Branding the franchise — CSI and Law & Order step up the competition this fall

"So just like 'Without a Trace' has been successful against 'ER,' there's room for two successful shows in the same time period."

There's also more to this battle than just "L&O" vs. "CSI: NY." A successful 9 p.m. show (10 p.m. Eastern and Pacific) feeds viewers into the late news. And CBS — which, like all networks, makes far more money from its owned stations than from the network itself — owns 20 stations (including KUTV-Ch. 2 locally).

"When we put 'CSI: Miami' on Monday night and 'Without a Trace' on Thursday night," said Moonves, "the rise in our stations at (the 10) o'clock news has been tremendous. Having another ('CSI') there at (9) o'clock will clearly help that."

And when late-news ratings on CBS stations rise, that in turn helps the ratings of the "Late Show with David Letterman" — and hurts the ratings for "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." So there's a lot at stake here.

Wolf is preparing for the "CSI: NY" onslaught by doing, um, nothing.

Well, not nothing, but nothing different.

" 'Law & Order' is not going to change," Wolf said "It is, hopefully, going to be as good or better than it ever has been, and that will come down to the writing. And there is a distinct difference in the type of stories that we tell and the type of stories that 'CSI' tells."

Ever the salesman (albeit a cranky one), Wolf assured critics that scripts for the first six episodes of the upcoming season are "really terrific." Even "classic."

He's not predicting "Law & Order" will beat "CSI: NY," but he does sound confident. "The audience is never wrong. The audience will decide," Wolf said. "I think 'Law & Order' has been comfortably winning the time slot for the last seven years. We haven't had real competition. This is real competition."

And he echoed Zuiker's comments about how there might be room for both shows. "But I think the one thing that has been demonstrated over the past couple of years is that when there's great programming, more people come to the set," Wolf said. "And that's good for everybody. . . . I am a great believer in the more good shows on, the better it is for all of us."

Which is not to say that each side doesn't want to win, even though they're underplaying that possibility at CBS.

" 'CSI: New York' is not going to beat 'Law & Order,' " Moonves said. "However, 'CSI: New York' is going to do better than we've done in that time period in decades."

Which will be a win in and of itself, particularly given that, a year ago, the show CBS put up against "Law & Order" bombed and was quickly canceled.

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com