''White Collar'' was an American

police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eith ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

television series created by

Jeff Eastin Jeff Eastin (born March 7, 1967) is an American television producer and screenwriter. He is the co-creator of the crime series '' White Collar'' and the police drama series ''Graceland'', both on the USA Network. Eastin also served as executive ...

, starring

Tim DeKay Timothy Robert DeKay (born June 12, 1963) is an American actor. He starred in the USA Network series '' White Collar'' (2009–2014) Early life Tim DeKay was born June 12, 1963, to Jim DeKay and Jill Vaughn in Lansing, New York, where he and ...

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

Special Agent Peter Burke and

Matt Bomer Matthew Staton Bomer (born October 11, 1977) is an American actor. He is the recipient of accolades such as a Golden Globe Award, a Critics' Choice Television Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. In 2000, he made his television debut o ...

Neal Caffrey Neal George Caffrey (born Neal George Bennett) is the main character of the USA Network original series '' White Collar''. Neal is a criminal consultant for the White Collar Crime Division of the FBI in New York City. He is a world-class forger ...

, a highly intelligent and multi-talented

con artist A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...

working as Burke's

criminal informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law-enforcement world, where informan ...

and an FBI

consultant A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

Willie Garson William Garson Paszamant (February 20, 1964September 21, 2021) was an American actor. He appeared in over 75 films and more than 300 TV episodes. He was known for playing Stanford Blatch on the HBO series ''Sex and the City'', in the related fi ...

and

Tiffani Thiessen Tiffani Amber Thiessen (born January 23, 1974) is an American actress who starred as Kelly Kapowski on NBC's ''Saved by the Bell'' (1989–1993), as Valerie Malone on Fox's ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (1994–98), and as Lori on Netflix's ''Alexa & ...

also star. The show premiered on October 23, 2009, on

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

, and aired six complete seasons, concluding on December 18, 2014.

Premise

Neal Caffrey, a renowned

forger Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...

, and

thief Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...

, is captured after a three-year game of cat and mouse with the

, specifically Special Agent Peter Burke. With only three months left in his four-year sentence, he escapes to look for his girlfriend,

Kate Kate name may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kate (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Gyula Káté (born 1982), Hungarian amateur boxer * Lauren Kate (born 1981), American autho ...

. Peter Burke once again finds Caffrey and returns him to prison. This time, Caffrey proposes a deal to help Burke apprehend dangerous white collar criminals with the FBI as part of a work-release program. After some hesitation, Burke agrees, resulting in Neal being released early from prison and working as an FBI

and Burke's

. They thus begin their unconventional and testy relationship.

Cast and characters

Main characters

: : A skilled forger and thief, he is charming and intelligent. Caffrey was imprisoned after being captured by FBI Special Agent Peter Burke. Neal proposes he become an FBI consultant, in exchange for early release. Burke agrees on the condition Neal wears an

ankle monitor The ankle, or the talocrural region, or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular join ...

, allowing the FBI to keep a close eye on Neal's movements. Given the opportunity to build a new, honest life for himself, Neal often craves his old life, forcing him to battle with his inner saboteur. *

Special Agent in Charge Peter Burke: : A hard-working, honest FBI agent, and the head of the investigative team on which Neal serves. *

as Mozzie: : Another con man and close friend of Neal, Theodore "Moz" Winters, is Neal's most trusted confidant. *

as Elizabeth Burke: : An

event planner Event management is the application of project management to the creation and development of small and/or large-scale personal or corporate events such as festivals, conferences, ceremonies, weddings, formal parties, concerts, or conventions. ...

and Peter's wife. She is supportive and understanding of his work and long hours away. An intelligent woman herself, Elizabeth is able to discuss Peter's cases with him, and admires Neal's refinement. *

Marsha Thomason Marsha Lisa Thomason Sykes (born 19 January 1976) is a British television and film actress who is best known for playing Sara Evers in Disney's ''The Haunted Mansion'', Nessa Holt in the first two seasons of the NBC series ''Las Vegas'', Naomi D ...

as Special Agent

Diana Berrigan This is a list of characters in the USA Network original comedy-drama TV series '' White Collar''. The principal cast of the series has remained mostly the same throughout the series. However, various recurring characters have appeared over th ...

