Question: Hey, Matt! I love your column and just wanted to say, as a sci-fi fan, I appreciate all the attention you give to those great yet underappreciated shows. Now to my question. What are your thoughts on TV’s growing trend of hooking up every character on a show with each other? I’ll use CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as an example because of the fuss the season finale created. The show was great because it focused on the stories and not the characters. Now Grissom and Sara hook up, and it looks like Catherine and Warwick are on their way next season. What’s next? Will Greg and Nick suddenly come out of the closet? Samantha on Without a Trace has slept with two guys from her office (one of whom was her boss) and everybody has slept with everybody on Grey’s Anatomy. I know we like a little romance in our shows, but enough is enough. It is possible to have a relationship with someone outside the office? — Sarah

Matt Roush: Call it the NYPD Blue syndrome. (On that show, any time a new character was introduced into the precinct, it was like he or she had a “fresh meat” sign hanging around his/her neck.) Despite that startling moment at the end of the last CSI episode, which has stimulated plenty of reaction (see below), I doubt seriously that CSI is about to become a relationship drama. There has always been subtext about the characters’ attraction to each other, and in this workplace genre, there tends to be a bit of romantic tension on nearly every show - if only because the characters seem to live at work, and it’s a way to bring a little emotional suspense into the daily grind. I’m a bit more worried about the imbalance on Trace, which initially was quite adept at presenting personal story lines in between the cases of the week. With Jack’s lady friend now pregnant, that troubles me. But Grey’s Anatomy is an entirely different beast. It’s a flat-out romance set in a hospital. That was apparent from the opening scene of the pilot, and whether you like it or not, that’s the show. To me, it works beautifully. It’s messier for shows that aren’t inherently soap-operatic to play with these relationship story lines, and some should probably stay away from it as much as possible. As for the reaction to Gil-and-Sara on CSI, here are two delayed responses that arrived within an hour of each other last week.

Question: I think it was about time GG and SS got together. I love the way it was done without any fanfare. — Margie

Matt Roush: There is that to be said for it. Whether you agree with this pairing or not (usually not, according to my mailbag), the way it was presented was unexpected, to say the least. And here, from Lois C., is the sort of mail I usually get on the topic: “I think it was disgusting to put Grissom and Sara together as a couple. There is no chemistry. If my best friend were in the hospital, there’s no way I would have been off with some bimbo; I would be right at my best friend’s side. If it didn’t work on CSI: Miami, why would it work on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation? They killed off Horatio Caine’s wife five minutes after they got married, and they should end the romance on CSI, or this lady here will never watch it again. I never liked Sara anyway, because she is such a geek, with absolutely no personality.”

How do you really feel, Lois? And how exactly does a geek with no personality also qualify as some bimbo? Rather unfair, no? But again, I’ll believe CSI has gone for friskiness over forensics when I see it. (And I hope I don’t.)