CSI (franchise)

CSI
World CSI Day logo. Characters shown in order from top to bottom: Gil Grissom, Horatio Caine, Catherine Willows, Mac Taylor, D.B. Russell and Avery Ryan
Creator	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Anthony E. Zuiker CSI: Miami, CSI: NY and CSI: Cyber Anthony E. Zuiker Carol Mendelsohn Ann Donahue
Original work	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Print publications
Novels	CSI novels
Comics	CSI comics
Magazines	CSI Magazine
Films and television
Television series	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation CSI: Miami CSI: NY CSI: Cyber
Television films	Immortality
Games
Traditional	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: The Board Game CSI: Crime Game Booster Pack CSI: Senses: The Game CSI: Miami: The Board Game CSI: Board Game
Video games	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation CSI: Dark Motives CSI: 3 Dimensions of Murder CSI: Hard Evidence CSI: Miami CSI: NY CSI: Deadly Intent CSI: Crime City CSI: Fatal Conspiracy
Miscellaneous
Toys	CSI: Forensics Lab CSI: DNA Laboratory CSI: Forensic Facial
Exhibition	CSI: The Experience

CSI is a media franchise of American television programs created by Anthony E. Zuiker. The first three CSI series follow the work of forensic scientists as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious deaths, while the fourth series, CSI: Cyber, emphasizes behavioral psychology and how it can be applied to cyber forensics.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, began on October 6, 2000, and ran for fifteen full seasons. Starring William Petersen, Ted Danson, Marg Helgenberger, Elisabeth Shue, and Laurence Fishburne, the series concluded its run with a two-hour finale entitled Immortality on September 27, 2015. The series original lead characters, Gil Grissom and Catherine Willows, were based upon LVMPD Crime Scene Analysts Daniel Holstein and Yolanda McClary.^[1] CSI's first spin-off and the second series within the franchise is CSI: Miami, which ran for ten seasons between 2002 and 2012 and was canceled on May 13, 2012. Miami stars David Caruso, Kim Delaney, and Emily Procter, with its lead character, Horatio Caine, based upon LAPD bomb squad technician Detective John Haynes.^[2]

In 2004, CSI: Miami spun off CSI: NY, the third series in the franchise and the only indirect spin-off of CSI. It was canceled after nine seasons on May 10, 2013.^[3] The series starred Gary Sinise, Melina Kanakaredes, and Sela Ward. In 2014, CSI spun off CSI: Cyber, its second direct spin-off and the fourth series in the franchise. Cyber premiered in 2015, and starred Patricia Arquette and franchise alum Ted Danson – the only actor to appear as a series regular in more than one CSI series. The lead character, Avery Ryan, was inspired by cyber-psychologist Mary Aiken who is attached to the series as a producer.^[4] The final active series, CSI: Cyber, was canceled on May 12, 2016.^[5]

A total of 797 episodes of the CSI franchise have aired.

Overview

The CSI franchise is available in 200 territories with an audience of two billion people.^[6] Various spin-offs have been developed to cater for the market including novels, comic books, and computer games.

The franchise has had a large cultural impact. It has spawned what has been called the "CSI effect," in which juries often have unreasonable expectations of real-life forensics because of what they have seen on CSI. Equally, the new-found popularity of forensics dramas on television has led to an increase in applications for courses dealing with forensic science or archaeological science—in the United Kingdom applications are up by 30%.^[7] The franchise is so influential that fellow CBS show How I Met Your Mother advertised itself as "not a Crime Scene Investigation show".^[8] In some ways the franchise may also fill a cultural need:

"We started in 2000 and it was a success, but our ratings really shot up after the September 11 attacks," Zuiker says in a documentary about the CSI phenomenon to be aired at Christmas [2007]. "People were rushing to us for their comfort food. There was a sense of justice in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation – it helped to know that there were people like our characters out there helping to solve crimes. And, of course, 9/11 was the world's largest crime scene."^[6]

However, the "CSI effect" also has a negative side, as criminals are frequently covering up evidence that could be used to trace them using techniques learned by watching CSI and other shows in the same genre.^[9]

Series

CSI:Miami and CSI:Cyber spun off from CSI, and CSI:NY spun off from CSI:Miami, all via backdoor-pilot episodes.