(recurring, season 1; main cast, seasons 2–6): : Previously Peter's probationary agent, Diana assists on Peter and Neal's first case together. Transferred to D.C. after her probation ends, she later returns to the investigative team in New York. She is openly lesbian. *

Sharif Atkins Sharif Atkins (born January 29, 1975) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dr. Michael Gallant on '' ER'' and for his role as FBI Agent Clinton Jones on '' White Collar''. Early life Atkins was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylva ...

as FBI Special Agent Clinton Jones (recurring, seasons 1–3; main cast, seasons 4–6): : Peter's point man who is responsible for carrying out a variety of tasks during the team's investigations, including surveillance. He appreciates Neal's unorthodox contributions to the team. *

Hilarie Burton Hilarie Ros Burton (born July 1, 1982) is an American actress, businesswoman, author and producer. A former host of MTV's ''Total Request Live'', she portrayed Peyton Sawyer on The WB/ CW drama ''One Tree Hill'' for six seasons (2003–2009). Pos ...

as Sara Ellis (recurring, seasons 2 and 4; main cast, season 3): : An insurance company (Sterling Bosch) investigator who testified against Neal when he was on trial, and determined to see him return to prison, she later discovers she enjoys working with him. * Natalie Morales as Special Agent

Lauren Cruz This is a list of characters in the USA Network original comedy-drama TV series ''White Collar (TV series), White Collar''. The principal cast of the series has remained mostly the same throughout the series. However, various recurring charact ...

(season 1): : A junior agent who requested a transfer to Peter's team and served on it briefly.

Recurring characters

Diahann Carroll Diahann Carroll (; born Carol Diann Johnson; July 17, 1935 – October 4, 2019) was an American actress, singer, model, and activist. She rose to prominence in some of the earliest major studio films to feature black casts, including ''Car ...

as June Ellington: : An elderly widow who meets Neal at a thrift store soon after his release from prison. June is a quick judge of character, and offers Neal her guest room. June also has a close friendship with Mozzie and is often seen talking to him or playing board games. *

James Rebhorn James Robert Rebhorn (September 1, 1948 – March 21, 2014) was an American character actor who appeared in over 100 films, television series, and plays. At the time of his death, he had recurring roles in the series '' White Collar'' and ''Hom ...

as FBI Special Agent Reese Hughes: : The agent in charge of the FBI's Manhattan White Collar Crime Unit, Hughes is supportive of Peter's use of Neal as a confidential informant. *

Bridget Regan Bridget Catherine Regan (born February 3, 1982) is an American actress known for portrayals such as Kahlan Amnell in the television series ''Legend of the Seeker'', Rebecca Lowe / Rachel Turner in '' White Collar'', Rose Solano in ''Jane the ...

as Rachel Turner/Rebecca Lowe: : An expert in ancient books, especially Mosconi's texts. Rebecca joins Neal and Mozzie in their efforts to resolve the mystery behind Mosconi's Codex and becomes Neal's new love interest. *

Gloria Votsis Gloria Votsis (born February 9, 1979) is an American film and television actress. She is known for her roles in several television series such as '' Hawaii Five-0'', ''The Gates'', '' CSI: Miami'', '' Person of Interest'', and ''Suburgatory''. Sh ...

Alexandra Hunter This is a list of characters in the USA Network original comedy-drama TV series '' White Collar''. The principal cast of the series has remained mostly the same throughout the series. However, various recurring characters have appeared over th ...

: : A professional thief and black market fence who was formerly romantically involved with Neal. She periodically assists with Peter and Neal's cases, but the nature of her and Neal's relationship is always somewhat of a mystery. *

Ross McCall Ross McCall (born 13 January 1976) is a Scottish actor best known for his roles as T-5 Joseph Liebgott in the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers'' (2001) and Matthew Keller in the hit series '' White Collar''. He played the child version of Fre ...

Matthew Keller Matthew Keller or Mathew Keller (1810–81) was an early agriculturalist, vintner and distiller in Los Angeles, California, shortly after it became part of the United States following the Mexican War. He was also on the county Board of Superviso ...

: : A thief and archrival of Neal, Keller was arrested and jailed by Peter but later escaped and tried to steal the U-boat treasure that Neal and Mozzie have. *

Alexandra Daddario Alexandra Anna Daddario (born March 16, 1986) is an American actress who had her breakthrough portraying Annabeth Chase in the ''Percy Jackson'' film series (2010–2013). In 2021, she starred in the first season of the HBO series ''The White L ...

Kate Moreau This is a list of characters in the USA Network original comedy-drama TV series '' White Collar''. The principal cast of the series has remained mostly the same throughout the series. However, various recurring characters have appeared over th ...

