The FBI TV show was a crime drama series that was based on actual FBI cases! Inspector Lewis Erskine and his team would tackle another tough case each week that seemed nearly impossible to resolve.
Cast Members:
Efrem Zimbalist Jr. ..... Inspector Lewis Erskine
Stephen Brooks .......... Special Agent Jim Rhodes
Philip Abbott ........... Arthur Ward
William Woodson ......... Narrator
William Reynolds ........ Special Agent Tom Colby (Seasons 3-9)
Lynn Loring ............. Barbara Erskine (Season 1)
Shelly Novack ........... Chris Daniels (Season 9)
Trivia:
Ironically, the Watergate fiasco and resignation of President Richard Nixon may have been partially responsible for the cancellation of The FBI. The American people's distrust of anyone in government was at an all time high when The FBI left the airwaves in the spring of 1974. The whole premise of the show was that the dedicated, loyal FBI agents had only the U.S. citizen's best interests in mind and that just didn't work anymore!
There was no lack of vintage cars to chase criminals and sometimes crash on the FBI. The sponsor for the show was the Ford Motor Company and they supplied the necessary Ford classics!
Quinn Martin Productions (in conjunction with Warner Brother Television) produced The FBI. They had formerly produced "The New Breed (1961)", "The Fugitive (1963)", and "12 O´Clock High (1964)".
Apparently, Quinn Maritn allowed the real FBI chief at the time, J. Edgar Hoover, to supervise the scripts to ensure that true FBI procedures were used on the show!
At the end of every FBI episode, Efrem Zimbalist Jr. would ask the audience for their help in catching criminals.