Discuss CSI: LV DVD/Blu-Ray 'Extras' - Seasons 1-9

[Speedystokesgirl]

I was watching some of the extras on the Season 9 blu-rays and I thought, hey, this could be something we can discuss and talk about.

So, I'm starting this thread so we can talk about the extras, featurettes, commentaries, deleted scenes, etc. Maybe even what you want to see.

Obviously, the same rules apply in this thread as it does on all the threads.

This is just to discuss what's on the DVDs and/or Blu-Rays for seasons 1-9 only. When Season 10 comes out, we can then discuss those. Get it? :thumbsup:

If you're wondering, I checked with Destiny and she said it would be ok to start this thread, in case you're wondering why this isn't in the merchandise thread.

Of course, Destiny and Smokey if you want to add anything to this post, please do. If you want to adjust the title, go ahead. :thumbsup:

Alright then, I'll start.

First, they really need to start having bloopers, out takes on ALL of the DVDs/Blu-rays. I have Season 1 on DVD and now Blu-ray. There are some outtakes on there and they're ok, but I've seen better ones on YouTube. I haven't seen all of them, yet, so some could be really good.

I liked the 'Director's Cut' of the Pilot on the blu-ray. It's really different than the original, but the same, also. The have deleted scenes from the pilot too. Which consists of the original scene with Nick and Warrick standing at the case board. Much different scene and a completely different case board. You, also, get to see Nick's tattoo. Yup, he was originally suppose to have a tattoo. :lol: Thank, God, they changed that. There's, also, the 'kiss' scene between Nick and Catherine. So when Holly called for help at the convenience store, she interrupted Nick and Catherine, who were on their way to the back seat of his jeep. Now you know what Catherine was doing when she went to 'rescue' Holly. :lol: Guess Nick and Catherine was the original ship. However, I'm glad they deleted the scene and didn't go with that. That would have been just a typical hollywood stereotype.

As for season 9s extras. It really bugs me that the 'Goodbye Grissom' featurette mostly talked about him and Sara . It mostly consisted of BP, JF, Mendohlsen and Shankar talking. Mostly about GSR. Then later they had a Marg, George, Eric, etc. briefly talk about Peteresen and Grissom. I mean this man was the heart of CSI. He is CSI and he's been reduced to being Sara's guy. :wtf:

Now having said that, all you GSR fans, if you haven't seen it, I suggest you do, as you will love what is said and what Petersen said about how Grissom feels about Sara. That Sara is his 'heart'. I rolled my eyes at all of that, but it's because I can't see this pairing, but since there are many of you that do, I highly recommend you watching that extra. Though I am no GSR fan, as many of you know, it was nice for all the GSR fans and it will make you all happy.

Now the featurette 'CSI Initiation' was about Langston and Riley. It's really kind of sad hearing CM and Shankar talk about Riley, like she is still on the show.

However, I loved the part (and many of you might too and probably agree with George) when Shankar was talking about why Langston was brought in as a 'newbie' and not a 'boss' and the go to George Eads, who says: 'I think I would have really resented it, if they have brought him in and just be the boss telling us what to do. It wouldn't have worked for me."

Yeah, it doesn't work for me either. You tell them, George! I think many of us can agree with that. However, they did explain why Langston 'caught on' so quickly and it makes sense, somewhat. One of the reasons is that he is a 'forensic' expert with all the teaching he did and since he is/was an M.D. it, automatically, qualifies him to be a CSI :wtf:. All he have to do is take a test and then there you are.

What I'm not happy about is with the blu-rays, if I want to see the deleted scenes I have to now go buy a wireless converter so my blu-ray can connect to the internet and download the scenes. I think there's some other content I can download too. Ugh!

The other thing is there is no "Goodbye Warrick' on these either. (Ok, I can't remember if Season 8 had it, I'll have to look). If there wasn't one on the Season 8 discs and there isn't one on season 9, I think that is just wrong. I understand that Dourdan was fired and he had/has drug problems, but that isn't any reason to just make him 'disppear'. He does have fans who would have liked to have something about him. I would have, especially his friendship with Nick. It's also sad that every time they showed a cast photo, they would pan out only to where you wouldn't see Warrick or show part of the photo that didn't include him. This is just wrong.

I mean if they did this to Sara and Grissom too, it would have been wrong. Warrick was just an integral part of the show as everyone was and to just 'forget' him is wrong.

