Every CSI Series, Ranked

When it comes to police procedurals, there are a few franchises that stand head and shoulders above the rest, and "CSI" is one of them. The original show, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," was inspired by the true crime series "The New Detectives." It became an instant hit when it debuted on CBS in 2000, surprising network execs with how quickly it took off. "Literally within the first couple of weeks, 'CSI' exploded," CBS Corp. President and Chief Executive Leslie Moonves told the Los Angeles Times ahead of the series finale in 2015. "Three or four weeks in, we knew we had something extremely special."

When a show becomes that big, spin-offs become pretty much inevitable, and that's exactly what happened here. "CSI" spawned four different shows, with each of them adding something different to the franchise, either through their setting or their approach to the procedural genre. While some of the spin-offs became big hits in their own right and even leapfrogged the original in terms of global popularity, others failed to live up to the standard set by the flagship series. So how do they all stack up? We've ranked every show in the "CSI" universe from worst to best.

The worst show in the franchise by some distance, "CSI Cyber" stars Patricia Arquette as Dr. Avery Ryan, a psychologist who decided to dedicate her life to catching cyber criminals after a database hack led to the death of one of her patients. She became a deputy director at the FBI and founded the organization's Cyber Crime Division, where she works with a team that includes field agent Elijah Mundo (James Van Der Beek), analyst Brody Nelson (Shad Moss), special agent Daniel "Krummy" Krumitz (Charley Koontz), and, in Season 2, Ted Danson's D.B. Russell, who is named the Director of Next Generation Cyber Forensics.

The second season would end up being the last, as "CSI: Cyber" was axed when the viewership figures failed to meet the levels CBS had hoped for. Even the addition of Danson reprising his role from the flagship series wasn't enough to save the spin-off, which was doomed to fail based on the premise alone — while cyber crimes are indeed serious, they don't typically require the kind of response that makes for gripping television. The melodrama inherent in police procedurals seems out of place and routinely forced in "CSI: Cyber," and the performances leave a lot to be desired. Arquette was fresh off an Oscar win for "Boyhood" when she signed on to play Avery Ryan, but she's one of many cast members who phone it in here.

Launched in 2004, "CSI: NY" attempted to make the franchise a bit grittier, and while it was most certainly successful in that endeavor, a dip in quality in the latter seasons means it sits near the bottom of our ranking, though only just — the truth is that it's a far superior show to "CSI: Cyber." Gary Sinise leads the line as former marine Mac Taylor, who lost his wife in the September 11 terrorist attacks. He's now the director of the NYPD crime lab and works with a team that includes assistant CSI supervisor Stella Bonasera (Melina Kanakaredes), medical examiner Sheldon Hawkes (Hill Harper), and the detectives Danny Messer (Carmine Giovinazzo) and Aiden Burn (Vanessa Ferlito).

Most of the praise the show received when it premiered in 2004 was aimed at Sinise, with viewers and critics alike connecting with his character from the get-go. "I couldn't keep my eyes off Gary Sinise, who plays well-dressed Detective Mac Taylor with extraordinary intensity that is never over the top," said the Houston Chronicle, while the Seattle Post-Intelligencer said, "Scene by scene, Sinise silently begs for your empathy with every inch of his stage-trained talents." The Illinois native kept bringing his A-game as the spin-off hit almost 200 episodes across its nine seasons, but the scripts he had to work with became less riveting with every passing year. The ratings were in decline when CBS pulled the plug in 2013.

"CSI: Miami" arrived just a few years before "CSI: NY" and ran alongside the Big Apple-set series for most of its lifespan. In theory, they could have stepped on each other's toes, but the two shows couldn't have been more different, at least in terms of tone — "CSI: NY" was a dark, moody show, while "CSI: Miami" was known for its hyper-saturated color palette that gave proceedings a constantly sun-drenched look. David Caruso stars as Horatio Caine, a bomb disposal expert who rose through the ranks to become the director of the Miami Dade Crime Lab. His assistant supervisor is Calleigh Duquesne (Emily Procter), a ballistics specialist. Other team members include fingerprint expert Eric Delko (Adam Rodriguez), medical examiner Alexx Woods (Khandi Alexander), and trace evidence pro Tim "Speed" Speedle (Rory Cochrane).

