The Early Show May 15, 2002 (pics to be added soon)

Bryant Gumbel: Although it now may seem hard to believe, it was just two years ago the hit drama "CSI" barely made it on to the primetime schedule. The show has since become a hit with an unusual look at forensic investigators who solve crimes with science.

They showed the scene "Anatomy of a Lye" where Grissom and Sara are examining the body. "Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. Without the wait."

BG: Da da! The stars of "CSI" are William Petersen, Marg Helgenberger, Gary Dourdan, Jorja Fox and Paul Guilfoyle. Good morning, everybody.

EVERYONE: Good morning, Bryant.

BG: Show of hands. Who thought this show was gonna be a hit?

Everyone but Jorja raises their hands.

BG: Oh, come on!

Gary Dourdan: It was the script. See, it was the material…

Marg Helgenberger: Absolutely. No doubt in my mind.

BG: Really?

GD: A hit. We knew it was gonna be good, but I thint that no one expected it.

William Petersen: We didn't know it was gonna be, you know, 25, 28 million people watching.

MH: We didn't think…

Paul Guilfoyle: (jokingly) And I think everything I do is gonna be a hit.

BG: Well, it's the one next to you (Jorja) that seems to be the good luck charm. I mean, regular on "ER," regular on "West Wing," regular on "CSI." Sign you up in the making!

Jorja Fox: Thank you. I didn't think the show was gonna be a hit. I think I was the only one that didn't. I had so much hope and faith and so much belief in "CSI," but I really wasn't quite sure we were gonna stay on the air, but I was really happy…

BG: Why not?

JF: Well, I think it was a hard pitch at first for a lot of people. We were last to go at everything. Last to get picked up, like you said. And talking about death and science.

WP: Hair fibers are a major element of the thing, and fingerprints. It was a question of how well we were gonna be able to translate that to the screen.

BG: Well, usually audiences are turned off by things that are about death, that are bloody, that are macob (sp??). What are they responding to in this case?

PG: Well, I think that the professionalism of the people. I think all drama is about people and interaction and I think they're really responding to all of us as a group. However we all cemented together is, I think, what people are responding to.

WP: We're all just working people, I mean, on the show and we operate in our jobs the way people go to work and operate in their jobs. We're very technical, very proficient, and I think it's interesting to watch the process. I think people enjoy watching the process of us put the science to the crime and solve the puzzle.

BG: But most of the time, people view people who are engaged with science as nerds. How are nerds turned into heroes?

JF: We're nerds.

WP: We're nerds. We just have better clothes.

PG: I think also that the plot, that crime is the antagonist of our show. So, you watch this group of dedicated professionals try to come up against or conflict with the crime itself. So I think that's what takes it away from the nerd thing is because of what we're dealing with.

BG: How much do you really know—any of you—about forensics?

MH: We're getting to know more and more everyday. I mean, I knew very little when we began.

PG: And I don't leave my fingerprints on anything.

MH: No, I do. I think about that all the time, whether or not I need to put on a pair of gloves or not.

BG: Come on!

MH: I do!

WP: Every couple of months, we get better and better, at least, at being able to use the tools and being able to know what the tools are used for. I'm certain now if we came across a crime scene, we would at least know how to secure it.

MH: Well, for instance, sometimes they'll do shots that don't include us, like tape-lifting prints from something and it would have been an added shot. And I saw this on an episode recently and my character was supposed to be doing it and I actually did it on the master. And then I saw the close-up and it was NOT MY PRINT. And it was so sloppy. And I felt like I wanna be doing my own inserts now because it was done…

BG: I'm gonna ask you, look, the show is fiction, but is the science [some word I can't find in the dictionary]? I mean, is that the one thing you never tamper with?

WP: The science is all real. The stuff we use is real, and the way we use it is all real.

PG: And I think some of the crimes are all real. They're based on real crimes. There's a lot of crime out there, unfortunately.

MH: The process is sped up.

BG: You're never hurting for storylines.

PG: No.

JF: Unfortunately.

BG: Yeah, it is unfortunate. Talk to me about the collaborative effort of this. I mean, as I look at all of you, you've all had individual achievements and have been primary players in something else. Is it something where you have to check your ego at the door of a show like this

WP: I think that's the wise thing to do with all work. Otherwise, it's a long day. It's a long day if you don't. And the great thing about this show, and I think in this case we're different than a lot of "hit" television shows in that our writers, our producers, our actors, our crew, even all the way to the network, we are very collaborative. It's not just one person's decision, as many hit television shows are. They comefrom one voice. We have a whole lot of people that work very hard all day long with each other to try and make this stuff work.

BG: Do you get involved in the plotlines, the storylines? You're making a face there, Jorja. Yeah?

JF: Yeah. We do.

GD: Somewhat, yeah.

JF: `Cause we're dedicated. So, I don't know. Sometimes even for better for worse, I don't know if everybody always wants to hear from us, but they always act like they do. And they let us talk and they listen to us a lot, which is very kind of them.

PG: And acting is kind of the detailed work, almost like the way forensics is and in the course of the process of creating a television show, the acting is kind of the final touchstone of reality, and so I think that's where we all have our own unique experiences.

BG: In the final moments we've got left—the show is now going to have a spin-off. How uncomfy are all of you with that?

WP: As actors, I think anytime something else comes along to try and compare to your stuff, you get a little queasy about it.

BG: But you have the same people and they now have their attention split.

WP: Here's the deal. It's a very successful show and the network is…and what "Law and Order" has done to television is a remarkable thing and I think that CBS is interested in some of that.

PG: That's a very provocative question, by the way, Bryant.

BG: We'll have to pursue it during the commercial. Guys, thanks very much and congratulations.

WP: Congratulations to you. Great job all these years.

BG: Thanks, Bill. The season finale of "CSI" airs tomorrow night at 9, of course, here on CBS. We're back in a moment, right after this.