In a sweeps-season bid to boost ratings, CBS blockbuster crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation will enter what the network is describing as a fringe world of sex changes and transgenders.
The show’s 100th episode, which airs Nov. 18 at 9 p.m., is about a case of mistaken identity that begins with the murder of a transgender woman who’s found brutally stabbed and mutilated. It will carry a parental advisory, “Due to adult content, viewer discretion is advised.”
Denise Leclair, executive director of International Foundation for Gender Education, says she’ll be watching closely. “We are often portrayed on TV in ways that are inaccurate and we sort of have put up with it,” she says. At least two actors in the episode are transgender, says Leclair.
“Knowing that they’re involved makes me feel a lot better,” she says.
A spokeswoman for the Parents Television Council declined to comment, saying she didn’t know much about the episode. Her group already ranks CSI as the fifth worst show on television for families.
