F.B.I.

One day I was changing channels on the remote and could you believe that the seldom seen Quinn Martin series was part of an History of Television and Radio special? Indeed,it was ahead of its time and when I was a kid growing up it was a Sunday night staple in the house opposite whatever came on that night either 60 minutes or some James Bond movie afterwards. Efrem Zimbalist,Jr. was the John Walsh of his day,taking down all types of criminals,rapists,terrorists,and serial killers who were breaking the law,and brought to justice with the help of special agents who worked under him in the FBI. An interesting part about the show is at the end,Efrem would stepped out of his character and give you a report of criminals and fugitives who were wanted by the FBI and would tell you that these people were extremely armed and dangerous. Could you believe that Lex Barker (who played in the Tarzan movies of the 1950's) was the head of security for the FBI as a special agent? Yes,he was for the entire shows' nine year run which was on ABC from 1965-1974,and was of the longest running crime shows ever on television. I had a friend who was asking me if they have any of these episodes on videocassettes,and if they do,you do not want to miss one single episode of The FBI. A Quinn Martin Production.

I can still hear it now... The four notes of the series theme, and that familiar voice over, "The F.B.I, A Quinn Martin Production!"...

Great show, great cast, and well deserving of a run in syndication, someplace. Or sold by Time-Life on video. I am amazed that this show is buried somewhere, and not seen. "Hawaii Five-O", was missing in action for years, and then came back to life, so why not this gem.

And remember this, car nuts out there, how Inspector Erskine would, at the end of the show, hop into a new Ford Motor Company product? A friend of mine and I would bet on what it might be, that week. A new pointy nosed 1970 T-bird? A lowly Custom 500, LTD, or Mustang? I wonder if Ford's catch phrase slogan of that era, "Ford has a Better Idea", came from "F.B.I"? See the connection?

Now that the show is back in syndication, I've watched as many as I can and see some major differences between the early shows (1965 or so) and later ones (in the early 70s). The early ones SHOWED more violence and often the bad guys were "pushing up daisies" by the end of the show. Later, the FBI agents hardly ever shot the bad guys or if they did it was just in the leg or arm--hardly realistic, but an apparent bow to overly sensitive pressure groups that had grown in the early 1970s. Also, while Inspector Erskine shot a lot of crooks, they tended to be non-lethal shots in later shows.

Another difference is by the end of the series, the FBI and its abuses had come to light...such as warrantless wiretaps, warrentless breakins and the like. So, to counter this, Inspector Erskine OFTEN would ask things like "makes sure we have a warrant"!

Finally, the earlier episodes made the characters seem a little more human--often, Erskine was shown with a good looking woman or would complain about having to work too hard, while later he was pretty much a robot. Finally, the earlier episodes were occasionally more histrionic--sometimes too much and some times very juicy and exciting! In general, I prefer the earlier shows--they may have been a little campier, but they seemed more exciting. Still, despite this, it's an exceptional series and holds up very well today.

Indeed, yes, I remember this series... and I don't believe I've seen it in reruns myself, although I'm aware of it being rerun on stations I could not receive. I think I tuned into this two to four years before it came to an end in 1974. I am old enough to remember that the show was produced with the cooperation of the director of the FBI, whats-his-name, um, J. Edgar Hoover. The last season or so had different names since Hoover had died.

I really liked the way they set up the episodes, showed the crimes being initiated, the charges being shown on the screen. The oft-repeated scene of showing Erskine listening on the phone at the same time as a crime victim or victim's family. Erskine going under cover, like masquerading as a blind man. The high school boys trapping a friend in an old mine shaft or whatever and discovering, just after they were arrested, that the field had been leveled and buried with fill.

This would be good to see on DVD, but I'd be happy if it was rerun on one of the cable specialty channels.

I remember watching this great crime drama as a child every Sunday night with my Father. He was a big fan of the show and I got to be one also. Ephrem Zimbelist Jr. was great in the part and the stories were always very believable. I think this was one of the best crime dramas ever made. (I'd rank this one up there with Dragnet.)

My complaint is: Please bring back this wonderful series in reruns! I do not think I've seen it since it went off the air in 1974 and I'd love to see it again. It's hard to believe a great show like this was never shown in syndication.

The great shows are the ones that are many times overlooked.