Zuiker Discusses Season Three of ‘CSI:NY’

[CSI Files]

As the third season on CSI:NY launches on AXN, franchise creator and executive producer <font color=yellow>Anthony Zuiker</font> discusses the shows romantic pairings, the casting of Edward Furlong and much more.

To go deeper with Mac Taylor (<font color=yellow>Gary Sinise</font>)’s character, they gave him a love interest this season – Dr. Peyton Driscoll (<font color=yellow>Claire Forlani</font>). Peyton allows Mac to be warmer and more intimate. This softer side of Mac became a hit with fans immediately. Peyton was created as a colleague so that work situations could bring conflict and bring the romance to a deeper level.

Zuiker discusses the relationship between Lindsay (<font color=yellow>Anna Belknap</font>) and Danny (<font color=yellow>Carmine Giovinazzo</font>), saying there is something in Lindsay’s past that causes her to gravitate towards Danny. Her past led her to become a CSI and viewers will understand it at the end of the season. Zuiker describes Belknap’s portrayal as “jaw-dropping.”

<font color=yellow>Edward Furlong</font> joined the cast for a couple episodes as Shane Casey, a man who seeks revenge for the killing of his brother in jail. Furlong’s name topped a short list of actors who could hold their own against Gary Sinise, while still being edgy and fun.

Zuiker is proud of what he has created, noting the importance of the franchise to the integrity of the medium of television. “Television used to be a second-class citizen before CSI came along in terms of the way it looks and the quality of the actors that are willing to go into it. And now with <font color=yellow>William Petersen</font., <font color=yellow>David Caruso</font> and Gary Sinise — these A-class stars have changed the face of entertainment.”

To read the full interview, visit NST Online.<center></center>

 

[Faylinn]

The link to the entire interview doesn't work. So here is a link to the article.

Peyton was created as a colleague so that work situations could bring conflict

Conflict which Danny and Lindsay will mysteriously lack, I'm sure.

there is something in Lindsay’s past that causes her to gravitate towards Danny

Uh...call me crazy, but I don't get it.

Her past led her to become a CSI and viewers will understand it at the end of the season.

If the 'end' of the season refers to episode 18, then I get it, but how is that supposed to draw her toward Danny? 'Hi, my friends were murdered, and because of that I'm totally drawn to this guy whose family has questionable mob connections'... Unless this is referring to something else we'll find out about her past--does she have two deep, dark secrets?

Zuiker describes Belknap’s portrayal as “jaw-dropping.”

*is extremely skeptical* Again, is this meant to be something we've seen already, or something farther toward the finale?

Furlong’s name topped a short list of actors who could hold their own against Gary Sinise, while still being edgy and fun.

Absolutely. He did a fantastic job as Shane.

 

[allstar12]

Faylinn said:

there is something in Lindsay’s past that causes her to gravitate towards Danny

Uh...call me crazy, but I don't get it.

I don't either. It was the complete opposite, she wanted to distance herself from Danny not get closer to him...

 

[chaostheory08]

Lol, I'm one of those who watch CSI over at AXN. They're the carrier of CSI in Asia.

Zuiker describes Belknap’s portrayal as “jaw-dropping.”

Oh? How much was he paid to say that? j/k!

there is something in Lindsay’s past that causes her to gravitate towards Danny

The only logic I see in this is: "I like guys who look like they're bad boys. Pair that with the mafia family background -- then he can balance my being the only witness/survivor of a tragic event."

Come to think of it... lol, I don't get what I just said either. Haha.

 

[Elsie]

Zuiker describes Belknap’s portrayal as “jaw-dropping.”

Well my jaw dropped just reading that.

Zuiker is proud of what he has created

And rightly so.

I like Mac and Peyton together, I'm hoping they will continue with that relationship into the next season. In the UK we aren't quite up to date, so I'll wait to draw my conclusions on Lindsay gravitating towards Danny, and 'something in her past', but as you can see, I'm not expecting any 'jaw dropping' acting to take place.

 

[Dragonfly]

Zuiker describes Belknap’s portrayal as “jaw-dropping.”

Well, to be fair, he didn't say 'jaw-droppingly good' He left it open ended

And I agree with Elsie. He should be very proud of what he has done.

 

[Top41]

^Yeah, I'm thinking "jaw-dropping" is open to interpretation. Belknap certainly is jaw-droppingly bad. :lol:

 

[MissDee]

See, I saw Anna Belknap for the first time on a Without a Trace episode, and she really did blow me away there - her character was involved and passionate and sympathetic and ultimately tragic, and so I was really excited when she got on CSI:NY. But since then it's like she can't seem to find that fire again. I keep wondering if it's the writing for her character - I mean, I know I didn't imagine her performance on that WaT episode, you know?

