Science marches on far too quickly on the CSI shows.
Whether in Vegas, Miami or New York, the most successful franchise in TV history has reduced modern forensic science to the simplicity of a home pregnancy test. In many cases, the well-attired lab heroes make two or three astounding forensic discoveries before the first commercial break.
Not so on earth, where a guy like David Caruso would be chasing coffee for the real cops. The long, hard slog of police work is better represented in any episode of Forensic Factor (tonight, Discovery at 10 p.m.). For real cops, a murder case is not an adventure, it's a job.
"Real investigations take time," says Forensic Factor producer Sally Karan. "The storytelling on those shows requires instant gratification, but in reality most forensic experts have to wade through huge amounts of information; sometimes they send stuff to the lab and it takes three months to come back. Some cases can take years to solve."
Back for a fifth season, Forensic Factor stands out in the crime-TV genre, if only for its documentary-style approach. Whereas packaged true-crime programs such as Investigative Reports and The First 48 condense police work, the Canadian-made series exists to document the details and minutiae of a criminal case. The show has won Gemini Awards for directing and photography and airs all over the world.
Forensic Factor's sturdy formula was established with the show's launch in 2003. Each episode in the series focuses on a true crime - more often murder most foul, or multiple murders - taken from recent history. The heinous act is brought to life through dramatic re-enactment and interviews with the cops who worked the case. In the only parallel to CSI, the viewer is kept in the dark until the final scene.
"We take the mystery approach," Karan says. "The show is a drama production, because we tell most of the story through re-enactment, but there has to be a strong science element in every story. It's very difficult finding the type of stories we need."
But the true crimes are out there. The first new show recalls a grisly case that gripped the normally quiet city of Spokane, Wash., starting in early 1997. Over a three-year period, police find the bodies of six women, each dead from gunshot wounds and dumped in the countryside. The only commonality: Each victim was a known prostitute.
Over time, the Spokane Killer strikes again and again, and adds a sick twist: One victim has a plastic shopping bag with a happy face on it over her head. Police surmise the bag was put there to stem the blood flow from the head wound.
As shown, the investigation is staggering in its scope and legwork. Several thousand tips were received and followed up by different branches of Spokane police. A red carpet fibre on one victim's shoe prompted a statewide search for a white Corvette.
Science entered the investigation in the form of vacuum metal deposition, then a new technique, which pulls a palm print off the bag.
The program interviews the Spokane forensic botanist - yes, that's a real job - who identified foreign deciduous foliage at one of the body-dumping sites; the discovery pointed police toward a suspect with an orderly garden. Also interviewed is a former prostitute who very narrowly escaped death at the hands of the killer, as shown in a chilling re-enactment.
The killings went on in Spokane for nine years and the bodies of 14 women were found. "I can tell you every one of those women were loved dearly by somebody at some point in their lives," reflects Spokane detective Fred Reutsch, now retired.
Was the killer found? Watch and learn. Then and now, the murders in Spokane generated minimal media attention - very likely because the Green River Killer murders were occurring in nearby Seattle and Tacoma around the same time. "Since the two cases were in close jurisdiction, the Green River Killer overshadowed the Spokane Killer," Karan says.
Also very unlike CSI, Forensic Factor is unlikely to run out of source material. The series makes an effort to re-enact Canadian crimes - an upcoming show chronicles a brutal murder that took place in Hamilton - but most episodes in the series are based on cases south of the border.
"To be honest, the Americans are a little more media savvy and usually more willing to talk on-camera," says Karan. "And because there are so many more people in the U.S., there are simply more murders there. Sadly there will never be a lack of stories for these kinds of shows."
Check local listings.
*****
Ryan's picks
FRIDAY
Spectacle: Elvis Costello with ... At long last, Elvis has entered the building. A co-production between CTV and the U.S.-based Sundance Channel, this 13-part series rides on the strength of Elvis Costello as a TV personality. The renowned artist and music historian proves a very capable host and interviewer in the first show, wherein he sits down for a chat with Sir Elton John, also an executive producer on the series. Both contemporaries and friends of long-standing, the two men are naturally at ease with each other. As in most episodes in the 13-part series, Elvis also performs with Sir Elton, which results in a stirring duet of Allen Toussaint's Working in the Coal Mine. It's a strong start to a very good idea.
CTV at 10 p.m.; Saturday, Bravo! at 8 p.m.
SATURDAY
Million Dollar Listing II
Who says there's a recession going on? This breezy reality series follows the fabulous lives of real-estate hotshots who can make more commission with one house sale than some agents will see in a lifetime. Most episodes in the series take place in Los Angeles, where even the most rundown estate can run eight figures. In one recent outing, a near-hysterical divorcée practically gave away her multimillion dollar home, just to be rid of it. But the real draw is MDL's three agents. The most driven seller is the boyish Chad, who has put Paris Hilton and Minnie Driver into new domiciles. Tonight, he tends to a wealthy widow who demands that he find her a beach house in the most exclusive part of Malibu - right now!
It's a living.
HGTV, 9 p.m