This post is getting really long, so I'll stop and let the discussions begin.

 

[myfuturecsi]

Oh well.. I guess Warrick doesn't matter or Gary for that matter. It's a double standard when it comes to CSI. GSR fans in front of the bus, the rest of us in the back..c'est la vie!

Can you tell me what George talked about on Turn, Turn, Turn, especially the part about wanting to sing to Mandy again..oh when I heard that I was over the moon!:drool:

 

[Kasey47]

Oh well.. I guess Warrick doesn't matter or Gary for that matter. It's a double standard when it comes to CSI. GSR fans in front of the bus, the rest of us in the back..c'est la vie!

Really equating the plight of African Americans prior to the middle 60's to anyone's dilemma of feeling that their character has taken a backseat to GSR is really over the top.

There is also a double standard among fans of CSI. Don't anyone dare say anything about my character but if I can slip in a few digs about something else well hey that's my God given right huh?

Yeah I can see the forest through the trees now...

 

[Speedystokesgirl]

Oh well.. I guess Warrick doesn't matter or Gary for that matter. It's a double standard when it comes to CSI. GSR fans in front of the bus, the rest of us in the back..c'est la vie!

Really equating the plight of African Americans prior to the middle 60's to anyone's dilemma of feeling that their character has taken a backseat to GSR is really over the top.

There is also a double standard among fans of CSI. Don't anyone dare say anything about my character but if I can slip in a few digs about something else well hey that's my God given right huh?

Yeah I can see the forest through the trees now...

I understand you're a GSR fan and are tired of hearing it, but if you don't like it why read the posts? Face the facts, GSR is embraced by tptb and you don't find a problem with it or the effect of it because you are a fan of it. However, I do understand your frustation.

Here you have Sarah Goldfinger doing commentary on Gum Drops and most of what she talked about was how Grissom was going to spend the night with Sara. That was a great episode and meant more because it was Nick that believed Cassie was alive. Now I'm not saying that because Nick is my favorite, I'm saying that because of what happened to Nick. If it was Warrick, Greg or Sara who was buried alive then they should have been the ones front and center in the episode. That episode would not have meant the same with Grissom front and center and it seems it was written just so tptb could have a GSR moment.

So whether you want to believe it or not, the other characters have taken a backseat to it. No matter what you want to believe, again, tptb love GSR and the other characters and the show has suffered from it. It doesn't matter if that is what was planned all the time, they change things they've planned for a character or the show all the time so that isn't an argument.

However, to having define Grissom by his relationship with Sara, IMO, does a disagrace to him. For six seaons (until the very last scene of season 6), it didn't. Let's face it Grissom is the soul of the show and, believe it or not, he is and always will be one of my favorite characters on TV, but to define him by Sara and that relationship is wrong. Yes, it is a part of who he is, but is not the be all and end all of Grissom.

I, for once, would like to know how Grissom feels about the other members of his team and Petersen on how he feels about the other members of the cast. I don't think that is too much to ask.

Now, they showed some of the 200th episode party and you heard CM, Zuiker and Bruckheimer all talk. However, there was this one guy constantly putting up his camera to take a picture and it was getting a little annoying. :lol: Geesh, enough already.

 

[Kasey47]

First of all I had no problem with your post as I agreed with several points you made. So asking me why did I read a post, well maybe there should be disclaimers on all posts stating things like warning might offend those who like GSR or who like Ray or who like Nick and so forth. And yes I love GSR but does any of my posts go over the top with talking about it? NO. I talk about Nick and Catherine and Greg and Brass and Ray and everyone else even though my favorite character is Sara. I'm one of the people who defends anyone's right not to like GSR. My comment was simply that there was no need to make, in my humble opinion, the comment that was made. That's all.

As far as the Gum Drops commentary well I seem to remember it a bit different. They talked about the house and how it was used on Desperate Housewives I believe. They talked about how Billy had a family emergency and that they had to rewrite after one day of filming. They talked about how George and Jorja really stepped up to the plate. They talked about Eric being a bit too happy with his Sweet Mary Jane comment. They talked about how people wondered how Sarah Goldfinger grew up because of the weed. How they had to have George pull back a little at the end because he got really emotional. So there was more to the commentary than the one GSR scene that was suppose to have been.

And I will be the first one to say that I don't think that Billy could have done the justice to the episode that George did.

