Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Evidence points to successful TV transition

`CSI' creator takes on more responsibility with production of series' New York City spinoff

Anthony Zuiker, shown here in Los Angeles in July, has taken on a new role with the production of "CSI: NY."

It's a long way from Mirage tram driver to the apple of CBS' eye.

Las Vegan Anthony Zuiker knows that route well. After all, he has lived it, rising from humble hotel-casino employee to creator of the planet's most popular television show, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

But the creator of "CSI" and its two spinoffs is blazing a new trail this year -- and, in some ways, it cuts through even more rugged terrain.

After four seasons as an executive producer and writer for the Las Vegas-set "CSI" and two seasons on its "CSI: Miami" spinoff, Zuiker has graduated to a new role on the franchise's third installment, "CSI: NY."

As the latest spinoff's "show runner," Zuiker is responsible for every aspect of the production, from locations to music.

"It's a lot of fish to fry," Zuiker admits during a rare midweek Las Vegas stop, en route from New York -- where he and his family attended the "CSI: NY" premiere -- to Southern California, the show's production base.

He has touched down for the morning at the Aladdin to address 250 film commissioners from across the world at Cineposium 2004, sponsored by the Association of Film Commissioners International.

Before recounting his tram-to-television odyssey, however, Zuiker reflects on the transition from writing and producing to running the show.

"The show runner is in charge of the entire production," Zuiker explains, "from the vision of the show to the responsibility of keeping scripts at a high standard. There are editing cuts to go out. You're in charge of every creative and physical aspect of producing the show."

Before this year, "I was never experienced enough to do that," Zuiker admits, noting how his veteran "CSI" colleagues, Carol Mendelsohn ("Melrose Place") and Ann Donahue ("Beverly Hills 90210") showed him how it's done.

After all, "seven years ago, I was driving a tram down the street," he says. "It's a huge learning curve."

Mendelsohn and Donahue "taught me the art of TV writing and the responsibility of show running," Zuiker adds. And now that he's flying solo on "CSI: NY" this season, "I lost both crutches with Ann and Carol."

All of which makes it a good time for Zuiker to show how well he has learned to walk -- through a time-slot minefield.

Aggressively targeting a rival network's franchise, CBS chief Les Moonves scheduled "CSI: NY" at 10 p.m. Wednesday -- directly opposite television's reigning long-run champ, "Law & Order," which has spawned three spinoffs of its own. (The latest, "Trial by Jury," starts later this season.)

So far, "CSI: NY" has handled the competition just fine, besting its venerable rival in the first two weeks of head-to-head competition.

With a 12.1 rating and a 20 share (representing 20 percent of all homes watching television), "CSI: NY's" debut drew 18.5 million viewers, winning the night and "every demographic" group in the process, Zuiker notes proudly. (By contrast, "Law and Order's" season premiere drew a 10.7 rating and a 17 share. In the season's second week, "CSI: NY" scored a 12.3 rating and 20 share; "Law and Order" drew an 8.9 rating and 14 share.)

Zuiker also loves the fact that a "CSI" rerun topped the season premiere of NBC's reality hit "The Apprentice," once again demonstrating the original's strength and staying power.

"It's currently the No. 1 TV show in the country -- and in the world," Zuiker points out, noting that the original "airs in every country in the world except seven." (At the moment, however, he can remember only five of those seven: Afghanistan, Iraq, North Korea, Pakistan and Uzbekistan.)

With ratings numbers signaling they have another hit on their hands, Zuiker and the "CSI: NY" crew can "breathe a sigh of relief" -- momentarily -- before going back to work, trying to "sharpen up the mysteries every week, make sure the characters are accessible" and attending to the myriad details that separate "CSI: NY" from its stablemates.

One of those elements is New York City itself.

As Zuiker discovered during the first days of the original "CSI," too many interior sets make the show "too claustrophobic," he explains, prompting a "four days in, four days out" shooting schedule.

Shooting in New York, however, creates logistical complications that far outstrip anything on the Strip, he notes.

"We shot at Times Square and it was a total madhouse," Zuiker recalls, citing "literally a thousand people on one square block," shouting out to series star Gary Sinise -- or his Oscar-nominated "Forrest Gump" alter ego, "Lt. Dan."

And when "CSI: NY" suffered a rain-out during a planned Central Park shoot, "it was a $300,000 rain-out," Zuiker says. (As well as an expensive lesson: Always have a backup set in case of inclement weather.)

Speaking of expenses, "CSI" producers have learned, after shooting in New York, that "a $5 wall in Las Vegas is a $6 wall in Miami -- and a $10 wall in New York. Everything in New York is just more expensive."

But that's only one of the differences among the "CSI" franchise's three home bases, he suggests.

In Las Vegas, the on-camera atmosphere is "upbeat -- you never sleep," Zuiker explains. "Miami is sultry and sexy, with an international pulse. And New York is the center of the universe." Each series has "different energies," he says. And each "shows how they are different -- between actors, backdrops and writers, they all feel very different."

So, at times, does Zuiker, who misses the good old days of "pacing up and down" working on scripts -- without having to worry about the thousands of details that require a show runner's avid attention.

Yet that's exactly what he plans to keep doing -- for the next few years, at least.

Assuming "CSI: NY" makes it through five seasons, Zuiker would like to return home to Las Vegas for a new series "and do it all here."

Including the creation of a working studio where production and post-production could take place.

"It's going there -- there's not a question in my mind," Zuiker says of Las Vegas' eventual emergence as a production center. "And I would like to be the one to do that."

But it's going to take some time -- not to mention multiple millions of dollars -- to get there.

In the meantime, Zuiker says, "I'm working as fast as I can."