October marks the 25th anniversary of the CSI franchise, which spanned five series and numerous merchandise lines such as toys, games, and even magazines. The flagship series is one of many primetime TV shows to run for more than 250 episodes, capping at 337. The latest series, CSI: Vegas, which served as a follow-up to the original, ended in 2024 after three seasons. Whether or not the franchise will make another comeback is unknown, but if it ever happens, the creator has two bonkers ideas.
There was a five-year gap in the franchise between when CSI: Cyber ended in 2016 and when CSI: Vegas premiered in 2021, so a return in the future is not entirely out of the question, no matter how long it takes. However, creator Anthony Zuiker told TV Insider that the only way another CSI show would get off the ground is on one condition. And it would not be like the others:
It’s a tricky question. I’ll try to answer it. I don’t think another CSI will be born unless I’m involved in it. I don’t think you can hire people to do this show at this level in this generation. And if you did do another show where I was in the mix, it would have to be either A, a CSI of 100 years ago where there was limited access to forensic science to solve old school crimes a century ago, or it’d be futuristic crimes about 75 years from today — space crimes, time crimes, crypto miscreants, brain hacking, AI, robotic crimes. It’ll be things that you hadn’t seen before. And then how CSIs 75 years from now would solve that in the future.
Considering that there wouldn’t be a CSI franchise without Zuiker (and he was on hand for every single show), it would only make sense that he’d want to be involved if another series were to happen. There’s also so many cities that the franchise can take place in or teams to focus on where it doesn’t feel like recycled material. It would definitely be insane to have the show take place years in the future or years in the past, but it would be entertaining, to say the least. And Zuiker doesn’t see any other plot working:
I think those are the only two CSIs that would work under my watch. But this is not going to be a franchise, in my opinion, where you would do a CSI: UK or a CSI: Singapore and then hire a production company to pull off 10. That’s something that I wouldn’t approve.
Zuiker has a vision, and he knows what he wants, and I can’t blame him. As much as some fans may want a series set in a different country, much like the NCIS franchise, he doesn’t see the point. And honestly, doing a show that’s set in the way past or way future would be a lot more interesting, and seeing how they solved cases in that time period and what the cases would be. It really would be something fans hadn’t seen before.
Since CSI: Vegas was canceled and it didn’t get to end on its own terms, perhaps not having a new series is for the best. At least for now. The show gave fans updates on original characters, some of which we got to see return.
At the very least, fans have almost 900 episodes of the CSI franchise to watch with a Paramount+ subscription. CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, and CSI: Vegas are all available on the streamer. Additionally, Zuiker also created The Real CSI: Miami following Vegas' cancellation, which is one of the best true crime shows you can stream. Even though Zuiker seems set on his plan for the franchise, he could always change his mind in the future.
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