Series	Television seasons																Duration
	2000/01	2001/02	2002/03	2003/04	2004/05	2005/06	2006/07	2007/08	2008/09	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Finale	2000–15
CSI: Miami		Pilot	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10					2002–12
CSI: NY				Pilot	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9				2004–13
CSI: Cyber														Pilot	1	2	2015–16

Characters

Character	No. of episode appearances					Actor	First	Last
	Series				Total
	CSI	Miami	NY	Cyber
Grissom, GilGil Grissom	198				199[N 1]	Petersen, WilliamWilliam Petersen	2000	2015
Willows, CatherineCatherine Willows	266				266	Helgenberger, MargMarg Helgenberger	2000	2015
Brown, WarrickWarrick Brown	183				183	Dourdan, GaryGary Dourdan	2000	2008
Stokes, NickNick Stokes	335				335	Eads, GeorgeGeorge Eads	2000	2015
Brass, JimJim Brass	318				318	Guilfoyle, PaulPaul Guilfoyle	2000	2015
Sidle, SaraSara Sidle	297				297	Fox, JorjaJorja Fox	2000	2015
Sanders, GregGreg Sanders	335				335	Szmanda, EricEric Szmanda	2000	2015
Robbins, AlAl Robbins	330				330	Hall, Robert DavidRobert David Hall	2000	2015
Curtis, SofiaSofia Curtis	52				52	Lombard, LouiseLouise Lombard	2004	2011
Hodges, DavidDavid Hodges	249				249	Langham, WallaceWallace Langham	2003	2015
Adams, RileyRiley Adams	22				22	Smith, Lauren LeeLauren Lee Smith	2008	2009
Langston, RaymondRaymond Langston	61	1	1		63	Fishburne, LaurenceLaurence Fishburne	2008	2011
Simms, WendyWendy Simms	78				78	Vassey, LizLiz Vassey	2005	2010
Phillips, DavidDavid Phillips	291				291	Berman, DavidDavid Berman	2000	2015
Russell, D.B.D.B. Russell[N 2]	86		1	18	105	Danson, TedTed Danson	2011	2016
Brody, MorganMorgan Brody	87				87	Harnois, ElisabethElisabeth Harnois	2011	2015
Finlay, JulieJulie Finlay	71				71	Shue, ElisabethElisabeth Shue	2012	2015
Andrews, HenryHenry Andrews	128				128	Wellner, JonJon Wellner	2005	2015
Caine, HoratioHoratio Caine	1	232	1		234	Caruso, DavidDavid Caruso	2002	2012
Duquesne, CalleighCalleigh Duquesne	1	232			233	Procter, EmilyEmily Procter	2002	2012
Delko, EricEric Delko	1	221			222	Rodriguez, AdamAdam Rodriguez	2002	2012
Woods, AlexxAlexx Woods	1	145			146	Alexander, KhandiKhandi Alexander	2002	2009
Speedle, TimTim Speedle	1	50			51	Cochrane, RoryRory Cochrane	2002	2007
Donner, MeganMegan Donner		10			10	Delaney, KimKim Delaney	2002	2002
Salas, YelinaYelina Salas		60			60	Milos, SofiaSofia Milos	2003	2009
Wolfe, RyanRyan Wolfe		182			182	Togo, JonathanJonathan Togo	2004	2012
Tripp, FrankFrank Tripp		187			187	Linn, RexRex Linn	2003	2012
Boa Vista, NataliaNatalia Boa Vista		153			153	LaRue, EvaEva LaRue	2005	2012
Price, TaraTara Price		23			23	Echikunwoke, MegalynMegalyn Echikunwoke	2008	2009
Cardoza, JesseJesse Cardoza		25			25	Cibrian, EddieEddie Cibrian	2009	2010
Simmons, WalterWalter Simmons		63			63	Miller, Omar BensonOmar Benson Miller	2009	2012
Taylor, MacMac Taylor	1	2	197		200	Sinise, GaryGary Sinise	2004	2013
Bonasera, StellaStella Bonasera		1	140		141	Kanakaredes, MelinaMelina Kanakaredes	2004	2010
Messer, DannyDanny Messer		1	197		198	Giovinazzo, CarmineCarmine Giovinazzo	2004	2013
Burn, AidenAiden Burn		1	26		27	Ferlito, VanessaVanessa Ferlito	2004	2006
Hawkes, SheldonSheldon Hawkes		1	197		198	Harper, HillHill Harper	2004	2013
Flack, DonDon Flack			197		197	Cahill, EddieEddie Cahill	2004	2013
Monroe, LindsayLindsay Monroe			172		172	Belknap, AnnaAnna Belknap	2005	2013
Hammerback, SidSid Hammerback			168		168	Joy, RobertRobert Joy	2005	2013
Ross, AdamAdam Ross			141		141	Buckley, A. J.A. J. Buckley	2005	2013
Danville, JoJo Danville			57		57	Ward, SelaSela Ward	2010	2013
Ryan, AveryAvery Ryan	2			31	33	Arquette, PatriciaPatricia Arquette	2014	2016
Mundo, ElijahElijah Mundo				31	31	Van Der Beek, JamesJames Van Der Beek	2015	2016
Sifter, SimonSimon Sifter				13	13	MacNicol, PeterPeter MacNicol	2015	2015
Nelson, BrodyBrody Nelson				31	31	Moss, ShadShad Moss	2015	2016
Krumitz, DanielDaniel Krumitz				31	31	Koontz, CharleyCharley Koontz	2015	2016
Ramirez, RavenRaven Ramirez				31	31	Kiyoko, HayleyHayley Kiyoko	2015	2016
Russell, D.B.D.B. Russell[N 2]	86		1	18	105	Danson, TedTed Danson	2011	2016

