Trivia
Under the glass top of Grissom's desk is a photo of the series' executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
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All the equipment in the lab is fully functional, and was either purchased outright, or donated/loaned to the show for product placement.
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The original name of William Petersen's character was Gil Scheinbaum. He changed it to Gil Grissom because of his admiration for astronaut Gus Grissom.
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The extreme popularity of this TV series was credited for a large surge of applications for courses in forensic science.
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Grissom, et. al. use the Nikon F5 fitted with a multi-control back for photographing crime scene elements. As of the 5th season, this is no longer true. Most have different cameras: e.g. Warrick uses either a Nikon D70 or Nikon D100.
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When asked about a possible CSI feature film, creator Anthony E. Zuiker said he'd like to wait until after the 30th season to make it.
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The choice to place this series in Las Vegas was not random. Among US crime labs, Las Vegas is the second most active, surpassed only by the FBI lab at Quantico, Virginia.
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Before it was acquired by CBS, the show was first offered to ABC in 1999, but was rejected as "too confusing for the average viewer".
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David Berman, who plays assistant coroner David Phillips, is also a head researcher for the show.
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A scene featuring Willows and Stokes making out was filmed for the first season, but was not aired.
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There were rumors of a fourth CSI series, to be set in London and using "Eminence Front" as its theme tune, but the show never materialized and there are not presently any plans for such a spin-off.
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You often hear the characters referring to a four-nineteen (4-19,4/19, etc.) or sometimes a 4-45. These are the Las Vegas Metro 400 Event codes. The often-used 419 stands for "deceased person", while the less-used 445 is "explosive device threat".
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The show utilizes a wide array of tactical flashlights; the most often-used light is the Surefire M4 Devastator.
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Grissom and Catherine are loosely based on real-life LVMPD criminalists Daniel Holstein and Yolanda McCrery.
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While the majority of the techniques and technologies used in the show are accurate and true to reality, the writers and crew readily admit that they "time cheat". Tests that take seconds in the show often take days or even weeks in real life.
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In response to a TV Guide interview that revealed Jorja Fox may leave CSI, fans began a "Dollar for Sense" campaign and sent over 2,000 dollar bills to CBS. The campaign also included three banner flyovers of CBS in Los Angeles, and flowers for her every day for a week.
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In July 2004, co-stars George Eads and Jorja Fox were fired (by direct order of CBS head Leslie Moonves) for breach of contract. CBS said that they were using delay tactics (refusing to show up for shooting) to force a pay raise at the beginning of the fifth season. They were soon rehired, but without a raise. They both denied that there was any contract dispute - Eads says he just overslept on the first day of production, and Fox said she didn't know about the letter of intent she reportedly failed to sign.
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Before Laurence Fishburne was named as William Petersen's replacement, John Malkovich and Kurt Russell were considered for the part.
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The producers wanted to hire Katee Sackhoff to replace Jorja Fox when she left the show, but the executives at CBS and Jerry Bruckheimer Television overruled the decision.
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Series executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer produced William Petersen's feature debut Thief almost 20 years earlier.
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Though not requested to do so by the producers, Marg Helgenberger attended actual autopsies over the course of the series for personal research purposes. The most 'memorable' aspect of the experience was the stench, according to Helgenberger's account on BBC's Breakfast (3 November 2011).
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This is the only CSI series to continue shooting entirely on 35mm film. The spin-offs switched to shooting digitally in 2009 in an attempt to cut costs.
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