'Miami's' Own Tsunami Too Controversial for CBS

See Also: 'Crime Wave' Episode Guide

CBS has decided to shelve the rerun of "Crime Wave" for the near future, due to the episode's similarities to the deadly tsunami that struck Asia last year.

Executives took this decision out of respect to the victims of the real-life tragedy that struck twelve countries in Asia on December 26 of 2004 and claimed more than 162,000 lives. "Our job is to entertain, and when it intersects with tragedy, it's just terrible. We certainly don't aim for that," one unnamed insider told TV Guide.

The 90-minute episode, which originally aired on November 8 of 2004, deals with a band of ambitious criminals who plan to take advantage of a nearing tsunami, and the mandatory evacuation of the city, to rob a bank. Horatio Caine and his team must risk their lives to stop said robbery from taking place as the giant 30-foot wave approaches the city. The episode was massively hyped and ended up being watched by close to 22 million people.

But despite the high ratings, the network feels that reruns of "Crime Wave" might offend viewers following the Asia disaster. "We would never be so insensitive," said a network source. The creators of CSI: Miami agreed the episode's strong graphics might seem controversial in lieu of recent events. "If it would remind one person of all the lives that were lost, it's not worth it."

CBS is not alone in their decision to pull tsunami related storylines off the air. Networks such as the Disney Channel and the Cartoon Network have opted not to show specific episodes of some of their programs, such as Even Stevens, The Proud Family and, for obvious reasons, Johnny Tsunami. No announcements have been made regarding the possibility of these episodes being shown in the future.

Fans who wish to see "Crime Wave" a second time will have to wait for the DVD set release, which will presumably still include the episode. The third-season box set is scheduled to be released in September of 2005 (story).

To read the full article, visit TVGuide.com.

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