Fans of The First 48 were devastated when Detective Jason White revealed that the A&E series has stopped filming. Camera crews pulled out of the show’s three departments in early March, effectively ending the series after more than 20 years. The decision also leaves viewers in limbo, as they don’t know what the program’s official fate is. But it’s not all bad news. There are still some episodes remaining, and that’s an opportunity.

Ironically for a show that places a specific emphasis on time, that limbo creates a window in which A&E can actually experiment with the brand and try new things. They have plenty of avenues they can take with The First 48 right now to make it even bigger and better—either giving it an amazing sendoff, or seeing how much life the show has left in it. Here are some of the untapped areas of true crime‘s best television series.

Leaning into The First 48‘s regional angle

A&E’s current programming trend (and one of the overall trends in true crime) is regional crime shows. On March 25, the network premiered Southern Law, which focuses on patrol officers in the South. The series follows the debuts of Ozark Law and Desert Law last season, along with the return of Alaska State Troopers after a decade-long hiatus.

But before these shows, The First 48 already had a regional element to it by featuring departments in different states. The show is on trend without even trying. A&E can easily lean into that aspect of the series more, whether it’s by changing its advertising or within the episodes themselves. No fan would be bothered if there was an extra minute or two spent in an episode providing more context about what’s going on in that city or that department that might affect a case. In fact, for the new department in North Charleston, it would actually be helpful!

Plus, going this direction highlights one of the most important things A&E has brought to light with the show: policing is not standardized. It adapts to every community. The First 48 illustrates that better than anything else, so highlighting that further is also highlighting one of the many ways the show has changed true crime. It’s a shame that A&E and ITV haven’t won an Emmy or gotten greater recognition for what they’ve contributed to the genre.

Ramping up The First 48 on social media

A low to no-cost way of improving The First 48 would be to put greater emphasis on the show’s social media. The fact that the series has built a 20-year following while being relatively quiet on social media platforms is a testament to how great of a program it is; imagine what A&E could do if it really pushed the boat out?

The show’s Facebook page needs more updates and more diverse content. It could post fun facts about the show itself (there are tons after this many years and episodes) or teaser clips. And speaking of clips, A&E did a great job when it was posting bonus scenes on the network’s YouTube channel. The transition over to just posting full episodes is a missed opportunity, because it requires that someone wants to sit and watch an entire hour. There’s no appetizer for potential new viewers, or for fans who have seen all the episodes.

The bonus videos aren’t an extra expense; they’re footage the field teams have already shot —and they’re little moments that help build out the world of the show, whether they’re investigative tidbits that were cut for time or chances to see the detectives in a different light. Speaking of Jason White, let’s all revisit this bit of Jason and Ronnie Leatherman talking about their undercover expertise, which was both informative and entertaining.

Build more officer-centric episodes

Remember when A&E gave Detective Jermaine Rogers his own episode, called “Close to Home”? That idea shouldn’t have been limited to Mobile Homicide. There are plenty of detectives who could be given the same spotlight, which not only leans into the regional angle again but is also an easy way to create new content if the network is worried about cost or filling a programming hole.

For example, the First 48 Season 23 episode “Back Street” was Jason White’s 100th murder case with Tulsa Homicide. That fact was mentioned in the synopsis, but why not advertise that in the promos that week? Or lead into that with an episode of White’s greatest hits, maybe just shooting some brief new footage of him talking about each of those episodes? Or when unfortunately Detective John Brown passed, it would have been a lovely tribute to have a tribute episode devoted to him—perhaps with some of his coworkers or community leaders speaking about his impact on the homicide unit or in the city of Tulsa. And the cold case “Unforgotten” hours were also a great idea, to use existing footage while raising awareness of these investigations that typically fall under the radar.

These different types of episodes would provide A&E with greater variety, but also help to spotlight what makes individual detectives unique, which is another of The First 48‘s underlying points. And they’d be more relevant than the First 48 Presents Critical Minutes episodes that are essentially hour-long recaps. A&E has already been able to repackage episodes over the years (see “Room Full of Lies” and the other subtitled repeats with “bonus footage” added), so let’s have more fun with that and get more use out of the series’ extensive history, without overextending the production itself.

