CSI good for you, bad for you

The upside of the proliferation of detective shows like CSI, Cold Case, and others has perhaps been that the average TV viewer might have learned a few tidbits about science. The shows at least attempt to model reality, but they have no reservations about bending it to make a better plot. A little knowledge is more dangerous than no knowledge at all, you might say.

An Irish forensic scientist told the BBC the show is unrealistic because it implies that crimes can frequently be solved in the course of just one television episode, when the actual case is that crimes are much more difficult and time-consuming to solve.

The leading scientist said such representations fostered a presumption that "the answers we supply are black and white, but of course there's a grey area".

Gary Sinise and Melina Kanakaredes star in CSI:NY

In reality, "we don't fit it in (in) 47 minutes, and the roles are not all rolled into one", she said.

Many forensic scientists specialised in chemistry, biology, DNA, drugs or pattern evidence, she told delegates.

I think Dr. Willis (the scientist's name) overestimates the problem. I don't think the average television viewer takes everything quite so literally.