Greg Put To The Test Tonight

See Also: 'Who Shot Sherlock?' Episode Guide

Eric Szmanda's Greg Sanders will face the final barrier to achieving his dream of becoming a CSI on tonight's episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

"I have my final proficiency test," Szmanda told Pat St. Germain at the Winnipeg Sun. All the rookie investigator has to do is figure out "Who Shot Sherlock?" "It's a real fun case where we find a dead body dressed like Sherlock Holmes -- it's a pretty kind of campy episode but it's a pretty heavy episode for me."

The episode is the culmination of Greg's four-year quest to enter the field, a drive that was in fact fuelled by Szmanda himself. "When I first approached the writers about Greg's desire to work out in the field it was kind of a mask for my own desires," the actor said. After several years of only working one day a week on the CSI lab sets, Greg's newfound status means Szmanda is getting out and about a lot more. "Now that I'm moving around so much, I'm putting in a lot more hours," he told Tim Arsenault of the Halifax Herald. "But I've been petitioning for this for a while so I'm happy to step up to the challenge."

Szmanda said he is acutely aware that every instalment of the show represents the culmination of months of work on the part of writers, directors, camera operators, make-up technicians, and special effects crew, not to mention the actors. "I have fun with it and the new advances for my character have made it more interesting," he said. "But it does require a lot of time to make a show the quality that CSI has become. The crew puts in 12- to 15-hour days, five days a week. It's just a relentless struggle for them to get through the season. But they do a great job and I just try to go in there and make it as easy for them as possible."

Still, there are some perks to appearing on such a popular television show, such as being part of a CSI board game. "I can honestly say I never planned on having my face on a board game. Now that I have, I'm quite proud of it," Szmanda said.

The complete interviews can be found at the Winnipeg Sun and the Halifax Herald.

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