CSI: Miami

I'm gonna get creamed with e-mails from fans of the original CSI show, but I can't help it. In my opinion, CSI: Miami is superior to the original and a good foundation for (the also superior) CSI:NY.

Don't get me wrong, the original is the original, but the fact that the real Miami/Dade CSI's are cops first allows this show to explode in gunfire at any moment...and place our lead, David Caruso, at the center of the action. Now I want to make something clear: Almost 15 years ago I saw some of Caruso's early work and I was trying to figure out what all the fuss was about. What makes THIS guy a sex symbol (on NYPD Blue)? Then, just as fast as he becomes a major star, he exits Blue, makes two movies that bombed (the really good "Kiss Of Death" and the laughable "Jade") and he's suddenly poison. It was after seeing Caruso in Kiss of Death and a previous film, The King of New York" that I realized we were missing one of the last REAL tough guys.

CSI: Miami has brought him back. Caruso spearheads this show with a vengeance. Sure his line readings have their own stilted rhythm, but he did the same thing on NYPD Blue and people loved him then. Caruso with a gun in his hand looks more natural than anything else I have seen on TV (and my favorite show is The Shield).

CSI: Miami is action packed. The stories are seedier. The cinematography is unmatched by any other show. Go watch the DVDs. Tune in Monday nights. I swear, you'll be a convert.

Then go watch Gary Sinise give the performance of his life in CSI:NY. You'll be glad you did.

Between David Caruso and Emily Proctor, I don't know if I've suffered through a show of such bad acting that didn't understand it was bad. William Shatner, for example, knows who he is and how he comes off and plays it up; Keanu Reeves similarly comes off as if he knows he's just a prop. Not these two. I don't mind the original show (my wife is an addict), but not this one. Caruso delivers his sickening moralizing, Proctor makes Lindsay Lohan seem emotive, and there's this MTV-style perp walk at the end of the show. I root for the perps. None of them are guilty of wooden acting. I also don't get how Caruso gets away with his bad acting while Proctor is lauded. If she is trying to make a character who is colder than Mr. Spock and with whom I cannot sympathize, she's succeeding.

Good Googly Moogly, I HAD to comment on this show. It is like one of those accidents on the side of the road you don't want to look at because everyone is doing it and causing traffic to slow down to a crawl, and yet you do hoping you see a dead body or something! I don't know what is worse, the writing or the acting....honestly it is a tie. the original CSI: LV, OK, I got it....it was corny, yet still mildly entertaining, but this....wow. There are a lot of pretty people plastered on a day-glo and pastel, sun-drenched background, but after that what is there? I don't claim to be an expert or anything, but I am 99.9% certain crime scene investigators do NOT interrogate suspects and witnesses, chase down and arrest the bad guys, and I think the forensic science aspect of it is amazing, but these local police departments seem to have better equipment than NASA! I am sorry, I had to finally vent and I doubt anyone actually reads this but I must know I am not alone in my complete hatred for this show, yet sick perverted need to watch it....almost like I want the aneurysm to take me as I scream at the T.V. ....my behavior is as idiotic as the show, I need closure ....thanks for listening

One person ruins this show: David Caruso. All he does is pose. They should make it into a drinking game. Every time he strikes a pose, take a shot. Of course, people have died from alcohol poisoning. This would only add to the statistics. All the other characters have depth. He just gets this look on his face and 'strikes a pose'. Watch him turn sideways and look over his shoulder. Wow!! OOOhhh, he figured out something. Time for him to take off his sunglasses. I challenge any of you to find an episode where he isn't positioned sideways looking over his shoulder and where he takes off his sunglasses. Quit posing and pretend like you know how to act!!!!

And, how come he has to figure everything out? The other shows let the other characters show some brains. How 'bout letting the other CSI Vogue characters have a little spotlight?

for me,this is by far,the weakest entry in the CSI cannon.it's not that the stories are uninteresting.many of them are.most of the characters are done well enough,except for two notable exceptions.the first exception,and this is just my opinion,is the character of Dr. Alexx Woods,the medical examiner,played by Khandi Alexander.i find the character much too weepy,at least in the earlier episodes i have watched that might be different now.i think Khandi Alexander is a good actress,given a weak character to portray.the character with biggest flaw,at leas in my opinion,is Lieutenant Horatio Caine,Played by David Caruso.Caine is the leader of the team.this character is just way too annoying for me.Caine is just a poser to me,with his supposedly thoughtful demeanor at the end of each episode where he looks out at the ocean with this hands on his hips and his cool looking sun glasses on.i also find his speech pattern annoying.this character sinks the whole show and makes it all but unwatchable.this may not bother everybody,but it sure does bother me.in fact,i dislike the character enough that i have not bought any CSI:Miami on DVD,and probably won't.again,this is the character,not the actor.and the character may be different now.i don't have anything against Caruso.this is just my view.for me,CSI:Miami is a 4/10