CSI: Miami

CSI: Miami is a fun show to watch, like the original CSI:. But the chemistry in the original isn't quite there.

Grissom, in CSI:, is interesting, deep, and can easily be believed to be as smart as he is. But Horatio in CSI: Miami seems a bit more flat, and his bright moments seem cheesy and scripted.

Other characters don't seem to grow in CSI: Miami, while there's clear changes in their CSI: counterparts. Also, the side stories are more interesting in CSI: than in CSI: Miami.

So, while I'll watch CSI: Miami, it's not growing on me like how the original 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.

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.

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?

Between David Caruso and Emily Proctor, I don't know if I've suffered through a show of such bad acting that didn't understand it was bad. William Shatner, for example, knows who he is and how he comes off and plays it up; Keanu Reeves similarly comes off as if he knows he's just a prop. Not these two. I don't mind the original show (my wife is an addict), but not this one. Caruso delivers his sickening moralizing, Proctor makes Lindsay Lohan seem emotive, and there's this MTV-style perp walk at the end of the show. I root for the perps. None of them are guilty of wooden acting. I also don't get how Caruso gets away with his bad acting while Proctor is lauded. If she is trying to make a character who is colder than Mr. Spock and with whom I cannot sympathize, she's succeeding.