Josh Berman radio interview

Interviewer: What is going on between WP's character Gil Grissom and Sara?

Josh Berman - Writer and producer: That seems to be the question I get asked most frequently and there's absolutely sexual tension between the two. Jorja Fox's character Sara Sidle didn't start on the show until episode one, we replaced the character from the Pilot and she supposedly was coming to Las vegas to help Grissom on a case. She hasn't left and who would change their whole life just for a job?
These characters are scientists and they're much more in tune with their cerebral side than their emotional side, I think it's gonna take a while for them to come clean about their personal feelings.

Interviewer: Why don't the producers and the writers go more in depth into the personal lives of these main characters?

JB: We're not a serialised drama. As writers we like to think of it as features with a beginning, middle and end. As soon as you start delving too much into the character side you risk becoming a soap, that would be a lot of fun to write as well but I think the great thing about CSI is if you miss a week or you catch it on a repeat you're gonna get an adventure every time, it's satisfying every time, you don't have those loose ends at the end. 'Oh God, what's gonna happen next?'

Interviewer: I have a loose end when it comes to the show: Lady Heather. There was a little thing between her and Grissom.

JB: She's my favorite. There absolutely was until Grissom didn't trust her.

Interviewer: The fans want to know if she's coming back.

JB: Melinda Clarke is the phenomenal actress who plays that role who's now a regular on The OC but she is welcome to come back, OC has said that to us, I believe. We do plan to bring her back but I don't think in the immediate future.
She's an awesome character, I don't think there's been a character on tv maybe beside Dr. Ruth who is as comfortable with her sexuality as Lady Heather.

Interviewer: What about the spin-offs?

JB: The nice thing for me is that I don't have to think about them. I've been just on the original show since the beginning, today I actually signed a brand new deal to go back for three more years. That'll put me on the show for seven years and I'm only focused on CSI the original. I do think there are enough forensic stories to go around but I don't want to leave and I love the original.

Interviewer: You're producing and writing, how many other show do you actually write?

JB: Most of the shows are written, or at least the ideas, are come up within a group of about six to eight people.
We come up with an outline together and then a different writer will be assigned to script. My name may be on more or less scripts in any one given season, but I'm always involved, all writers are involved with each story.

Interviewer: One of the things that has been widly rumored is that William Petersen is very unhappy, he said he might leave because he feels like all these spin-offs are threatening the original show. What do you think?

JB: I wanna be honest, I have not seen any of that. WP is an incredibly generous and really a brilliant man, his comments on the scripts are fabulous and he brings something that I think no other actor can bring to that.

Interviewer: The spin-offs...no one compares to Grissom.

JB: That's how I feel. In terms of what you read, I don't know if that's accurate or not, my job is just kind to pay attention to the day-to-day.

Caller: Your take on the relationship between MH and WP, it seems like they do have a good chemistry together as actors.

JB: As actors I think there is tremendous respect for each other, they both help elevate each other when they are on-screen and I think off-screen they genuinely like each other. I worked on other shows, what's unique about CSI is that their actors genuinely really like each other and respect each other, I think that comes through on the screen.

Interviewer: I've noticed the theme song for CSI Miami is also a Who song. What's up with The Who?

JB: They did a great job for us the first time around and when something works you stick with it. I don't know what the theme song is for NY but I wouldn't be surprised if it is another Who song.

Caller: Nicholas Lea: are you guys gonna keep him in the plotline with Marg?

JB: That's something that I can't give away but you should definitely keep watching. Personally I think the dynamic of the relationship changed at the end of the second to last episode this season when you saw that character with Marg's biological father.
I don't know if Catherine would want to take him back or not, but I'm sure it will be resolved somehow.

Caller: I know you had one main forensic person that has been with you since the beginning. I guess he worked crime scene investigation out in LA for 20 years, I wanna know if you have other people that you go to as resources for story ideas.

JB: You're referring to Liz Devine who's been with the show from the beginning, she's absolutely fantastic and has been an inspiration for many of our stories. We also have a man in Daniel Holstein who's still with the CSI crime lab in Vegas and helps us a lot. We have a full-time resarcher, my little brother, who helps us a lot, he also plays the character of David Phillips on the show (the assistant coroner).
Then we have others - both coroners and CSIs - around the country that are constantly sending us story ideas. We were very lucky that way.

Caller: I was just wondering if in Season five Sara is going to get out of this rut she's in.

JB: That's a great question. Let me ask you, do you think she should?

Caller: I think she should. She needs to get out of that rut, start moving on. She needs someone like - if it's not Grissom - then somebody nice to pull her out of this rut.

JB: Do you think she needs a guy to do it or she can do it on her own?

Caller: I think she could do it on her own, but if she couldn't then I'd prefer a nice looking young guy coming in.

JB: I think you're right.

Interviewer: What about Greg?
Caller: That would be awesome.

JB: There'll be a lot more for Greg to do next season. His character is just coming into his own, Eric Szmanda is incredibly talented as an actor, I think you'll see a lot more of him next season. But I agree with you and I'm glad that you're a Sara fan, she's incredibly fun to write for, Jorja Fox, and I know she does need to get out of her funk. I think that it was a natural evolution of her character and hopefully she'll be happier next season.

