Bennett Raglin
When did the franchise-ification of TV procedurals start getting out of hand? Was it when NBC started dedicating a whole night to shows set in Chicago? When Law & Order tried a true crime spinoff? When the producers of NCIS realized the US Navy has a field office in Australia?
Frankly, we may have hit peak procedural with the three-hour block of TV that CBS has dubbed “the FBIs.” Before the first season of FBI had finished airing in 2019, CBS commissioned a pilot for FBI: Most Wanted, which joined the network’s line-up in 2020. FBI: International followed in 2021. Say what you will about the various versions of NCIS, Law & Order, and CSI, but there has been a somewhat organic progression to those franchises, with each new variation debuting after an earlier one is firmly established. By contrast, the FBIs, as a concept, feel a bit… forced?
Clearly the network knows what it’s doing. The three FBIs are incredibly popular, with FBI in particular consistently landing toward the top of the weekly Nielsen ratings. But it’s hard to see why. All three shows returned to the air last night, beginning their sixth, fifth, and third seasons, respectively. Collectively, they delivered a dreary hash of violence and jargon, spiced up with a little politics, delivered by casts that mostly lack the charisma of those headlining the other procedural powerhouses.