The Sciences of Success: It's All in the Details
The New York Times
March 3, 2002
ONE day last fall, the set of the hit CBS drama "C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation" was literally buzzing. Word spread that a very special event was about to take place, and cast and crew rushed to see what was going on.
They weren't coming to watch a guest appearance by Brad Pitt or observe some big special effects, or sneak a peek at a shocking nude scene. No, the extravaganza that got everyone at "C.S.I." going involved the electrocution of a kosher dill pickle.
It seems that one of the show's writers, Josh Berman, was working on an episode about an electrocution, and along the way discovered that you could light up a pickle by hooking wires to it and turning on the juice. Naturally, this experiment made its way into the show.
"We all kind of went crazy the day we did it on the set," said Carol Mendelsohn, executive producer of "C.S.I." "Everyone came to watch a pickle get electrocuted. Watching it almost made my brain explode. It was a lot of fun to do something like that. That's what is so cool about this show."
Zapping vegetables is not exactly the sort of thing you'd expect to liven up a show, but then again, "C.S.I." is not a typical show. Currently in its second season, this one-hour drama about a group of Las Vegas criminal forensic investigators regularly relies on scientific facts rather big-name guest stars or explosions and car chases to lure an audience. Big action sequences consist of the cast taking crime scene pictures or using microscopes to examine single strands of fiber left behind.
In one episode, our heroes solved a murder by discovering the victim had sickle cell anemia and therefore had cells that were less able to absorb oxygen -- hence he would die in a room with less air, while others would remain unaffected. In another, they pored over the wreckage of a bus crash as if the pieces were body parts. In one of the many episodes in which insect behavior helped solve a crime, the microscopic investigation of a chigger bite yielded a major clue. In the infamous pickle story, the investigators found evidence indicating a dead man has so much iron in his blood that his body acted like a conductor when he picked up a shorted-out electric drill. And in this week's show, an electrode wand that lifts dust particles from carpets is used to reconstruct footprints invisible to the naked eye.
Imagine Mr. Wizard starring in a new version of "Murder, She Wrote" written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and you get the idea. The plan worked, with the series becoming a huge rating success that ends up in the Top 5 nearly every week. However, when the show had its premiere in the fall of 2001, its chances for success were about as dim as those for a wacky, mismatched-roommate sitcom starring Stephen Hawking.
"Who wants to watch a show where people dust for fingerprints? I mean, how do you sell that one?" said William Petersen, who plays Gil Grissom, the lead investigator.
Peter Sussman, president of Alliance Atlantis Entertainment, which produces the series, was also concerned at first that "in today's fragmented marketplace, people might drift off when we started discussing science."
"There was a lot of discussion about whether we'd have to dumb down our approach to appeal to the masses," he said. "We didn't do that, and what we've found is that our show flatters the audience. People enjoy going on a journey that requires them to focus."
Jorja Fox, who plays Sara Sidle, an investigator on the show, said that working on "C.S.I." "makes you feel smarter, but also less smart."
"It's actually kind of humbling," she explained. "Playing parts like these only reminds you of how smart the real investigators are. I think the best compliment I ever got about this show is that people say it has them thinking more."
Although "there isn't a science major in the bunch," according to Ms. Mendelsohn, the show's writing staff seems to have acclimated quickly to the intellectual nature of the show. They cull story ideas from magazines like The Journal of Forensic Science, www.nexis.com and www.madsci.org. When Mr. Berman speaks at various forensic science conferences, the attendees are only too happy to provide him with story suggestions, like identifying guns by the shape of the bullets they fire.
Rather than alienate viewers who also never majored in science, "C.S.I." has become a ratings winner by offering them hope in a troubled time. When everything in life is uncertain, you can always rely on the certainty of science. "You don't often think this is a black and white world we live in, but with science, it is," said Ms Fox. "On our show, one person committed the crime. And we have the means to prove it. You get closure wit 'C.S.I.' "
Which is something that doesn't always happen in the real world. "In a world with O.J. Simpson and the Jon-Benet Ramsey case, there is a sense of security loss," explains Mr. Petersen. "They become a part of our national consciousness, and we wonder, 'What really happened here?' There's something very comforting abut the science on our show. It provides security and peace of mind."
While "C.S.I." hasn't sacrificed character for the sake of its science, the series is still an anomaly when it comes to television dramas. For several years now, one-hour shows have dwelled as much on the inner motivations of their heroes -- Fox Mulder's sister was kidnapped by aliens. Andy Sipowicz is a recovering alcoholic and so on -- to the point that individual episode plots can seem like afterthoughts. With "C.S.I.," the reverse often seems to be true.
"As a writer, you're taught to shy away from exposition in your stories," said Ms. Mendelsohn. "On this show, however, we embrace it. We have faith that science can be fun and dramatic. It doesn't work for everybody, but that's what works for us."
"C.S.I." may not get up close and personal very often with its characters -- "We don't have a lot of 'Hi, how are you doing? What's going on?' sorts of scenes," said Ms. Fox -- but that doesn't necessarily mean that its actors haven't started taking their roles more personally. "I am someone who could barely pass sixth-grade science, but these days, if I can't find my keys, I get all 'C.S.I.' about it," said Ms. Fox "I start trying to figure out what sort of science I can use to figure out where they are."
Mr. Petersen, who recently testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on behalf of a financing bill for crime, labs, said he too "feels a little smarter doing this show."
"I never used to get to articles involving science because I was more interested in the sports section," he said. "But now, if I see a science-oriented article, I know I can open it and read it. That's why it's interesting for the public to have a cool show about science."