''Today's FBI'' is an American

crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

television series, an updated and revamped version of the earlier series '' The F.B.I.'' Like the original program, this series is based on actual cases from the files of the

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

, and the F.B.I. was involved in the making of the show. Unlike the original series, which ran for nine seasons, this show ran for only 18 episodes (following a TV-movie pilot) on ABC, during the 1981–82 season.

Cast

* Mike Connors as Ben Slater, a veteran "G-Man" who is the chief and mentor of an elite unit of agents. * Joseph Cali as Nick Frazier, the one "ethnic" member of the team, a young and determined agent. * Carol Potter as Maggie Clinton, the one female member. * Rick Hill as Al Gordean, a "country boy" and strongman of the group, is often partnered with Nick. * Harold Sylvester as Dwayne Thompson, the one African American on the show; he often acts as the member who keeps the others focused.

Episode list

Reception

The series suffered from low ratings as a result of direct competition from CBS's Top 20 hits '' Archie Bunker's Place'' and '' One Day at a Time'' and was cancelled after only 18 episodes. According to Michele Malach of Fort Lewis College, the series attempted a more positive portrayal of the FBI by using diverse characters and a "fallacious assumption that its audience still viewed special agents as 'us' rather than 'them'," in contrast to federal agents with "a rigid, dogmatic, inhumane bureaucracy" depicted in later media, like '' Point Break'', '' Betrayed'', and '' The X-Files''. Viewers "did not buy either the image or he series" prompting a cancellation. Richard Gib Powers called it "pointless and a cover-up fthe FBI villainy

References

External links

* * 1981 American television series debuts 1982 American television series endings Television series by Sony Pictures Television 1980s American crime drama television series American English-language television shows Television series about the Federal Bureau of Investigation Television shows set in Los Angeles American Broadcasting Company crime dramas {{US-drama-tv-prog-stub