Quincy and CSI..... (1 Viewer)

todd s · May 28, 2003

Last night I was watching a Quincy episode from 1979 on the Hallmark channel. And a couple of things they showed highlight the advancements over the past 24 years.

-In one scene Quincy has to send fingerprints to Washington to see if they match any felons. Where as on CSI they just boot up the computer and get an instant search.

-In another scene they use a new device to find fingerprints on a victim. It was a large tabletop device that when they put on special glasses they can see the fingerprints on the victim's face. I laugh because on Quincy they made such a big thing about this new device. Whereas on CSI it is such a common item. That is now the size of a flashlight.

This is from just one show. I am sure if I watched more episodes I can find more examples. And on another note. Grissom and Quincy are so completely opposite. Grissom is a buy the book evidence man who rarely strays from the crime scene. Whereas, Quincy was always proactive and trying to solve the crime and as in last nights episode he also tried to cure the large social ill of teen runaways.

I could see CSI doing a guest appearance by Jack Klugman as Grissom's father.

And on a final note. Who had the cooler car? Horatio Caine's Hummer or Quincy's black station wagon??

Jason Seaver · May 28, 2003

I could see CSI doing a guest appearance by Jack Klugman as Grissom's father.

Well, they already had him on Crossing Jordan as an old ME who was sort of being put out to pasture. To be honest, he really didn't look good (and that's before you consider what his voice is like after his treatment for throat cancer).

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Matt Pasant · May 28, 2003

I could see CSI doing a guest appearance by Jack Klugman as Grissom's father

Additionally, I think they addressed that he was raised by his Mother in midway through season 2 revealing that she was deaf and starting that plotline.

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Jordan_E · May 28, 2003

That Hummer always takes me right out of the show! All that thing needs is a big set of balls swinging behind it to complete the set! But you have to be COOL to pull off the black coroner wagon scene!!!

Kevin Goodwin · May 28, 2003

From what I've seen & read about CSI, a lot of the modern gizmos they use are exaggerated. For instance, fingerprint matching is far from an exact science, and always depends on a pair of eyes matching points, as opposed to their computerized 5-second search that they always show on CSI. They do use computers to narrow the searches, but the final matches have to be done by hand.

That's just one example, and I'm sure there are a lot more.

Lew Crippen · May 28, 2003

. Where as on CSI they just boot up the computer and get an instant search.

Yep the database on the CSI computer is pretty amazing all right.

I saw one episode of CSI Miami, where an outline of a skyline was run through the miracle computer with the all-encompassing database and it came up with a match of the Orange Bowl. Just think, the database contained the architectural (outline) features of every building in greater Miami, from every perspective. Now that’s some database.

I’m not saying that it is not possible, but it is pretty funny.

More true to life is when Lenny and company come up empty when they are trying to find the records of an old case in Law and Order

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Jesse Blacklow · May 28, 2003

I know that on the Vegas CSI, a lot of their equipment is actual crime lab technology that has been donated to or borrowed by the show. The AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems) program that they use is a little exaggerated, but the real thing does have scanning and pattern recognition software as well the ability to interact with state or federal databases. But really, how interesting a show would it be if they had to show all the bureaucracy and waiting?

I've given up on CSI: Miami, as their methods of both analyzing evidence and dispensing justice have entered some sort of fantastical world. Getting an instant skyline search from a Polaroid? It's hard for me identify clear faces, let alone a random landmark, from any Polaroid I've seen.

Tony Whalen · May 28, 2003

had the cooler car? Horatio Caine's Hummer or Quincy's black station wagon??

Quincy all the way.

Every time I see Horatio's Hummer (boy, does THAT sound wrong) I keep thinking he's compensating for something.

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Hanson · May 28, 2003

I just read a Popular Science article about a forensic school, and the students all got together to watch CSI. Whil they all like the show and the exposure it gives to the field of forensics, they also like to get together to guffaw at the numerous factual and technical errors. To wit:

No CSI dept in a city the the size of Las Vegas would have the budget to afford the lab equipment on the show.

AFIS exists, but it is slow. It can take days to return a hit, and then 20 or so will come back. The FP tech then needs to further determine if there is a match.

CODIS (the DNA databse) is centralized. It takes months or years to get back matches from CODIS, because they are so backed up with requests.

There is no software that can take blocky, pixelated close-ups and recreate them into clear ones. Not in the degree they do it on CSI.

All the interfaces to the software is, per Hollywood, unlike anything in real life.

And of course, CSI's don't walk around with guns at the ready securing crime scenes. Or conduct investigations on a routine basis.

todd s · May 28, 2003

Hanson, thanks for ruining the show for me! I think I am going back to watching The Bachelor and Survivor. At least that is real.

Gary->dee · May 28, 2003

Quincy was the man.

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