'CSI' has real CSI under magnifying glass

Television's most popular show has made stars out of forensic pathologists and made their lives at least a bit tougher.

"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (Thursday, 8 p.m., Ch. 2) is a huge hit, drawing upward of 30 million viewers a week, several million more than the nearest competitor. The procedural drama has made forensics chic, in a way, and has helped increase the enrollment in college programs that train pathologists by as much as 400 percent.

Maybe it's because the show pays so much attention to detail and plays so realistically that Americans have begun to expect too much from the real-life counterparts to the show's characters.

Gary Dourdan (who stars as Warrick Brown) said it even came up when he toured the site of the terrorist attack in New York City. "The cops around the World Trade Center who block people off were saying things like, 'It's really difficult. Everyone that gets his car broken into now wants the whole crime scene done to get his radio back.'

"So, yeah, there are jokes about it, but there is a seriousness about it."

The "CSI" actors said their real-life counterparts have found both a great appreciation for — and a more demanding attitude — toward their work.

"They start getting demanding of these guys, like, 'Where's the cool blue light? How come you're not using the blue light?' " said William Petersen, who stars as senior forensics officer Gil Grissom.

And, as often seems to be the case, some viewers can't quite draw a distinction between fiction and fact.

"I was stopped in the airport once by someone who said, 'You guys should get on the JonBenet Ramsey case. You could definitely figure it out,' " said Paul Guilfoyle (Capt. Jim Brass). "And I looked at the person to see if they were going to actually laugh and smile like it was a joke — and they didn't. . . . So people do expect a lot from our show."

Apparently, they're also expecting a lot from the local pathologists as well. Too much.

"It's a mixed blessing for the law-enforcement community as well," Petersen said. "We brought a lot of attention to it. There's potential for them to get more money out of their communities for CSI equipment and personnel and stuff.

"At the same time, they're being thought of as superhuman as well."

What gets done during a single episode of "CSI" may take days, weeks or months in real life.