Move over Penn State ghost hunters, collegiate CSIs are about to get some cable exposure, too.

Following last fall's premiere of A&E's "Paranormal State," which chronicles the investigations of Penn State's Paranormal Research Society, Investigate Discovery will premiere "Crime Scene University" at 8 p.m. Thursday.

Each hour-long "CSU" episode follows two teams of Penn State students in a class taught by Robert Shaler, who in 2005 created the forensics science program as a major in Penn State's Eberly College of Science. Each team scours one of two identical crime scenes and tries to piece together whodunnit and how.

Six episodes were filmed over five weeks last summer in State College, although Investigate Discovery has only scheduled four to air. The course is normally taught during fall and spring semesters, but Shaler taught it last summer in a compressed burst -- class routinely ran from early morning to late at night -- to accommodate filming.

Students featured include Becky Wagner of Wexford, who was a student at Slippery Rock University when she signed up for Shaler's summer class. Christine Mastrovito, who graduated in May from Duquesne University with a master of science in forensic science and law, is also in "CSU."

"Some of the students have never seen 'CSI,' which I find kind of amazing, and other students are fascinated by 'CSI,' " Shaler said. "[Ours is] a highly rigorous scientific program and a lot of them came in thinking it would be like the people they see on TV, but that doesn't really exist. They're forced to take classes in calculus, chemistry and biology, and some of them didn't bargain for that."

Next week's premiere features the two teams investigating a double-murder crime scene and learning from their mistakes, such as stepping in and destroying a dust print that could have been useful evidence.

Shaler, who was born in Upper St. Clair and raised in Forest Hills, began his career in the then-Pittsburgh and Allegheny County Crime Laboratory in 1970 after getting a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Penn State in 1968. He was director of forensic biology in New York City's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and performed DNA testing to identify the victims of 9/11 at the World Trade Center. He said he was on a panel a year before retiring from the NYC M.E.'s office when he mentioned the course he planned to teach at Penn State. Another panelist said, "Sounds like reality TV to me."

Shaler took the idea to a friend who was a consultant on "Law & Order," who ran with it, forming a production company, which sold the concept to Discovery. Shaler got permission to make the show from Penn State administrators.

What viewers will see in "CSU" are excerpts from the same course Shaler teaches in fall and spring "put on steroids for the Discovery people," he said, with more extravagant crime scenes in a few instances.

Putting the course on TV has one downside: Shaler said he'll have to come up with new crime scene scenarios for future Penn State forensic science students.

An hour later next week, 9 p.m. Thursday, History Channel premieres "The Works," hosted by Daniel H. Wilson, who earned a Ph.D. in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University in 2005.

In each episode of "The Works," Wilson puts everyday things under the microscope, including next week's premiere about how trash collection works and where the garbage goes. Other topics include beer (July 17), steel (July 24) and robots (Sept. 25), which is a Wilson specialty. He wrote the humorous guidebook "How to Survive a Robot Uprising."

It's been a while since local TV news outlets have prompted me to take them to task for allowing a blurring of the lines between news and advertising (e.g. the Southwest plane that flies over KDKA's weather map every morning), but WTAE presented a perfect case study of what not to do last week.

The Central Blood Bank bought time during commercial breaks in WTAE's 6 p.m. news. Nothing wrong with that.

But the station wrapped the ads with an introduction by WTAE meteorologist Demetrius Ivory, who introduced the Blood Bank spots from the news set. Some of the graphics used were the same or largely similar to the ones viewers see during Channel 4 news reports, lending the ads the credibility of the news organization. TV stations shouldn't loan out their news personnel or graphics, particularly when the organization that benefits -- even a nonprofit one -- is one the news outlet covers.

In February 2005, WTAE's Jim Parsons reported on inflated salaries for executives at the Central Blood Bank. Three years later, Channel 4 appears to be giving its seal of approval by wrapping the ads in the imprimatur of the news department. At least those ubiquitous UPMC faux news spots that seem to air on every channel don't resemble the look of any local station's news team.

WTAE general manager Rick Henry did not return a call seeking comment. Channel 4 news director Bob Longo said he had no comment.

Fans of quality drama who subscribe to HBO but haven't yet checked out polygamy drama "Big Love" have a chance to catch the show from the beginning. Episodes, beginning with the pilot this weekend, will air at 8 p.m. Saturday on HBO2. "Big Love" returns for its third season in early 2009. ... Spike TV is airing "MXC, The Original, Not The Ripoff, Weekend" 9-11:30 a.m. tomorrow and 3:30-5 p.m. Sunday in response to the success of ABC's "Wipeout," which is surprisingly similar to Spike's "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge." ... WTAE's 22nd annual "Project Bundle-Up Auction," now an online-only affair, began Tuesday and continues through July 29 with more than 400 items up for auction at ProjectBundleUp.com. ... George Hazimanolis, senior director of corporate communications at WQED, has been elected secretary of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, which sponsors the regional Emmy Award competition. David Solomon, supervising producer of WQED's "On Q" was elected to the Mid-Atlantic NATAS board of governors.

Tuned In Journal, the Post-Gazette's TV blog, is now accepting reader comments at post-gazette.com/tv. The current post posits the possibility of former WPXI meteorologist Julie Bologna returning to town for a spot at WTAE.

This week's Tuned In Podcast discusses ABC's summer reality show hits and the potential for an actors' strike. Subscribe or listen at post-gazette.com/podcast.

This week's TV Q&A responds to questions about "American Chopper," "The Sopranos" on A&E and WTAE's weather coverage. Click here to read the latest installment.