The series originally starred William Petersen, Marg Helgenberger, Gary Dourdan, George Eads, Jorja Fox, and Paul Guilfoyle.

Other cast members included Eric Szmanda, Robert David Hall, Louise Lombard, Wallace Langham, Lauren Lee Smith, Ted Danson, Laurence Fishburne, and Elisabeth Shue.

The team is originally led by Dr. Gil Grissom (William Petersen), a socially awkward forensic entomologist and career criminalist, who is promoted to CSI supervisor following the death of a trainee investigator.

In the series' 12th season, Russell is reunited with his former partner Julie Finlay (Elisabeth Shue), who like Catherine, is a blood-spatter expert with an extensive knowledge of criminal psychology.

With the rest of the team, they work to tackle Las Vegas's growing crime rate and are on the job 24/7, scouring the scene, collecting the evidence, and finding the missing pieces that help solve the mystery.

With Touchstone Television out of the picture, CBS approached Canadian media giant Alliance Atlantis to step in as a co-producer, saving the show.

[1] CBS previously had had a number of business relationships with Alliance Atlantis and its predecessor companies before they had merged in 1998, including airing Due South (the first Canadian-produced series to air on an American network in primetime), many of the shows in the pre-1993 CBS Late Night block (including Night Heat), first-run syndicated series distributed by CBS-owned distributor Eyemark such as Psi Factor, and various TV movies and miniseries.

Formerly a co-production with the now-defunct Alliance Atlantis Communications, that company's interest was later bought by the investment firm GS Capital Partners, an affiliate of Goldman Sachs.

[5] The CSI catalog has been exclusive to the whole NBC Universal portfolio since September 2014, after several years with Viacom Media Networks' Spike and TV Land.

Throughout the series, music played an important role; artists such as Ozzy Osbourne, The Wallflowers, John Mayer, and Akon (with Obie Trice) performed onscreen in the episodes "Skin in the Game", "The Accused Is Entitled", "Built to Kill, Part 1", and "Poppin' Tags", respectively.

Other artists lent their music to CSI, including Rammstein and Linkin Park—used heavily in Lady Heather (Melinda Clarke)'s story arc.

Sigur Rós can be heard playing in the background in the episode "Slaves of Las Vegas", The Turtles in "Grave Danger", and Marilyn Manson in "Suckers".

One episode started with The Velvet Underground's excited rendition of "Sweet Jane" and ended with the downbeat version of Cowboy Junkies' revision of the song.

Character David Hodges (Wallace Langham)'s good luck has, on occasion, been accompanied by Electric Light Orchestra's "Mr. Blue Sky".

Starring Gary Sinise, Sela Ward, and Melina Kanakaredes, NY was set in New York City and was based upon the idea that "everything is connected."

The Hollywood Reporter noted of the pilot "...the charismatic William Petersen and the exquisite Marg Helgenberger, lend credibility to the portrayals that might be indistinct in lesser hands.

There's also a compelling, pulsating edge at the outset of CSI that commands instant attention, thanks in part to dynamic work from director Danny Cannon.

"[42] Entertainment Weekly gave the opening two seasons "B+" and "A−" ratings, respectively, noting: "The reason for CSI's success is that it combines a few time-tested TV elements in a fresh way.

Each episode presents a murder case and a group of lovable heroes armed with cool, high-tech gadgets who do the sleuthing and wrap things up in an hour.

[60] A grassroots campaign started in August 2007, upon rumors of Jorja Fox leaving the show,[61] organized by the online forum Your Tax Dollars at Work.

By October 16, 2007, according to the site's tally, more than 20,000 letters with money or flyers had been mailed to the Universal Studios and to CBS headquarters in New York from 49 different countries since the campaign started on September 29, 2007.

The auction ended October 7, with the prop being sold for $15,600; CBS donated the proceeds to the National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association.

It is considered an inappropriate and improbable practice to allow CSI personnel to be involved in detective work, as it would compromise the impartiality of scientific evidence and would be impracticably time-consuming.

[75] CSI recruitment and training programs have also seen an increase in applicants as a result of the show, with a wider range of people now interested in something previously regarded as a scientific backwater.

[80] Victims and their families are coming to expect instant answers from showcased techniques such as DNA analysis and fingerprinting, when actual forensic processing often takes days or weeks, with no guarantee of revealing a "smoking gun" for the prosecution's case.

District attorneys state that the conviction rate has decreased in cases with little physical evidence, largely due to the influence of CSI on jury members.