Has CSI changed it's format???

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mrb105

mrb105

Pathologist
When I think of CSI:LV, I think of intense cases with forensic work being done and tracking down the bad guy. That is what is great about watching Spike, every case is in it's own. There is barely ever any carryovers, which makes it so enjoyable to watch.

This season has been different than any other. In the premiere, both victims killed themselves, intentially and accidentally, nobody arrested. Also Catherine's storyline carried over to the next episode. In the second episode, all about Catherine and her pursuit to find her daughter. Also we got an Izzy story that has yet to be solved (until next week however).

Third Episode was Toe Tags, interesting and unorthodox. 4 different cases, resembling 4 x 4 from season 5. I enjoyed this one. Fourth episode was all about Greg and some stupid teenagers. They caught the killers more by out smarting them rather then using the evidence.

Finally we go to Double Crossed, a very dissappointing episode in my opinion. And now Burn Out that revolved around Grissom being burnt out as well as a pedaphile storyline that kind of dragged on.

I love this show with all my heart, I am not trying to hate on it by any means. I just think this season is focusing on too much character development and analysis as well as way too many carryovers from episode to episode. Seems to me like the pressure from Grey's and now The O.C. is getting to the writers. I just can't picture these episodes being as enjoyable down the line as past seasons when watching re-runs. I believe there is no limit to the possibilities of crimes that can be committed on this show.

Therefore my question to you is, do you see the change in format of CSI, and do you see it starting to fade away. Could it possibly be coming to an end?? Are you satisfied with this season so far? Or do you disagree with me completely???
 
I do agree with you, you can see a change between the earlier seasons and season 7 in my opinion this is because of the emphasis on the characters. In the earlier seasons you didn’t have so much of the character drama, you just had the cases, but now in the 7th season it is hard to keep the cases interesting with out adding character drama. This is because we, the viewers, aren’t as easily satisfied, after 6 seasons of wacky cases we have seen it all. There was character drama in earlier seasons (Grissom’s hearing, Sam Braun being Catherine’s father) but it was subtle and not often spoke of. But this is hard to do in season 7 because of the Sara-Grissom romance which has to be brought up often for the casual viewers. Just my opinion.
 
The change in CSI started mid-season 5 when the team broke up into the two shifts. TPTB recognized their mistake with that way too late. You had the actors that worked so well together previously all of a sudden not being together at all, then introducing more reoccuring characters to try and fill the void that was left.

Even with the re-grouping of the team to begin season 6 - things weren't the same. Somehow by that time, the team chemistry had changed so much that TPTB had to look for new, inventive ideas again. now, they've put themselves so far down the toilet that even the biggest plunger probably couldn't unclog this mess.

Add to the fact that in the past couple of years, they've added a bunch of new writers - all of whom have no clue as to what made seasons 1-4 flow so well.
 
As for stories carried over, this is nothing new. In past seasons, we have had Paul Millander, Blue Paint Killer, Ellie Brass, and Lady Heather. I am still waiting for the magician in Abra Cadaver to return.
 
Funny . I never thought of him as being on the run .I know he had a key in his mouth but did he really get a chance to use it ?
 
I have to say, that I agree.

Recently it has all been about the characters. The reason CSI was soo good was because casual viewers could just tune into the occasional show and understand. If they didn't get the small character storyline hints then it doesn't matter.

But now you ahve to watch it all the time for it to be interesting. But the producers were saying how this season was going to be focused more on how the CSIs are affected by their jobs, so I forgive them for it:)
 
Well, I think it's erroneous to say that last night's was not about the science - psychology is a type of science, and that's what Grissom was hoping to use against the pedophile - and I think their best work is when they try to understand the human mind in murder and death.

If this is a change in format, it's done nothing but revitalize what was quick becoming stale.
 
My friends and I all love the change, it gives the show a more dramatic edge and makes it seem more mature in that sense. The fact that they are balancing the personal stuff very well with the science is just amazing. It feels like I'm watching season 1 all over again with how fresh it seems, and I'm not going to complain. Thanks to the personal side of the show, I've actually talked many of my non-CSI viewing friends into watching it now, because they want the personal side more than the science side. If they get theirs, and I get mine, I'm not going to complain...

Also, most of the time in syndication, TV series have major cary-overs like the To Be Continued episodes one after another, so as to avoid problems. Stuff like Milander didn't have a set time line, so no worries there.
 
MacsGirlMel said:
I'm still waiting for the doctor from Butterflied to come back.
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I would love to see that happen.

You also have to remember this is the first season they have to go up against Grays Anatomy, so they have to change their format to compete.
 
I think it's a show's natural progression. If you compare it to ER, I think part of ER's initial draw was because it was so graphic in what it showed during the medical procedueres. But later it got into character storylines, and it's still going.
 
Yeah - CSI has almost done things backwards. Heavy focus on cases for the first seasons, and only now is it really getting into the characters - which is good. It's good that, after 6 years, they still have a lot of rich material to work with.
 
sarahvma, who said thurs wasnt about science??
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A lot of people who've spoken about CSI losing its touch have said that they focus less and less on the processing of the evidence. There was almost none of that in last week's episode, but it was still fantastic. Proving that a change in format might've been just what CSI needed.
 
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