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CSI: Crime Scene Investigation star <font color=yellow>Marg Helgenberger</font> (Catherine Willows) and writer <font color=yellow>Elizabeth Devine</font> appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show yesterday to talk about the reality behind the television show.
Helgenberger told of her experiences on the beat with a real-life crime scene investigator, according to a report at Elyse's CSI Site. As a former criminalist, Devine also had plenty of stories to share, including her part in the investigation of the death of model <font color=yellow>Linda Sobek</font>.
The pair also showed off some of the technology which can be used by criminalists today. One device was able to show, in the words of host <font color=yellow>Oprah Winfrey</font>, a "butt print" left on a seat. Helgenberger joked, "We'll have to do that next on our show", and submitted to having her "butt print" scanned.
As part of the segment, Helgenberger took the audience on a tour of the CSI soundstages. The William Petersen Appreciation Page has made a video of this part of the segment available for viewing online. For those of you with slower connections, a transcript follows:<dl><dt><dd>
[The camera picks up Marg Helgenberger at the entrance to the CSI soundstage.]<dd>Helgenberger: "Welcome to stage seven."<dd>[She gestures at the ladders, rigging and other television paraphernalia.]<dd>Helgenberger: "Equipment everywhere!"<dd>[The actress continues to walk towards the set.]<dd>Helgenberger: "But once we get to the set, it's all clean and pristine, because it's the labs, after all."
</dt><dt>THE CSI CRIME LAB IS THE ENVY OF CRIME LABS AROUND THE COUNTRY
<dd>[The camera tracks past one of the set's labs.]<dd>[Close-up of liquid being squeezed into a test tube.]<dd>[Sara Sidle walks through the lab.]<dd>[Close-up of a fingerprint being exposed.]
</dt><dt>THEY HAVE EVERY CRIME-FIGHTING TOOL AVAILABLE
<dd>[A CSI uses a fluurescent light on a piece of evidence.]<dd>[A computer screen displays various fingerprints.]<dd>[The camera zooms inside a laser.]
</dt><dt>INCLUDING A REAL-LIFE CRIME SCENE [INVESTIGATOR] IN LIZ DEVINE WHOSE EXPERIENCE LANDED HER A JOB AS A PRODUCER ON THIS SHOW
<dd>
[Elizabeth Devine uses a torch to examine a shiny sheet.]<dd>[Devine opens up a case as Helgenberger watches.]<dd>[The pair stand talking in one of the corridors.]<dd>[Helgenberger appears at the door to the morgue set.]<dd>Helgenberger: "So here we are the morgue, which seems to be our most popular set when visitors arrive."<dd>[Close-up of a corpse's face being revealed.]<dd>[Dr. Robbins and Grissom stand either side of a corpse.]<dd>[Helgenberger walks over to the shiny wall which houses the corpses.]<dd>Helgenberger: "This is where the bodies are stored. Right now they're all just John Doe."<dd>[She bends down and opens up one of the lower compartments.]<dd>Helgenberger: "And let's just see what happens to be in here."<dd>
[Devine is on the other side, waving back. Helgenberger hams it up.]<dd>Helgenberger: "Oh my god! It's Liz Devine!"<dd>[The actress turns to the camera and laughs.]<dd>Helgenberger: "It's all just fake! It's just fake!"<dd>[The actress now stands in another hallway in the production officers.]<dd>Helgenberger: "One of the things I get asked most often is, 'Do I get grossed out?'"<dd>[Close-up of some body parts from an episode.]<dd>[CSIs mill around at a crime scene.]<dd>Helgenberger: (off-screen) "Occasionally I do, and I'm going to show you who grosses me out from time to time."<dd>[The camera tracks through the inside of a body.]<dd>[Helgenberger enters the make-up studio.]<dd>
Helgenberger: "It's Jackie and John, our make-up artists extraordinaire, who've won Emmys."<dd>[She enters the room, where Jackie and John are standing next to a body, and introduces them.]<dd>Helgenberger: "Jackie and John."
</dt><dt>ACTORS WHO PLAY THE VICTIMS CAN SPEND UP TO FIVE HOURS BEING MADE UP AND CREATING THE CORPSES CAN TAKE DAYS
<dd>[John stands over a 'victim', applying make-up.]<dd>[Fake wounds are created over the victim's body.]<dd>[Close-up as some 'blood' is applied beneath the victim's eye.]<dd>[Jackie works on creating a hand.]<dd>[John pushes down on the lungs inside a skeleton.]
