Unique C.S.I. created new genre for crime drama

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This article was published 26/09/2015 (4029 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In this case, there will be no need for an autopsy. Foul play is not suspected; there will be no gruesome clues to decipher and no badly decomposed remains to be probed.

The death of C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation is a result of natural causes. In simple terms, it will be said C.S.I. died of old age. The show will pass from the prime-time schedule (Sunday at 8 p.m. on CBS) peacefully, surrounded by its remaining friends and viewers.

It’s fitting C.S.I.’s send-off comes in the form of a two-hour movie, Immortality, Parts I and II, that brings back the most noteworthy characters from the series’ 15-year run to assist the current squad of investigators with one last explosive case.

And really, whether C.S.I.’s last instalment is a thriller or a yawner is of little consequence, because this reunion-fuelled finale is more about giving the series’ fans — whose numbers are far fewer than the 25 million-plus who tuned in weekly during the show’s heyday — a chance to give their favourite TV characters one last, great big figurative group hug.

And that’s a good thing, because if there’s a broadcast-network show in the medium’s brief 21st-century history that deserves to be celebrated, it’s C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation, which not only redefined the modern-day cop show and spawned a steady stream of spinoffs and copycats that set a new template for prime-time drama, but also had a significant impact on broader pop culture and the public’s perception of real-life police work and the judicial system.

And of course, as is often the case with huge-hit television shows, C.S.I.’s runaway success was something no one in the TV biz saw coming.

The show was an afterthought-style addition to CBS’s fall schedule in October 2000, dropped in the ratings-wasteland Friday-night lineup with little expectation it would draw an audience. Created and written by a complete unknown named Anthony Zuiker, who was working as tram driver in Las Vegas when his very-unconventional pilot script caught the attention of producer Jerry Bruckheimer, C.S.I. was considered a long shot because of its emphasis on using scientific technology and brain work, rather than guns and fists, to solve crimes.

But when it hit, it hit big — by the end of the 2000-01 season, C.S.I. was averaging more than 20 million U.S. viewers, placing it solidly in TV’s Top 10 ratings list. By 2003, it was TV’s most watched program, and it remained in the Top 10 for the rest of the decade.

Because of the procedural nature of its storytelling, C.S.I. (much like NBC’s often-replicated Law & Order franchise) was a format perfectly suited to spinoffs. C.S.I.: Miami debuted in 2002, and was followed by C.S.I.: New York in 2004. The most recent addition to the stable, CSI: Cyber, premiered last season and was renewed for 2015-16.

But the show’s influence in prime time extends far beyond shows with C.S.I. in their title. It can be fairly argued that there’s an entire generation of TV series, from Criminal Minds to NCIS to Scorpion and beyond, whose prime-time success is built on the scientific-procedural foundation that C.S.I. created.

It’s also possible that the C.S.I. franchise will someday be remembered as the last great prime-time drama institution; with viewers’ attention being drawn ever deeper into the realms of cable-TV content (HBO, AMC, FX and the like) and streaming-service series (such as Netflix’s House of Cards, Orange Is The New Black and Narcos), it’s unthinkable that traditional network TV will reclaim its status as the preferred destination for scripted entertainment.

But for one more night, C.S.I. fans get to celebrate their favourite show, and to say goodbye to Gil Grissom (William Peterson) and Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger) and Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox) and Jim Brass (Paul Guilfoyle) and D.B. Russell (Ted Danson) and the rest of the extended Crime Scene crew. There will be blood and there will be body parts, and there will be icky investigations portrayed in the usual intricately CGI-detailed manner.

It’ll be a fittingly C.S.I.-ish finale, no doubt. But even the most ardent of the show’s supporters will agree that C.S.I. departed peacefully and with dignity, after a long and productive life.

brad.oswald@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @BradOswald