Differences between series

Las Vegas

Methods
The Las Vegas team are scientists foremost and follow the evidence.

Crimes
The crimes the Las Vegas CSI team face (other than the standard murder and rape) include casino robberies, bodies buried in the Nevada desert, and murders during different conventions at casinos.

Crime lab
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Crime Lab is a modern crime lab and shares a lot (but not a building) with the LVPD Police Department. It reports to the sheriff's office. In early episodes of season one the lab is frequently referred to as the number-two crime lab in the United States, solving cases believed unsolvable. The lab consists of specialist laboratories, a Supervisor's office, an Assistant Supervisor's office, a locker room, a break-room, and stairs leading to a second floor, believed to house the offices of the Day-shift and Swing-shift supervisors.

• Directors: D.B. Russell (12.01–16.02), Sara Sidle (16.02)
• Supervisors: Jim Brass (1.01), Gil Grissom (1.02–9.10), Sofia Curtis (5.07–5.08), Catherine Willows (5.09–5.25, 9.11–11.22), D.B. Russell (12.01–16.02)
• Assistant Supervisors: Gil Grissom (1.01), Catherine Willows (1.02–5.08, 6.01–9.10, 12.01–12.12), Sofia Curtis (5.09–5.25), Nick Stokes (10.01–11.22), Julie Finlay (12.14–15.18)

Miami

Methods
The Miami team are detectives foremost and mainly use theories to solve crimes.

Crimes
The crimes the Miami CSI team face (other than the standard murder and rape) include drug running, murdered Cuban refugees, bodies found washed up on the beach and dumped in the everglades and murders involving the rich and famous who have secrets to hide.

Crime lab
First stationed out of a broom-closet next to the MDPD's bull-pen, CSI Miami was eventually given its own building prior to the start of the first season. Originally dark and technical the building housed Horatio's office, Megan's office, specialist labs, and a locker room. During the fourth season a government grant meant that slanted glass walls, multiple modern labs, an interrogation room, and a new locker room were all constructed. Horatio's office has not been seen since the lab's reconstruction although a state-of-the-art ballistics suite was added, acting as Calleigh's office. The lab has reinforced windows and shutters to protect against hurricanes and tsunamis.

