TV’s forensic fever is spreading, thanks to ‘CSI’

There’s hay on the floor and mud on the streets. Light comes from candles, and transportation is by horseback. A sassy young woman pours shots by the glass in the saloon, which is populated by dirty-faced cowboys. The local lawman sports a steely gaze and cowboy hat.

The scene is unmistakably Old West.

Yet look at this setting another way and it could be CBS’ quite-up-to-date hit drama “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.”

There’s a detective, bent over the freshly dug-up corpse lying on a table in a dingy ice house, the investigator’s face alive with anticipation as he positions a magnifying glass over the slain man’s open eyes.

“This is where the real detective work begins -- forensic medicine,” the detective proclaims. Leaning closer, he speculates that the victim probably was drugged, “perfectly relaxed, possibly conscious as the killer tightened the garrote around his throat.” Moments later, he starts to slice up the corpse to gather evidence. Indeed, throughout his investigation, the emphasis is on using the latest scientific methods to determine the cause of death and the perpetrator.

The moment comes in USA Network’s new drama, “Peacemakers”: Call it “CSI on a Saddle.” The series, which premieres tonight, is set in the late 1880s during the last days of the Western frontier. Tom Berenger stars as a grizzled federal marshal who hooks up with a British-born, Chinese-speaking Pinkerton detective (Peter O’Meara) and a mortician and one-time medical student (Amy Carlson). The team solves crimes in an era when forensic science is so new that fingerprinting is the latest technological breakthrough.

“Peacemakers” is the latest symptom of two overlapping medical conditions: TV’s ever-present cloning syndrome, in which a hit nearly always spawns more shows in a similar vein, as well as a specific case of forensic fever.

The latter has been spreading lately all over cable and broadcast networks, largely sparked by the success of “CSI” and using much of the stylish camera work and effects that made the CBS drama about forensic investigators into TV’s most popular show. From Court TV’s “Forensic Files” to the History Channel’s “Dead Reckoning,” the outbreak has given new life to shows about death.

CBS soon will debut “Cold Case,” a drama from “CSI” Executive Producer Jerry Bruckheimer in which forensics play a key role in resurrecting long-unsolved cases. Bruckheimer also is the main force behind “Without a Trace,” CBS’ hit drama in which investigators often use forensics to find missing persons. That series also has become a huge favorite with viewers. And, of course, there’s “CSI: Miami,” the first of what may be several brand extensions of the “CSI” franchise.

But it doesn’t stop with Bruckheimer’s hit factory and a few cable TV offerings.

“NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service” is CBS’ upcoming spinoff of “JAG” that has a “CSI” flavor. “Crossing Jordan,” NBC’s drama about a tough medical examiner (Jill Hennessy), often has been compared with “CSI.”

In addition to its signature series “Forensic Files,” Court TV has the forensic-themed “I, Detective” and “Body of Evidence: From the Files of Dayle Hinman.” The network has an annual forensics week in August featuring new episodes of “Forensic Files” and other specials. A documentary focusing on the real-life “CSI” unit in Las Vegas is planned for late August. The History Channel’s “Dead Reckoning,” inspired by “CSI,” uses reenactments and archival footage to examine the real story behind historic crimes and murders. PBS has been hyping the “CSI” connection with its new “History Detectives,” which uses the latest forensic techniques to solve historical riddles.

The source for all of this goes back farther than “CSI,” even if that show gets all the credit. “I’d love to claim we were the first ones,” said Anthony Zuiker, creator and executive producer of “CSI” and “CSI: Miami.” “But the idea came out of the Discovery Channel’s ‘New Detectives,’ which my wife watched. We were the ones to bring it to prime-time scripted television. The trend is still in the upswing. The more shows there are, the more they chisel at our show.”

“Peacemakers” executive producer and writer Rick Ramage doesn’t mind comparisons of his show with “CSI,” but maintained there are key differences.

“ ‘CSI’ is a very brilliant show, it’s very high tech and medicine-oriented, but our show is much more retro in that regard,” said Ramage. “We’re a much more character-driven show. And we’re looking at when forensics started.”

Although he added that “Peacemakers” is not a derivative of “CSI,” “it certainly would be safe to say that the forensic twist did help to sell the premise to the network. USA was very open to it, and it definitely was a factor. It would be silly to claim otherwise.”

Michele Ganeless, executive vice president and general manager of USA Network, added, “Our show is a twist on all procedural crime dramas, and we’re uniting it with the western genre. It’s a point of view no one has taken up.”

Tim Brooks, co-author of “The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows,” said the forensic TV mania is similar to a trend in the 1960s during the heyday of several TV series such as “The FBI,” which pitted the government against evil forces

“There was a reaction to the James Bond movies where the government were portrayed as these straight, button-down people who were fighting to keep our society safe,” Brooks said. “It’s reassuring to see our government so hard at work when the world and terrorism seems to be at our throats. And in these cases, the government is not driven by emotion. They are just trying to make things right.”

Added Art Bell, president of Court TV, which would love to associate its real-life programs with the success of “CSI” and so bills itself as the “network of investigation,” “The TV audience is fascinated by forensics. Since the industrial revolution, science is seen as the cure-all for society’s ills. When we see scientists and investigators get together and solve these cases, they are working to keep society safer and it’s a very satisfying thing to watch.”

There’s more to the “CSI”-to-”Peacemakers” phenomenon than just a fascination with forensics. It’s also the latest example of another immutable law of television: Success spawns clones, imitators and wannabes. “X-Files,” for instance, inspired “Profiler,” “Dark Skies” and numerous others. “Friends,” meanwhile, paved the way for “Sex and the City,” which in turn inspired the BBC imports “Coupling” and the in-development “Manchild,” and many more. “Seinfeld” paved the way for any number of wisecracking yuppie comedies such as “Ellen.”

“It’s endemic of television,” said Jonathan Littman, president of Jerry Bruckheimer Television, which produces “CSI,” “CSI: Miami,” “Without a Trace” and “Cold Case.” “When something works, everyone jumps on it. A lot of these shows try to emulate the look and quality of ‘CSI.’ That’s what I’ve noticed.”

He noted the difference in his company’s series: “ ‘Cold Case’ is a much more emotional show than ‘CSI.’ The victims and the survivors are very emotional. ‘CSI’ is all about science, not so much emotion. None of our shows look alike, although they all look like they come from our company. They all have a feature film look.”

Zuiker said he doesn’t see the forensic trend ending anytime soon. “I’d love it if ‘CSI’ were the only one of these shows in TV land, but that’s not going to happen. However, I see it like ‘The Sopranos.’ No one else is going to do a great show about an Italian crime family, and no one else is going to do a great show on forensics like ‘CSI.’ ”

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‘Peacemakers’

Where: USA Network

When: Premieres tonight at 9, airs regularly at 10 p.m. Wednesdays

Production credits: Executive producers, Charlie Craig, Rick Ramage; writer, Ramage; director, Larry Carroll

Tom Berenger...Jared Stone

Peter O’Meara...Larimer Finch

Amy Carlson...Katie Owen