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Joining forensic forces
By ERIC DEGGANS, Times TV Critic
© St. Petersburg Times It was the kind of luck most actors would sell close relatives to fall into. Kim Delaney was planning a much-needed vacation in May, blindsided by ABC's last-minute decision to cancel her series, Philly. She and Philly creator Stephen Bochco had already decided she couldn't go back to her old role on his other ABC drama, NYPD Blue, and she was ready to get away from it all for a while. Then Delaney opened a letter with an incredible offer: a co-starring role in a spinoff of TV's most popular drama series, CSI: Miami. "We had (the deal) done in a week," said Delaney, still a little surprised to land on a show deemed so important that late night host David Letterman wanted his new contract to specify when it would air. "It's a lot of pressure. I knew CBS was excited about it, but this is amazing." On paper, it's a no-brainer: Delaney, always a popular TV actor, has joined a show topped by another charismatic Blue alum, David Caruso. It airs against a flaky NBC drama about a beautiful medical examiner, Crossing Jordan, that itself seems like a pale CSI imitation. Producers say the new show will mimic CSI's focus on the forensic process, with important differences: CSI: Miami takes place on the day shift, with outgoing cops using hi-tech gear, unlike William Petersen's lab geek, Gus Grissom, on CSI. "Miami's a little guttural, a little more political . . . a town of passion," CSI creator Anthony Zuiker said. "In Las Vegas, you go to escape. In Miami, you go to be seen." Caruso insists he doesn't mind continually apologizing for the egoism that led him to leave then-white-hot Blue in 1994, walking off the set, out of the studio lot and into career obscurity through a string of failed movies. "I received a real gift . . . because when you have what appears to be a real career going, you live in fear of losing it," said Caruso, a guy given to contemplative, artsy conversations at odds with the no-nonsense characters he often plays. "You equate losing your career with dying. When you lose it all and don't die, a very interesting perspective comes into your life." Though they had met socially and performed on the same TV series, Caruso and Delaney had not worked together: He left Blue before she arrived. So the awkward, tentative vibe between the two onscreen likely has a real foundation. Delaney plays Megan Donner, a forensics expert who once led Miami's CSI technicians but left to cope with her husband's death. Caruso is Horatio Caine, the guy who took her job and may (or may not) feel a little Grissom-style sublimated sexual tension toward her. (Zuiker said they created Delaney's role after seeing sparks between Caruso and CSI's Marg Helgenberger during a crossover episode/pilot aired in May.) Tonight's episode, featuring chunks of footage filmed this summer in the Everglades, centers on a horrific small-airplane crash. (Be warned: As on CSI, there's graphic footage of corpses and body parts.) Already the show has taken flack for reneging on strongly stated intentions to film the entire series in Miami, turning its back on millions of dollars in incentives ponied up by state officials. Others complain that the core cast features only one Hispanic character despite its setting in a town where 60 percent of the residents are of that ethnic group. (Producers plan to cast Hispanic actors in guest and bit parts, a typical Hollywood nonsolution.) Khandi Alexander, who is black, said she turned down a raft of welfare mother roles after her bravura turn in HBO's drug addict miniseries The Corner to play a polar opposite: CSI: Miami's coroner, Alexx (yes, there's two x's) Woods. "When Eriq LaSalle left ER, he took my job with him," joked Alexander, who spent seven years playing the sister of LaSalle's Peter Benton on the NBC medical drama. She had already quit the NBC comedy NewsRadio because her character seemed a token irrelevancy. "A lot of the roles I chose not to do, I could see -- because I've been through it -- they never have to develop the character," said Alexander, who was concerned about how little CSI's coroner leaves his office until she learned that the actor who plays him, Robert David Hall, is a double amputee. "They're going to have to get deeper into this (character)." For his part, Hall says the CSI cast isn't sure what to think of a spinoff that capitalizes on their hard-won ratings success. "Do I hope we're No. 1 and they're No. 2? You bet," he said. "We all want to do the best we can, and we're all competitive people. One thing's for sure: For CBS, it's a godsend." At a glanceCSI: Miami debuts at 10 tonight on WTSP-Ch. 10. Grade: A-. Rating: TV-14.
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