‘CSI’ Creator Explains Why He’s Moving The Franchise Into Unscripted TV

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The creator of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” the beloved CBS procedural that for years was the most-watched TV show in the world , is taking the franchise that has already spawned five spinoffs in a new direction: true crime.

In “The Real CSI: Miami,” which premieres Wednesday in a primetime spot on CBS, Anthony Zuiker is depicting actual crimes, told through the eyes of real-life forensic investigators rather than actors. It’s a far cry from the notorious one-liners and “sunglasses moments” on “CSI: Miami.”

But “The Real CSI” retains the “emotional undercurrent” of the scripted drama — which almost instantly became a smash hit after its 2000 premiere — while adding a new element of authenticity, Zuiker told HuffPost during an interview at CrimeCon in Nashville at the end of May.

“There’s an authenticity when you have the real people speaking about the real case,” he said.

“There’s an authenticity when you have the real victim speaking about the real case, and there’s authenticity when you have the real police footage, the police photos. Anything that’s evidentiary that you can show the audience is really, really cool. [The original “CSI” viewers] are not really used to the real part of that, which is kind of neat.”

There is also a practical benefit to making a true crime show, Zuiker noted: cost.

“ Without getting too specific in the numbers, I would say that there’s an 85% discount in the budget from scripted to unscripted,” he said. But “Real CSI” has a “higher premium” than other ripped-from-the-headlines true crime shows, he added.

“We never want to do ‘CSI’ ‘on the cheap.’ We want to keep the quality up. And I