• Director & Supervisor: Horatio Caine (Backdoor pilot–10.19)
• Assistant Supervisors: Megan Donner (1.01–1.10), Calleigh Duquesne (1.11–10.19)

New York

Methods
The New York team are equally scientists and detectives and frequently use criminal profiling (as well as evidence and theories) to solve cases.

Crimes
The crimes the New York CSI team face (other than the standard murder and rape) include mob activity, gang violence, and ethnic, cultural, and ability differences.

Crime lab
During the first season the NYPD CSI lab was in an old underground building with rustic brick walls. The lab housed Mac's office, a locker room, the autopsy suite, and specialist forensic laboratories. As of the second season the lab is on the 35th floor of a high-rise building in Manhattan. Equipped with glass walls and state-of-the-art equipment this lab consists of Mac's office, specialist laboratories, an observation walkway, a break-room and kitchen, a locker room, an office belonging to the Assistant Supervisor and Lindsay, and an office belonging to Danny and Hawkes. Part of this second lab was blown up in the season three finale, "Snow Day", but was restored by the beginning of season four.

• Director & Supervisor: Mac Taylor (Backdoor pilot–9.17)
• Assistant Supervisors: Stella Bonasera (Backdoor pilot–6.23), Jo Danville (7.01–9.17)

Washington, D.C.

Methods
The Cyber team focuses on the technical aspect of crimes, with NextGen forensics providing it with a real-world crime scene investigative counterpart.

Crimes
The FBI Cyber Crime Division investigates cyber-based terrorism, internet-related murders, espionage, computer intrusions, major cyber-fraud, cyber-theft, hacking, sex offenses, blackmail, and any other crime deemed to be cyber-related within the FBI's jurisdiction.

Divisions
— Cyber Crime Division
The FBI Cyber Crime Division operates out of Washington, D.C. and is housed in the Cyber Threat Operations Center. The CTOC consists of Ryan's office, Russell's office, a communications bullpen housing the desks of Krumitz, Nelson, and Ramirez, a cyber lab, a glass walkway, and a 'tear-down room'. Due to their nomadic nature the team are often seen interviewing suspects at various FBI field offices and police departments.

• Directors: Director Marcus Silver, Asst. Deputy Director Simon Sifter (1.01–1.13), Deputy Director Colin Vickner (1.01–2.04), Deputy Director Avery Ryan (2.06–2.18)
• Special Agent in Charge: Avery Ryan (Backdoor pilot–2.05)

— Next Generation Cyber Forensics Division
The Next Generation Cyber Forensics Division is a lab-based facility within the Cyber Crime Division used for the processing of evidence in cyber-related cases.

• Director: D.B. Russell (2.01–2.18)

Theme songs

The opening themes for all four series are remixes of songs performed by The Who.

Series	Theme song
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	"Who Are You"
CSI: Miami	"Won't Get Fooled Again"
CSI: NY	"Baba O'Riley"
CSI: Cyber	"I Can See for Miles"

Crossovers

Crossovers are possible between CSI series as well as with other programs within the same creative stable. Between the series the baton is passed to the new CSI series via a crossover/pilot where cases are overlapped and personnel are shared. Many actors have appeared in two of the series. Four actors have appeared in three: David Caruso, Laurence Fishburne, and Gary Sinise all appeared in CSI, CSI: Miami, and CSI: NY, while Ted Danson appeared as a guest star on CSI: NY and a series regular on both CSI and CSI: Cyber, making him the first actor to be a main character in more than one CSI series. Crossovers have also, on occasion, taken place between a CSI series and a series outside the franchise.

