CSI: Miami - 1.1

Each disc, containing four episodes, is blessed with an Extras Feature. That's the good news. The bad news is they're not worth it.

The episodic commentaries by writers, directors and producers are banal. Shooting in the Everglades, for example, was hot and humid. "In one minute my glasses totally fogged over." WOW!

There are two mini-doc featurettes, Creating CSI Miami and CSI Uncovered which are practically identical. The production team, responsible for the Las Vegas prototype, including Cockney rebel Danny Cannon, waffle on about making the change to Florida and how difficult it was - not identical, but different and improved.

It's a talking heads affair, interspersed (to fill the gaps) with scenes from the series. You don't know these people and what they say is hardly memorable. "Miami is a daytime city and Las Vegas a nighttime city." WOW!

John Haynes is an ex-LAPD detective, now working as technical advisor on the Miami lot. He is deadly serious and crushingly dull. He has a "handling evidence" section to himself, in which he explores the problems of firearm use and how to orchestrate a shootout and so on. He can't help being technical, with the result that what he says goes in one ear and out the other.

Khandi Alexander's Autopsy Theatre Tour is much more fun, mainly because she is. Alex, the character she plays, is one of the best, because of her personality, despite having to deal with corpses all day. In real life, she is charming, giggly and obviously enjoying herself. She gives a guided tour of Alex's work station, explaining how things operate. If Haynes had been showing you around, you would have dropped off before reaching the freezer room. Not so with Khandi. She's flirty and frivolous when noone's looking and actually cracks a joke. It's not very funny, but at least she tries.