Many elements contribute to CSI:Miami’s position as Monday night’s hottest show. Among them is the way it re-creates its hometown.

While the city’s former hit Miami Vice portrayed Miami with a glaring neon tackiness, CSI:Miami seduces viewers with the south Florida party scene and bathes the show in deep, rich hues. Greens are cool and lush. Reds are fiery and vibrant. Sunlight shines through every opening.

The show works hard to capture the diversity of Miami, giving the show its flavor. Although nearly 80% of the show is shot in LA, the writers are in constant communication with scouts and location managers in Florida. “We go the extra mile because we want to convince them to shoot all the episodes here,” says Robert Parente, director of the Miami Mayor’s Office of Film, Arts & Television. Parente not only helps find locations, but he pitches story ideas as well. For example, three years ago, Parente suggested Miami’s Grand Prix as the backdrop for an episode and the producers took his suggestion. Parente arrived for them to shoot at the actual race, affording CSI:Miami the kind of production values that are normally too expensive for television.

Production costs, however, keep the shoots primarily in Southern California. Twenty of the shows episodes are shot in the LA area, using all that LA has to offer to re-create the look of Miami. Long Beach serves as Miami’s urban neighborhoods, while the Everglades are re-created on a duck farm in Camarillo. “There have been mistakes,” says Parente. “The occasional hills in the background, and Miami’s light is a little different. Richer and more sensuous. But you’d have to be a really good detective to find the differences.”

To read more, head over to Variety.

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