listening

This week I have been getting a thrill out of watching and listening to my dearest series CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) on this link:
http://www.tv-links.co.uk/index.do/1

1. Why is CSI my best-loved series?
First and foremost, CSI is my favourite series because of its subject matter- the investigations of a team of Las Vegas forensic scientists who risk their life and limb daily trying to unearth the truth behind robberies committed by sly and treacherous thieves or violent deaths executed by cold-blooded killers with a heart of stone.

What attracts me even more about CSI is the renowned style of each episode with its involved plots, odd camera angles, crime reconstructions, and lighting in the manner of avant-garde films. Of course, what makes this series special are also its multifarious main characters who have to carry out a bewildering array of tasks in order to corroborate someone's guilt or innocence. What's more, what seems like light years ago I would have sold my soul for becoming a crime scene investigator myself if I wouldn't dread the thought of examining dead bodies.

2. Criticism of the series and its two spin-offs

Me loving the series is only part of it. The amount of people who critizise it for showing so much violence and sexual content is the other side of the coin. Alas, violence has become the norm today and CSI has pushed the boundaries in that it was the first series showing such themes during prime time.

As much as the series is railed against for the violent pictures shown it is also disparaged by the police and the juridical forces for portraying far-fetched police procedures as well as nurturing the belief in some people that any crime is soluble. The latter belief is also known under the name of the CSI Effect.

This all may be well and good, but we must remember that a television series is fictional and accordingly everything it depicts should be taken with a pinch of salt.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSI:_Crime_Scene_Investigation

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/csi/

Some compelling vocab I came across while watching CSI:

entourage- British English-a group of people who travel with an important person
the president and its entourage

graveyard shift-especially American English-a regular period of working time that begins late at night and continues until the early morning, or the people who work during this time

hideous; hideously; hideousness-extremely unpleasant or ugly
hideous crimes

put/press/push the pedal to the medal-American English-to drive a car etc. very fast