Saying Goodbye to CSI, a Show That Changed TV https://www.yahoo.com/tv/s/saying-goodbye-csi-show-changed-tv-191100364.html
On Sunday night, the case will finally be closed on CSI.After 15 seasons, 337 episodes, three spin-offs and a handful of cast changes through the years, CBS is finally letting go of the show that reinvigorated its network. It's difficult to understate the influence of the show, which has grown to become the largest TV franchise in the world. You need look no further than all the imitators made in the show's likeness that have come and gone, both on CSI's home of CBS and other broadcast networks. But back in 2000, no one would have predicted that a show about the science of crime-solving would have such an impact.The journey began in Las Vegas, where writer Anthony Zuiker was making $8-an-hour driving a tram. His moment of inspiration came while watching an episode of The New Detectives on the Discovery Channel about an Oakland Raiders cheerleader who had been murdered. "What really set it in motion for me was a long, long hair follicle with a tag cell that was caught in the headrest of the passenger side of the jeep," Zuiker tells TVGuide.com. "That signified, according to the narrator, that the hair was yanked out in a struggle. I thought, 'Wow, all of that information is connoted by a single hair follicle!' That really cemented for me the mantra of our series, which was the body is the perfect specimen. I felt like I could do a cop show that went below the tape for a forensic perspective with the sexy backdrop of Las Vegas, and the idea of CSI at that point was born."