CSI: Miami

I'm gonna get creamed with e-mails from fans of the original CSI show, but I can't help it. In my opinion, CSI: Miami is superior to the original and a good foundation for (the also superior) CSI:NY.

Don't get me wrong, the original is the original, but the fact that the real Miami/Dade CSI's are cops first allows this show to explode in gunfire at any moment...and place our lead, David Caruso, at the center of the action. Now I want to make something clear: Almost 15 years ago I saw some of Caruso's early work and I was trying to figure out what all the fuss was about. What makes THIS guy a sex symbol (on NYPD Blue)? Then, just as fast as he becomes a major star, he exits Blue, makes two movies that bombed (the really good "Kiss Of Death" and the laughable "Jade") and he's suddenly poison. It was after seeing Caruso in Kiss of Death and a previous film, The King of New York" that I realized we were missing one of the last REAL tough guys.

CSI: Miami has brought him back. Caruso spearheads this show with a vengeance. Sure his line readings have their own stilted rhythm, but he did the same thing on NYPD Blue and people loved him then. Caruso with a gun in his hand looks more natural than anything else I have seen on TV (and my favorite show is The Shield).

CSI: Miami is action packed. The stories are seedier. The cinematography is unmatched by any other show. Go watch the DVDs. Tune in Monday nights. I swear, you'll be a convert.

Then go watch Gary Sinise give the performance of his life in CSI:NY. You'll be glad you did.

The redhead that looks at the floor as he talks to his suspects. A brilliant trademark for a very well written show. From the opening crime catching scene and into a great 'screaming', remix of The Who's 'Won't Get Fooled again' open credit sequence, to David Caruso's great acting, this show is worth at least an hour of your time each week. Caruso makes the show. He's great to watch as he throws simple single line hooks into his suspects & catches them off guard with the forensic evidence his team gathers. We got a glimpse of this guy in 'NYPD Blue' as he played Detective John Kelly, but Caruso has been a good actor for a very long time. From 'Proof Of Life' to William Friedkin's 'Jade' to Barbet Schroeder's 'Kiss Of Death', Caruso has been an actor that has come into his own. If you have an opportunity to see 'First Blood' you will get to see Caruso as he plays a young Deputy showing compassion to Sylvester Stallone's character. The same compassion that he now shows in CSI:M to victims that are not able to help themselves. A welcome relief to today's hardened Hollywood leading dramatic actors roles that show no empathy.

This is not to take away from the rest of the cast. They are good and hold their own, however it's good that the lead actor shines as Caruso does. Perhaps an Emmy is not out of the question.

Good Googly Moogly, I HAD to comment on this show. It is like one of those accidents on the side of the road you don't want to look at because everyone is doing it and causing traffic to slow down to a crawl, and yet you do hoping you see a dead body or something! I don't know what is worse, the writing or the acting....honestly it is a tie. the original CSI: LV, OK, I got it....it was corny, yet still mildly entertaining, but this....wow. There are a lot of pretty people plastered on a day-glo and pastel, sun-drenched background, but after that what is there? I don't claim to be an expert or anything, but I am 99.9% certain crime scene investigators do NOT interrogate suspects and witnesses, chase down and arrest the bad guys, and I think the forensic science aspect of it is amazing, but these local police departments seem to have better equipment than NASA! I am sorry, I had to finally vent and I doubt anyone actually reads this but I must know I am not alone in my complete hatred for this show, yet sick perverted need to watch it....almost like I want the aneurysm to take me as I scream at the T.V. ....my behavior is as idiotic as the show, I need closure ....thanks for listening

One person ruins this show: David Caruso. All he does is pose. They should make it into a drinking game. Every time he strikes a pose, take a shot. Of course, people have died from alcohol poisoning. This would only add to the statistics. All the other characters have depth. He just gets this look on his face and 'strikes a pose'. Watch him turn sideways and look over his shoulder. Wow!! OOOhhh, he figured out something. Time for him to take off his sunglasses. I challenge any of you to find an episode where he isn't positioned sideways looking over his shoulder and where he takes off his sunglasses. Quit posing and pretend like you know how to act!!!!

And, how come he has to figure everything out? The other shows let the other characters show some brains. How 'bout letting the other CSI Vogue characters have a little spotlight?

Out of the all the CSI shows, this one is my least favourite. While the Miami locations are absolutely amazing(probably the most beautiful visually of the CSI shows in fact) and the music very cool, I find this show slack in pace and badly acted. Sorry to those who like this show, but as honesty is the best policy I will come out with it and say I don't really like this show, and I will try to explain why without trying to upset anyone. The pacing in almost every episode is quite pedestrian and there are times when it gets slower and slower and slower. Then there is the writing, Caine's moralising grates for me quite quickly, and the writing in general lacks the intelligence of Crime Scene Investigation and New York. The story lines aren't as well thought out either, they start off promisingly but some of them have cardboard or clichéd characters and then the episode either ends abruptly or has an ending that doesn't make sense. And I find the acting very wooden, the worst offender being David Caruso, sunglasses and all, as Horatio Caine. His dialogue is bad enough, but with Caruso reciting it constantly in a monotonic drawl it makes the character increasingly unlikeable. Overall, it looks wonderful and has great music, but it doesn't work. 3/10 Bethany Cox