CSI s5 debut

On last night's season 5 debut of "CSI" we were all waiting with antici ... (say it!) pation for the inside joke about Jorja Fox and George Eads, and they didn't keep us waiting. And apparently, part of their penance is to have their characters portrayed with bad skin and unfortunate haircuts. Adding a number of scenes where I just couldn't tell if they were trying to be funny (Grissom's torture of Greg on his field evaluation, for example) and the series seems to be turning worker hostile.

"CSI" has settled into a consistent formula, and the season debut had no surprises at all. There was a token effort to give us some character development, but I predict, if you take all of the scenes with character development this whole season, and edit them together, you will still fall short of 44 minutes.

So, where it was trying to be funny, it was lame, and I can't still figure out if the lab scenes were supposed to be funny or not. "CSI" is living up to its aspirations, a consistent product which will do well in syndication. But not really compelling television.

And Catherine? Everybody knows when you see a guy played by Nicholas Lea without facial hair, he's a lying bastard (as he said his own bad self).

Article Author: Jim Carruthers

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