The final episode of The FBI to ever air on ABC, “The Animal,” was shown at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, September 8. It was a rerun of an episode that originally aired on 17 February 1974. After nearly nine years and 241 episodes, the series had finally come to an end.
And it was a great send-off, with an excellent cast, which included William Reynolds returning as Agent Tom Colby, who by this outing was working out of California. Peter Mark Richman also shows up here as well. And Gary Lockwood is the main baddie, and is as mean as one could imagine.
We have now uploaded all pages for the 241 episodes for the series, as of today, and as we worked on the final two to three seasons of the show, one gets the sense it was running out of ideas. By Season 9, FBI offices in all 50 states had been contacted for story ideas. Despite decent ratings in Season 9, Watergate had taken its toll on the show.
Our own opinion is that, had the scandals not taken place in Washington that led to Richard Nixon’s resignation, the show would have perhaps lingered on for another year, maybe two. Perhaps there might have been another casting change. We don’t know.
Speaking of Richard Nixon, President Gerald Ford, who had taken office a month before, pardoned the 37th President on that day, an action that would cost his successor the election in 1976.
What we know is that we’re thankful for the shows that were left behind, and there’s a LOT to watch! Enjoy!