CSI rewired

The pair reflect on the impact the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced series has had on television, how they plan to push the boundaries once again with special effects and why the growing popularity of serialised drama has encouraged them to dive deeper into character with longer story arcs.

Littman insists, however, that close-ended procedurals will always endure and notes that while the industry is abuzz with what’s happening in cable, long-running network shows are still a much tougher gig.

“The success of cable is great and there’s more TV to watch than you can possibly consume,” he says. “It doesn’t influence what we do for a network; it’s two different worlds. Doing 22 episodes of network television a year is probably the single hardest thing in the entertainment business.”