Carol Mendelsohn

Carol Mendelsohn: (On "CSI"'s kinkiest episodes) We try to think, 'What would our fans like to see? What would be a thrill ride?' Our job is to make them want to come back next week, to create a great hour. That's the guidepost to everything we do.

Carol: A lot of times when all the guys went to lunch, the door would literally slam in my face. I would go to lunch with the assistants, who were women.

Carol: Lee Majors once said to me, `Where did you learn to write like a man?' That was a compliment.

Carol: (When asked about some of the more out-there story lines on "CSI") In Vegas, anything goes.

Carol: As a fan [of CSI], I want to know a little more about [the characters].

Carol: I think a show starts to struggle when it's reactive to external events, as opposed to growing and evolving from what is happening organically in the show.

Carol: Obviously ["CSI" is] not a soap opera. We are not a serial. We will always be a show about science, mystery, clues and twists and turns.

Carol: You can't write a show unless you talk about who these people are and what makes them tick. We don't always show what makes them tick, but when a situation presents itself, when a story lends itself to that, it's exciting for both the writers and the actors to have a little blip of the private person.

Carol: I was a little concerned, [about the competition between "CSI" and "Grey's Anatomy"] but I learned from that. I learned that two great shows can coexist on a night. There is enough audience. I believe that it's a lot of competition for us, it makes next season very exciting for us. It's a great show. I don't know what's going to happen but I do think we can both coexist on that night. And we're going to do our best to deliver the best season ever.

Carol: At the moment ["CSI"] is about Grissom and his team, and I hope it will always be about that.

Carol: In real life, relationships take a long time to develop. Real life isn't a soap opera. And real lives change and flow.

Carol: Only by seeing strong role models, can girls realize that everything's possible.

Carol: I believe you can change the way people look at the world, without hitting them over the head, through the power of the pen.

Carol: Once you start that train, it keeps moving. There's never an uninterrupted moment. It's like running a big corporation.

Carol: I loved the life you could have in Ithaca.

Carol: I'm a huge Liev Schreiber fan. On stage or in film, I think he's one of the finest actors of his generation.

Carol: (Of her work on "CSI") I've never been on a show with so many writers.

Carol: [The science on "CSI" is] approachable, understandable and fun.

Carol: The one thing Jerry Bruckheimer said to us from the beginning is, 'When people are surfing, I want them to stop and say, "That's a Bruckheimer show".