: : Neal's missing girlfriend, who appears to be acting under the direction of a mysterious man, identifiable only by his 10-year commemorative FBI ring. She provides Neal with cryptic clues when she wants to communicate with him, and eventually prepares to reunite with Neal. *

Treat Williams Richard Treat Williams (born December 1, 1951) is an American actor, writer and aviator who has appeared on film, stage and television in over 120 credits. He first became well known for his starring role in the 1979 musical film '' Hair'', and la ...

as James Bennett/Samuel "Sam" Phelps: : A mysterious former cop who turns out to be Neal's father, and who was framed for murder. *

Mark Sheppard Mark Andreas Sheppard (born 30 May 1964) is an English actor and musician. He is often credited as Mark A. Sheppard. Sheppard is known for playing the demon/King of Hell Crowley on ''Supernatural'' and for his recurring roles as lawyer Romo L ...

as Curtis Hagen: : A criminal caught during the first case on which Peter and Neal worked together. *

Judith Ivey Judith Lee Ivey (born September 4, 1951) is an American actress and theatre director. She has twice won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play: for ''Steaming'' (1981) and ''Hurlyburly'' (1984). She has also appeared in several films ...

as Ellen Parker/Kathryn Hill: : Neal's father's former partner. She arrested Neal's father and then was put into

WITSEC The United States Federal Witness Protection Program (WPP), also known as the Witness Security Program or WITSEC, is a witness protection program codified through 18 U.S. Code § 3521 and administered by the United States Department of Justi ...

along with Neal and his mother. *

Noah Emmerich Noah Nicholas Emmerich (born February 27, 1965) is an American actor and director who is best known for his roles in films such as '' Beautiful Girls'' (1996), ''The Truman Show'' (1998), ''Frequency'' (2000), ''Miracle'' (2004), '' Little Childr ...

as FBI Special Agent

Garrett Fowler This is a list of characters in the USA Network original comedy-drama TV series ''White Collar (TV series), White Collar''. The principal cast of the series has remained mostly the same throughout the series. However, various recurring charact ...

: : A discredited agent from the

Office of Professional Responsibility The Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), part of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and supervised by the FBI, is responsible for investigating lawyers employed by the Department of Justice who have been accused of misconduct ...

, his abuse of authority in pursuit of Neal and Peter eventually leads to his forced resignation. Neal believes he is responsible for Kate's death. *

Beau Bridges Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III (born December 9, 1941) is an American actor and director. He is a three-time Emmy, two-time Golden Globe and one-time Grammy Award winner, as well as a two-time Screen Actors Guild Award nominee. Bridges was a ...

as FBI Special Agent Phillip Kramer: : Peter Burke's instructor when Burke was training at the

FBI Academy The FBI Academy is the Federal Bureau of Investigation's law enforcement training and research center near the town of Quantico in Stafford County, Virginia. Operated by the bureau's Training Division, it was first opened for use on May 7, 197 ...

in Quantico, and later Burke's mentor. Kramer works in the Art Crimes Unit in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

He, like Neal, is an expert in art, and believes Neal is too valuable to be a free man, so plans to have Neal transferred to Washington, D.C. to work with him. *

Moran Atias Moran Atias ( he, מורן אטיאס; born 9 April 1981) is an Israeli actress and model. She gained fame in the Italian films ''Gas'', '' Oggi sposi'', and ''Mother of Tears''. She is best known for her work with Paul Haggis in the 2008 TV se ...

as Christie: : Diana's girlfriend. She is a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

who works at a hospital. *

Andrew McCarthy Andrew Thomas McCarthy (born November 29, 1962) is an American actor, travel writer, and television director. He is most known as a member of the Brat Pack, with roles in 1980s films such as ''St. Elmo's Fire'', ''Pretty in Pink'', and '' Less ...

as Vincent Adler: : A wealthy financier who is the subject of a

long con A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have de ...

soon after Neal and Mozzie get together. Kate was working as Adler's personal assistant when Neal took a job with Adler in order to gain his confidence and get the information needed for the con. Adler taught Neal about personal style and to enjoy an expensive lifestyle. *

Titus Welliver Titus B. Welliver (born March 12, 1962) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayals of the Man in Black in ''Lost'', Silas Adams in '' Deadwood'', Jimmy O’Phelan in ''Sons of Anarchy'', and the title role in the television seri ...

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Terrance Pratt: : He was James's (Neal's father's) captain when he was working for the D.C. Metropolitan Police. *

Denise Vasi Denise Vasi (born March 1, 1983) is an American fashion model and actress. She is best known for her roles as Randi Hubbard on ABC's soap opera '' All My Children'' (2008–2011) and Raquel on '' Single Ladies'' (2011-2015). Early life Denise Va ...

as Cindy: :

June June is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the second of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the third of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. June contains the summer solstice in ...

's granddaughter.

