Forensic shows?

[NewYork214]

Anyone know any good shows based mostly around forensics that actually sticks close to the truth. no crazy future gadgets or anything lol.

CSI any good? never seen it because i always watched Law and Order but thinking about checkin it out.

[andyman1970]

CSI is a great show. I prefer the original that takes place in Las Vegas because I like the characters, especially Capt. Jim Brass the head of Homicide. I really wish they would get this out on Blu-ray. Check it out on Thursdays at 9 pm EST 8 CST on CBS or look for it on Spike in the afternoon.

[NewYork214]

Originally Posted by andyman1970

CSI is a great show. I prefer the original that takes place in Las Vegas because I like the characters, especially Capt. Jim Brass the head of Homicide. I really wish they would get this out on Blu-ray. Check it out on Thursdays at 9 pm EST 8 CST on CBS or look for it on Spike in the afternoon.

thanks. ill check it out tomorrow. i didnt know if it makes up a bunch of forensic facts or not and i sorta had this law and order loyalty for some reason lol. same way i am with electronics and sony lol.

[ShelbyGT500]

CSI in Las Vegas is good, CSI NY is pretty good but can get a little out there with there tech. CSI Miami is just ridiculous with it's tech. Out of the three Miami is the most non believable.

I would check out CSI: Las Vegas it is definitely the best out of the three.

[andyman1970]

I think as far as how the team gathers evidence and the tools they use is pretty accurate for the most part, but they do have to bend the time table as for how long results and thing get back since they only have an hour for the show. Hope you enjoy it. I am hooked.

[PreciseDisarray]

Originally Posted by NewYork214

thanks. ill check it out tomorrow. i didnt know if it makes up a bunch of forensic facts or not and i sorta had this law and order loyalty for some reason lol. same way i am with electronics and sony lol.

haha, I too hadn't checked out forensic shows outside of Law and Order- a long time loyalty.

Same thing for Sony, which I will happily continue with!

[NewYork214]

Originally Posted by ShelbyGT500

CSI in Las Vegas is good, CSI NY is pretty good but can get a little out there with there tech. CSI Miami is just ridiculous with it's tech. Out of the three Miami is the most non believable.

I would check out CSI: Las Vegas it is definitely the best out of the three.

thanks that helps alot i was gonna go with NY because im from there (well long island but the show is probably NYC). but ill check out Vegas instead.

[NewYork214]

Originally Posted by PreciseDisarray

haha, I too hadn't checked out forensic shows outside of Law and Order- a long time loyalty.

Same thing for Sony, which I will happily continue with!

yeah its sorta annoying for me. no clue why i do it though. ill probably still watch law and order over CSI but i wont turn off CSI right away anymore lol

[toef]

I'm going to loosely bend the rules here with my suggestions:

Bones -- an alternative to CSI; neither show might be particularly realistic, but you have to make some sacrifices to make for better TV (DNA tests take minutes according to the show, but take days in real life; the forensic scientists might go out to crime scenes on the show, even though in real life they'd just work in a lab, etc).

Forensic Files -- a series on Court TV about real cases, and how forensic scientists helped solve them; very interesting, especially if you care more about the actual forensic science and less about the drama of a TV show

Dexter -- this one may be a bit of a stretch, because the show is about a serial killer who kills bad people, but his day job is that of a forensic scientist (technically a blood splatter analyst), so there you go; the show just finished it's 3rd season -- the first two are available on DVD, the 3rd will probably be released in Aug/Sept, just before season 4 begins

[assydingo]

Bones is like CSI with a Fox/Moulder relationship thrown in. Which actually works really well. Love the characters =].

[NewYork214]

yeah i only seen half an episode of bones but looks good. and i know dexter for sure lol see the avatar.

ill probably check out bones and CSI Vegas for now thanks people

[jsteinhauer]

I rotated through the Medical Examiner's office in Jefferson County Alabama. It was, in my opinion, extremely well run and efficient. What those shows lead to believe is that there is some high profile, glamorous or complex case every week. In the month I was there, there were no cases requiring DNA analysis. Toxicology was done often, and the turnaround time was a few days. The State lab took a lot longer.

In most cases, the forensic investigator went to the seen with the police to collect the body and evidence. Their responsibilities ended their. The pathologists occasionally went (homicides and interesting cases). The pathologist did the autopsy, if necessary, with several assistants. It's very tedious work for homicide cases. Since it may be cross examined in court, everything is meticulously measured and documented. Pathologist then waits for lab results (if necessary), writes a report, talks with police and lawyers and goes to court. They have to be very good at communicating with average people (jurors).

Body fluids and tissues are collected during autopsy and sent to the lab(s). Mostly tox. Pathologist is not involved with this. The tests are done by a technologist and verified and signed off by a lab scientist. These individuals never went to the scene, saw the body or otherwise got involved with the case. The pathologist used the test results to support autopsy findings.

