Critical and commercial reception During its 15 years in production,
CSI secured an estimated world audience of over 73.8 million viewers (in 2009), and reached milestone episodes including the 100th ("Ch-Ch-Changes"), the 200th ("Mascara") and the 300th ("Frame by Frame").
CSI spawned three spin-off series, a book series, several video games, and an exhibit at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. At the time of its cancellation,
CSI was the
seventh-longest-running scripted US primetime TV series overall and had been recognized as the most popular dramatic series internationally by the
Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo, which awarded the series the International Television Audience Award (Best Television Drama Series) seven times.
CSI became the second-most watched show on American television by 2002, finally taking the top position for the
2002–2003 season. It was later named the most watched show in the world for the sixth time in 2016, making it the most watched show for more years than any other show. Critical reception to the show has been positive. Early reviews of the opening season were mixed.
The Hollywood Reporter noted of the pilot "...the charismatic William Petersen and the exquisite Marg Helgenberger, lend credibility to the portrayals that might be indistinct in lesser hands. There's also a compelling, pulsating edge at the outset of
CSI that commands instant attention, thanks in part to dynamic work from director
Danny Cannon."
Entertainment Weekly gave the opening two seasons "B+" and "A−" ratings, respectively, noting: "The reason for
CSI's success is that it combines a few time-tested TV elements in a fresh way. Each episode presents a murder case and a group of lovable heroes armed with cool, high-tech gadgets who do the sleuthing and wrap things up in an hour." The
CSI TV series has won six
Primetime Emmy Awards (out of 39 nominations) and four
People's Choice Awards (out of six nominations) and was nominated for six
Golden Globe Awards, among other awards. According to TV media critic Liv Hausken, crime drama TV shows like
CSI normalize surveillance. "The absence of any critical distance to technology on
CSI involves a lack of reflection on the security of information (that is, the constant risk of losing sensitive data) and the potential use and misuse of information. This can be contrasted with a whole range of crime series that may rely heavily on surveillance technologies but nevertheless allow critical reflection as part of the plot as such (showing misinterpretation of data or misuse of surveillance techniques)...This trust in technologies on
CSI is important for understanding the status of surveillance in this fictional universe. It is also an indicator of the show's presentation of
power, a third component for consideration in this discussion about how
CSI lends a certain normalization of surveillance to everyday life...The series ignores the fact that everyone is a cultural being, that each person sees something
as something, that they understand things from particular
perspectives in everyday life as well as in science."
Nielsen ratings Public reaction CSI was often criticized for its level and explicitness of
graphic violence, images, and sexual content. The
CSI series and its spin-off shows have been accused of pushing the boundary of what is considered acceptable viewing for primetime network television. The series had numerous episodes centered on
sexual fetishism and other forms of sexual pleasure (notably the recurring character of Lady Heather, a
professional dominatrix).
CSI was ranked among the worst primetime shows by the
Parents Television Council from its second through sixth seasons, being ranked the worst show for family prime-time viewing after the 2002–2003 and 2005–2006 seasons. The PTC also targeted certain
CSI episodes for its weekly "Worst TV Show of the Week" feature. In addition, the fifth season episode "King Baby" that aired in February 2005, which the PTC named the most offensive TV show of the week, to date, nearly 13,000 PTC members complained to the
Federal Communications Commission about the episode. The PTC also asked
Clorox to pull their advertisements from
CSI and
CSI: Miami because of the graphically violent content on those programs. A
grassroots campaign started in August 2007, upon rumors of Jorja Fox leaving the show, organized by the online forum Your Tax Dollars at Work. Many of its 19,000 members donated to the cause, collecting over $8,000 for gifts and stunts targeted at CBS executives and
CSI's producers and writers. The stunts included a wedding cake delivery to
Carol Mendelsohn, 192 chocolate-covered insects with the message "
CSI Without Sara Bugs Us" to
Naren Shankar, and a plane flying several times over the
Universal Studios of
Los Angeles with a "Follow the evidence keep Jorja Fox on
CSI" banner. Other protests included mailing the show's producers a dollar, to save Fox's contract "one dollar at a time". By October 16, 2007, according to the site's tally, more than 20,000 letters with money or flyers had been mailed to the Universal Studios and to CBS headquarters in New York from 49 different countries since the campaign started on September 29, 2007. Fox and Mendelsohn chose to donate the money to
Court Appointed Special Advocate, a national association that supports and promotes court-appointed advocates for abused or neglected children. On September 27, 2007, after
CSI's season eight premiered, a miniature model of character Gil Grissom's office (which he was seen building during season seven) was put up on
eBay. The auction ended October 7, with the prop being sold for $15,600; CBS donated the proceeds to the National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association.
Law enforcement reaction Real-life crime scene investigators and forensic scientists, warn that popular television shows like
CSI (often specifically citing
CSI) wildly distort the nature of crime scene investigators' work, exaggerating the ease, speed, effectiveness, drama, glamour, influence, scope, and comfort level of the profession, which they describe as tending to be mundane, tedious, limited, and boring, and very commonly failing to solve a crime. Another criticism of the show is the depiction of police procedure, which some consider to be decidedly lacking in realism. For instance, the show's characters not only investigate ("process") crime scenes, but they also conduct raids, engage in suspect pursuit and arrest, interrogate suspects, and solve cases, all of which falls under the responsibility of uniformed officers and detectives, not CSI personnel. Although
some detectives are also registered CSIs, this is exceedingly rare in real life. It is considered an inappropriate and improbable practice to allow CSI personnel to be involved in detective work, as it would compromise the impartiality of
scientific evidence and would be impracticably time-consuming. Additionally, it is inappropriate for the CSIs who process a crime scene to be involved in the examination and testing of any evidence collected from that scene.
CSI shares this characteristic with the similar British drama series
Silent Witness. However, not all law enforcement agencies have been as critical; many real CSI investigators have responded positively to the show's influence and enjoy their new reputation. In the UK,
scenes of crime officers now commonly refer to themselves as CSIs. Some constabularies, such as those in
Norfolk, have even gone so far as to change the name of their crime scene unit to "CSI". CSI recruitment and training programs have also seen an increase in applicants as a result of the show, with a wider range of people now interested in something previously regarded as a scientific backwater.
LGBT The
LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community has criticized the show for what they consider to be negative representation of LGBT characters. Despite this criticism, the fifth season episode "Ch-Ch-Changes" was received positively by transgender people in particular. Furthermore, the season 5 episode "Iced" featured one of a very few openly gay characters on the show who were not victims or criminals, as the victim Trip Wilmont (
Ross Thomas)'s neighbor Zack Capola (
James Ransone). This is said to have changed the way that many trials are presented today, in that prosecutors are pressured to deliver more forensic evidence in court. Victims and their families are coming to expect instant answers from showcased techniques such as DNA analysis and fingerprinting, when actual forensic processing often takes days or weeks, with no guarantee of revealing a "smoking gun" for the prosecution's case. District attorneys state that the conviction rate has decreased in cases with little physical evidence, largely due to the influence of
CSI on jury members. Some police and district attorneys have criticized the show for giving the public an inaccurate perception of how police solve crimes. In 2006, the evidence cited in support of the supposed effect was mainly anecdotes from law enforcement personnel and prosecutors, and, allegedly, little empirical examination had been done on the effect. The one study published by then suggested that the phenomenon might be an urban myth. However, 2010s research suggests that these modern TV shows do have an influence on public perceptions and expectations, and on juror behavior. One researcher has suggested screening jurors for the level of influence that such TV programs has had.
Accolades ==Notes==