</dt><dt>HERE'S MARG'S CO-STAR, BILLY PETERSEN, WHO GIVES A TOUR OF HIS CHARACTER, GIL GRISSOM'S, OFFICE
<dd>[Gil Grissom walks with Sara Sidle at night.]<dd>[Grissom performs a forensic procedure.]<dd>[The camera pans across the office, where Grissom is working at his desk.]<dd>[<font color=yellow>William Petersen</font> stands inside Grissom's office, addressing the camera.]<dd>
Petersen: "This is my creepy bungalow."<dd>[He walks over and shows off Grissom's display cabinets.]<dd>Petersen: "We have all sorts of creepy things in jars around here."<dd>[He picks up one of the jars.]<dd>Petersen: "Here we have cicadas, giant grasshoppers. Sometimes I've been known to put chocolate on them and eat them.<dd>[Petersen shows another jar full of spherical objects to the camera.]<dd>Petersen: "I know this looks to you like olives, and we're about to have a martini, with the permento and what not..."<dd>[Close-up of the jar, which reveals the objects are eyeballs.]<dd>Petersen: "...but they're actually my little collection of eyeballs."<dd>[On location, Marg Helgenberger shows her watch to the camera.]<dd>Helgenberger: "8 p.m. now. I'm going to give you a little blow-by-blow of what we're doing."
</dt><dt>FILMING CONTINUES PAST MIDNIGHT AND SHOWS NO SIGNS OF SLOWING DOWN
<dd>[<font color=yellow>Jorja Fox</font>, <font color=yellow>George Eads</font> and Helgenberger stand together in the dark, looking at a script.]<dd>
[Amongst all the hustle and bustle of filming, Helgenberger addresses the camera.]<dd>Helgenberger: "1:15 a.m. We're still here."<dd>[George Eads stands in front of a suburban house goofing around.]<dd>[The camera gets really close to his face and he starts to laugh.]<dd>Eads: "Get off me now!"<dd>[The camera is on Helgenberger's watch again.]<dd>Helgenberger: "It's about 3:10, that's a.m."<dd>[The actress is standing with Jorja Fox and <font color=yellow>Paul Guilfoyle</font>.]<dd>Helgenberger: "I've just been wrapped."<dd>[Jorja Fox speaks to the camera.]<dd>Fox: "Goodnight Oprah!"</dt></dl>
The clip can be viewed in Quicktime format at the William Petersen Appreciation Page. Further details on the segment can be found at Elyse's CSI Site.<center></center>
Helgenberger told of her experiences on the beat with a real-life crime scene investigator, according to a report at Elyse's CSI Site. As a former criminalist, Devine also had plenty of stories to share, including her part in the investigation of the death of model <font color=yellow>Linda Sobek</font>.
The pair also showed off some of the technology which can be used by criminalists today. One device was able to show, in the words of host <font color=yellow>Oprah Winfrey</font>, a "butt print" left on a seat. Helgenberger joked, "We'll have to do that next on our show", and submitted to having her "butt print" scanned.
As part of the segment, Helgenberger took the audience on a tour of the CSI soundstages. The William Petersen Appreciation Page has made a video of this part of the segment available for viewing online. For those of you with slower connections, a transcript follows:<dl><dt><dd>
</dt><dt>THE CSI CRIME LAB IS THE ENVY OF CRIME LABS AROUND THE COUNTRY
<dd>[The camera tracks past one of the set's labs.]<dd>[Close-up of liquid being squeezed into a test tube.]<dd>[Sara Sidle walks through the lab.]<dd>[Close-up of a fingerprint being exposed.]
</dt><dt>THEY HAVE EVERY CRIME-FIGHTING TOOL AVAILABLE
<dd>[A CSI uses a fluurescent light on a piece of evidence.]<dd>[A computer screen displays various fingerprints.]<dd>[The camera zooms inside a laser.]
</dt><dt>INCLUDING A REAL-LIFE CRIME SCENE [INVESTIGATOR] IN LIZ DEVINE WHOSE EXPERIENCE LANDED HER A JOB AS A PRODUCER ON THIS SHOW
<dd>
</dt><dt>ACTORS WHO PLAY THE VICTIMS CAN SPEND UP TO FIVE HOURS BEING MADE UP AND CREATING THE CORPSES CAN TAKE DAYS
<dd>[John stands over a 'victim', applying make-up.]<dd>[Fake wounds are created over the victim's body.]<dd>[Close-up as some 'blood' is applied beneath the victim's eye.]<dd>[Jackie works on creating a hand.]<dd>[John pushes down on the lungs inside a skeleton.]
</dt><dt>HERE'S MARG'S CO-STAR, BILLY PETERSEN, WHO GIVES A TOUR OF HIS CHARACTER, GIL GRISSOM'S, OFFICE
<dd>[Gil Grissom walks with Sara Sidle at night.]<dd>[Grissom performs a forensic procedure.]<dd>[The camera pans across the office, where Grissom is working at his desk.]<dd>[<font color=yellow>William Petersen</font> stands inside Grissom's office, addressing the camera.]<dd>
</dt><dt>FILMING CONTINUES PAST MIDNIGHT AND SHOWS NO SIGNS OF SLOWING DOWN
<dd>[<font color=yellow>Jorja Fox</font>, <font color=yellow>George Eads</font> and Helgenberger stand together in the dark, looking at a script.]<dd>
The clip can be viewed in Quicktime format at the William Petersen Appreciation Page. Further details on the segment can be found at Elyse's CSI Site.<center></center>