Television series
The FBI Files
|
---|
Title card
|
Created by
| Tom Naughton
|
---|
Starring
| |
---|
Country of origin
| United States
|
---|
No.
of seasons
| 7
|
---|
No.
of episodes
| 120 (
List of episodes
)
|
---|
|
Running time
| 49?51 minutes
|
---|
Production company
| New Dominion Pictures
|
---|
|
Network
| Discovery Channel
|
---|
Release
| October 20, 1998
(
1998-10-20
)
?
March 24, 2006
(
2006-03-24
)
|
---|
The FBI Files
is an American television
docudrama
series that originally ran from 1998 to 2006 on the
Discovery Channel
and produced by
New Dominion Pictures
.
[1]
The show was cancelled in 2006. However,
Court TV Mystery
, Discovery, and its sister network,
Investigation Discovery
, aired re-runs until October 2012. Investigation Discovery only showed episodes from seasons 5,6, and 7. As of October 2012, the network now airs episodes from the earlier seasons (although not necessarily in chronological order), with updated information about the cases at the end of most episodes. Up to late September 2012,
WE tv
showed episodes from seasons 1-4, but the network had removed the episode introductions by
Jim Kallstrom
. In the UK on
Quest Red
,
The FBI Files
airs every weeknight. It has also been shown on TV Denmark, Discovery Australia, and Netflix in Canada.
More recently, New Dominion Pictures made all episodes of
The FBI Files
available on YouTube.
[2]
Synopsis
[
edit
]
The show described actual
FBI
cases, with dramatic reenactments and interviews with agents and
forensic scientists
who worked in the investigations. The show premiered on October 20, 1998, and 120 episodes were executive produced by Tom Naughton before the final episode aired on March 24, 2006. The series covered the
kidnapping
and
murder
of
Polly Klaas
, the investigation and conviction of
John Gotti
, the
Unabomber
case, the
World Trade Center Bombing
, the Sara Tokars murder case, the several prison escapes by
Christopher Jeburk
,
John Birges
's biggest bomb in history (
Harvey's Casino
in
Stateline, Nevada
), and many other well-known and less well-known
true crime
stories. Unlike
The New Detectives
, a somewhat similar true crime show,
The FBI Files
centers on
murders
,
narcotics
,
bank robberies
,
kidnappings
, etc., where the FBI is called in to assist police departments.
Hosts and narrators
[
edit
]
James Kallstrom
, a former head of the FBI's
New York City
office, hosted the show. Among other high-profile cases, he investigated the crash of
TWA Flight 800
. Allison Erkelens was head writer for the series production company,
New Dominion Pictures
, from 2000 to 2005.
Anthony Call, an actor known for roles on the daytime soap operas
The Guiding Light
and
One Life to Live
, co-hosted/narrated all the United States episodes and some international ones.
Susan Rae
and Stephen Kemble were the narrators on several international versions of the show.
Lucy Longhurst narrated the international version of the episodes
"Murdering Cowboy"
that was about the convicted felon
Claude Dallas
and
"Deadly Paradise"
about the "Sea Wind Murders" on
Palmyra Atoll
.
Peter Dickson
narrated season 2 of the international version of the show. Among those were the episodes
"A Model Killer"
that was about the slain serial killer
Christopher Wilder
(aka- "The Beauty Queen Killer") and
"Cat and Mouse"
about the 1985 search for South Carolina's convicted serial killer
Larry Gene Bell
.
Among those
Susan Rae
did was
"Dishonoured"
about the 1989 disappearance of USMC Capt. Shirley Russell, and the joint
FBI
?
NIS
investigation of her husband, former
USMC
Capt. Robert Russell and
"When Seconds Count"
about when a 12-year-old girl was abducted from her home in
Lodi, California
.
Among those Stephen Kemble did was
"The Price of Greed"
about the 1997
Los Angeles
Dunbar Armored robbery
.
Among those international versions Call did was
"Omega 7"
about the
Omega 7
group and
"Dangerous Cause"
about the
Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacion Nacional Puertorriquena
group.
Ben Ando also did some voice overs in the UK.
Episodes
[
edit
]
Season
|
Episodes
|
Season Premiere
|
Season Finale
|
DVD Release
|
|
1
|
13
|
October 20, 1998
|
February 23, 1999
|
January 6, 2009
|
|
2
|
18
|
September 28, 1999
|
May 30, 2000
|
April 21, 2009
|
|
3
|
18
|
September 12, 2000
|
September 18, 2001
|
June 19, 2009
|
|
4
|
18
|
October 2, 2001
|
May 2002
|
September 15, 2009
|
|
5
|
18
|
October 15, 2002
|
May 27, 2003
|
February 6, 2015
|
|
6
|
20
|
September 20, 2003
|
May 7, 2004
|
February 6, 2015
|
|
7
|
18
|
December 8, 2004
|
March 24, 2006
|
January 29, 2015
|
Home media
[
edit
]
Timeless Media Group
has released the all seven seasons of
The FBI Files
on DVD in Region 1.
DVD Name
|
Ep#
|
Release dates
|
Region 1
|
Region 2
|
Region 4
|
The Complete First Season
|
13
|
January 6, 2009
|
NBA
|
April 7, 2011
|
The Complete Second Season
|
18
|
April 21, 2009
|
NBA
|
October 6, 2011
|
The Complete Third Season
|
18
|
June 19, 2009
|
NBA
|
2014
|
The Complete Fourth Season
|
18
|
September 15, 2009
|
NBA
|
August 21, 2015
|
The Complete Fifth Season
|
18
|
February 6, 2015
[3]
|
NBA
|
Unreleased
|
The Complete Sixth Season
|
20
|
February 6, 2015
[4]
|
NBA
|
Unreleased
|
The Complete Seventh Season
|
18
|
January 29, 2015
[5]
|
NBA
|
Unreleased
|
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Current
| |
---|
Former
| 1980s/1990s debuts
| |
---|
2000s debuts
| |
---|
2010s debuts
| |
---|
2020s debuts
| |
---|
|
---|