C-16: FBI (1997-1998) is a police procedural drama starring Eric Roberts as the squad supervisor. Actors Angie Harmon and Morris Chestnut played rookie agents on the squad.
Premise: The series revolves around Criminal Division Squad 16, part of the Los Angeles field office of the FBI.
During Episode 198: Going Undercover, Living the Dream, retired agent Jimmy Gagliano mentioned this crime drama about the FBI. I didn’t remember it. So I googled it and learned that it was on TV for one season from 1997 to 1998 and that all 13 episodes had been uploaded to YouTube. Curious, I watched the first show, got hooked, and watched four more episodes.
I knew immediately why it only lasted one season. It was dark, too real. But guess what? I kept my shoes on. I liked it and surmise that a retired FBI agent was a technical advisor or writer for the show. The FBI agent characters were flawed, cynical, and bitter. Eric Roberts’ supervisor character has a strong distrust of management and FBI Headquarters.
There were a few stereotypes. It annoyed me that the friends of the black male new agent were all from the “hood” and that the divorced veteran female agent was on the verge of losing custody of her son because she worked too much (not a good image for recruiting more women agents). But the relationship between the female new agent and her training agent was spot on. He barely tolerated her. That conjured up fond memories. Haha!
The agents all worked on a “major crimes” squad, which allowed them to cover all FBI violations. During the episodes I watched, the squad worked a hostage matter, a child abduction, and tried to save a rogue undercover agent from crashing and burning.
When comparing C-16: FBI to the current FBI show on CBS, the older drama had one huge advantage. The show was serialized. The agents didn’t have to solve each case and tie everything together with a pretty bow by the end of the episode. But alas, like the rogue UCA, the show eventually crashed and burned. I guess the audience wanted more clean-cut heroes to root for. Not me. I love dark and troubled FBI characters. That’s the kind of stories and books I write. I enjoyed the show so much that I’m going to binge the rest of the season.
There was also another FBI show from the same exact year 1997 simply titled Feds. It only lasted one season just like C16 and it was similar in plot and style. You can find the episodes on YouTube as well.
Cool, thanks for letting me know. I knew about the movie Feds, but not about a series. I wasn’t able to find the TV series on YouTube. Can you send a link? It’s amazing how many FBI shows there has been. And, they keep making them. Yes!