章 45: Media Wars

No matter who has to admit, CBS is the most successful this year in the second week of September.

This September, CBS was extremely successful. First of all, they aired the sitcom 'Everybody Loves Raymond.' More than nine million people watched the first episode, and the ratings exceeded 3, making everyone jealous of their good luck that they managed to produce a good TV series so easily. What surprised people even more was that the CBS celebration hadn't even started yet. They broadcasted CSI again. The premiere had a rating of 5, and the number of viewers reached 13.5 million. It became the most sensational news all of a sudden.

A TV series has 13.5 million viewers, and the ratings are over 5, which means that this TV series is one of the top ten TV series in the United States, which is a rare thing.

Moreover, what is even rarer is that the reviews of this TV series are also good.

"CBS's new drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is a very innovative and interesting drama. This TV series explores more details of investigators' handling of cases. Scientific investigation methods are introduced as a key point, which makes this TV series more interesting. This TV series has a new point of view..." "Los Angeles Times" was quite objective in its review of this TV series. They directly grasped the most innovative part of the TV series and gave them good reviews.

"The TV series has a very bold style and is worth watching." The comments from the "Chicago Tribune" seemed a little calmer. They paid more attention to the production style of the TV series than to the plot.

"Since the development of detective dramas, audiences have long been tired of the traditional mode of detectives solving crimes. It is necessary to shoot detective dramas to a high level, close to real life, and let the audience feel that this is a real story, but not many were able to solve this. The breakthrough point of CSI is that it relies on science and technology to maintain the suspense and excitement that detective dramas should have. This is its breakthrough." The New York Times

film review directly discussed how the problem of making a crime drama was solved. Compared with the success of a TV series, they pay more attention to how the TV series should be produced.

"This is a TV series that can inspire new crime drama shooting directions."

"tv-show" also gave the TV series a very high evaluation. And this evaluation is not an exaggeration. Compared with a detective riding alone and solving crimes with logical reasoning, this TV series provides a new way of thinking.

"An epoch-making TV series. If you decide to start following this series this summer, it is definitely a wise choice." In contrast, the evaluation of "TV Weekly" is much simpler and cruder. Their point is simple: this series will have high ratings; just watch it.

The popularity of this TV series has become a hot topic among everyone for a while. The protagonists of the TV series can be said to have their own charms, eccentric, hard-working, stubborn, honest, several entirely different characters, using scientific methods that people can't even see in ordinary times to solve the case, these things are very attractive.

Not to mention, some of the common sense of forensics mentioned in these TV series is also eye-opening. Moreover, these things are real and can be encountered in real life, which is even more interesting.

***

"Our TV series is obviously a success." At this time, Levi made a rare exception in the CSI crew and allowed everyone to drink. Standing on the table, he held a wine glass in his hand, and his face was full of smiles, "But I believe that our TV drama will definitely achieve more than that. Believe me. Our future will be even more brilliant!" After celebrating with the crew, Levi did not relax. On the contrary, he immediately contacted the staff and prepared some things, "The TV series has been successfully released, and there will definitely be people who don't like us. We have to let the media report favorable news about us. It's better to be cautious. Otherwise, no matter how good a TV series is, it will be difficult to gain a foothold if it is splashed with dirty water."

"You can rest assured about this." It is none other than Leslie Moonves who started speaking, "Leave this to me. CBS is not so easy to bully. No one can talk nonsense about our hit show."

***

However, CBS is not easy to be bullied, but it doesn't mean that no one will be bullied. The first episode had 13.5 million viewers, which is an amazing achievement. Even the number of viewers for 'Law and Order,' which is regarded as a treasure by NBC, is only about 12 million. And CSI exceeded this number with the premiere itself, which is enough to make NBC feel pressure.

They can feel that CBS is really sharpening their swords now and is ready to fight them.

"NBC has also prepared a lot of good TV dramas this summer." Feeling the pressure, the president of NBC also accepted the interview, "The best sitcom is still 'Friends,' and the best crime drama is still the legal drama 'Law & Order.' There is no doubt that NBC is still the best TV station."

For CBS, which broadcast two TV dramas with over 10 million viewers within a week, other TV networks are more or less jealous. NBC was quick to push back against CBS' challenge to its dominance.

They also have this kind of confidence because they have better TV series: this confidence is not blown out. After Thursday, when it was counted again, 'Everyone Loves Raymond' had more than 10 million viewers. However, the 15 million viewers of 'Friends' still maintained its unshakable position in the romantic comedy category.

