Los Angeles ? It was blistering hot recently in South Florida, where David Caruso and his “CSI: Miami” co-stars were shooting scenes in the Everglades for the new CBS drama, a Monday-night spin-off of the Thursday-night hit “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.”

This is nothing new to Caruso, who recently established a home and a clothing business in Miami.

“It’s quite doable to me,” he says. “It’s worth it to just get the footage. I don’t go to a place of, ‘I’m feeling hot,’ because it’s not abnormal to be hot in Florida in the Everglades. I don’t come focused on the obstacle.”

Focusing on the positive is a lot of what Caruso is about these days, as he rebuilds his TV career in the wake of his controversial and contentious exit from “NYPD Blue,” a string of less-than-successful movies and a short-lived CBS series, “Michael Hayes.”

Just as news got out about Caruso’s move to the Miami area, producers were on the hunt for a lead in the new series, which looks at forensic investigators/police officers (and shoots primarily in Los Angeles). The confluence of events led to Caruso landing the role of unit leader Horatio Caine.

After suffering critical slings and arrows after walking away from his “NYPD” role of Det. John Kelly, Caruso has gracefully fielded questions about his career missteps. He says, “My relationship with the press has been ongoing and … very constructive.”

“It’s been a rebuild of trust, and it’s been a brick-by-brick conversation. I’m beginning to get the sense that the conversation is being taken a little more seriously, and the viability that it’s so important to have as an actor is at least in the hopper.”

While playing Horatio Caine is certainly a career boost, it comes at the price of being on one of the most anticipated shows of the season. With the success of its predecessor, if “CSI: Miami” doesn’t burst out of the starting gate as a going-away hit, it could be labeled a failure.