If nothing else, before the show comes to an end, there needs to be a proper finale that acknowledges all that history. Even if it’s just showing a marathon of benchmark episodes. A 48-hour First 48 marathon, from the first episode leading to the last, would be a thing of beauty. Fans could even vote online for the other 46 episodes they want to include, like an all-time “greatest hits.” Even if A&E only spotlights one episode per season before the big finale, that’s still 30 straight hours of bankable programming,

Extending the show’s community commitment

The First 48 viewers are familiar with the message shown at the end of every episode, which directs viewers to A&E’s website if they want to help the families of homicide victims. But there’s so much more that can be done than an end card—and it would also be a massive PR win.

For a few seasons, A&E aired “What’s Good In” commercial spots that showcased different community groups in whatever city that The First 48 was in at the moment. Viewers got to learn more about the people of Tulsa or Gwinnett County or Mobile, not just the detectives. Those absolutely need to make a comeback; there ought to be one or two in every episode. The biggest complaint that’s been lodged against the show—however erroneously—is that it paints cities in a negative light; these ad spots were a great way to address that. They might even encourage fans to visit!

If it’s not a huge issue for post-production, A&E and ITV could also update the end cards for specific episodes to make them less general. What about promoting specific organizations and support groups relevant to each episode, in the same way that the show includes domestic violence hotline information when it features domestic violence cases? Information about a group in Georgia may not be explicitly relevant to someone watching in California, but it increases awareness for those organizations and again, shows more good works in the city of the week. It would just take some vetting (no more than they must do for those ad spots) and some graphic edits.

Or in episodes where the victim was involved with a community organization or charitable cause, the end card could have information on how to support that group. If that could be sorted out legally, that would be another way to honor the victim—as people moved by that person’s story could help out no matter where they are.

The First 48 has a great platform for the cities it’s in, especially since episodes repeat in perpetuity (and now across three different FAST streaming channels). People will see these episodes for years if not decades to come. And the community impacts policing as much as policing impacts the community, so why not bring them a little more into the fold? If nothing else, it would be a cool thank-you to those cities for the hospitality they’ve shown the production.

Here’s another thought: what about using the aforementioned social media during the time between new episodes to spotlight people or facts about the featured cities? For example, the folks people see in episodes all the time but never get to really know, like Tulsa analyst Margot Heyne-Bell, who’s that department’s hidden MVP. There’s a whole world around The First 48 that can still be explored.

New ideas for The First 48 schedule

The biggest thing that A&E could do with The First 48 is actually its most difficult challenge. Fans have long complained about the show’s uneven scheduling; there’s no clear idea when seasons begin and end, and there will be a new episode one week followed by two episodes of After the First 48 or another random replay of The First 48 Presents Homicide Squad Atlanta. One look at Wikipedia tells you how varied the seasons have been: there were 17 episodes in Season 20, and a whopping 54 episodes in Season 21.

But viewers should know this is not a network problem. The First 48 can’t be scheduled like a typical TV series, because the amount of episodes on hand is based on how many episodes have been cleared legally and aren’t in some phase of post-production. Especially with the latter, one never knows how long that will take—or if it’s not going to take at all. That’s why fans have a reason to be skeptical about A&E’s assertion that it has three years’ worth of unaired episodes.

Can there be a better way for A&E to plan its schedule based on the number of episodes available? If that’s possible (and it may not be), network TV shows routinely arrange mini-hiatuses throughout the season to accomodate their productions. Fans won’t care if there’s a break just as long as they know it’s coming. And those breaks could even be used to the network’s advantage; maybe plan the After the First 48 season accordingly. There used to be a trend of showing the relevant First 48 rerun right before a new After the First 48, which was incredibly helpful and created a reliable two-hour block of programming.

Or stage some mini-marathons with particular themes; USA Network used to do this on a regular basis with its Law & Order: SVU reruns. The First 48 could say the show is taking a week off, but here’s a marathon of cases you forgot about. Or cases from North Charleston, to give more exposure to the newest department. Or even cases from New Orleans, if Homicide Squad: New Orleans is still new that week. Anything that has a timely hook—it’s time to move on from those Homicide Squad Atlanta repeats.

The First 48 has over 20 years of history and a reach across the country. It also has one of the best spinoff series in After the First 48. There are numerous creative things A&E can still do with it to either breathe more life into the show, or at least give it the best possible sendoff. Fans have a reason to be sad, but also other reasons to be hopeful, because there are still plenty of exciting things that can be done before the clock runs out.

The First 48 airs Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on A&E. Photo Credit: Courtesy of A&E.

Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.