***

With the guarantee of unshakable status brought by 'Friends,' NBC's counterattack also began. The position of romantic comedy won, and they immediately turned their target to crime dramas. Soon, the media also started to accuse CSI of filming false cases.

"The results of the DNA test can be obtained in one day? The staff of the CSI team will go to the scene to handle the case? And they all drive Hummers, and they have a very harmonious relationship in private? This is not close to reality at all; it is completely made up!"

The accusations of the media began to sound under the operation of NBC. The media started to hold on to the mistakes of the TV series and began to blame CSI for all kinds of mistakes and began to blame CBS for the problems of the series.

"The idea of CSI is good, but what they produce is not American CSI at all. The American forensic investigation is very backward. Having everyone's DNA samples is impossible, and the work is slow and inefficient. CSI is fundamentally wrong. What they filmed can only be called a sci-fi drama."

In order to grab the ratings, the competition of the media is also doing everything possible. Since CSI wanted to start shooting TV series from the aspect of reality, they directly accused the TV series of not being realistic enough. If there is no selling point of reality, what is CSI?

***

"NBC found a breakthrough point very accurately. They used such a reason to oppress a new drama. They did it ruthlessly. It's just that they found the wrong person." After seeing NBC's approach, Moonves just laughed.

Soon, a new review also appeared when the media was very heated.

"In October last year, football star Thompson was acquitted. Because of the unqualified issue of his criminal evidence collection, the scientific inspection work in the United States began to receive widespread attention. Less than a year later, CSI has been released. It also shows the speed of the producer.

As we all know, people have been discussing the Thompson case since last year, and the unqualified scientific testing methods in many places in the United States have also been exposed. In some places, they just rely on one footprint and one revision to determine criminals; in others, even forensic doctors and dentists are amateurs. This situation exists in many places in the United States.

Compared with Germany and Japan, the United States has a higher crime rate and a lower detection rate. This is already a familiar situation. Forensic work has not attracted enough attention in the United States. This profession is even linked to psychopaths in many cases, but this profession is really something that can help the police solve cases. These questions will be discussed later.

The Thompson case has attracted widespread attention, and now, CSI has pushed it to the top, which is a good signal: we have reason to believe that the issue of scientific identification will become the most crucial breakthrough direction for detective dramas in the future, but this industry really needs more manpower, more energy, and more attention. Thanks to CSI, they gave us a chance to be noticed."

This review has nothing new in its content, but the place where it was published was not any mass media or film review media, but "Journal of Forensic Sciences"—this is not a review from amateurs. It is a professional person who recognizes the role of CSI.

Apparently, professionals are more forgiving of TV dramas than critics are: so what if it's wrong? So what if it's beautified? So what if it doesn't match reality? As long as it can help forensic science get better attention, what are these minor problems?

All kinds of accusations against CSI in the media have also been muted at this time. As the media, they can criticize their responsibilities for not being professional enough, but when the professionals have already supported it, what is the reference value of their words?

***

"Our TV series may not be 100% realistic...but it is the closest to reality." As the production company of the TV series, at this time, Levi was also interviewed by "tv-show," and expressed his own opinion, "Art is allowed to exaggerate, as long as it can better reflect the real problems. As long as it can reflect the importance of forensic science, what's the point of exaggeration?" After a lot of noise, NBC not only failed to suppress CSI's ratings, but instead, this became equivalent to free publicity for CSI. NBC can be regarded as lifting a rock and hitting itself in the foot, making them uncomfortable.

The second episode of CSI has also been released. The ambiguity between Sarah and old Gil Grissom after Sara appeared on the stage, the unity of the CSI team when Warrick Brown returned to the team, and the case of getting rich overnight in Las Vegas but being murdered, the case is more complicated than the previous episode. And the team that showed more humanity attracted everyone's attention.

The original CSI's emotional branch was buried too deep, and it was entirely based on the case, and the relationship between the characters was not emphasized enough. Levi has already noticed this problem, and naturally, he will not repeat it a second time. In the plot of this episode, the relationship between the characters is better developed, and the relationship between several people looks pretty close.

Therefore, the broadcast effect of this TV series episode is also better. When the second episode ended, Alexander rushed into the film crew and almost roared all the way, shouting out the ratings.

"17.5 million—in just one episode, our viewership has increased by 4 million! Now the ratings are almost reaching 9—9 ratings; our TV series is a classic among classics!"

*****

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