My whole point in everything that I have said here, there and everywhere is that there is simply no reason to keep bringing up how much so and so doesn't like GSR. It's the same way with those who do like GSR and who continually think that the show is called GSR and not CSI. The scenes of GSR didn't take over the show, the discussion of GSR took over everything else.

And it's your right to think that TPTB were trying to define Grissom by his relationship with Sara. I see it differently. I see it as a 50ish year old man that wanted more out of life than bugs and dead bodies. They said right on the DVD that he wasn't giving up his life but basically adding to it. Chosing to take a chance on love and follow his heart for the first time in his life. If that emasculates a man then I'm sure there are a ton of men out there who would disagree that going to the love of a good woman has done that to them. But that's just my opinion....

 

[Speedystokesgirl]

And it's your right to think that TPTB were trying to define Grissom by his relationship with Sara. I see it differently. I see it as a 50ish year old man that wanted more out of life than bugs and dead bodies. They said right on the DVD that he wasn't giving up his life but basically adding to it. Chosing to take a chance on love and follow his heart for the first time in his life. If that emasculates a man then I'm sure there are a ton of men out there who would disagree that going to the love of a good woman has done that to them. But that's just my opinion....

I don't see anything wrong with a man in his 50s realizing that there is more to life than his job and bugs, what I have a problem with is it's now always, Grissom and Sara this, Grissom and Sara that. Grissom was so much more than just Sara. He is quirky, has a dry wit, funny and unique relationships with all the characters, especially Catherine. I love those two together. I love how she gets under his skin. This is what I'm trying to say. There was more to Grissom than Sara and they keep focusing in on it and I think that's wrong. I'm not saying they can't mention it, but this is not what defines Grissom. It's part of him, but it does not define him.

I would have liked to see them who Grissom with other characters are how they defined him and he defined them. I'd like to know why Grissom treated Nick like 'the bastard step-child (Tarantino's words), why he always gave Warrick chances, that maybe he didn't always deserve. What was Warrick like a son to him, but Nick isn't. Why it seems Greg is too. How he felt about Doc Robbins and his friendship with Brass. All these people defined Grissom too.

So, this is why I think Grissom was reduced to nothing but Sara's guy. I don't think him leaving to be with her emasculated him and I didn't say that. I liked that they explained why the show didn't end with Grissom just walking out of the lab. I don't agree with them or thought the show should have ended in the jungle, but I'm glad I know why they did it.

I'm a hopeless romantic and love that the guy went to be with the one he loves, but when it comes to GSR, I can't see that relationship. There's so much wrong with it and to me, there is no chemistry (romantically) between those two. Chemistry as castmates, co-workers, friends, yes, but as a romance no.

This is why I like LV and don't watch the other two CSI shows. This cast had and has the best chemistry together, the other two shows don't. However, for me to get into a romance there has to be chemistry there and there isn't between Grissom and Sara, IMO.

In any case, kind of getting OT here, I still think the featurette that was saying goodbye to Grissom could have been more and less about GSR. Why? Because there was so much to Grissom.

 

[Kasey47]

And I agree with you. What in initial post on this thread lead you to believe that I didn't? A comment was made by myfutureCSI which I thought was a bit much. I simply stated that.

I also stated that IMHO there is a double standard thoughout the whole fandom of CSI. It's between George and Jorja. Between Catherine and Sara. Between Ray and well just Ray. Between GSR and everything else. It's apparent to me that to some what is good for the goose is not good for the gander.

And again, that is all that I'm saying.

 

[K-Bug]

I haven't really had time to watch all the extras, but I did watch a few, and I did catch half of the episode commentary for Space Odyssey before I passed out the other day.

I saw the deleted scenes for "If I Had a Hammer" and "The Gone Dead Train". As a Catherine fan, I loved the one for IIHAH. You actually learn quite a bit of history for Catherine, as she talks about how she was pregnant with Lindsey and was trying to hide it. She said that she was caught throwing up outside of a crime scene and that some old timer came up to her and goes "Ya gotta toughen up, sweetheart." Then Ecklie said "Even a dayshift CSI could figure it out." And at the end, Ecklie asks Catherine if she can get up to speed in one week, and she said, "Don't worry Conrad. You never forget your first time." lol that is so Catherine. I just loved that scene and wish that they would have kept it in.