Other types of evidence, like ballistics, fibers, etc. were not part of the pathology examination. I don't know what happened with that stuff. It probably went to the state lab or a police lab.

TV shows are fantasy.

[Blu-Benny]

Originally Posted by NewYork214

Anyone know any good shows based mostly around forensics that actually sticks close to the truth. no crazy future gadgets or anything lol.

CSI any good? never seen it because i always watched Law and Order but thinking about checkin it out.

def. worth checking out. too bad Grissom is leaving, he's the best part of the whole show. pretty sad he's leaving.

but def. check out the original CSI that is based in Las Vegas. the whole cast is great, Grissom is just the man though. William Peterson is a great actor.

[zor]

Originally Posted by NewYork214

Anyone know any good shows based mostly around forensics that actually sticks close to the truth. no crazy future gadgets or anything lol.

CSI any good? never seen it because i always watched Law and Order but thinking about checkin it out.

Veronica Mars

[olds403]

Cold Case Files on A&E is a good fact based(non-drama) show.

[Septimus Prime]

If you like this kind of show, also check out Numb3rs. It has less to do with forensics and more to do with practical mathematics, though. NCIS is also a good show.

[Terjyn]

I don't think Numb3rs sticks close to the truth. Some of the principles are sound, but some seem so far out there.

Having said that, I still like the show.

[redandpewter55]

Originally Posted by andyman1970

CSI is a great show. I prefer the original that takes place in Las Vegas because I like the characters, especially Capt. Jim Brass the head of Homicide. I really wish they would get this out on Blu-ray. Check it out on Thursdays at 9 pm EST 8 CST on CBS or look for it on Spike in the afternoon.

As soon as they put CSI out on Blu, I'll be buying it. My favorite show on TV.

[Mxr5150]

Originally Posted by NewYork214

Anyone know any good shows based mostly around forensics that actually sticks close to the truth. no crazy future gadgets or anything lol.

CSI any good? never seen it because i always watched Law and Order but thinking about checkin it out.

Honestly, that's why I avoid shows like CSIs. They are great shows, but most of the time the techniques they use to solve crimes don't exist in the real world. And, don't even get me started about the production, especially CSI: Miami, every thing is much too sexy. Almost every investigator looks like a cover model, just like real life right? And seriously, how many crimelabs are dimly lit like theirs? One would think they could use more lighting so they could actually see what they're looking at.

I prefer true crime shows like the shows on A&E being Cold Case Files, American Justice (who doesn't love Bill Curtis' narration?), First 48, and even Forensic Files on Court TV. You might like those as well.

Edit:

I just had an idea. Why don't they make a crime drama where a single case encapsulates an entire season? Each episode, they would learn a little more, or discover what they were finding out was leading them in the wrong direction. It could be something they writers could really take their time with and develop. I think that could be more realistic, and far more interesting. It would be less stress on the writers coming up with new murders every week. They've done quite a few cheesy ones in the recent past.

[kapitalisten]

Originally Posted by Mxr5150

Honestly, that's why I avoid shows like CSIs. They are great shows, but most of the time the techniques they use to solve crimes don't exist in the real world. And, don't even get me started about the production, especially CSI: Miami, every thing is much too sexy. Almost every investigator looks like a cover model, just like real life right? And seriously, how many crimelabs are dimly lit like theirs? One would think they could use more lighting so they could actually see what they're looking at.

I prefer true crime shows like the shows on A&E being Cold Case Files, American Justice (who doesn't love Bill Curtis' narration?), First 48, and even Forensic Files on Court TV. You might like those as well.

Edit:

I just had an idea. Why don't they make a crime drama where a single case encapsulates an entire season? Each episode, they would learn a little more, or discover what they were finding out was leading them in the wrong direction. It could be something they writers could really take their time with and develop. I think that could be more realistic, and far more interesting. It would be less stress on the writers coming up with new murders every week. They've done quite a few cheesy ones in the recent past.

Believe me, do not go down that route unless the script is very good. In denmark where I live, the national broadcaster, DR, did a crimeseries over 20 episodes, with each episode lasting 60 min (no commercial breaks) - it was called "Forbrydelsen" in danish, which translates to "The crime". That was later spoofed in a comedy show which called it "Forsinkelsen" ("The Delay"), which is actually a pretty good description, because it felt long in the tooth at the end. They basically just kept on throwing different forensic evidence into the script, so the suspect changed almost for each episode. It basically gets old in the end. The script has to be really, really good to carry one case over 20 episodes, and that was basically the show to prove why that is a good rule to follow. I am sure there will be people that disagree, but I felt that "Forbrydelsen" should have been edited to down to at maximum 10-15 episodes, with 10 episodes being the most appropriate.