'C.S.I.' delivers nothing more than standard forensic fare

Katie Den Bleyker

For the Daily

Crime Scene Investigation, "C.S.I." for short, is CBS's new drama airing in that wasteland of TV, Friday nights, from 9-10pm.

"C.S.I." revolves around a department of forensic investigators in Las Vegas who analyze the evidence of crimes in order to determine who the perpetrators are. C.S.I. is headed by the stereotypical "tough captain," Jim Brass (Paul Guilfoyle), who enjoys giving his investigators a hard time, especially his new, unwelcome recruit, Holly Gribbs. Gil Grissom (William Petersen), the senior forensics officer, supervises the rest of the officers, including single mom Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger, "China Beach"), and dueling officers Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan) and Nick Stokes (George Eads).

The idea behind "C.S.I." seems to be for the viewers to solve the crimes along with the CSI forensics experts as new evidence is amassed. However, as any seasoned police officer will tell you, it is awfully hard to solve a crime if you're asleep on the job.

The fact that "C.S.I." is so boring that it is sleep inducing is the show's main problem. Perhaps this show would be more interesting to someone with an interest in forensic science, but to mere laypeople, most of the show's technical aspects are too scientific to be entertaining.

Because the technical aspects of forensics dominate the show, "C.S.I." lacks the drama and tension that is present in other shows like "ER." One thing "C.S.I." does have in common with "ER," however, is its grisly nature. "C.S.I." is a gross-out fest complete with rotting corpses that should not be viewed by those with weak stomachs.

Another problem with "C.S.I." are its cheesy names and dialogue. The head of CSI (or the "top brass") is conveniently named Jim Brass. The show's only African-American character is somewhat offensively named Warrick Brown. The dialogue consists of technical jargon intermingled with inane comments on things like video games and football pools. Not exactly the stuff of riveting drama.

The bottom line is that "C.S.I." is like a TLC special: Somewhat interesting if the topic (in this case forensic science) appeals to you. Quite boring if it does not.