Pro Golfers Tee It Up in Vegas on CSI Tonight

Are you ready for this scandalous storyline? Cue the music: ↵↵⇥The CSI team delves into the world of professional golf when the body of a legendary player is discovered during a high-profile tournament, on CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION.↵↵The time-honored tradition during ratings season – especially for shows that fewer and fewer people are watching each passing season – has been to throw on as many guests stars as humanly possible to cross-promote your show with another brand in hopes of bringing in a new audience for the one-week ratings spike. And while sweeps week isn’t technically until February, CSI is trying to get a jump on the guest star bump to help the show’s plunging ratings. Last week the former top show in America was 12th in the overall ratings and 22nd – behind both CSI: Miami and New York – in the coveted 18-49 demographic. ↵↵So how do you fix sagging ratings? Golf of course. This week, for the investigative folks over at the Las Vegas crime lab, the guest stars are more known for their putts than their puns. I’ll put the over-under on Tiger Woods and/or infidelity references at fore.↵

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↵↵⇥“If that’s our ball, we’re definitely going to need a ruling.”↵⇥
↵⇥A case…that’s way out of bounds.↵⇥
↵⇥“I guess we’ll just have to play it where it lies.”↵↵And those are just in the promo!
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Imagine the other hilarious golf puns we should expect tonight at 9 PM on CBS. “It seems someone had a pretty rough day.” Ooh how about, “It looks like this guy should have used a rescue club.” Maybe if there is gunplay involved we’ll get, “I think someone just got a hole in one,” or a stabbing that gives us, “looks like someone’s gotta work on their slice.” The cheesy pun has long been a staple of the CSI franchise, and if you add in the opportunity for golf jokes and double-entendres, the possibilities are endless.↵↵Guest starring on the episode are PGA players Rocco Mediate and Duffy Waldorf, CBS announcers Gary McCord and David Feherty and LPGA player Natalie Gulbis whose appearance will make a lot of sense if this murder takes place during a men’s tournament. I guess Michele Wie was busy that week. Gulbis commented on her official website:↵

↵↵⇥I am a huge fan of CSI and have been watching the show for many years. I was thrilled when recently asked to make a guest appearance! I especially enjoyed having the opportunity to experience the process of how an episode of a show comes together. I was able to watch firsthand beginning with the first time I read the script, to then being on site of the episode watching the crew film. It was an incredibly unique experience. I can’t wait to see how it comes together when the show is edited and airs. I feel that the fact that CSI asked professional golfers to make guest appearances is a testament to how much the sport is growing in popularity in the US.↵↵It doesn’t hurt that CBS’ golf coverage begins on January 28th with the newly-sponsored Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Cross-promotion, after all, is a network’s best friend, which means we should probably be expecting Charlie Sheen in the Butler Cabin this April. That guy would fit right in on the Tour. ↵↵Another athlete cameo in the CSI franchise will come in February, when Danica Patrick guest stars – as racecar driver Liza Gray, opposite Antonio Sabato Jr. – on CSI: NY. They obviously expect her to drive up the ratings. (I really need stop writing CSI puns.)↵

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