Anthony Zuiker, the former Las Vegas tram operator whose brainstorm about forensic detectives launched CBS’ “CSI” franchise in 2000, hasn’t had the easiest year.
The newest installment, “CSI: NY”–the first for which the 36-year-old Zuiker was the executive producer who oversees the production and writing staff–suffered in the ratings early on in its first year, requiring a midcourse correction in look and tone.
“I started out to do a much more character-driven show,” Zuiker says, “put the mystery in the back, a much darker show, lit very edgy, just telling darker, more brooding stories.
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“What I very quickly learned is even though Anthony Zuiker likes to tell those kind of stories, that doesn’t mean America likes them.”
With the advice of mentors Carol Mendelsohn and Anne Donahue–show-runners of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and “CSI: Miami,” respectively–and a supportive phone call from CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler, Zuiker threw more light, figuratively and literally, on “CSI: NY” and helped to bring it out of the ratings shadows.
Zuiker’s feeling a little battered and bruised from the experience–while retaining his characteristic bounce and enthusiasm–but any year that ends with Quentin Tarantino can’t be all bad. Zuiker has just finished penning, with Mendelsohn and Naren Shankar, the finale script for the flagship “CSI.”
The episode airs May 19, with Tarantino as director.
Although Zuiker doesn’t plan to jettison the “CSI” formula for Tarantino, he is making a few adjustments.
“We felt a little looser in the dialogue,” he says, “and a little looser in the storytelling. We felt we could really push. I remember just writing a cheap defense lawyer who’s wearing cowboy boots and says, ‘You’d better watch it, this man here’s slicker than a snake in the curly green grass.’ It just feels like something Michael Parks would say in a Quentin Tarantino movie.”
On May 18, the night before the Tarantino-directed “CSI” finale airs, “CSI: NY” ends its first season.
Unlike “CSI,” Zuiker isn’t planning a big, splashy finish for “CSI: NY,” which stars Gary Sinise as NYPD Detective Mac Taylor. The show hasn’t gotten its formal renewal notice yet from CBS (which may not come until the fall schedule is announced to advertisers in May), but Zuiker is optimistic.
“Our finale is about setting all the characters in motion for Season 2,” Zuiker says. “This has been a scrimmage for us in season one.”
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Edited by Cara DiPasquale ([email protected]) and Victoria Rodriguez ([email protected])