The 'CSI' Triumvirate Previews The Upcoming Season

Viewers flocking to the Las Vegas, Miami, and New York editions of CSI won't be disappointed according to executive producers Carol Mendelsohn (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation), Ann Donohue (CSI: Miami) and Anthony E. Zuiker (CSI: New York).

The trio revealed details about their respective shows' upcoming seasons to USA Today. On CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Sara Sidle will have to deal with nearly being charged with a DUI when the fourth season concluded. Miami faces the death of a CSI, while New York will explore its characters more than the previous two CSI shows.

But with three CSI shows on the air, can they keep each one distinctive from the other two? Mendelsohn belives the settings keep the shows' stories from overlapping. "The characters and crimes we explore in Las Vegas, you won't see in Miami or New York," she said.

Donohue concurs. "You won't find a body half-eaten by a shark in Las Vegas," she noted.

Even the climate factors into the cases the CSIs work and it can have a big impact on their evidence. "Every temperature impacts on how a body decomposes," Donahue commented. "You've got desert and tropical and snow."

Another factor is the producers' dedication to their individual shows. Each strives to find stories that will set their show apart from the others. "You're so protective of the show that you become competitive. You want it to be special and unique," Mendelsohn noted.

Forensic science is without a doubt a popular subject these days. The original CSI is the most-watched drama on television, and maintained impressive numbers in the summer rerun season, even in the midst of first-run programming. CSI: Miami gained viewers in its second season, and also drew large numbers of viewers during the summer. And CSI: New York is the most-anticipated new show of the fall season, according to surveys.

Zuiker, the creator of the original CSI, expects the trend to continue. "The good thing about CSI is that it was uncharted forensic waters for TV. So we have so much more life in us beyond this point," he said.

The trio also discussed differentiating the leading men of the CSI shows, played by William Petersen (CSI's Gil Grissom), David Caruso (Miami's Horatio Caine) and Gary Sinise (New York's Mac Taylor). All three have to grapple with the challenges of leading their team of CSIs.

Mendelsohn noted that it's not a position Grissom is entirely comfortable with. "He is the reluctant supervisor," she said. "He's more comfortable just being with the evidence. He is thrust into the position of team leader. It's a very difficult place for him to be as a person."

More at home with his leadership postion is Horatio, whose cool demeanor will be challenged when one of his team dies on his watch in the third season opener. "Once we had David Caruso, we really started to form this character," Donahue said. "He makes a choice that he cannot afford emotion. He has to set things right. He has to figure out the truth."

The newest CSI leading man has problems of his own to grapple with. Zuiker notes that Mac Taylor is still mourining his wife, whom he lost in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center towers. But Taylor remains a strong leader with a well-formed philosophy. "Mac is the anchor for our unit," Zuiker noted. "He is a former Marine. He got injured. He's used to leading troops in Kosovo. He saw limbs being blown off. He's been a CSI for years. He subscribes to the theory [that] everything is connected. He wants to know the why."

To read the complete story, please visit USA Today.

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