Post by Jemma on Apr 19, 2009 12:56:37 GMT -5
The 'CSI' Franchise Case File: Exec Prods Talk Show's Impact, Plus a Couple of Spoilers
We made it to another week! And a very eventful one at that, with CSI airing its 200th episode last night. So, this week’s case file includes the show’s executive producers talking about the show’s impact despite having run for nine years, and the cases getting more ridiculous, if you look at it one way. (You might also want to read what the director of last night’s episode, William Friedkin, had to say.) Also, to keep things rolling, a couple of spoilers for the teams in Las Vegas and Miami.
Item one: Executive producers talk about the show’s impact. First, the obvious reasons for the CSI franchise’s success: “People have a morbid fascination with death,” said executive producer Carol Mendelsohn. “You die on the show, we cut you open … we take out your organs and stuff ‘em in plastic bags and then stuff the whole thing back inside you. So, I think there is something about an audience being able to see that. You don’t need a word of dialogue to understand that that canoed body is no longer Mr. Sam Jones.”
Fellow executive producer Naren Shankar adds: “We do shows that are blackly comedic and overtly comedic, and just by changing it up that way, sometimes you can turn a fact of life, which is death, into something that's something to laugh at and not be scared by. That’s a great way to do it because the extremely dramatic true crime, truly moving stories about loss, that's sort of our bread and butter.”
Something else that CSI has changed? The way people look at anything on screen that relates to crime. “Go back and watch a detective movie or a crime movie that was made in the 70s or in the 80s,” Shankar said. “I guarantee you, if the detective is looking at something and making an observation, you’re going to be sitting there going, ‘Snap zoom to it, get in there, show it to us.’ And it won’t come, and you’ll feel like something is missing. People expect to be taken to places where the human eye cannot go, to be shown the way things work at an intricate, even sometimes on a molecular level.”
Item two: a pretty short CSI spoiler. Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello revealed plot details for the Las Vegas team’s season finale, and it’s obviously murder. How it happens? A batch of vintage casino chips, each worth a thousand bucks, lands on the wrong people. Go sing the theme song. Whoooo are you?
Item three: a not-so-short CSI: Miami spoiler.
We are also looking for a CSI Guest Blogger! Know a lot about CSI? Like to give your thoughts on each episode? Apply by e-mailing us at: GuestBloggerAp@buddytv.com
Item one: Executive producers talk about the show’s impact. First, the obvious reasons for the CSI franchise’s success: “People have a morbid fascination with death,” said executive producer Carol Mendelsohn. “You die on the show, we cut you open … we take out your organs and stuff ‘em in plastic bags and then stuff the whole thing back inside you. So, I think there is something about an audience being able to see that. You don’t need a word of dialogue to understand that that canoed body is no longer Mr. Sam Jones.”
Fellow executive producer Naren Shankar adds: “We do shows that are blackly comedic and overtly comedic, and just by changing it up that way, sometimes you can turn a fact of life, which is death, into something that's something to laugh at and not be scared by. That’s a great way to do it because the extremely dramatic true crime, truly moving stories about loss, that's sort of our bread and butter.”
Something else that CSI has changed? The way people look at anything on screen that relates to crime. “Go back and watch a detective movie or a crime movie that was made in the 70s or in the 80s,” Shankar said. “I guarantee you, if the detective is looking at something and making an observation, you’re going to be sitting there going, ‘Snap zoom to it, get in there, show it to us.’ And it won’t come, and you’ll feel like something is missing. People expect to be taken to places where the human eye cannot go, to be shown the way things work at an intricate, even sometimes on a molecular level.”
Item two: a pretty short CSI spoiler. Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello revealed plot details for the Las Vegas team’s season finale, and it’s obviously murder. How it happens? A batch of vintage casino chips, each worth a thousand bucks, lands on the wrong people. Go sing the theme song. Whoooo are you?
Item three: a not-so-short CSI: Miami spoiler.
We are also looking for a CSI Guest Blogger! Know a lot about CSI? Like to give your thoughts on each episode? Apply by e-mailing us at: GuestBloggerAp@buddytv.com
