"CSI: NY" Goes Virtual In New Episodes

(CBS)  "CSI: NY" will blur the line between real and virtual crime-solving in the Oct. 24 episode.

In the episode, Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise) enters the Internet-based virtual world Second Life and creates his own avatar to investigate the death of a woman. The episode ends in a cliff-hanger to be resumed February 6, 2008.

However, impatient viewers can take the matter into their own hands by logging onto the "CSI: NY" virtual world on CBS.com.

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Photos: "CSI: NY"

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Users will be able to choose from 12 virtual CSIs and help Mac solve crimes on three interactive levels in the New York area, complete with scaled landmarks of the Empire State and Flatiron buildings.

"CSI: NY" creator and executive producer Anthony E. Zuiker hailed the episode as historic, saying "CBS has become the pioneer in cross-platform entertainment... to deepen the narrative story-telling."

The quest, Zuiker told The ShowBuzz, was to find "a way to write a great episode in first life, meaning 'CSI: N.Y.' on Oct. 24, and have a deeper experience when the show ends."

Zuiker said that CBS established a strategic partnership with Electric Sheep Company, the developer of Second Life, in June 2007.

"We realize the future of TV is about community, especially among younger viewers," Zuiker continued. "We tried to really bring it down to a mass level."

Second Life bills itself as a 3-D virtual world created by its "residents." Since opening to the public in 2003, Second Life says, it "has grown explosively and today is inhabited by millions of Residents from around the globe."

While neither Gary Sinise nor Anthony Zuicker were familiar with Second Life or virtual worlds before the episode, actor AJ Buckley is a gamer. That is reflected in the episode as his Adam Ross character shows Mac the virtual ropes.

CBS will run two commercials advertising the online platform during the broadcast.

TheShowBuzz.com is a CBS Interactive property.
By Karl Moats