But who knows? I'll cross my fingers that she dug deep and brought it again. I'd love for my jaw to drop at her the way it did on WaT....

 

[chaostheory08]

Top41 said:
^Yeah, I'm thinking "jaw-dropping" is open to interpretation. Belknap certainly is jaw-droppingly bad. :lol:

Lol, and I thought I was the only one around here (where I live) who thought her acting was bad. Some of my classmates said it also. They said her eyes don't talk to the viewers or the one she's talking to (which is almost only Danny). It's stripping off Carmine's performance.

 

[Springmoon]

She sucks the life out of the scenes that she is in. It would be interesting to find out if the director needs to complete more takes for the scenes that she is in than with the ones where she doesn't appear.

Anyway, I cannot for the life of me figure out what it is about Lindsay's past that would make her gravitate towards Danny other than the obviousness of the killer's name being the same. Unless there is a big reveal at the end of the season, I'm going to wonder about Zuiker's analytical skills

If we could have more conflicted villains like Ed Furlonge on the show, that would be awesome. Zuiker really should be proud of this creation -- and work hard to make certain it doesn't turn into a parody like Miami.

 

[chemgeek]

Why can't you all just accept that this forum contains almost all the people who don't care for Lindsay and Anna?

Almost all the questions listed in TVGuide columns as well as E!Online columns focus on D/L, people who write blogs on TVGuide.com comment about how they started watching the show because of Anna Belknap...

 

[Elsie]

chemgeek, I think you will find that this forum contains all different types of people, most of whom are interested in useful discussion of all the characters. If you look at many of the threads you will find lots of people who like Lindsay and Anna, as well as people who respectfully disagree with these opinions.

Personally, I haven't seen anything in Lindsay that makes me care for her character or finds her a useful member of the team, but I live in hope. You never know, Anna may put in the 'jaw dropping' performance and at the end of the day that is just my opinion.

Actually, fully reading the article though, as I'm from the UK I was a little confused by Zuiker's suggestion that the shows are always in the top 5 in the UK? That's not to say they aren't extremely popular, but it is a bit of a misrepresentation to say they are top 5. I think they should be, but they aren't.

 

[Top41]

chemgeek said:
Almost all the questions listed in TVGuide columns as well as E!Online columns focus on D/L, people who write blogs on TVGuide.com comment about how they started watching the show because of Anna Belknap...

A few do, sure, but then with an audience numbering between 12 and 14 million, you're bound to find people watching for all sorts of reasons. No one is denying that Anna, Lindsay and "Dindsay" (thank you, Michael Ausiello! :lol: ) have their fans. I think it was all an attempt to appeal to several different demographics that they were lacking viewers in--the middle of the country, younger people, etc.

Whether that has succeeded or not is a different question. I don't know about the middle of the country, but I do know that since Lost moved opposite the show, NY has been getting the crap kicked out of it in the 18-49 demographic, which is a hugely important one. Dindsay ain't getting the job done, in other words. What will? I'm not sure, but I think the people behind the show definitely need to figure that out because Lost's numbers could start growing again. Lost is a pretty buzz-worthy show, and while the CSIs have never really been that (it's not the nature of the franchise), the network isn't going to want to see NY lose too much ground to Lost.

 

[Faylinn]

Almost all the questions listed in TVGuide columns as well as E!Online columns focus on D/L

Which gets on my nerves, personally. There are six main characters plus several worthy recurring characters, and all people ever talk about is D/L. I'd much rather read questions about Mac and Reed, or Danny's past, or Flack's relationship with his father, etc.

people who write blogs on TVGuide.com comment about how they started watching the show because of Anna Belknap...

Well, good for them. People watch the show for different reasons, and love it for different reasons. Those opinions are no less valid than the ones we express here, but our opinions are no less valid because they don't mirror these other opinions either.

 

[Dragonfly]

I'd much rather read questions about Mac and Reed, or Danny's past, or Flack's relationship with his father, etc.

I would too. The whole D/L thing just... bores me.

I was never a big fan of the Aiden character, so when Lindsay showed up, I thought 'great. Maybe this is a character I can really like.' It sometimes takes me a while to warm up to new characters, but I was thinking that I'd like this one... only I'm still waitng for her to wow me