"CSI: Miami" flew out of the traps with a brilliant first season that had some critics predicting it would ultimately become a better show than the original. While that didn't happen, "CSI: Miami" was huge for a time — a 2005 international study declared the spin-off the most popular TV show in the world after it appeared more than any other series in national top 10 lists. Part of the appeal was seeing Caruso return to a cop show after he broke out on "NYPD Blue" playing Detective John Kelly. "To those who have longed for another vehicle that fits Caruso's intensity and brooding, the wait is over," said Variety in an early review. As the show neared the end of its 10-season run it became more camp and self aware, essentially turning into a parody of itself, but whether or not that was a bad thing depends entirely on how much you love Horatio Caine's one-liners.

A revival of the flagship series, "CSI: Vegas" took the franchise back to its original setting with mostly new characters. William Petersen and Jorja Fox reprised their roles as Gil Grissom and Sara Sidle from "CSI" for the first season, and Marg Helgenberger came back as Catherine Willows for Season 2, but the main focus was on new blood: The revival stars Paula Newsome as crime lab director Maxine "Max" Roby. Max's team includes crime scene investigators Joshua "Josh" Folsom (Matt Lauria) and Ahalya "Allie" Rajan (Mandeep Dhillon), as well as chief medical examiner Dr. Hugo Ramirez (Mel Rodriguez). "CSI: Vegas" was cancelled after its third season in 2024, which came as a shock to Newsome. "I got the news from my showrunner [Jason Tracey], and I was very surprised, because our ratings are so good," Newsome told TVLine.

Aesthetically, "CSI: Vegas" gave viewers what they loved about "CSI" — the action is intercut with sweeping shots of neon cityscapes and crime lab montages, and the sharp editing adds a sense of urgency to the cases. But, while nostalgia for the original series was clearly part of the hook, "CSI: Vegas" managed to differentiate itself from "CSI" and its spin-offs by being a more character-driven series. The "CSI" shows that came before it, and indeed most of the best police procedural TV shows, follow the framework of the genre first and foremost, with character arcs written around it. With "CSI: Vegas," particularly in Season 3, weekly cases are interspersed with overarching plots involving the main gang. This approach made the revival feel more modern while still paying tribute to the franchise's roots.

The original isn't always the best, but when it comes to the "CSI" franchise, you would be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't rank the flagship show at number one. "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" debuted in October 2000 and would ultimately run for 15 seasons. It became one of the biggest shows on television in that time, growing into a ratings monster for CBS and scooping six Primetime Emmy awards. It laid the foundation for a golden age of police procedurals on CBS, walking so the likes of "NCIS" and "Criminal Minds" could run.

According to creator and executive producer Anthony Zuiker, the success of "CSI" lay in its simplicity, with the writers always following the show's blueprint. "On the worst day of your life, the CSI investigators would come in, solve the crime, and bring peace of mind to the survivors and/or the victim, and put the bad guy away," he told the Los Angeles Times. "That translates and speaks to every language in the world." That last part was no exaggeration — "CSI" was being shown in over 200 countries at the height of its popularity. The term appointment television isn't used much in today's steamer-dominated world, but that's exactly what this was.

So, what exactly was it that made "CSI" such a mega hit? In a nutshell, it made forensics cool. In the very first episode, a dismissive cop refers to Gil Grissom and his team as "the nerd squad." By the end of that episode, the message is clear — it's science that gets results, and viewers quickly bought into that idea. Sandwiching the scientific parts between bloody crimes and flashy Vegas locales made for the perfect procedural cocktail, one that still goes down smoothly to this day.