Variety puts a call through to California and speaks to Jorja Fox about what’s fast becoming everyone’s favourite crime series on television, C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation. MUMTAJ BEGUM dusts for prints and gets the inside story.

NO one was more surprised than Jorja (pronounced Georgia, like the US state) Fox when the television series C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation took off the way it did. Embraced by both critics and viewers, it was the highest-rated new drama in 2000-2001 in the United States. Its second season has been consistently amongst the top three TV series in the US primetime ratings and it’s also the No.1 show on all of US network television.

Fox, who plays the dedicated forensic investigator Sara Sidle, says: “When it first started, we didn’t know if anybody would want to watch a show about science and death.”

The 35-year-old actress reckons it’s because death is not a topic many people are comfortable talking about. And almost every week, somebody dies a violent death in C.S.I.

“Science is always a hard sell except maybe when it’s a big Hollywood movie. But these subject matters on C.S.I. were something different from what was on TV when we first started. Also, the technology is happening right now, we have the ability to do things (in solving crimes) that we couldn’t do years ago.”

C.S.I. revolves around a passionate team of forensic investigators that uses evidence at a crime scene to build up a solid case and ultimately to find the perpetrators. What’s interesting about this show is that the team is made up of ethical professionals who never compromise their principles. This is especially striking since the Criminalistics Bureau is situated in Las Vegas, a city where corruption is not even a dirty word.

Another interesting element of the show are the special effects used in showing the details of a crime and the technology available in solving crimes.

“So much of the show we don’t get to see. I only see my storyline; the special effects come in after. It’s kind of fun for me to watch because there are a bunch of missing pieces that I don’t get to see unless I watch the show.”

Watching the programme has also allowed the general public to become familiar with terms like buccal swab (a sampling of the cells lining the inside of a mouth to obtain DNA), luminol (a spray used to detect traces of blood) and purge fluid (liquids taken from a dead body).

A recent report revealed that some people serving on juries in the US courts have a better perception of scientific evidence thanks to C.S.I. According to Fox, there is a good and bad outcome to this.

“Yes, juries are understanding better when a scientist explains evidence, but people are also going to the police and wondering why their cases can’t be solved in six hours.”

That was one of the discrepancies pointed out by real forensic investigative teams when C.S.I. made its debut ? cases cannot be solved as fast as implied on the show. While a fingerprint identification search takes only a matter of minutes on screen, in real life it could take days to find a close match.

Fox agrees: “We try to make the show as slick as we can but sometimes we have to cheat. Some of the procedures that we do on the show take a lot longer (in reality). But we use real stories on the show ? stories taken from headlines. Writers spend a lot of time with current events. And if something touches their heart they will also try to tell that story.

“In life things are never black and white. They’re usually grey. In our show it’s very rare that something definitely happened or didn’t.”

Crimes aside, there is very little information on the background of the characters. Once in a while, viewers are teased with tidbits like how Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger) used to work as a dancer at a strip joint and how Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan) once was a gambling addict. Nick Stokes (George Eads) is often frustrated at how slow his advancement at the department has been and of late there has been a certain spark between Sara Sidle and her boss Gil Grissom (William Petersen).

“Aah” is Fox’s reaction when asked what’s up between Sidle and Grissom. “What do you think it is?”

“I think the tension between Grissom and Sara is going to continue for a while and it’s going to have different phases. Basically, I think Sara does carry a torch for Grissom. But you have to ask what Bill (Petersen) thinks of Sara.”

Those who have been watching the new season on AXN would realise that the third season has a more personal touch.

“But not so personal because the show will always be a science show. Just a little history on the character, hopefully with some interesting personal twists and turns. I’m very excited to see what the writers are going to come up with because the pressure’s on.”

Sometimes too much success leads to too many spin-offs. There is the first spin-off C.S.I.: Miami and now there is talk of yet another spin-off set in New Orleans.

Forensic investigation has also become a fashionable job. But is it something that Fox can do?

“I could never do it. I have a tremendous amount of respect for them. The burnout rate is very, very high, of course. They do the job for five or 10 years and then they move on. There is a lot of violence in this country (United States). And when you see violence like that, it’s very hard to stomach. It’ll make me a very, very angry person.”

An environmentalist and animal lover, Fox confesses she shares some similar traits with her character. Both of them are vegetarian (for non-violent reasons rather than for health reasons) and highly opinionated.

“We tend to focus on something very attentively before moving on to something else. I think I have a lot of endurance. I don’t have very good social skills. Sara’s impulsive. She’s someone who really, really tries to do the right thing all the time. And I think I do that too. I try to do that. In some ways we are different. I can never do what she does. I think she’s very courageous; she’s much smarter and braver than I am.”

What is obvious is that Fox is very proud of being part of the show and working with its other actors. She even hopes to write an episode one day.

“The great thing about working on C.S.I. is all of us work very well together and trust each other’s instincts. We are very focused when we work. It’s very magical to me.”

‘C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation’ is aired every Wednesday, 9pm, on AXN with repeats on Thursday (noon), and Sunday (11am & 9pm).