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Tavis: Anthony Zuiker is the creator of what is fast becoming the most successful television franchise in history, and he's still shy of his fortieth birthday. In 2000 came the original "C.S.I.,' set in Las Vegas. Then, "C.S.I. Miami,' and now "C.S.I. New York.' Anthony serves as the executive producer of the newest "C.S.I.' Here now, a scene from "C.S.I. New York.'

Tavis: Anthony Zuiker, nice to have you here.

Anthony Zuiker: Thank you very much, nice to be here.

Tavis: And congratulations.

Zuiker: Thank you.

Tavis: (Laughs) Your story is so fascinating, I don't know where to begin. Let me start with the part that I like the most.

Zuiker: Okay.

Tavis: So, a few years ago, I'll set you up, and you take it and run with it.

Zuiker: All right.

Tavis: So a few years ago, before you created this thing called "C.S.I.,' you were driving a shuttle bus between the Mirage Hotel and the Mirage Casino. Three's a little shuttle bus that goes between the hotel and the casino at the Mirage in Las Vegas. That'd be the former home of Siegfried and Roy.

Zuiker: Yes, yes.

Tavis: All right. So you're driving a shuttle bus between the hotel and the casino, and what happens?

Zuiker: Well, I was what's called a tram driver.

Tavis: Oh, excuse me. Tram driver.

Zuiker: From Mirage Hotel to Treasure Island. Eight dollars an hour on the graveyard shift.

Tavis: Okay.

Zuiker: In shorts and a shirt, freezing, for like a year. But I loved that job.

Tavis: Yeah? (Laughs)

Zuiker: Because four people would walk up and they'd talk to you, where you from, Chicago. They'd talk different languages to people. It was a lot of fun, and it was just a great way to be in touch with the public. And little did I know, a couple years later, I'd create "C.S.I.' and be in touch with millions every week.

Tavis: So okay, wait, that's a fast story. But, like, no, back up. Hold the phone. How'd you get from the tram to this concept for a TV, not just series, but franchise, called "C.S.I.?' How'd you go from here to here?

Zuiker: Well, a buddy of mine, Dustin Abraham, actually was a writer and an actor. He went to Hollywood first. He said, 'Anthony, could you try to write a screenplay? ‘Cause you're a really good writer.' I said, 'Well, I'm trying to do my thing at the Mirage Hotel, be a bellman, and work my way up to Steve Wynn.'

Tavis: Yeah. (Laughs)

Zuiker: And he said no, try it. So I just tried it one day, and I wrote this screenplay about sports better. And it got into town, and it got a lot of buzz, and it got me an agent and a manager. And suddenly things took off, and I wrote my first movie, 'The Harlem Globetrotters Story,' at Columbia Pictures. And then Bruckheimer got a hold of that movie and said, I like the writing, I like the voice. What does this kid wanna do for television?

And so I went in and said, 'Here's the thing, Mr. Bruckheimer.' It was Jerry Bruckheimer.

Tavis: Jerry Bruckheimer.

Zuiker: It's a big deal, right?

Tavis: He sat in that chair, yeah.

Zuiker: Yeah, I was, like, here we go. I said, 'You walk in, a lady's on the floor, dead. A pink elephant in the backyard, and a plant's knocked over. What happened? Flashbacks, versions, use forensics.' He's like, 'Go research it; let's do it.' We did some research, rode along with the real C.S.I.s, and it kind of took off from there.

Tavis: Were you already, like, writing at night or in the day when you weren't working? Where did the writing thing come from?

Zuiker: I think when I was younger, I was an only child. My mother dealt blackjack, my father was a maitre'd. So I was home alone from 3:00 to 11:00.

Tavis: In Vegas.

Zuiker: And I was an only child. So I'd either be rolling dice or playing cards or doing writing. I was just one of them bored kids. And my father always said, you're gonna be a writer. You write great letters. I used to write term papers for people in college for big money overnight. Like, $300. Or I'd write a love letter for somebody, or a letter to a judge. And I was just getting paid to write, and little did I know I'd actually be in the business, writing for a living.

Tavis: Let me jump ahead right quick. Speaking of your mother, when Anthony walks on the set, I ask him, 'cause it's a great story about his mother. So I ask him how his mother's doing. He said, my mother's doing great, she's retired. Of course I said I know she's retired, 'cause you retired your mother.

Zuiker: I did.

Tavis: So I know your mother's retired, 'cause you retired her. But the story, my mother watches every night, and I love my mother, and I'm sure I'm gonna never, ever hear the end of this story, I shouldn't even ask you this question. (Laughs) 'Cause I will never not hear this question for the rest of my life. But you retired your mama once you became a hit. But the way you retired her is a great story, so please, tell the story.

Zuiker: Yes, it's my honor.

Tavis: I love this.

Zuiker: As a child, every man's dream has got to be to retire their parents, and their mother. So, I went to my wife, and you go to your wife once a lifetime and say, please, just say yes on one thing.

Tavis: Mm hmm. (Laughs)

Zuiker: I said, 'Babe, I'd love to retire my mother. She's worked her butt off.' She said, 'You know what? I think that's a great idea.' So we drove down to this little casino where she used to work, and we wrote a nice check. And we walked in, and she was working, all proud. And I put the check on the blackjack table.

Tavis: She was dealing blackjack.

Zuiker: She was the pit boss; she was the pit boss.

Tavis: Pit boss, okay.

Zuiker: And I said, 'Money, please'. And she said. And I said, what's this? I said, that's it, it's over. What do you mean? You're retired, it's done. Forget it. Clock out. I can't do this, I'm a proud woman. I literally picked her up out of the casino, walked her out. People were playing slot machines, yay. Like 'Officer and a Gentleman.' Walked her out; people were cheering. That's it. Never walked into the casino again; never worked a day of her life again. That was it.