As for the commentary, it was entertaining, as I love Wallace. They were all pretty amusing, and they all laughed quite a bit as they discussed the episode. The only thing that stood out to me so far (like I said, I fell asleep [not cause of the commentary, though; I had had a rough day at work]) is that when they came to the scene with Hodges and Catherine, Sheeri Rappaport goes, "Hey, she stole my glasses!" Then, they were all cracking up over the look on Marg's face when Hodges was talking about a personal/affectionate relationship. It was a cute little scene and funny to hear the commentary with it.

I wish there were more commentaries for the DVD. I would have loved to have heard the writers/producers talk about "For Warrick"/"One to Go" since they were Gary Dourdan and Billy Peterson's last episodes, or like the old forensics vs. new forensics behind "If I Had a Hammer", or heck, even Robert David Hall/Laurence Fishburne talk about "The Gone Dead Train" or Paul Guilfoyle talk about "Hog Heaven." There were so many potential episodes to talk about yet they dropped the ball there.

Another thing that I wish that they would do, as stated before, is bloopers. A lot of the cast members are really funny, and you know that they mess up their lines. I love to see things like that.

When I watch the other features, I'll add more to the thread. =)

 

[Adzix]

do y'all know if buying the DVD is the only way to watch the extras?

 

[Dizzney]

Yeah they definitely did not have enough episode commentaries. I really love those because it gives a lot of insight into an episode.

I also wish they would do bloopers. I do not like that they have separate stuff on the Blu-Ray ones than on the regular ones. It's not fair to people who do not have Blu-Ray.

I was glad for the little deleted scene of Ecklie telling Greg he was promoted to a Level 3. I loved how normal Greg reacted until he was out the door and then he did pumped his fists. Same thing he did at end of Season 4 when Grissom told him as soon as he found a replacement in DNA he could train in the field. :lol:

 

[Smokey]

do y'all know if buying the DVD is the only way to watch the extras?

As far as I know, yeah, until someone puts them up on You Tube.

Now WHY did I get notice that my DVDs had shipped DAYS ago and they still aren't here?? :scream: And no mail on Monday either. I was sure they'd be here by now and I'd have the long weekend to watch them.

 

[Speedystokesgirl]

do y'all know if buying the DVD is the only way to watch the extras?

As far as I know, yeah, until someone puts them up on You Tube.

Now WHY did I get notice that my DVDs had shipped DAYS ago and they still aren't here?? :scream: And no mail on Monday either. I was sure they'd be here by now and I'd have the long weekend to watch them.

Smokey, did the send them through UPS? They should have sent you a tracking number. Click on it to find out where your package is. Since UPS leaves packages at your front door, when you're not home, if the tracking information says it was delivered, then there's a good chance someone took it.

One of these days, I'm going to sit and listen to all the commentaries for all the seasons. :lol: I like them too, it does give you a lot of insight on the episode and the actors and characters in general.

 

[Smokey]

do y'all know if buying the DVD is the only way to watch the extras?

As far as I know, yeah, until someone puts them up on You Tube.

Now WHY did I get notice that my DVDs had shipped DAYS ago and they still aren't here?? :scream: And no mail on Monday either. I was sure they'd be here by now and I'd have the long weekend to watch them.

Smokey, did the send them through UPS? They should have sent you a tracking number. Click on it to find out where your package is. Since UPS leaves packages at your front door, when you're not home, if the tracking information says it was delivered, then there's a good chance someone took it.

One of these days, I'm going to sit and listen to all the commentaries for all the seasons. :lol: I like them too, it does give you a lot of insight on the episode and the actors and characters in general.

Nah...it's the free (ie slow) shipping. Says it was sent on 9/1. It usually is pretty fast tho. I was sure it would be here by now. Of course, UPS could still come by later today.

I LOVE the commentaries and hearing behind the scenes kind of stuff. So "Turn, Turn, Turn"....mostly Taylor Swift or is there a lot of George?

 

[Dizzney]

There is a lot of both talking in "Turn, turn, turn". George does mention that Eric bit the bullet for him in doing the attic scene due to his bad back, which I sort of figured. Taylor is sort of cute, you can tell that she does love CSI.

 

[Smokey]

There is a lot of both talking in "Turn, turn, turn". George does mention that Eric bit the bullet for him in doing the attic scene due to his bad back, which I sort of figured. Taylor is sort of cute, you can tell that she does love CSI.

Dang. I really hate to think of all the things they had to do differently because of George's back last season. Who knows what good stuff we missed?! Well, you know...I mean besides him going up into an attic. :lol: Something better than that.