Interviewer: Speaking of Sara's character on CSI, she seems like the female version of Grissom in a lot of ways, like a younger just kind of coming into her own Grissom-like character.

JB: The difference is, she would be more open to a relationship than he is, that may just be the difference of male vs. female scientist but I think you're absolutely right. In some ways she's very closed off as is he, she's all about the evidence, she tries not to let her personal feelings interfere with the case so, great, I think you're completely right.

Caller: I saw the episode when Greg asked about being in the field. Grissom told him he could, as long as he can find and train a replacement. Who do you guys have in mind to replace him in the lab?

JB: Most likely we'll be interviewing characters next season to take other until we decide who gets the job, if anyone.
Scientists are very protective of their job, I think it will be hard for Greg or anyone to train someone and then say they're as good as they are before they can move on. Leave behind the DNA lab will not be easy for someone who's - it's been their domain for four years.

[...]

JB: [...] Marg Helgenberger, who plays Catherine visited a crime scene just to get in the character of the real CSIs in Vegas, she shows up at the crime scene and the victim's family were treating her like she was the real csi coming to solve the case.

Interviewer: I love all the broadcast designs, all the technical stuff, it's really fascinating.

JB: I think that's why our show has become more successful than the other crime dramas; it's so visual, you're with the action the whole time, it feels more like a feature than a tv drama.

Caller: We need to do something with Sara, she needs to get out of her funk and she needs to do it by herself.
She's supposed to be this karate expert person, she's black-belt, she needs to get back into that, she needs to do something for herself. As far as Sara and Grissom go, there's a whole bunch of us out there who just don't want it.

Interviewer: I'd much rather see Grissom with Lady Heather.

JB: I think they're a great pair as well but I don't think she should ever take him back. He totally betrayed her.

Interviewer: That's because that's in his character. That's what he does, he was following the evidence and the evidence pointed to her.

JB: Do you think they slept together?

Interviewer: Speaking of sleeping together, have there ever been any necrophiliacs on the show?

JB: Do you know that in many states necrophilia is not even a crime? We talked about doing a storyline like that, but if the person is already dead, I think, it's some minor offence.

Caller: I think your brother does a great job and I'd love to see more of him on there.

JB: Thank you so much. He will love to hear that, he takes his job so seriously, you'll just make his day. [...]
I hopefully will see a lot more of him next year, his story was, he was originally supposed to be only in one episode and he just kind of sparked because he is different than the other characters.

Interviewer: I wanna ask you about the DVDs, one of the things I've heard that people wanted are some of the bloopers.

JB: We haven't done that yet, have we? Every year we say we're gonna do that and we just haven't. I think part of it just has to do with timing and knowing what the editors are printing and coordinating all that, but I'm glad you brought it up beacuse I'll make a note of that for next year, I think Season four should have bloopers on it.

Interviewer: Which episode is your favorite? You spend so much time with the show and all the casting crew, you've got to have some personal favorite.

JB: I do. I think for this last season, season four, two my favorite were one entitled Invisible evidence in which Warrick - Gary Dourdan's character - has 24 hours to solve a case or the judge's gonna kick some tainted evidence and the suspect goes free.
The other one that I really enjoyed writing and producing this season was an episode called Turn of the screws in which a rollercoaster derailed. That one's gonna hopefully repeat soon since it aired up against the Friends finale. We still did great, we had 20 millions viewers, but I think some people may have missed that one and that one was a spectacle and a fun ride.

Interviewer: How long does it take you to write an episode?

JB: It varies. We probably take a week or two to gather with the six or eight of us and then I basically (...?) time you have so often I had to write an episode in four or five days if I get lucky it's a couple of days more than that, generally not more.

[...]

JB: Grissom definitely is lacking for a social life.

Interviewer: Is he gonna get one?

JB: I don't know, I don't know if Grissom's capable of in terms...

Interviewer: Is he not getting enough sex? What's the deal?

JB: I don't wanna enter that.

Interviewer: I wanna know about the episode when Grissom was investigating the girl who looked just like Sara.

JB: Wasn't that a good episode? That was written by a new writer on the show, David Rambo, with the executive producers' help but he did an excellent job, he'll be back next season.
It was an interesting twist to see how Grissom reacted when the woman looked so much like Sara. He freaked. He did freak and he became obsessed with the case cause it's a lot easier for him to be obsessed with the case than it is to be obsessed with the person.

Interviewer: If you're gonna hook up Grissom with one crew of the CSI lab I'd much rather see him with Catherine.

JB: There's a big debate, viewers are divided between the two.

Interviewer: Catherine's daughter: what's happening to her? We haven't heard a lot about Lindsey in the last episodes.

JB: She's perfectly happy going to school. We'll bring her back when it's relevant. Personally, as a writer I hate when you see shows and it's like, in one season a character loses his daughter, parents divorce... You can only do so many personal stories that are organic, only so much tragedy can befall a family and that's really no reason to bring Lindsey in when the show focuses on what her mom does for a living but I'm sure when the paths cross, which they do sometimes, she'll be back.