Still holding at No. 17
The FBI entered the 1971-72 season with strong ratings. While it placed at No. 17 (right behind The Partridge Family), the series continued to hold its own. The Ed Sullivan Show was off the air, and Bonanza would continue on its final season.
Because American Life TV did not aired 1971-72 episodes, information concerning these episodes is scant. However, we did purchase a 16mm reel of the season finale, “Escape To Nowhere.” We hope to provide more information on this episode soon.
However, the opening titles remained the same from the previous season. Things continued much the same as before. But times would change during the season:
- Television was becoming more gritty. All In The Family and The Mary Tyler Moore Show reflected the changing times. While The FBI remained in the Top 20, it was beginning to show some age because of the tight controls the real-life agency put on the show and the producers.
- And, speaking of the agency, Director J. Edgar Hoover died on 2 May 1972 at age 77. He had led the Bureau, for better or worse, for 48 years. The times would begin changing in that spring of 1972.
In the meantime …
We DO offer streaming video for episodes 186, 188 and 189, courtesy of AOL’s In2TV. Enjoy!
This page updated 4 May 2008.