Within the franchise

Crossover between			Episode	Type	Actors crossing over	Date aired
Series A	Series B	Series C
CSI	CSI: Miami	N/A	"Cross Jurisdictions" (CSI 2.22)	Backdoor pilot	Series A: David Caruso, Emily Procter, Adam Rodríguez, Rory Cochrane, Khandi Alexander	May 9, 2002
Catherine and Warrick team up with Horatio Caine to investigate the murder of Las Vegas' former chief and the kidnapping of his wife and daughter following a wild party.
CSI: Miami	CSI: NY	N/A	"MIA/NYC NonStop" (CSI: Miami 2.23)	Backdoor pilot	Series A: Gary Sinise, Melina Kanakaredes, Carmine Giovinazzo, Vanessa Ferlito, Hill Harper	May 17, 2004
Horatio travels to New York believing it to be the residence of someone who committed a double homicide. He is assisted by Mac Taylor who suspects that the crimes in Miami might be connected to the murder of an undercover New York cop.
CSI: NY	CSI	N/A	"Grand Master" (CSI: NY 1.04)	Character appearance	Series A: Ricky Harris	October 27, 2004
CSI consultant Disco Placid (first seen in "Anonymous") consults on the audio aspects of a murder that takes place during a turntable competition.
CSI: Miami	CSI: NY	N/A	"Felony Flight" (CSI: Miami 4.07) "Manhattan Manhunt" (CSI: NY 2.07)	Two-night event	Series A: Gary Sinise Series B: David Caruso	Nov. 7, 2005 Nov. 9, 2005
A convicted serial killer, Henry Darius, sabotages and escapes an airplane that was flying him from New York to Miami, where he supposedly buried a body. After fleeing the crash site he goes on a killing spree and abducts a college student. Since Darius was originally arrested in New York, Mac Taylor arrives in Miami to help Horatio track the killer down. Darius murders a group of teens in a luxury apartment where he tries to rob a security vault.
CSI: Miami	CSI: NY	CSI	"Bone Voyage" (CSI: Miami 8.07) "Hammer Down" (CSI: NY 6.07) "The Lost Girls" (CSI 10.07)	CSI: Trilogy	Series A & B: Laurence Fishburne	Nov. 9, 2009 Nov. 11, 2009 Nov. 12, 2009
Ray Langston arrives in Miami to investigate a severed leg found in the Everglades that belonged to a girl who disappeared in Las Vegas a week before. He discovers a human-trafficking ring that specializes in black-market organ harvesting that leads him to New York where he assists Mac in attempting to free a hostage. Ray returns to Las Vegas to find a missing girl who's been taken by the human traffickers and may be part of a prostitution ring.
CSI	CSI: NY	N/A	"In Vino Veritas" (CSI 13.13) "Seth and Apep" (CSI: NY 9.15)	Two-night event	Series A: Gary Sinise Series B: Ted Danson	Feb. 6, 2013 Feb. 8, 2013
Mac Taylor visits Las Vegas to surprise his girlfriend, Christine, who is missing upon his arrival. It turns out she was kidnapped in New York before the trip and a look-alike took her place. D.B Russell insists on accompanying Mac back to New York to help find her.
CSI	CSI: Cyber	N/A	"Kitty" (CSI 14.21)	Backdoor pilot	Series A: Patricia Arquette	Apr. 30, 2014
Avery Ryan, a Special Agent attached to the FBI Cyber Crime Division, travels to Las Vegas when the murder of a casino mogul's wife is linked to an UnSub she has been tracking who commits crimes on the internet that play out in the real world.
CSI	CSI: Cyber	N/A	"The Twin Paradox" (CSI 15.06)	Guest appearance	Series A: Patricia Arquette	Nov. 16, 2014
Finlay leads the CSI team in a hunt for Seattle's notorious Gig Harbor Killer, while Russell meets with colleague Avery Ryan for advice on how to catch a mentally unstable serial killer.

