The best of CSI
New York’s Twin Towers still stood, Madonna topped the charts and Meet The Parents had just opened in cinemas when CSI: Crime Scene Investigation debuted on US TV.
Fifteen seasons later, it finished up with a two-hour 2015 finale.
Once the most-watched TV series in the world (allegedly 73.8 million viewers globally tuned into the 2009 season), it spawned three spin-off series, books, video games and an exhibition.
Inspired by the third season of
CSI: Vegas’ arrival on TVNZ+, Stuff to Watch has chosen our five favourite stories from the crime lab’s files.
Scuba Doobie-Doo (Season 2, Episode 5)
One of the episodes all fans of the show remember. While the main action involved a run-of-the-mill blood-spattered apartment, it was Catherine (Marg Helgenberger) and Nick’s (George Eads) “secondary” crime that sticks in the mind. They are confronted with a scuba diver nestled in the top of a tree after a forest fire.
Fur And Loathing (Season 4, Episode 5)
Furries, Plushies – call them what you will – this was the episode that brought the sub-culture of dressing up as furry animals out from the underground and maybe even helped spark the invention of the onesie. When Grissom and Catherine discover a dead man dressed as a raccoon, they naturally have to investigate.
Grave Danger
(Season 5, Episodes 24/25)
One of the show’s first cliffhangers, this two-parter was written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Nick is kidnapped while investigating a crime scene and buried alive in a glass casket. Complicating matters is the fact the kidnapper isn’t sure of what he wants – first demanding a ransom and then blowing himself up.
Built To Kill (Season 7, Episode 1)
Another two-parter, this season-opener features that most Las Vegas of backdrops – a Cirque Du Soleil show. Pretty much a promo for Cirque’s Ka show, it requires the CSIs to study its inner workings to find out how a woman died on the set. An episode in which the infamous “miniature killer” also arrived.
Living Legend
(Season 7, Episode 9)
CSI went all meta for its 150th episode, enlisting the services of The Who’s Roger Daltrey (lead singer on the show’s theme tune Who Are You?) to play an infamous mob boss whose Cadillac is found in a lake, years after he apparently “disappeared”.
Seasons 1 to 15 of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation are available to stream on TVNZ+ (seasons 10 to 15 have also just arrived on Netflix). Season 3 of CSI: Vegas streams on TVNZ+, with new episodes arriving on Mondays at 8pm.