In the realm of television, the best shows usually find themselves spinning off their most popular supporting characters into their own programs. In the case of CSI however, the whole show premise became so popular that the producers decided that it would be best for them to spin off the show into other series settings in order to avoid rip-off shows. That was the main idea behind launching the CSI sister shows, CSI: Miami, and later on CSI: New York. Being a fan of the series, I enjoy watching all of the CSI versions in general. However, I have my personal preferences as to which is the best and worst version of the show. So, I will be classifying these shows as per my own criteria, ranking them from worst to best based upon story execution and acting.
I would have to say that my least favorite CSI version is CSI: Miami. The show has too many loopholes for a show set in Miami, not to mention the fact that Miami Dade Country does not have its own CSI laboratory. So the show is riddled with too many errors which remove from my enjoyment of the show. Aside from those glaring errors, I believe that the show paints the police officers, particularly the CSI’s of Miami in a bad light because the leader of the team, Horatio Caine has a tendency to get personally involved with the cases. This tendency has led to his violating certain laws on numerous occasions and getting away with it. It makes the police seem to be above the law.
My 2nd favorite version of the show is the original CSI series, also known as CSI: Las Vegas. I like the seriousness and professional handling of the story lines. Great attention has been paid to even the minutest detail and totally engages the viewer in the process. The only problem I have with this version is that the case-solving focus of the show does not allow for much character development. Thus leaving the viewer wondering about the personal lives of the investigators. It would be nice to see the writers dabble in the personal lives of the characters, even if it is only a mere mention of an out of office activity.. That way it does not seem like the investigators live in the laboratory 24/7. If the writers did not mention a day shift some seasons ago, I would have thought that CSI had only 1 team assigned on a 24/7 basis to the police department.
Finally we come to my favorite show in the CSI series, CSI: New York. Where do I begin in order to sing the accolades of this version of CSI? As far as I am concerned, CSI: New York is the culmination of all that is best about the CSI show arc. It does not go overboard in terms of scientific investigation, it has an equal balance of serious case stories while offering interesting glimpses into the personal lives of the investigators. Making them easy to identify with for the viewer. The acting is also never over the top or severely underplayed like in the case of CSI: Miami.
In the end I believe that the shows actually help the viewers understand the intricacies of crime scene investigation. In the end, even though there are versions of the show that are wanting in terms of storytelling and acting ability, these shortcomings do not distract from the information learned by the person viewing the show. Although all of the shows are created with the same high standards that we have come to expect from the producers of the series, the reality is that different staffers have different ideas as to how the show should be presented to the public. It is because of these ideas that I was able to rank the worst to the best version of the show using my personal criteria.