CSI - SEASON ONE - COMPLETE BASE SET (100 cards) - Strictly Ink 2003
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, also referred to as CSI and CSI: Las Vegas, is a procedural forensics crime drama television series which ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015, spanning 15 seasons. The series starred William Petersen, Marg Helgenberger, George Eads, Ted Danson, Laurence Fishburne, Elisabeth Shue, and Jorja Fox and was the first in the CSI franchise. The series concluded with a feature-length finale titled "Immortality."
Mixing deduction and character-driven drama, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation follows a team of crime-scene investigators, employed by the Las Vegas Police Department, as they use physical evidence to solve murders.
The team is originally led by Gil Grissom (Petersen), a socially awkward forensic entomologist and career criminalist who is promoted to CSI supervisor following the death of a trainee investigator. Grissom's second-in-command, Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger), is a single mother with a cop's instinct. Born and raised in Las Vegas, Catherine was a stripper before being recruited into law enforcement and training as a blood-spatter specialist.
Following Grissom's departure during the ninth season of the series, Catherine is promoted to supervisor. After overseeing the training of new investigator Raymond Langston (Fishburne), Willows is replaced by D.B. Russell (Danson), and recruited to the FBI shortly thereafter. Russell is a family man, a keen forensic botanist, and a veteran of the Seattle Crime Lab.
In the series' 12th season, Russell is reunited with his former partner Julie Finlay (Elisabeth Shue), who, like Catherine, is a blood-spatter expert with an extensive knowledge of criminal psychology. With the rest of the team, they work to tackle Las Vegas's growing crime rate and are on the job 24/7, scouring the scene, collecting the evidence, and finding the missing pieces that will solve the mystery.
During the 1990s, Anthony Zuiker caught producer Jerry Bruckheimer's attention after writing his first movie script. Zuiker was convinced that a series was in the concept; Bruckheimer agreed and began developing the series with Touchstone Pictures. The studio's head at the time liked the spec script and presented it to ABC, NBC, and Fox executives, who decided to pass.
The head of drama development at CBS saw potential in the script, and the network had a pay-or-play contract with actor William Petersen, who said he wanted to do the CSI pilot. The network's executives liked the pilot so much, they decided to include it in their 2000 schedule immediately, airing on Fridays after The Fugitive.
After CBS picked up the show, the Disney-owned Touchstone decided to pull out of the project, as they didn't want to spend so much money producing a show for another network (ABC is also owned by Disney). Instead of the intended effect of making CBS cancel the show (since it no longer had a producer), Bruckheimer was able to convince Alliance Atlantis to step in as a producer, saving the show and adding CBS as another producer.
Initially, CSI was thought to benefit from The Fugitive (a remake of the 1960s series), which was expected to be a hit, but by the end of 2000, CSI had a much larger audience.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Television and CBS Productions, which became CBS Paramount Television in the fall of 2006 and CBS Television Studios three years later. Formerly a co-production with the now-defunct Alliance Atlantis Communications, that company's interest was later bought by the investment firm GS Capital Partners, an affiliate of Goldman Sachs. CBS acquired AAC's international distribution rights to the program, though the non-US DVD distribution rights did not change (for example, Momentum Pictures continues to own UK DVD rights). The series is currently in syndication, and reruns are broadcast in the U.S. on Oxygen, Syfy, and the USA Network on cable, with Ion Television holding the broadcast syndication rights. The show has aired in reruns on the USA Network since January 14, 2011. The CSI catalog has been exclusive to the whole NBC Universal portfolio since September 2014, after several years with Viacom Media Networks' Spike and TV Land.
CSI was shot at Rye Canyon, a corporate campus owned by Lockheed Martin situated in the Valencia area of Santa Clarita, California, but after episode 11, filming shifted to the Santa Clarita Studios, originally chosen for its similarity to the outskirts of Las Vegas. Occasionally, the cast still shot on location in Las Vegas (the season-four DVD set revealed that the episode "Suckers" was mostly shot during December 2003 in Las Vegas, where they filmed a Gothic club scene on location for rent, and in January 2004, some scenes were filmed at Caesars Palace), although primarily Las Vegas was used solely for second unit photography such as exterior shots of streets. Other California locations include Verdugo Hills High School, UCLA's Royce Hall, Pasadena City Hall, and California State University, Los Angeles. While shooting took place primarily at Universal Studios in Universal City, California, Santa Clarita's surroundings had proven so versatile, CSI still shot some outdoor scenes there.
