CSI (Season 1) DVD Review by Britt Gillette

Nominated for 20 Emmys and 6 Golden Globes, including Best TV Series - Drama, CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) quickly rose to become the number one show on television following its Fall 2000 premiere. The brainchild of creator Anthony Zuiker, the show follows the investigations not of traditional TV detectives working the streets, but forensic scientists who unravel complicated crime mysteries in their ultra-modern laboratory. Either the #1 or the #2 Nielsen rated show since the start of its second season, CSI has helped CBS to reemerge as the #1 network television station, spawning (similar to predecessor Law & Order) two series spin-offs CSI: Miami and CSI: New York. Each exciting hour-long episode begins with the theme song "Who Are You" by The Who, a song more than befitting of a show where criminals are aggressively tracked down, sometimes years after committing their crimes…

CSI focuses on the Las Vegas Police Department's Crime Scene Investigation nightshift unit headed by Gil Grissom (William Petersen), a quirky outsider whose obsessive quest for the facts and dedication to his work dominates his life. The CSI team is composed of a number of individuals with differing backgrounds and personalities - single mother Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger) specializes in blood-splatter analysis, the highly competitive Nick Stokes (George Eads) specializes in hair and fiber analysis, recovering gambling addict Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan) specializes in audio/visual analysis, and the rambunctious Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox) specializes in materials and element analysis. Throw in hard-nosed homicide captain Jim Brass (Paul Guifoyle), CSI understudy Greg Sanders (Eric Szmanda), and lab coroner Al Robbins (Robert David Hall) and all the ingredients are present for a show wrought with suspense, drama, and tension. As transients from all walks of life travel to Las Vegas to enjoy the wonders of its adult playground, increased levels of crime accompany them, and the team at CSI is determined to stay a step ahead of the criminal element…

The CSI DVD features a number of dramatic episodes including the series premiere in which Grissom investigates a murder police believe was staged to look like a suicide, but only minute tidbits of physical evidence are available to work with. Meanwhile, Warrick and Catherine investigate a local drunk who was shot to death while breaking into the home where he was staying, and Nick investigates a robbery… Other notable episodes from Season 1 include "Friends & Lovers" in which Grissom and Warrick investigate the murder of a man found naked in the desert while Catherine and Nick investigate the murder of a school's headmaster by the school's founder, and "Too Tough To Die" in which the CSI investigates the rape and attempted murder of a woman abducted from a mall parking lot…

Below is a list of episodes included on the CSI (Season 1) DVD:

Episode 1 (Pilot) Air Date: 10-06-2000
Episode 2 (Cool Change) Air Date: 10-13-2000
Episode 3 (Crate 'N Burial) Air Date: 10-20-2000
Episode 4 (Pledging Mr. Johnson) Air Date: 10-27-2000
Episode 5 (Friends & Lovers) Air Date: 11-03-2000
Episode 6 (Who Are You?) Air Date: 11-10-2000
Episode 7 (Blood Drops) Air Date: 11-17-2000
Episode 8 (Anonymous) Air Date: 11-24-2000
Episode 9 (Unfriendly Skies) Air Date: 12-08-2000
Episode 10 (Sex, Lies, and Larvae) Air Date: 12-22-2000
Episode 11 (I-15 Murders) Air Date: 01-12-2001
Episode 12 (Fahrenheit 932) Air Date: 02-01-2001
Episode 13 (Boom) Air Date: 02-08-2001
Episode 14 (To Halve and to Hold) Air Date: 02-15-2001
Episode 15 (Table Stakes) Air Date: 02-22-2001
Episode 16 (Too Tough to Die) Air Date: 03-01-2001
Episode 17 (Face Lift) Air Date: 03-08-2001
Episode 18 ($35K O.B.O.) Air Date: 03-29-2001
Episode 19 (Gentle, Gentle) Air Date: 04-12-2001
Episode 20 (Sounds of Silence) Air Date: 04-19-2001
Episode 21 (Justice is Served) Air Date: 04-26-2001
Episode 22 (Evaluation Day) Air Date: 05-10-2001
Episode 23 (The Strip Strangler) Air Date: 05-17-2001