When Dick Wolf’s “FBI” premiered on CBS in 2018, the real-life version of the bureau was embroiled in a well-documented dispute with President Donald Trump over national security and various scandals. Perhaps the timing was right for a series focused on topical issues; instead, Wolf decided to write FBI agents who were “assiduously not political.”
“You can go back over the years. You can’t find many episodes of any show I’ve done that are politically oriented,” he said at a Television Critics Association event from 2018 documented by USA Today. “If you do that, 50% of the audience is (ticked) off.”
Wolf stressed that “FBI” is part of an “entertainment company” that’s “not a political PAC.” However, even though it doesn’t toe any particular party line, the show has an artistic purpose beyond general escapism. Wolf believes that the good work of real FBI agents — like his uncle, who was part of the bureau during the 1950s and ’60s — shouldn’t be overlooked, so he aims to highlight their efforts through the “FBI” television series.
“Positive images of the bureau make them happy,” he said. “A lot of them, in the past couple of years, have told me they feel underappreciated for what the real work is.”
Dick Wolf wants to tell stories about heroes
Dick Wolf’s comments about the non-political nature of “FBI” echo statements he’s made about his “One Chicago” franchise, which centers around boots-on-the-ground law enforcement officers, doctors, and firefighters saving lives in dangerous and stressful scenarios. In Wolf’s estimation, their experiences deserve to be celebrated on the small screen.
“They’re heroes,” Wolf told the Television Critics Association in 2016, according to Variety. “You can’t pay people to run into burning buildings. Doctors are not in it for the money any more, either.”
Despite Wolf’s intentions, some of his shows have caused a stir due to potential implications. For example, ahead of the 2016 presidential election, NBC shelved an episode of “Law & Order: SVU” about a candidate accused of sexual assault. Apparently, network executives feared that it would come across as too partisan. But in general, as he explained in 2016, Wolf has a simple rule that informs all of his dramas: “We steal the headlines, not the body copy.”