With other series

Crossover between		Episode	Type	Actors crossing over	Date aired
Series A	Series B
CSI: NY	Cold Case	"Cold Reveal" (CSI: NY 3.22)	Guest appearance	Series A: Danny Pino	May 2, 2007
When Stella Bonasera's DNA matches evidence found during a Cold Case investigation in Philadelphia, Detective Scotty Valens visits the New York Crime Lab in order to rule her out as a homicide suspect.
CSI	Without a Trace	"Who and What" (CSI 8.06) "Where and Why" (Without a Trace 6.06)	Two-hour event	Series A: Anthony LaPaglia Series B: William Petersen	Nov. 8, 2007
Jack Malone joins forces with Grissom to track a serial killer since a boy who was kidnapped in New York six years before matches the profile of a Las Vegas murder victim. The two of them establish the killer's pattern of behavior to track him down.
Two and a Half Men	CSI	"Fish in a Drawer" (Two and a Half Men 5.17) "Two and a Half Deaths" (CSI 8.16)	Writer exchange	Series A: George Eads Series B: Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, Angus T. Jones	May 5, 2008 May 8, 2008
The two shows' writers swapped roles. George Eads appears in "Fish in a Drawer" as a wedding guest when a man is found dead, possibly murdered. In "Two and a Half Deaths" Grissom investigates the death of a sitcom diva who was filming in Las Vegas. Sheen, Cryer, and Jones appear as their characters wearing the same clothes from "Fish in a Drawer".
CSI	MythBusters	"Theory of Everything" (CSI 8.15) "Fireball Stun Gun" (MythBusters 8.10)	Cameo appearance	Series A: Jamie Hyneman, Adam Savage	May 1, 2008 June 2, 2010
The team investigates an abundance of cases that turn out to be related, including the death of a man who may have spontaneously combusted in police custody due to the combination of two supposedly nonlethal weapons: pepper spray and a stun gun. Hyneman and Savage appear in "Theory of Everything" as lab technicians watching Nick test the idea and then later on MythBusters test it themselves in earnest and find it plausible.

UK TV movies

In the UK, Channel 5 edited together related episodes to make one whole feature. These include:

	Series	Title	Episodes edited together	Runtime
	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	The CSI Pilot Movie	"Pilot" / "Cool Change"
The CSI Movie: Grave Danger		"Grave Danger (Part 1)" / "Grave Danger (Part 2)"
The CSI Movie: Bullet[10]		"A Bullet Runs Through It (Part 1)" / "A Bullet Runs Through It (Part 2)"	110 mins
The CSI Movie: Bang-Bang[11]		"Bang-Bang" / "Way to Go"	110 mins
The CSI Movie: Built to Kill[12]		"Built to Kill (Part 1)" / "Built to Kill (Part 2)"	110 mins
The CSI Movie: Dr Who & Mr Jekyll[13]		"Doctor Who" / "Meat Jekyll"	105 mins
The CSI Movie: Immortality		"Immortality Part I" / "Immortality Part II"	87 mins
	CSI: Miami	The CSI Movie: Crisis[14]	"No Man's Land" / "Man Down"	105 mins
The CSI Movie: Fallen[15]		'"All Fall Down" / "Fallen"	105 mins
	CSI: NY	The CSI Movie: Revenge[16]	"Nothing for Something" / "Life Sentence"	100 mins

Also Channel 5 will sometimes group episodes with similar themes together such as psychopaths ("CSI: Psycho Season"), home invasion murders and cop killings ("CSI: Cops in Crisis"), domestic murders between couples ("CSI: Murder and Matrimony"), and even episodes with guest celebrities ("CSI: Celeb").

Other media

Comics

There have been a number of comic books based on all three series published by IDW Publishing. Writers include Jeff Mariotte and Max Allan Collins.

Games

The CSI franchise has spawned 11 computer games published by Ubisoft across the three shows.

Gameloft has also published a series of mobile games based on the CSI series including CSI: The Mobile Game (Vegas) and CSI: Miami.