Reception

For the first season, the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reported a 96% approval rating with an average rating of 8/10 based on 27 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Featuring clever plotting and outstanding chemistry between its leads, ''White Collar'' is a witty, briskly-paced caper series."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 79 of 100 for the season, based on reviews from 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". For the second season, Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average score of 8/10, based on 13 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "''White Collar''s second season builds on the strengths of its first, placing greater emphasis on the charismatic cast, snappy banter, and compelling crimes." For the third season, Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average score of 8.1/10, based on 10 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "''White Collar'' boasts prestige pedigree with stripped down plotting and a laser focus on relationship stakes." Metacritic assigned a score of 72 out of 100 based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". For the fourth season, Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average score of 8.7/10, based on 12 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "''White Collar''s fourth season keeps things moving with hefty amounts of action, intrigue, and handsomeness." For the fifth season, Rotten Tomatoes reported a 83% approval rating with an average score of 8/10, based on 6 reviews. For the sixth season, Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average score of 8.7/10, based on 5 reviews.

Awards and nominations

At the

People's Choice Awards The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the general public and fans. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls until ...

, ''White Collar'' was nominated in the categories of Favorite TV Obsession and Favorite Dramedy in 2011 and 2015. It was nominated for Favorite TV Cable Drama between 2012 and 2014.

won the award for Favorite TV Cable Actor in 2015.

was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama series at the

Image Awards The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

in 2012 and 2014. At the

TV Guide Awards The ''TV Guide'' Award was an annual award created by the editors of ''TV Guide'' magazine, as a readers poll to honor outstanding programs and performers in the American television industry. The awards were presented until 1964. The ''TV Guide'' A ...

, actors

and

were both nominated for Favorite Duo in 2012. At the

NewNowNext Awards The NewNowNext-Awards is an American annual entertainment awards show, presented by the LGBT, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender-themed channel Logo TV. Launched in 2008, awards are presented both for LGBT-specific and general interest achievem ...

was nominated in the category of Cause You're Hot in 2010.

Regan Mizrahi Regan Mizrahi is an American former child actor from New Jersey, known for his role as the voice of Boots the Monkey in the television series ''Dora the Explorer''. He began working professionally at the age of three and has appeared in numero ...

was nominated in the category of Best Performance in a TV series - Guest Starring Young Actor at the

Young Artist Awards The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

in 2012. The

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

received a nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Television Pilot - Drama at the

Casting Society of America The Casting Society, formerly known as Casting Society of America (CSA), was founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1982 as a Professional association, professional society of about 1,200 Casting (performing arts), casting directors and associate ...

Awards in 2010.

Seasons

Syndication

ION Television Ion Television is an American broadcast television network owned by the Katz Broadcasting subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August 31, 1998, as Pax TV, focusing primarily on family-oriented enter ...

acquired the rights for syndication of ''White Collar'' in 2013 along with ''

Burn Notice ''Burn Notice'' is an American espionage television series created by Matt Nix, which originally aired on the USA Network for a total of seven seasons from June 28, 2007, to September 12, 2013. The show stars Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, ...

''. It is the third USA Network television series to be in

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

on ION Television, along with ''

Monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

'' and ''

Psych ''Psych'' is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks for USA Network. The series stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened observ ...

''.

Possible revival

On May 6, 2020, series creator Jeff Eastin wrote on Twitter that he "Had a great convo with Matt Bomer. We have a plan to bring #WhiteCollar back."

Fox 21 Television Studios The second incarnation of Touchstone Television (formerly known as Fox 21 Television Studios) was an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Disney Media Networks' Walt Disney Television owned by The Walt Disney Company. It ...

, which succeeded the now-defunct Fox TV Studios, is not working on a revival .

Home media

The first season of ''White Collar'' was released in the US as ''White Collar: The Complete First Season'' as a widescreen four-disc Region 1 DVD box set on July 13, 2010. The same set was released on July 26, 2010, in Region 2, and on August 18, 2010, in Region 4. The first season of ''White Collar'' was released on Blu-ray. The season two four-disc Region 1 DVD box set was released on June 7, 2011. ''White Collar: The Complete Third Season'' four-disc Region 1 DVD box set was released on June 5, 2012. ''White Collar: Season 4 DVD'' box set was released on October 8, 2013. ''White Collar: Season 5 DVD'' box set was released on November 4, 2014. ''White Collar: Season 6 DVD'' box set was released on May 5, 2015.

International broadcasts

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:White Collar (TV Series) 2009 American television series debuts 2014 American television series endings 2000s American crime drama television series 2010s American crime drama television series 2000s American police procedural television series 2010s American police procedural television series English-language television shows Serial drama television series Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television shows set in New York City Television shows filmed in New York (state) USA Network original programming Television series about the Federal Bureau of Investigation Fraud in television