CSI

CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) is a media franchise of American television series created by Anthony E. Zuiker and owned by CBS Studios. 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 (at various times) 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 Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) Crime Scene Analysts Daniel Holstein and Yolanda McClary. 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 and Emily Procter, with its lead character, Horatio Caine, based upon Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) bomb squad technician Detective John Haynes.

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 on May 10, 2013, after nine seasons. 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 alumnus 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 was attached to the series as a producer. CSI: Cyber was canceled on May 12, 2016.

In 2020, CBS began considering a limited series revival featuring original CSI: Crime Scene Investigation cast members, William Petersen and Jorja Fox. It was eventually greenlighted, with a video teaser for CSI: Vegas released on March 31, 2021, the season airing from October 6 to December 8, 2021, and renewed for a second season without either Petersen or Fox, starring original CSI: Crime Scene Investigation cast member Marg Helgenberger, airing for another two seasons from September 29, 2022, to May 19, 2024, before its cancellation.

The CSI franchise is available in 200 territories with an audience of two billion people. 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%. The franchise is so influential that fellow CBS show How I Met Your Mother advertised itself as "not a Crime Scene Investigation show". 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 – 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."

CSI: Miami and CSI: Cyber spun off from CSI, and CSI: NY spun off from CSI: Miami, all via backdoor pilot episodes. CSI: Vegas was not launched via a backdoor pilot episode, and instead premiered 21 years to the day of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation's launch.

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

The Las Vegas team are scientists foremost, and follow the evidence. Las Vegas Police Department (LVPD) CSIs are not employed as police officers. The crimes the Las Vegas CSI team face (other than the standard murders, attempted murders, kidnappings, and rapes) include casino robberies, bodies found 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 Las Vegas 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 larger office (usually used by the Grave Supervisor), a smaller office used by Catherine Willows between seasons 5 and 12, a locker room, an AV room, a break-room, and stairs leading to a second floor, housing offices for senior staff.

The Miami team are detectives foremost, and mainly use theories to solve crimes. The crimes the Miami-Dade Police Department's (MDPD) CSI team face (other than the standard murders, attempted murders, kidnappings, and rapes) include drug running, murdered refugees from Cuba, bodies found washed up on the beach, bodies dumped in the Everglades, and crimes involving the rich and