CSI: NY

Having watched my share of NYPD Blue some years back, it was strange seeing David Caruso in a crime drama set in New York without Dennis Franz at his side.

That's right: New York. Just prior to its season finale, CSI Miami sends Horatio Caine to the Big Apple in search of a killer. Caine's lead seems to dead-end when he arrives at another crime scene and discovers his suspect was murdered two days prior to the Miami crime he is investigating.

Enter Gary Sinise as Detective Mac Taylor. The scene of Caine and Taylor's meeting features a moment of lighting genius in which Caine stands in a beam of warm amber sunlight while Taylor's key matches the cool blue ambiance of his native New York atmosphere. (Who says these things only happen in films!)

In this pre-pilot, Taylor and Caine discover they are searching for the same killer. At first they refrain from joining forces, but once they establish through chit-chat their mutual admiration for the death penalty and its liberal enforcement, the two are inseparable.

While the CSI counterparts get acquainted, two more murders take place in New York. These are uncannily similar to the Miami slayings. A bloody fingerprint in Miami points Caine and Taylor to a convict, a rooftop chase and a narrow escape for their new prime suspect.

The New York CSI team pieces together the facts of the most recent murders. The introductions of Taylor's staff are brief and forgettable. This episode was created to establish an emotional connection between Caine and Taylor, presumably to generate interest in CSI New York's "real" pilot. If all goes well, the show will have an entire season to develop supporting characters.

For those who didn't see it and are hoping to catch the repeat, I'll refrain from revealing who hired the hit man and why. And for those like me who are contemplating whether to watch the CSI New York pilot, I say "go for it." If the pre-pilot (CSI Miami in New York episode) is any indication, CSI New York will probably build on the solid foundation of tough-but-approachable characters, clever episodic plots and fast pace that typify the first two CSI shows. The intense simulations of violent crime forensics (the CSI trademark device) also make for hypnotic viewing.

When this first came on TV, the first few episodes were just too downbeat for me and I stopped watching. It didn't have the excitement and color of the Las Vegas and Miami shows.

Well, I turned out to be premature in my judgment of this show. A year later, I obtained the DVD of the first season and thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact, I thought it might be the best of all three CSI shows but I'll wait on that call until a complete second season is done.

I liked this debut season more than the others for two main reasons:

1 - It did not have all the little soap opera side-stories involving the characters that the two other CSI shows have. Each show was strictly about the crime(s).

2 - All the lead characters are fun to watch and had no annoying personality traits. True, the head guy, played by Gary Sinise, didn't have much of a personality but I liked his low-key, no-nonsense approach. Bill Petersen interjects too much New Age philosophy on his show and David Caruso is so ultra-dramatic that he's almost cartoonish at times. Sinise just does the job with that's it. Same for the rest of the crew. I understand one them, Vanessa Ferlito, left the show after this season, and I'm sorry to hear that. I enjoyed her face and her humor. I can only hope the rest of the cast stays. A good share of the cast seems to be made up of New "Yawkers" with that accent and that just adds to the believability of the show.

Although I enjoyed "Stan," played by Carmine Giovinzzo, the best, the most interesting was Melina Kanakaredes. From shot to shot, she's different in appearance from strange and unappealing to gorgeous, depending on the camera angle and lighting. She's hard to figure, both in looks and her character.

I never get tired of those aerial shots of the city, either. Odd they were tinted the blue the first month of the season and then brown-and-gray the rest of the year. As with the other CSI shows, the camera-work is fantastic. Those who have never seen any of the CSI shows on DVD owe themselves a look. They are spectacularly filmed.

However, unlike Miami and Las Vegas CSI shows, this is basically a no-glitz affair with the stories dominating. One problem with these shows is they are filmed on Los Angeles movie sets, so most of the time, because of crowds and other problems in filming locally, you don't see the main characters actually in the locales they are supposed to be. It would be fun watching them chase criminals in Central Park, at the Empire State Building, through Madison Square Garden, etc.

When most TV shows have spinoffs, they're usually not worth watching because of thing-they are different than the original. I think that is a major reason that many fans don't like CSI:NY. While the original show is set in glamorous Las Vegas, NY is set in a much darker city, giving the show a darker tone and feel than Miami or Vegas.

As for characters, New York has a great cast, and is still working on character development. They have been seen as not having personalities, but people have to give the show a chance to find it's foothold-it's only the first season. It took the original CSI five years to say that Sara's mom killed her dad, so its logical that it will take a few seasons to totally tell these characters backgrounds. Danny Messer and Mac Taylor's pasts have been partially revealed in the premiere "Blink", with the knowledge that Max Taylor's wife was in 9/11, and in "Tanglewood", with Danny's involvement in the Tanglewood boys street gang.

The acting in CSI:NY is just as good as those in the other shows, but most people aren't giving it a chance. Some will like it, some wont, but the least they could do is watch some of the stronger episodes, like "Blink", or "Tanglewood", and not scrunitze its difference from the originals...just give it a chance. Rome wasn't built in a day- it will take a little longer for people to accept this new show, but i think it's doing perfectly, and i can't wait for next season.

I absolutely LOVE the original CSI. I really can't watch CSI Miami - just a bit too much. So when they announced there was a third one coming out I was skeptical. But they've out done themselves! Although the original is still my favorite, this one steps away from the CSI format a bit. There's more of a glimpse into the characters and great story lines. There isn't the condescending tone that Miami has. Gary Sinise is, of course, brilliant as usual. If they keep it up this one will stick around. Combine this one and the original and I could watch all week! No one can beat Grissom, but Taylor is certainly going to give him a run for his money. Now a combined episode would be phenomenal!

When i learnt there was to be a second spin-off of csi, i was really looking forward to it......thankfully i was not disappointed. This show is certainly different from the original csi as we learn more about the characters but not all at once leaving some room for us to wonder about them. The acting and stories of the show are superb, Gary Sinise portrays Mac Taylor a likable character who is still dealing with the loss of his wife in 9/11, who i feel has the potential to match Grissom of the original, particularly as Petersen's contract is up in 2006. He has strong support from the rest of the cast including Melina (sorry can't spell her last name) as Stella.

The rest of the characters include Danny, Aiden, Dr Hawkes and Det Don Flack-who always has the best lines. All of them are brilliant with huge potential, as seen with Danny in the Tanglewood episode. It is also interesting to see how different characters pair up with others whilst investigating...my favourites are Aiden with Flack, and of course Mac and Stella.

If you like me are slightly disappointed with the Miami spin-off and find Horatio Caine unappealing this show is just what you need. A return to the forensics of the original with a New York twist..

Now i could not imagine a Saturday night here in the Uk without it...brilliant!