In addition, several board games and puzzles based on all three series have seen release, all published by Canadian game manufacturer Specialty Board Games, Inc. In 2011, the CSI Board Game was released by another Canadian company, GDC–GameDevCo Ltd. It is the first game to include all three CSI shows.^[17]

A pinball game machine called CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was released in 2008.^[18]

Exhibition

Chicago's Museum of Science & Industry opened an exhibit in CSI's honor on May 25, 2007 called: "CSI: The Experience".^[19] In October 2011 it was at Discovery Times Square in New York City.^[20] There is also a game on the website where you are trained in forensic biology, weapons and tool mark analyses, toxicology and the autopsy.

Novels

Various novelizations have appeared based on the series. Authors include Max Allan Collins (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation), Donn Cortez (CSI: Miami), Stuart M. Kaminsky (CSI: NY), and Keith R.A. DeCandido (CSI: NY).

Magazine

Titan Magazines published 11 issues of CSI Magazine starting in November 2007. They contained a mixture of features and interviews looking into the world of the three CSIs and the people who help create it.^[21] They were available in the UK and US.^[22]

Toys

A range of toys have been developed. These include:

• "CSI: Forensics Lab"
• "CSI: DNA Laboratory"
• "CSI: Forensic Facial"

However, they have been the source of some controversy. The Parents Television Council, who have complained about CSI in general, in 2004 released a statement specifically aimed at the toys.^[23] The PTC e-mailed letters to their supporters, telling them the content of the games were entirely inappropriate for children to be exposed to "because the CSI franchise often displays graphic images, including close-ups of corpses with gunshot wounds and other bloody injuries." The letter went on to say "The PTC doesn't think the recreation of blood, guts and gore should be under a child's Christmas tree this year," PTC concluded. "This so-called 'toy' is a blatant attempt to market CSI and its adult-oriented content directly to children."

In urging members to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, PTC said CBS parent company Viacom needed to hear from parents who are concerned about the "graphic scenes of blood, violence, and sex" in their product. They also asked their supporters to contact Target and Toys "R" Us.

World record

Producers announced intentions to break the Guinness World Record for largest ever TV simulcast drama on March 4, 2015, with the episode "Kitty" airing in 150 countries in addition to digital streaming.^[24] They succeeded in breaking the record by airing CSI: Cyber's backdoor pilot in 171 countries.^[25]

Documentaries

Because of the popularity of the CSI franchise in the United Kingdom, Channel 5 created two documentaries about CSI. The first one called The Real CSI follows real crime scene investigators as they work on crime scene. The second documentary, True CSI, features true tales of how forensic science has helped solve some of the world's best known crimes. True CSI had actors re-enacting the crime as well as interviews with people involved in the solving of the crimes themselves. Cases featured included the Sam Sheppard case.

In early 2007, British channel ITV1 broadcast a special of its flagship documentary Tonight with Trevor McDonald discussing the ramifications of the "CSI effect", highlighting the effect not only of the franchise but of several other British and American TV police procedurals.

The popularity of the series has also spawned forensic based reality television/documentary programs, including A&E's The First 48 and truTV's North Mission Road.

In April 2012, PBS' Frontline aired a documentary called "The Real CSI" investigating the limitations of the CSI techniques in forensic science.^[26]

References

Notes

Further reading

As well as fictional books based on the franchise there have also been a number of guides published:

• Flaherty, Mike, and Corinne Marrinan (September 2004). CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Companion. Pocket Books, ISBN 0-7434-6741-8.
• Marrinan, Corinne, and Steve Parker (October 2006). Ultimate CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Dorling Kindersley, ISBN 1-4053-1672-1.
• Cortez, Donn, and Leah Wilson, eds. (December 2006). Investigating CSI: An Unauthorized Look Inside the Crime Labs of Las Vegas, Miami, and New York. Smart Pop series, BenBella Books, ISBN 1-932100-93-8.
• Allen, Michael (August 2007). Reading CSI: Crime TV Under the Microscope. I.B. Tauris, ISBN 1-84511-428-0.
• Cohan, Steven (December 2008). CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. BFI TV Classics, BFI Publishing, ISBN 1-84457-255-2.