CSI to Fight Crime Online in Second Life

• Jul 23, 2007 07:01 PM ET
• by TV Guide News

Because just watching TV is so passé, CSI creator Anthony Zuiker is taking his franchise to a whole new level this fall.

In Second Life, an Internet-based, open-ended virtual world that its residents shape using different tools, fans will soon be able to explore the CSI: NY crime lab without supervision. In the fifth episode of the new season, a killer on the show will escape into Second Life and he will not return to television until spring. In the meantime, the audience can help investigate the crime online.

"What I'm creating is this multimedia, virtual crime lab that will actually take place and be live and active that same weekend for the next year. You'll now be able to actually solve one crime per month, like a real investigator," says Zuiker about his newest creation.

"The future of television in my opinion really is television, mobile, gaming and Internet. If I can incorporate all four of them with the television show as a center conduit, what will happen is that you'll have the younger generation teaching their parents how to do this. CSI: NY will be a wild child in doing that this season." - Reporting by Carita Rizzo