CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Trivia Facts

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

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Under the glass top of Grissom's desk is a photo of the series' executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
All the equipment in the lab is fully functional, and was either purchased outright, or donated/loaned to the show for product placement.
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.
The extreme popularity of this TV series was credited for a large surge of applications for courses in forensic science.
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.
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.
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.
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".
David Berman (X), who plays assistant coroner David Phillips, is also a head researcher for the show.
A scene featuring Willows and Stokes making out was filmed for the first season, but was not aired.
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.
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".
The show utilizes a wide array of tactical flashlights; the most often-used light is the Surefire M4 Devastator.
Grissom and Catherine are loosely based on real-life LVMPD criminalists Daniel Holstein and Yolanda McCrery.
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.
Marg Helgenberger, George Eads, Jorja Fox have all appeared on "ER" (1994), but not in the same episodes.
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.
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.
Before Laurence Fishburne was named as William Petersen's replacement, John Malkovich and Kurt Russell (I) were considered for the part.
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.
In the nearly ten years of the series, the opening credits' (pilot epsiode) scene of Grissom's experiment dummy-being bludgeoned in the back of the head-has always been shown.
This episode was dedicated in memory of Owen Wolf. He was a production assistant for the show who was shot in the head on August 13, 2000, as a victim, in a botched armed robbery, in Van Nuys, California.
Grissom quotes lines from Shakespeare's "Macbeth" twice, and each quote is said by Lady Macbeth.
The title refers to the temperature of 932° F (500 °C) at which a 'flashover', the near simultaneous ignition of all combustible material in an enclosed area, occurs.
This episode features the fictional Tangiers Casino from Casino (1995).
When Grissom mentions the Edinburgh body snatchers Burke and Hare, Catherine Willows remarks "Is this part of the Sherlock Holmes Fan Club Kit?". Sherlock Holmes author Arthur Conan Doyle attended the very medical school at which Burke and Hare submitted their victims. Furthermore, Doyle based the character of Holmes on his Anatomy Professor at the university.
The plot of Burked draws very heavily upon the facts surrounding the actual 1998 Las Vegas death of Ted Binion, son of Benny Binion, who was the original owner/founder of Binion's Horseshoe Casino in downtown Las Vegas. Binion's girlfriend (and former Cheetah's dancer) Sandy Murphy, as well as her lover Rick Tabish, were arrested and originally found guilty of murdering Binion, but eventually they were granted a new trial and acquitted regarding the murder charge.
The minor league baseball player mentioned plays for the "Blasters", a team which does not exist. The Las Vegas minor league team was originally the Stars, and is now known as the "51s", as in "Area 51."
Grissom's birthday is given in this episode as 17 August 1956.
The "meat bullet" plot device used in this episode was tested by the Mythbusters in their Season 1, Episode 4 show, in which they also examined the possibility of ice bullets and other exotic - and conspiracy-theory-invoked - ammunition.

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