'CSI' Casts Squabble Over Spin-Offs

During a recent round-table discussion with members of the press, the cast of the three CSI shows proved the fans aren't the only ones who argue about which CSI is the best.

"I don't think the spinoffs have hurt our show," Jorja Fox (Sara Sidle) told the Canadian Globe and Mail, "but I think that they were certainly motivated by a certain level of greed. And they weren't anybody's creative brainchild. They came out of a way to make as much money as quickly as possible."

Fox made her comments during a weekend-long press junket for entertainment journalists, who were given a tour of the CSI: New York set and got to watch special effects artist John Goodwin put the finishing touches on one of CSI's gruesome prosthetics. As part of the event, people such as showrunner Anthony E. Zuiker attempted to hype the remainder of the season for all three CSI shows, but Globe and Mail reporter Gayle MacDonald seemed more interested in the bad blood that was clearly evident between the various casts.

Gary Dourdan (Warrick Brown) backed up Fox, saying he doesn't even watch CSI: Miami and CSI: New York. "One, I don't have the time. And two, they're just not as good. I'm sorry. [...] They don't have the chemistry that we have. We've been really fortunate to have a great chemistry in the cast. And the other ones are kind of contrived, you know?"

With the original CSI cast members making comments like this, it'd be logical for the stars of the spin-offs to get defensive. And indeed, Vanessa Ferlito (Aiden Burns) seemed rather angry, saying she felt like saying "dude, relax. It is showbiz." But David Caruso (Horatio Caine) was more understanding. "I can't imagine what it is like to try to maintain [the original CSI's] 28- to 30-million viewers a week," he said. "That is a high-stakes situation. I have empathy for them because they are toeing the line and facing a huge responsibility each week."

As for Emily Procter (Calleigh Duquesne), she just appeared baffled by the whole situation, and the negative comments about CSI: Miami. "I don't understand it at all. But if I were the number-one show and people copied me and I remained the number-one show, I would just feel very proud of that. And also I just think if you are an actor and you are working today, we are very fortunate."

Besides alll this forensic infighting, did any actual news come out of the press junket? Anthony Zuiker did reveal that the man who was flattened after getting a shipping container dropped on his head in a recent New York episode, was actually made of rubber and urethane foam. He also said that Quentin Tarantino recently turned in a first draft of the script for the original CSI season finale, but refused to say anything about the contents of the finale, besides confirming that it will put one of the members of Grissom's team in a life-and-death situation.

Even here, the actors' displeasure showed through. When asked if she thought the CSI character placed in danger will actually end up being killed, Jorja Fox said she didn't anticipate that happening. "But all bets are off at this point," she added. "I don't think any of us felt we could get fired, and that happened. So who knows?"

Much more from the CSI casts, including comments by Marg Helgenberger (Catherine Willows) on last Summer's firings and re-hirings, and some words from Gary Sinise (Mac Taylor) on the amount of gore in his show, head over to the Globe and Mail

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