Forensic Files: Crime Solving TV Show Fans Unite

[MrOrange99]

I don't watch a lot of tv, but when I do it usually has to be something that makes me think, lol. I was wondering if anyone else watches these kinds of shows (forensic, crimesolving).

Forensic Files kind of an obscure show but I am really hooked. I like to try to "put the facts together" before they solve it on the show. But most of the time I am clueless.

Who else is into this kind of thing?

 

[scott1]

I watch CSI(all there) I somtimes watch show's about real muder mystires(but not as much as use to)Numbers and Monk

 

[mattmns]

I used to watch forensic files about 2 or 3 years ago, and I liked it. Personally I watch Law and Order: Criminal Intent.

I think the more you know about something, the less fun the show becomes. After volunteering in a crime lab for about 6 months, watching CSI just did not feel real anymore.

 

[Kazza_765]

I find that too. I used to love science shows as a kid. Now I hardly ever watch a science documentary unless it is something I know nothing about. I can't stand them, the way it is all dumbed down, and in a lot of them the number of things they get blatently wrong.

 

[JamesU]

I liek forensic files and those kind of shows, (city confidential). I think CSI is crap

 

[ShawnD]

The more you learn, the more you realize these shows are total BS. Think you can match bullets to guns? You can't; the gun barrel changes after every single shot. DNA tests for every damn thing that comes along? No way, DNA testing is expensive, so it's rarely done. You can't run an IR on a mixture of things and get an answer, that's like trying to determine the individual components in scummy water by looking at it.
CSI pisses me off. In one episode, the dude actually said "two pro-pan-wun". Do you mean aceteone? Idiot.

Other shows like City Confidential are still good. Just a nice story from start to finish without any of the name dropping CSI crap.

 

[Moonbear]

In one episode, the dude actually said "two pro-pan-wun". Do you mean aceteone? Idiot.

I just suspend my thinking to watch those shows and enjoy them, but blatant mistakes like that crack me up, so for me, it's part of the fun of watching (hey, I know they're actors not real scientists). If you saw all the science fair projects inspired by shows like CSI, you'd realize that even if the show is flawed, you can appreciate it for inspiring kids to get interested in science (the projects were testing to see if things in the show really worked...the usual answer is "a little, but not like it did in the show").

But, yeah, they make everything seem so much easier and glamorous than it really is. I love how they run DNA samples with nothing to match it to, as if that's going to tell you anything (though, in some shows, it really has improved, where they acknowledge they don't have any matches for it), or just that something that takes 2 days to process in the real world can be "rushed" and done in 2 hours in TV world...I wish! I also have fun watching when they are showing someone actually doing a technique...they'll be wearing floppy gloves two sizes too big, rub their face with the gloved hand, grab a pipet tip with that gloved hand to stick it on the pipet, stick the pipet straight into the upright tube containing the only sample...yep, that one's contaminated.

 

[Danger]

I watch all of the CSI's, Law & Orders, etc.., but for entertainment only. Never heard of Forensic Files. One nice one that airs on Access here is called 'The New Detectives', which offers re-enactments of real cases (3 per episode), along with interviews with the real case officers and forsensics people who worked on them.

 

[tribdog]

but you watch them to make sure it isn't your house being surrounded

 

[ShawnD]

I also have fun watching when they are showing someone actually doing a technique...they'll be wearing floppy gloves two sizes too big, rub their face with the gloved hand, grab a pipet tip with that gloved hand to stick it on the pipet, stick the pipet straight into the upright tube containing the only sample...yep, that one's contaminated.

I'll have to pay closer attention to that.

 

[tribdog]

the worst thing I've ever seen was an episode of House. The doctor tests a homeless person vomit by tasting it. Turned out the person had rabies and died, another doctor had to get vaccinated, but the vomit taster didn't

 

[MrOrange99]

Yes, you've pointed out all the things I've noticed when watching the scripted forensic shows. bwahahaha, its so funny if you know what really goes on.

 

[Kazza_765]

lol. I read an article by a forensic scientist talking about these shows. He was saying he finds it funny how its always dark and they carry torches. He said that when he goes to a crime scene, he just switches the light on.

 

[Danger]

I saw that too, Kazza. CSI always reminds me of the X-Files that way. Mulder and Scully's flashlight battery budget was bigger than their car allowance.

 

[MrOrange99]

Yeah, I like the shows to just be real and straightforward, guess that's why I am mostly watching the non-fiction crime shows. No hollywood endings either, lol.