# CSI: Not New York--Where else might they have set it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 18, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-not-new-york-where-else-might-they-have-set-it/245760 "2004-05-18T14:22:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-not-new-york-where-else-might-they-have-set-it/245760/1 "2004-05-18T14:22:45Z")
Last night, I watched the _CSI_ episode that introduced the characters of the new _CSI: New York_. I was mightily unimpressed. But the most irksome thing about it was that it was set in New York! Don’t we have enough crime shows set in and around New York at the moment? I’m not a huge fan of either current CSI series, but I do watch them sometimes. One of the most enjoyable aspects of the original series is that it’s set in Las Vegas. Vegas has tons of inherent possibilities for dramatic situations, and it certainly hasn’t been overused as a setting yet. Miami is a little less exciting, and it’s been done more, but it still has a lot of untapped potential. But New York? Meh. Don’t get me wrong–New York is my favorite city, and I’m really looking forward to the fourth Law & Order series, but I think the third CSI really missed the opportunity to do something interesting and different. So, what other U.S. cities do you think might have been a good choice for CSI and why? I would have loved to see _CSI: Twin Cities_. I have no idea how police jurisdiction works there, so it might have to be set in either Minneapolis or St. Paul. But then, jurisdictional issues could make for some interesting plot points. They could take a cue from the movie _Fargo_ and make use of the stark contrast between the city and the very rural parts of the state. Also, the weather could be used to make things more “complicated.” I don’t know much about Minnesota, but as far as I know, its culture is deeply rooted in its Scandinavian roots. Could you imagine the investigators trying to do a crime scene and being constantly interrupted by Olgas trying to feed them hotdishes. (I’m sure I got that wrong, but you know what I mean.) It would sure be different. _Fargo_ kind of made light of Minnesotans–I’m not suggesting that CSI: Twin Cities do that. But I am suggesting that Minnesota’s unique, and would be a great place to set a show. Detective: Did you analyze that sample we scraped off the wall? Ole: Preliminary analysis suggests that it’s lutefisk. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-not-new-york-where-else-might-they-have-set-it/245760/2 "2004-05-18T14:35:44Z")
Actually, they were considering CSI: New Orleans, which I think would be a superior choice. I guess it’s image is too similar to Las Vegas and Miami, but there’s hasn’t been a cop show there since _Bourbon Street Beat_. New York is already the home of at least four cop shows right now, so why choose it for another? They’re in danger of running across Lennie Briscoe (especially now that he’s unemployed) or Andy Sipowitz. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-not-new-york-where-else-might-they-have-set-it/245760/3 "2004-05-18T14:38:45Z")
I think **CSI** \* Tulsa \* has a certain ring to it. ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-not-new-york-where-else-might-they-have-set-it/245760/4 "2004-05-18T14:46:41Z")
God, anywhere else would have been preferable. I love me some police procedurals, but between NYPD Blue, Without a Trace, and Law and Order, I’m saturated with New York. I don’t even really like New York to begin with. The best part about **CSI** is Las Vegas, I agree. The best part about **Cold Case** is Philadelphia. In fact, I’m unsure of a better match of crime theme/setting than that show. You need a big enough population to have multiple murders without damaging the population (like Cabot Cove, ME), and a diverse enough population to have interesting crimes. Las Vegas nailed this with the tourist industry, and Miami’s done well with ethnicity. I have no problem with the Twin Cities. New Orleans might be a little too much like a cross between Miami and Las Vegas. What about CSI: Austin or CSI: Seattle or CSI: Richmond? Upon preview, I thought Briscoe was going to Law and Order Four: The Bloodletting? ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-not-new-york-where-else-might-they-have-set-it/245760/5 "2004-05-18T15:08:46Z")
I would have liked to have seen _CSI: New Orleans_ and think it would have been a better choice, but I was holding out for _CSI: Anchorage_ myself… 🙂 Now, let’s try to predict which song by the Who they will use as the CSI:NY theme. I vote “Teenage Wasteland” ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-not-new-york-where-else-might-they-have-set-it/245760/6 "2004-05-18T15:13:53Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Actually, they were considering CSI: New Orleans, which I think would be a superior choice. I guess it’s image is too similar to Las Vegas and Miami, but there’s hasn’t been a cop show there since _Bourbon Street Beat_. I saw the title of the thread and was coming in here to suggest CSI: New Orleans. It has the Mississippi River, which often turns up corpses from crimes which occurred at various points north. It has the swamps and Lake Ponchartrain, well-known dumping grounds for murder victims. It’s a hot wet climate, which makes for interesting decomposition. There is gang activity in the city proper, and legalized gambling, and a significant organized crime presences. It’s known for debauchery, yet it’s one of the most Catholic cities in America. Mardi Gras! Weird accents! Anne Rice devotees! Above-ground cemeteries! What’s not to love?!? ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-not-new-york-where-else-might-they-have-set-it/245760/7 "2004-05-18T15:23:52Z")
I was hoping for _CSI: Quad Cities,_ set on the mean streets of Davenport, Iowa. ---
