The FBI’s Public Approval Rating Falls While CBS’s FBI Shows Remain Popular

We live in confusing times. While the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s approval rating has fallen from 59 percent to 41 percent, with only 26 percent approval among Republicans, many Americans (yes, probably even many MAGA Republicans), tune in on Tuesday nights to watch the CBS dramas that place the nation’s foremost crime fighting agency on center stage. In FBI, the original show that premiered in 2018, agents battle crime on the streets of New York City. FBI Most Wanted tracks the most serious criminal offenders in New York State, New Jersey, and even Pennsylvania. FBI International – known as the “Fly Team” – focuses on agents based in Budapest who are called upon to fight crime across the continent, often involving Americans who are in danger. 

The current head of the FBI, Christopher Wray, who still has two years to serve on his ten year term, says he will resign before President Elect Donald Trump is sworn in. Trump’s nominee to head the FBI, Kash Patel, has made no bones about the fact that he intends to dismantle the agency. What that means, and whether that’s even possible, is still unclear, but there’s no doubt that Trump is still seething because the FBI raided his Mar-a-Lago estate where he was keeping classified documents that should have been returned to the National Archives. Republicans charge that the FBI has been politicized, but it’s clear that if Patel is confirmed by the Senate, he will return the favor.

In this current climate, CBS’s FBI shows should be required viewing for Americans who have forgotten how those who serve in this national police force put their lives on the line most days to keep us all safe. While the series is fictional, many of the stories that are dramatized are “ripped from the headlines.” No surprise that the FBI franchise is from the Dick Wolf production company also responsible for the long running Law & Order shows that made that phrase popular.

FBI – Pictured (L-R): Jeremy Sisto as Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jubal Valentine and Alana De La Garza as Special Agent in Charge Isobel Castille. Photo: Bennett Raglin/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved

The original FBI series is still the anchor. Missy Peregrym and Zeeko Zaki play partners who always have each other’s back. Two cast members, Jeremy Sisto and Alana de la Garza, are Wolf favorites, having appeared on Law & Order, Sisto as a New York City detective and Garza as an assistant district attorney. In FBI, Garza runs the office, while Sisto leads a team of detectives and tech experts as they run each operation. The depth and breadth of the agency is on full display, how cameras, facial recognition, and links to other agencies make it difficult for even the most cunning criminal to disappear for too long. 

Each character has a backstory that, in some cases, has been developed over the life of the show. (In the real world, it’s a reminder that those who serve in the FBI are people with families and friends who worry about them.) Peregrym’s Maggie Bell lost her husband and more recently a good friend, who left behind a young daughter. Maggie agreed to share custody of the child with an uncle, but the demands and dangers of her job forced her to make the difficult decision to step back. Zaki’s Omar Adom “OA” Ziden often has to battle racial prejudice even though he graduated from West Point and was an Army Ranger. Sisto’s Jubal Valentine, is divorced and he and his wife share care of their son who has battled cancer. Garza plays a strong leader who is not afraid to make tough decisions, even when the outcome might jeopardize her career or, as in one episode, result in collateral damage. 

FBI Most Wanted – Pictured (L-R): Edwin Hodge as Special Agent Ray Cannon, Roxy Sternberg as Special Agent Sheryll Barnes, Dylan McDermott as Supervisory Special Agent Remy Scott, and Donna Glaesener as Officer Turner. Photo: Mark Schafer/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

FBI Most Wanted was spun off from the original series in 2020. It focuses on the FBI’s New York Fugitive Task Force with a mandate to go after the most dangerous criminals. Julian McMahon played team leader Jess LaCroix until he was killed at the end of the third season. Dylan McDermott (who has played cops and FBI agents in many series) took up the leadership role as Remy Scott, but his aggressive approach led to some tough times with the rest of the team. Remy’s style, however, gets results, particularly when hunting down vicious killers. 

FBI International, the second spinoff, debuted in 2021, and is now in its fourth season. Jesse Lee Soffer, who starred in Wolf’s Chicago PD series joined FBI International at the beginning of its fourth season playing supervisory special agent and head of the Fly Team. Soffer’s good looks, and star power from his time on Chicago PD no doubt have many fans tuning into FBI International for the first time. What will get them to stay are the intriguing plots and, once again, a solid cast. More importantly, FBI International displays the far reach of the FBI around the world, protecting America’s interests and citizens. According to the FBI’s website, these legal attache offices, known as legats, and sub-offices are located in key cities in more than 180 countries, territories and islands, and consist of more than 250 special agents and support personnel.

All three shows keep the action centered on what these FBI teams do to solve crimes. Political themes are kept to a minimum and often involve power battles between other law enforcement agencies on the local, federal, and international level. Personal opinions on the part of individual characters may, at times, slip in, but never interfere with the main plots. That makes the shows palatable no matter where a viewer’s political feelings lie. 

After Trump is sworn into office, there will be much drama on Capitol Hill as senators exercise their advise and consent duties to question his nominees, including Patel. Now is a good time for CBS to publicize its FBI shows to remind its audience that the majority of the agency’s agents are nonpartisan when it comes to doing their primary job – keeping Americans safe.

Top Photo: Pictured (L-R): Zeeko Zaki as Special Agent Omar Adom ‘OA’ Zidan, Missy Peregrym as Special Agent Maggie Bell, and John Boyd as Special Agent Stuart Scola. Photo: Bennett Raglin/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.