Wire' and constantly tried to draw it to the attention of people here. I've seen all three seasons (a fourth is unlikely) and think it's absolutely magnificent.

The only other cop show that's worthy of its company is, as you say, 'Homicide: Life on the Street'. Dan Simmons (mastermind of both shows) is a genius - very gritty shows but amazingly enough with great characters too. The Frank Pembleton/Tim Bayliss partnership is, IMHO, the greatest detective pairing I've ever seen - great acting and great chemistry. The only cop show I'd consider buying on DVD (if I had the money).

tvnutz

The Wire is HBO,so you know it has to be quality! Has anyone seen carnivale?

ixoy

There's a Carnivale thread here. I've seen them all so far and love it also. Closest thing I've had to "Twin Peaks" in years but so much more epic and less quirky.

tvnutz

Thanks for the link...forgot about that thread,yes it is brilliant.never seen Twin peaks.

Cork

ixoy wrote:

Agree with TheLedge - Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit are all superior to the CSI franchise.

'C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation' and 'CSI: Miami' relies too much on quick cuts and science montages. It's always about "the evidence" as well, so there's never any association or feeling for the victim or perpetrator. As a result I never feel involved in a case and just watch Grissom make smart-ass remarks. It seems very Bruckheimer really: slick, well produced, but ultimately hollow.
.

I agree. I feel that CSI is too clinical.

Law & Order has better storys & better actors.

CSI is a slick production but it is hollow.

Talliesin

ixoy wrote:

Oh agreed. I love 'The Wire' and constantly tried to draw it to the attention of people here. I've seen all three seasons (a fourth is unlikely) and think it's absolutely magnificent.

The only other cop show that's worthy of its company is, as you say, 'Homicide: Life on the Street'. Dan Simmons (mastermind of both shows) is a genius - very gritty shows but amazingly enough with great characters too. The Frank Pembleton/Tim Bayliss partnership is, IMHO, the greatest detective pairing I've ever seen - great acting and great chemistry. The only cop show I'd consider buying on DVD (if I had the money).

Homicide had a few cross-over points with the CSI francise, so it's kind of part of it. I agree about the Pembleton/Bayliss partnership, some of the best character writing and acting I've seen in any medium.

John R

Talliesin wrote:

Homicide had a few cross-over points with the CSI francise, so it's kind of part of it. I agree about the Pembleton/Bayliss partnership, some of the best character writing and acting I've seen in any medium.

Homicide was cancelled over a year before CSI started.

There were three cross-overs between Homicide and the original Law and Order series and of course Richard Belzer's character from Homicide was brought in to L&O SVU after Homicide ended. Despite that there was no creative connection between the two series, they had entirely different producers and writers. It was primarily a cross-promotion tactic because they were on the same network.
NBC also did the same with episodes of Profiler and The Pretender mainly because they were shown together on the same night.

John R

ixoy wrote:

Oh agreed. I love 'The Wire' and constantly tried to draw it to the attention of people here. I've seen all three seasons (a fourth is unlikely) and think it's absolutely magnificent.

The only other cop show that's worthy of its company is, as you say, 'Homicide: Life on the Street'. Dan Simmons (mastermind of both shows) is a genius - very gritty shows but amazingly enough with great characters too. The Frank Pembleton/Tim Bayliss partnership is, IMHO, the greatest detective pairing I've ever seen - great acting and great chemistry. The only cop show I'd consider buying on DVD (if I had the money).

It's not the cheapest, the Region 1 DVD season 1-5 set is about €140 from amazon.com.

If you haven't already I thoroughly reccommend you read the original true-life Homicide book by David Simon, it is a great read and some of the characters in both series are based on the real detectives.

bbability

CSI Miami is my favourite of the bunch. I have to say I could never get into Law & Order.... not my cup of tea.

Cork

My main problem is forensic scientiests do not question suspects.

That is the job for detectives.

CSI is niether fish nor foul.

It is however very watchable & I do enjoy it.

But I feel it is very clinical and some characters lack personality.

Tenshot

Another thumbs up here for The Wire - just finished watching Season 1 on DVD this morning, in the early hours.

It took me less than a week to go through the entire season, and the second season was ordered before I had reached Episode 3.

I'll definitely consider checking out Homicide now as well; I missed it completely when it was on TV.

aidan_walsh

That said, I enjoy the original series. Sure its kinda cold and clinical, and silly in all the ways mentioned above, but they still have good stories IMO. The Miami crow just seem like hollowed versions of their Nevada counterparts. The only ones who have any history are Calleigh with her father, and Horatio and his sister-in-law. The rest may as well be cardboard as far as empathy with the characters goes...

Talliesin

John R wrote:

Homicide was cancelled over a year before CSI started.

There were three cross-overs between Homicide and the original Law and Order

Bah! That's what I meant to type, L&O, not CSI.

ixoy

And while we're here, 'Law & Order: Trial By Jury' - the latest in the L&O franchise - starts this Thursday in the US, with a 2nd episode in its regular Friday night slot.

Already it sounds different enough, focusing on the trial side of things. I'll get on to my cousins and check it out this weekend hopefully.

A.S.H.

I'm just wondering when we will get to see Law & Order : Elevator Inspection Unit. I only saw a snippet on Family Guy but it looked quite good, very intense

TerrorFirmer

Holy crap that was hilarious, but yes, very brutal, very dark. Not for the faint of heart!