Trivia / CSI

• Actor-Inspired Element: Gil Grissom wasn't the character's original name, William Petersen dubbed him Grissom after astronaut Gus Grissom because he (Petersen) was a fan of the space program. Considering the original surname for the character was Scheinbaum, this was probably an upgrade.
• Actor-Shared Background: Sara Sidle is a vegetarian. So is her actress, Jorja Fox (as was one of Fox's previous characters, ER's Dr. Maggie Doyle).
• California Doubling: Filmed in L.A., set in Las Vegas, though it was also shot in Vegas from time to time for scenes set in their iconic casinos.
• Cast the Expert: David Berman, who was a real life coroner before playing 'SuperDave' Phillips, the coroner's assistant.
• Cowboy BeBop at His Computer: Dr. Raymond Langston is not Grissom's replacement, instead coming in on the bottom rung. Though that doesn't explain why he got to be first in the opening titles, something his character really hasn't earned.
  • He's a Renaissance Man; he's only a Level 1 CSI (though he works his butt off to get quickly promoted to Level 2) but he used to be a medical doctor (so he assists in autopsies more than most) and a criminology lecturer (so he occasionally provides a criminal profile). He's under-qualified as a crime scene investigator but he makes up for it with a broad range of skills. Plus he's Laurence Fishburne.
• Creator Backlash: Both William Petersen and Marg Helgenberger were against the idea of a CSI spin-off, feeling it was too soon (which is justified since it was announced over a year after the show's start), hence why Grissom doesn't share any lines or scenes with the CSI: Miami cast for the Poorly Disguised Pilot "Cross Jurisdictions".
• The Danza:
  • Archie Kao as lab tech/computer specialist Archie Johnson.
  • David Berman as David Phillips, the assistant coroner (and baseball trivia expert).
  • Larry Mitchell as Officer 'Mitch' Mitchell
• Disabled Character, Disabled Actor: Robert David Hall and Doc Robbins lost both legs to vehicle collisions, walking with prosthetic legs and a cane.
• Fake Nationality: Mark Dacascos, who played the Thai monk Ananda in "Felonious Monk", is actually American of Chinese, Filipino, Spanish, Irish and Japanese descent.
• I Am Not Spock: Petersen learned sign language for the episode it was in, but fans have tried speaking to him in sign not realizing he doesn't really know it.
• The Other Darrin:
  • Ellie Brass, who was played by two different actresses with Nicki Aycox playing her in "Ellie" and Teal Redmann playing her from "Hollywood Brass" onwards.
  • Lindsey Willows, but hers is probably a bit more justified since she was a child and growing up fast and the earlier actresses may not have been available.
  • Marg Helgenberger and Jorja Fox do not voice Catherine or Sara in most of the games.
• Produced by Cast Member: William Petersen served in the capacities of producer, supervising producer, co-executive producer and executive producer for various lengths of time throughout the series' entire 15-year run.
• Real-Life Relative: Marg Helgenberger's now-ex-husband in two episodes (Weeping Willows and one more).
  • Sort of with Gina Torres and Laurence Fishburne, only Torres guest starred during season four, six seasons before her now ex husband became the series lead.
• Real Life Writes the Plot:
  • "Gumdrops" was rewritten for Nick when William Petersen had a funeral to attend.
  • Greg wasn’t the original choice for the genetics plot with Doc and his wife, but George Eads wasn’t availabile.
  • Sara left the reboot because Jorja Fox left with William Petersen due to not wanting to split the couple up.
• Referenced by...: The album CSI: Ambleside by the English comedy band Half Man Half Biscuit. Ambleside is a small town in the north of England, with a negligible chance of getting its own CSI spin-off.
• Role-Ending Misdemeanor:
  • A subversion. Jorja Fox and George Eads were briefly fired from the show in 2004, Fox over a pay dispute and Eads over a misunderstanding (namely, Eads overslept one morning and gave the network the impression that he had quit in solidarity with Fox).
  • Another subversion. Nick was written out of several Season 14 episodes after George Eads had a row with a female writer.
• Science Marches On: Season 1's Strip Strangler never left DNA behind, taunting the CSIs by leaving hair without follicles, and no nuclear DNA as a result. It is possible now to retrieve mitochondrial DNA from hair without follicles and use it to identify a person, although it is more costly, difficult, and only reduces possible identities to people from the same maternal line. Nevertheless, it is likely that the hair was not from the killer anyway, since it was planted and he wore a wig after shaving every hair in his body.
• Technical Advisor: Combined with Cast the Expert. Actor David Berman, who plays assistant M.E. David Phillips, had worked as a real-life coroner for a time, so he was the head researcher/consultant for the autopsy scenes on the show.
• What Could Have Been: Has its own page.

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