Roller coaster episode of CSI:

On Thursday May 6, 2004 on CBS a new CSI episode involving roller coasters will be shown. Apparently, a screw comes loose and a train derails. Check local listings! (i always wanted to say that.)

It will be a great episode...but untimely. The spotlight is already on the industry...we don't need the additional exposure of a fictional roller coaster accident on prime time. *Sigh*

This seems a little creepy considering what happened at SFNE on Saturday.

gotta have faith..i do...i know i am not gonna go to a park worryin bout the restraints...we all gotta go sometime might as well make it while doin somethin we love! lol naw just kiddin...seriouslly tho...i usually feel safe at a park...i know i wont be thinkin about this when i go to CP next month

Maybe after people see this episode they won't go to some parks....less lines and more rides for me!! :)

Or perhaps CBS will move the airing of that particular episode to a later date. While the CSI accident probably deals with criminal or negligent actions (it's Crime Scene Investigation, after all), it may be too close for comfort for anyone affected by the S:ROS incident.

I'm confused...how is a guy falling out of a coaster (SFNE) "too close for comfort" to a TV show where the cars go flying off of the track?

Also, why should it even be an issue? People die in car crashes every hour yet people have no problems showing fatal car crashes on TV virtually every night?

The correlation for those who can't tell is that they are both accidents involving the amusement industry.

(you may now return to your regularly scheduled duldrum of a life)

-SS

Swoosh...what's your point?

Car crashes are similarly linked...yet there are no worries about rescheduling shows that show a fatal car crashes...

It will be shown that the car was purposely tampered with to cause the accident and hide a murder. This episode has ZERO to do with coaster safety. If anything I bet the show will mention that rides are much safer than driving and flying.

You're worrying over nothing [especially since no one has actually SEEN the episode].

mOOSH

The point is (which I thought was glaringly apparent - obviously not) that media love "tragedy," which is what it is when there is an accident at a park. The park is supposed to represent "good clean safe fun," but when an accident occurs you have FRONT PAGE NEWS STORY! This episode might just be adding gasoline to the fire of "FEAR" that mass media has already created.

You're not safe! Everyone is out to get you! RUN! HIDE! QUICK!

Whatever.

-SS

Your point wasn't lost with me, Swoosh.

Had the crash been due to a mechanical failure I'd be a little worried about sensationalism as well. But the crash in the episode is NOT an accident. And let's be realistic...only about 25 million people typically watch CSI. That's a pretty small percentage of the US population *and* a small percentage of people who visit amusement parks.

Let's worry about this AFTER the show airs.

During last night's airing of M. Night Shyamalan's masterpiece "Unbreakable," the network aired warnings urging viewer discretion, because of "sensitivity to current events."

I can only assume they meant ... SPOILER!!! SPOILER!!! ...

... that people would relate the train bombing in the movie to the one in Madrid. But they still aired it. They won't cancel CSI - it's sweeps month.

Well I did a little research on the internet about this episode and it has nothing to do with saftey on rides. The episode is called "A Screw Turned Loose," and someone at a local vegas amusement park untightens a screw causing the track to break and the train to derail. It also mentioned that they had asked popular large Vegas Amusement Parks, but they were turned down because they didn't want a accident to be associated with their name. (The General Public doesn't know alot about rollercoaster saftey and the difference between non and fictional accidents on coasters) Instead, Pharaoh’s Lost Kingdom said they could shoot the scene there, but the name is changed to Las Vegas Sphinx Amusement Park!

Don't forget Grissom's one of us. If he reads CoasterBuzz as much as he should, then he'll surely add his own Mr Miyagi style of realism regarding amusement safety to the investigation.