TV & Showbiz

CBS Promotes ‘CSI’ Series Finale, Sends Fans Into a Tizzy

123RF/CBS

Last Updated on February 7, 2016

A typo in an on-air promo graphic on CBS promoted a ‘CSI’ Series Finale instead of the show’s season finale, upsetting fans who thought their show had been secretly canceled.

Every week, I write about the importance of good grammar and usage of our language. Though mistakes will always happen sooner or later, the bigger the mistake, the more embarrassing it can be.

CBS’s entertainment division received a reminder of that the hard way this week when it tried to promote the upcoming episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. The network promoted the episode with what it calls its “Eyeliner,”&nbsp that thing nearly every network does nowadays that involves an animated banner across the bottom of the screen to tell you what’s coming up next or mention upcoming shows. Most people hate them. Few people, one would assume, would pay what they say any attention.

But they noticed what this particular “Eyeliner.”

The episode in question will be the show’s season finale. That means it’ll be back next season. But on Tuesday night, the graphic read “Series finale.” That means that’s it, the end of the line. Any other time, the show would likely be thrilled to receive a mention during the high-rated, extremely-popular series NCIS. But with so many eyes on the “Eye Network” at that moment, it wasn’t the place for a typo.

Clearly, there’s a huge difference between a season finale and a series finale. Except for the fact that when you look at it, you see both words start with s and are six letters long. I’m not excusing the mistake, but at the same time, this is the time of year when we start seeing both cropping up, depending on the show.

Fans took to social media to lament the loss of the program. A “#SaveCSI” hashtag popped up…because hashtags have super powers.

Chris Ender, a network executive, attempted to sooth the Twitter storm with this tweet:

Dear Twitter chatter. Eyeliner graphic promoting this weekend’s #CSI mistakenly said ‘Series Finale.’ It’s the ‘Season Finale.’

In reply to another Twitter user, he added:

We would never cancel a show in a promo five days before broadcast, especially one that has been this important to the Network.

CSI: will close its 15th season with Sunday night’s episode. We are, at this point, relatively certain now that there will be a 16th season.

If that changes, I can only imagine the Twitter Tsunami that could result!

the authorPatrick
Patrick is a Christian with more than 30 years experience in professional writing, producing and marketing. His professional background also includes social media, reporting for broadcast television and the web, directing, videography and photography. He enjoys getting to know people over coffee and spending time with his dog.

1 Comment

  • Interestingly enough, British TV shows *are* issued as Series 1, Series 2, Series 3….rather than Season 1, Season 2, Season 3.. It’s really confusing until you realize that New Tricks Series 3 is actually the same show as New Tricks Series 1, with the same characters and overall story arc, just later. Not even necessarily 2 *years* later either, much like so many reality shows have 2-3 seasons per year. I wish we could just go with the years instead of Season/Series numbers.

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