Without a Trace 

The cases of an FBI unit specializing in missing persons investigations.

Creator:

Hank Steinberg

Stars:

Anthony LaPaglia, Poppy Montgomery, Enrique Murciano

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 20 wins & 45 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Anthony LaPaglia	...	Jack Malone 160 episodes, 2002-2009
Poppy Montgomery	...	Samantha Spade 160 episodes, 2002-2009
Enrique Murciano	...	Danny Taylor 160 episodes, 2002-2009
Eric Close	...	Martin Fitzgerald 160 episodes, 2002-2009
Marianne Jean-Baptiste	...	Vivian Johnson 160 episodes, 2002-2009
Roselyn Sanchez	...	Elena Delgado 88 episodes, 2005-2009

Storyline

As any detective can tell you, investigating missing property or deaths is comparatively easy compared to elusive missing people. However in New York City, there is a special unit of the FBI that is designed to find them. Using the vast resources of their bureau, the team, lead by Agent Jack Malone, race against time in the tight 72 hour window after a disappearance while hope for a recovery is still typically possible.

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Plot Keywords:

mysterious person | missing | fbi | missing people | death | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

CBS [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 September 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Vanished

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jerry Bruckheimer Television, CBS Paramount Network Television, CBS Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Aspect Ratio:

16 : 9

Did You Know?

Trivia

During each episode, a 15-second presentation appears, asking the public for help in finding real-life missing persons. The FBI provides a picture and descriptive information about the missing person to be displayed with a voice-over message recorded by one of the series stars.

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Goofs

Since the inception of the agency, FBI agents travel in pairs when interview subjects. This is both to have a witness to the interview as well as for protection in case unexpected things occur. Multiple times during the show, single agents are shown talking with subjects alone, even in their homes or places unfamiliar to the agents.

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Quotes

[Going through missing flight attendant's room]
Martin: Mmm, she's in AA. One day at a time. So, what do you think about that?
Samantha: Turning everything over to a higher power? Hey, like John Lennon says, "Whatever gets you through the night."

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Crazy Credits

Amongst the opening credits, for a brief moment the words "Amber Alert" are flashed on the screen. The Amber Alert system was formally inaugurated in the state of California, July 31, 2002. It drew both national and international recognition in its success in aiding authorities in their search for abducted children. In less than one year, the California Amber Alert system has been credited with aiding in the rescue of over a dozen children. The intial system was formulated in Texas in 1996, and is named after 9-year-old Amber Hagerman who was kidnapped and murdered. As of April 10, 2003 a bill creating a national Amber Alert system has passed in the House of Representitives, and unanimously approved in the Senate. "Without A Trace" (2002) aired its first episode shortly after a summer littered with nationally covered child kidnappings including the famous Elizabeth Smart abduction. The show aired Elizabeth's profile following its November 21, 2002 episode, In Extrimis. All Profiles are chosen by the FBI, not the show's producers.

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Connections

Referenced in Family Guy: Road to Rupert (2007)

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Soundtracks

One (Is The Loneliest Number)
Performed by The Tao of Groove

User Reviews

Repetitive

I have watched quite many episodes of this show. Simply because i have very few TV-channels with good reception during weekends in the cabin, and this show is conveniently shown Saturday evening.

There are two kinds of TV-shows. First the ones that get better the more you watch them, like most of the shows from HBO for instance. The characters get more elaborate, the story deeper and the show moves forward. Then there is the second kind of show that becomes worse the more you watch. Repetitive scripts, shallow characters, illogical story line. Unfortunately this show belongs to the latter category.

I don't really know whether that's so unexpected though. This show is about cops trying to find missing people and there are not that many ways for someone to go missing. Usually it's just variants on the same thing. Violent crime, teenagers run away from home, abductions, accidents. After a dozen episodes it more or less feels like i have seen it all.

And what are the positive points? Since i have given this show a five-star grade there should be a few of those as well. And there are. This show has a few qualities that i appreciate. Among them are the technical quality, the decent acting and the nice pace. Especially pace is something that's very necessary for a show to concentrate on. If i'm going to watch many episodes of a TV-show i need it to be well-paced. Not too fast-paced and not too slow. Both ruin the experience. This show is just about right.

With a bit more creative thinking in the script-department, a bit more character-development and perhaps also a bit less moralizing this could be good entertainment. Right now it barely reaches the "ok"-mark.