loglady  05/12/08

just for the record, depending on the city and their departmental rules, CSI's can in fact arrest people...in some cities they are also certified as police officers....

OzzieAlThor  05/12/08

CSI will win because of the crowd here. It shouldn't, but it will.

FriedTwinkieQueen  05/12/08

I think that the original CSI (Vegas) is better than all the Law & Order shows because of the creativity in their storylines - the miniature killer would never appear on Law & Order. But SVU is better than any of the other spinoffs - Miami, New York, or Criminal Intent.

Salemskeeper  05/13/08

I watch all the Law & order shows (SvU's my fav) but refuse to watch CSI. It's too boring! There's just no excitement & the writing SUX!

t3hdow  05/13/08

The only CSI worth a damn is the original, which is only mildly interesting at best compared to Law and Order: SVU (well, at least before the much more ridiculous 2006 and 2007 seasons). The cases may not be nearly as bizarre as CSI's, but they're much creepier to me. In 2005's season, one case had a sadist pedophile who held Stabler in gunpoint with a shotgun. I don't think any moment in CSI had the high emotional tension that moment provided. The 2006 season kind of lost that (except the excellent finale) and 2007's was even worse.

I'd put the original L&O in third place because of its timelessness. Age has weakened its appeal, though it's done a better job compared to the Simpsons and ER (i.e., two other decade long shows that might not end anytime soon). L&O: Criminal Intent isn't as good as the original or SVU, but it's still watchable compared to the laughable CSI spin offs, Miami and New York. Watching a monotone David Caruso utter cliched one-liners or Gary Sinise's face freeze with the same constipated expression every scene makes me want to change the channel everytime without fail.

palais  05/13/08

I watch both of them, but I prefer CSI. My fave L&O was always CI anyway.

Oceanic 6  05/13/08

Neither franchise is really any good. All 3 CSI shows and all 3 L&O shows are basically the EXACT same program, only with a different cast and a semi different set of stereotypical characters. All 3 CSIs have the same dark tortured bit-of-an-outkast renegade hero (Grissom[LV], Horatio Cane[Miami] and Mac[NY]) and all 3 L&O's have the same partner and boss formula - two cops and their Lt., and two DA's and their boss, etc. Both franchises are extremely boring and neither is particularly exciting to watch from week to week. Honestly, why are these TIRED shows still on TV at all? Why do I even care? Good luck winning this throwdown, because both shows suck.

CptSassyPants  05/14/08

All I know is L&O Criminal Intent bores me to tears. I'd take SVU over all the L&O's. I never really got into CSI. I just can't believe that these shows take up 6 hours of the TV week (not including reruns on other channels). I say cancel all of them and start from scratch.

balehead  05/30/08

This is hard to pick one over the other. I like both franchises & when I am channel surfing I always look for a CSI or L&O. But totally agree with FriedTwinkieQueen. As a whole I enjoy CSI's better but SVU is the best spin off of original.

Bri  06/19/08

It all depends on the show, not the franchise. I love L&O SVU but hate Criminal Intent. And I love CSI but hate the NY version...it all depends on the actors and the storylines...but overall I'd say L&O just because it has better writers and better actors overall.