**Author:** ![Reloy3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Reloy3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reloy3)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-not-new-york-where-else-might-they-have-set-it/245760/8 "2004-05-18T15:29:37Z")
Here in Wyoming we have one crime lab for the entire state that travels from Cheyenne to Yellowstone and everywhere in between. Why set it in one city, try _CSI Wyoming_ or _CSI Montana_ , endless possibilities there. I had one potential murder case in a tent in the middle of the National Forest 40 miles from the nearest road where the crime lab was concerned about the body attracting Grizzlies - now that’s drama, and based on a real case I was involved in. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-not-new-york-where-else-might-they-have-set-it/245760/9 "2004-05-18T15:33:01Z")
I’d like to see a version set in NYC or LA, but fifty years ago when the technology for CSI was a lot less advanced (It seems like such a cheat when they pull science-fictioney machines out of a hat; don’t these police departments have budget constraints?). I’d also like to see a LAW & ORDER set in the late forties/early fifties; they could call it LAW & ORDER: BEFORE MIRANDA. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-not-new-york-where-else-might-they-have-set-it/245760/10 "2004-05-18T15:39:43Z")
I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out which Who song would get used for the New York theme. (And on the main topic, I’m sick of New York, since I can see it from my house–I would have liked to see New Orleans or San Francisco.) The best I’ve come up with is “A Legal Matter.” ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-not-new-york-where-else-might-they-have-set-it/245760/11 "2004-05-18T16:23:51Z")
How about _CSI: Orlando_? 😉 Or is that too touristy and too much like Vegas? ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-not-new-york-where-else-might-they-have-set-it/245760/12 "2004-05-18T16:29:59Z")
May I recommend _CSI: Pottstown_? We’ve got _everything_: proximity to “the city” (Philadelphia); the Schuylkill River; a scarily popular biker bar; a quoit club; an Aryan Nation outpost right up the street from my house; road rage over parking spaces; killer Canada geese; and plenty of misguided tourists who end up there, thinking they are going to the Yeungling brewery (which is actually in Potts_ **ville** _). I’d even nominate myself to be the head writer. There are lots of horrible demises I can imagine for my “neighbors” (especially for the one who keeps letting her dumbass kid pick all my damn roses!). ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-not-new-york-where-else-might-they-have-set-it/245760/13 "2004-05-18T17:00:51Z")
I think it should have been CSI:Toronto - major multi-cultural city, have to deal with the we’re-south-of-Detroit crap and all, cheaper production costs. It would have worked. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-not-new-york-where-else-might-they-have-set-it/245760/14 "2004-05-18T17:21:25Z")
CSI: _East_ St. Louis ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-not-new-york-where-else-might-they-have-set-it/245760/15 "2004-05-18T17:38:39Z")
NY?? What a missed opportunity! **CSI: Chicago!** - big city, eclectic neighborhoods, public transportation, the LAKE, the river, the dunes, cold, hot…plenty of things to keep them busy for several years. I’d love CSI: New Orleans too. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-not-new-york-where-else-might-they-have-set-it/245760/16 "2004-05-18T18:42:29Z")
CSI: New Orleans may have worked, but I think the creators were concerned (perhaps rightly) that it may have seemed too similar to CSI: Las Vegas, ie, wierd touristy people and freaks who come into the city, that sort of thing. In fact, I like the OP’s suggestion: CSI: Twin Cities would be excellent. The contrast of a down home Midwestern city and violent crimes would be excellent. In that gist, perhaps a real Southern city, like CSI: Richmond, CSI: Memphis, or CSI: Atlanta, just for the contrast of violent crimes and down home Southern values. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-not-new-york-where-else-might-they-have-set-it/245760/17 "2004-05-18T18:49:44Z")
CSI: [Arcola](http://www.cu-today.com/arcola.html) C’mon, they’ve got the Amish… broom festivals… apparently something called the Hippie Memorial. What’s not to like? ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-not-new-york-where-else-might-they-have-set-it/245760/18 "2004-05-18T19:20:08Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Actually, they were considering CSI: New Orleans, which I think would be a superior choice. I guess it’s image is too similar to Las Vegas and Miami, but there’s hasn’t been a cop show there since _Bourbon Street Beat_. I take issue with this. You are ignoring “Chief Wiggum, P. I.”: > [@](#): > > Ah, New Orleans. The Big Easy. Sweet Lady Gumbo. Old … Swampy > – Chief Wiggum, settling into his new town, “The Simpsons Spinoff Showcase” ---
**Author:** ![Airblairxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Airblairxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airblairxxx)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-not-new-york-where-else-might-they-have-set-it/245760/19 "2004-05-18T19:26:38Z")
While the production costs might have been a little on the high side, I was hoping they’d go with one of their earlier ideas: **CSI: London**. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-not-new-york-where-else-might-they-have-set-it/245760/20 "2004-05-18T19:31:11Z")
Ooh! Ooh! _raising his hand_ CSI : Hooterville. “Looks like… pig tracks?” “Get on the radio… put out an APB on Arnold Ziffel. Damn, that’s a smart pig.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-not-new-york-where-else-might-they-have-set-it/245760.md?page=2)