CSI's theme song was, since the last episode of season one, "Who Are You," written by Pete Townshend with vocals by lead singer Roger Daltrey of The Who. Daltrey made a special appearance in the season-seven episode "Living Legend," which also contained many musical references such as the words "Who's next" on a dry-erase board in the episode's opening sequence. In certain countries, to avoid music licensing fees, a unique theme was used, instead.
Throughout the series, music played an important role; artists such as Ozzy Osbourne, The Wallflowers, John Mayer, and Akon (with Obie Trice) performed onscreen in the episodes "Skin in the Game," "The Accused Is Entitled," "Built To Kill, Part 1," and "Poppin' Tags," respectively. Mogwai was often heard during scenes showing forensic tests in progress, as were Radiohead and Cocteau Twins, but several other artists lent their music to CSI, including Rammstein and Linkin Park—used heavily in Lady Heather's story arc. Sigur Rós can be heard playing in the background in the episode "Slaves of Las Vegas," The Turtles in "Grave Danger," and Marilyn Manson in "Suckers." A cover of the Tears for Fears song "Mad World," arranged by Michael Andrews and featuring vocals by Gary Jules, was used in the pilot episode and during three episodes of season six ("Room Service," "Killer," and "Way to Go"). Industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails was also featured multiple times throughout the three series. One episode started with The Velvet Underground's excited rendition of "Sweet Jane" and ended with the downbeat version of Cowboy Junkies' revision of the song. Character David Hodges' good luck has, on occasion, been accompanied by Electric Light Orchestra's "Mr. Blue Sky." This song was first used in the season-seven episode "Lab Rats," and last used during season ten's "Field Mice."
William Petersen as Gil Grissom, the graveyard shift CSI supervisor (regular: seasons 1–9; guest star: seasons 9, 11, 13, "Immortality")
Marg Helgenberger as Catherine Willows, the graveyard shift CSI assistant supervisor (regular: seasons 1–12; guest star: season 14, "Immortality")
Gary Dourdan as Warrick Brown, a CSI level III (regular: seasons 1–9)
George Eads as Nick Stokes, a CSI level III (regular: seasons 1–15)
Jorja Fox as Sara Sidle, a CSI level III (regular: seasons 1–8, 11–15, "Immortality"; recurring: seasons 9–10)
Eric Szmanda as Greg Sanders, a CSI level III (regular: seasons 3–15, "Immortality"; recurring: seasons 1–2)
Robert David Hall as Dr. Albert "Al" Robbins, the chief medical examiner (regular: seasons 3–15, "Immortality"; recurring: seasons 1–2)
Paul Guilfoyle as LVPD Captain Jim Brass, homicide detective captain (regular: seasons 1–14, "Immortality")
Louise Lombard as Sofia Curtis, the LVPD's deputy chief (regular: season 7; recurring: seasons 5–6; guest star: seasons 8, 11)
Wallace Langham as David Hodges, a trace technician (regular: seasons 8–15, "Immortality"; recurring: seasons 3–7)
Laurence Fishburne as Dr. Raymond "Ray" Langston, a CSI level II (regular: seasons 9–11; guest star: season 9)
Liz Vassey as Wendy Simms, a DNA technician (regular: season 10; recurring: seasons 6–9; guest star: season 11)
David Berman as David Phillips, the assistant medical examiner (regular: seasons 10–15, "Immortality"; recurring: seasons 1–9)
Ted Danson as D.B. Russell, the graveyard shift CSI Supervisor and director of the Las Vegas Crime Lab (regular: seasons 12–15, "Immortality")
Elisabeth Harnois as Morgan Brody, a CSI level III (regular: seasons 12–15, "Immortality"; guest star: season 11)
Elisabeth Shue as Julie Finlay, the graveyard shift CSI assistant supervisor (regular: seasons 12–15)
Jon Wellner as Henry Andrews, a DNA and toxicology technician (regular: seasons 13–15, "Immortality"; recurring: seasons 5–12)