Tavis: All right, give some love, give some love. Come on, crew. (Applause) (Laughs)

Zuiker: And then to top it off, a year later? Dad, done.

Tavis: The same thing.

Zuiker: I carried him out.

Tavis: What a great story.

Zuiker: Thank you.

Tavis: What about this "C.S.I.' franchise do you think makes it work? What is it about it that makes it work? 'Cause you got, like, 18 versions of it now.

Zuiker: I think it's because we have an amazing cast, and people love a great mystery. When you're watching the show, you're learning, therefore you're watching. And I think after the OJ trial, people had a lot of questions about forensic science, but what exactly is this? We made forensics sexy and fun for the public viewing experience. And people just love a great mystery.

Tavis: How did you get to be so well versed on these issues, though? You're driving a tram, and while you're obviously a bright guy and very enterprising and a great writer, to Bruckheimer's point, how did you research something that is as deeply medical, if I can use that phrase, as "C.S.I.?'

Zuiker: Well, I didn't really know anything about forensic science at all. I just did a lot of research, and again, there's a whole mechanism and a mentality. The body is the perfect specimen. Everything on the human body, from the skin to the blood to biologicals to hair is all designed to give the investigator clues. It's the perfect specimen. Therefore, that's a good launching point to learn about forensics. And it came to us very quickly, and it's a tough thing to learn at first. But once you get it, you gotta make it work in a story. And people are just, they love it. They love it.

Tavis: The public is eating this up, but how do you know when you get to a point of diminishing returns with a franchise that you don't want to, how might I put it? Dilute?

Zuiker: That's a great question. When we did "C.S.I.,' it was the only game in town. Did great. And then viewers were just starving for more. "C.S.I. Miami.' Did great. Then viewers were starving for more. "C.S.I. New York.' Rocky start, then today, it's a great show. Three's enough. We've really, a voice of America has told us, look, we can deal with three, but probably not four. So we just stopped it at three. It's a great decision, and I think the franchise will be healthy for a long, long time.

Tavis: Aside from the obvious, Las Vegas, Miami, New York. Aside from the obvious, what makes them distinctly different? 'Cause I don't get a chance to watch all three consistently, but I assume you play up the locations.

Zuiker: Well, it's two things, right? First is location.

Tavis: Location, location, location.

Zuiker: You go to Vegas to escape; you go to Miami to be seen; you go to New York to change. And William Peterson and David Caruso and Gary Sinise are three very different characters, very different actors, and they just make the shows fantastic.

Tavis: Episodes. Dig into your bag here and tell me an episode that you thought was, how might I put, I'll give you a couple choices here. An episode that you thought would really challenge the audience. An episode you thought maybe we're putting a little too much on this one.

Zuiker: Well it had to be the premiere of 'New York' that I wrote, entitled 'Blink.' And that was a darker show; it was a rougher show, more aggressive. Dealt with very delicate subject matter. And at the very end, what's interesting, because now all the 9/11 movies are coming out right now, '93,' this and that, the New York Film Commission was the first to grant myself a permit to shoot at Ground Zero. Not one permit was allowed after 9/11, but they gave me that after three years later.

And the last scene of that first episode of 'New York' is Gary Sinise, his character, Mac Taylor, at Ground Zero, clutching the bars. And you could tell that by that point, after a beautiful monologue, that he lost his wife in the North Tower. And that's how the show ended. And that was a really historic piece of business. And very important to Gary, as you know. He's been on the show.

He's a big fan of the USO, a big fan of the military aspect of this country. And he loves this country, and that was a really important vehicle for him to say yes to the show and to continue to do it.

Tavis: To your point, he came on when that show was premiering, and as you mentioned earlier, it started out a bit rocky for "C.S.I. New York.' What did you think when you looked up and you had these two hit franchises? You got 'Miami' and you got 'Las Vegas,' they're working well, and 'New York' starts out a little rocky. What were you thinking at that moment?

Zuiker: Well, it was rocky...

Tavis: Mom, you gotta un-retire. Yeah.

Zuiker: Yeah. (Laughs) Go back to work. Look, the honest answer is rocky because I was a brand-new show runner. I had no idea how to run a show. I had an idea how to write shows. I could obviously create shows. But to actually be the boss of a show and have that vision sustained for 24 episodes, not just three or four good Anthony episodes, was a much bigger ballgame.

It's one thing to be a running back for the Chiefs. Another thing to coach them, you know what I mean? (Laughs) So for me, Les Moonves called and said, 'You know what? I saw the first episode. I didn't like it.' I was, like, what? You didn't like it? This was my first knock on the chin. So I had to bring in a partner of mine, Pam Veasey, who was the show runner for the district, and her and I became partners for season two. And she's helped guide me, and I've helped guide her, and now the show's a great success. So again, nobody does it alone. You need great help.

Tavis: Let me bring this thing full circle then, right quick. So what is the most obvious commonality to you between being the guy in charge of that tram, and the guy in charge of a "C.S.I.' franchise?

Zuiker: It's just loving people.

Tavis: Yeah.

Zuiker: Just loving people. I love those people who came and said, what time is the steak house open, and what time does the volcano go off? And when's the (word) show stop? And the same thing, working with young writers or an editing room or working with actors. Just love to work with people. And collaboration is the key to our success.

Tavis: Well, that's a great place to end. Nice to have you on the program.

Zuiker: Thank you very much. Thank you.

Tavis: Anthony Zuiker, the creator of "C.S.I.' That's our show for tonight. You can catch me on the weekends on PRI, Public Radio International, check your local listings. See you back here next time on PBS. Until then, good night from Los Angeles. Thanks for watching, and as always, keep the faith.