Bianco: Caruso Shines, 'New York' In Darkness

Television writer Robert Bianco this week said CSI: Miami had proved itself a worthy successor to CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. The reason? David Caruso (Horatio Caine).

"Miami has provided a welcome safe harbor for this excellent actor, and his continued presence here is one of TV's happiest developments," Bianco wrote in his latest USA Today column. "The show also has a strong supporting cast, led by Emily Procter, Khandi Alexander and recent addition Jonathan Togo, and has done a good job adapting CSI's plot-driven procedural template to a new climate."

The baby of the CSI franchise, Wednesday night's CSI: New York, has not held Bianco's interest in the same way. He wrote that, like Caruso, Gary Sinise (Mac Taylor) is a "fine actor", but "neither he nor anyone else has been given anything interesting to play." Bianco said that the show needs some "tweaking" to fully succeed. His advice? Lighten up. "Where the original CSI is cherished for its flashes of dark humor, NY is just dark. It's like they think they can build an entire series around mood lighting. Worse yet, the plots have been unrelentingly grim and sick (with the nadir a shared story between a mass murderer and a wannabe amputee)."

As for the original, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which has seen its already sky-high ratings grow even further this season, Bianco said there's no stopping the series now. "CSI has not lost sight of what made it so popular in the first place: intricate mysteries, lightened with touches of humor and gussied up with high-tech anatomical tours. And the cases have been particularly strong this fall, from the return of the blue-paint serial killer to a twist-filled tour of the transsexual community. I wish the show would cut back on the near-ritual abuse of women, but that complaint can be levied at almost every cop show."

To read the complete column, in which Bianco also casts his eye over fellow CBS crime show Without a Trace, head over to USA Today. Thanks to Al Fornos for this!

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