CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series. CSI premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The ninth season began airing on October 9, 2008 and currently airs in the United States on Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. It is filmed primarily at Universal Studios in Universal City, California. CSI trails the investigations of a team of Las Vegas forensic scientists as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths and other crimes. For the first eight and a half seasons, the show starred William Petersen as Dr. Gil Grissom, the night shift supervisor who excels in crime scene investigation. In the middle of the ninth season, Petersen left and was replaced by Laurence Fishburne as Dr. Raymond Langston, a former medical doctor who turns criminalist in an attempt to rid himself of past demons. Reception of the show is generally good, with ratings making it the number one show on the network several times in its history, although it has been criticized for its inaccurate portrayal of how police investigations are performed and for its often extremely violent depictions of the crime. CSI has been nominated numerous times for industry awards and has won nine awards during its history. The success of the program has led it to be spun off into two additional shows, an exhibit at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, a series of books, and several video games.

Overview

CSI is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Television and CBS Productions, which became CBS Paramount Television in the fall of 2006. Formerly a co-production with the now-defunct Alliance Atlantis Communications, that company's interest in the series is now owned by investment firm GS Capital Partners, an affiliate of Goldman Sachs. CBS Paramount acquired AAC's international distribution rights to the program.The show has been heavily criticized—almost since its debut—by police and district attorneys, who feel CSI portrays an inaccurate image of how police solve crimes, and by the Parents Television Council, who note the level and gratuitousness of graphic violence, images and sexual content seen on the show. Nevertheless, CSI became the most-watched show on American television by 2002. The success of the show encouraged CBS to produce a franchise, starting in May 2002 with the spin-off CSI: Miami and then again in 2004 with CSI: NY.The show is now in syndication and reruns are currently broadcast in the US on the Spike and TV Land cable networks.CBS renewed the show for a ninth season, which began airing on October 9, 2008. With the departures of William Petersen and Gary Dourdan, the ninth season stars new characters played by Lauren Lee Smith and Laurence Fishburne. Lady Heather returned in episode 905 and The Miniature Killer returned in episode 907.As of the fall of 2008, CSI commands an average cost of $262,600 for a 30-second commercial, according to an Advertising Age survey of media-buying firms.

Conception and development

During the 1990s, Anthony Zuiker 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 (The New Detectives).Zuiker started spending time with real-life LVMPD 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 spec script and presented it to ABC, NBC and FOX executives, who decided to pass. The head of drama development at CBS saw potential in the script, and 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 that they decided to include it in their 2000 schedule immediately, airing on Fridays after The Fugitive. ~wikipedia