White Collar (2009)

White Collar is an American police procedural television series created by Jeff Eastin, starring Tim DeKay as FBI Special Agent Peter Burke and Matt Bomer as Neal Caffrey, a highly intelligent, charming and multi-talented con artist, forger, and thief, working as both Burke's criminal informant and an FBI consultant. Willie Garson and Tiffani Thiessen also star. The show premiered on October 23, 2009, on USA Network, and aired six complete seasons, concluding on December 18, 2014.

Show creator Eastin and the cast have been trying to revive the show in some capacity for several years. Most recently, in June 2024, it was announced that a reboot with many members of the original cast is in development. However, no broadcaster or streaming service was as yet on board, and there have been no further updates about the project's status since that 2024 announcement.

Premise

Neal Caffrey, a renowned con artist, forger, and thief, is captured after a three-year game of cat and mouse with the FBI, specifically Special Agent Peter Burke, the head agent of the FBI's White Collar Crimes Unit at the FBI's New York City field office. He is convicted and sentenced to four years in prison. With only four months left, he escapes to look for his girlfriend, Kate.

Burke once again finds Caffrey and returns him to prison. This time, Caffrey proposes a deal to help Burke apprehend dangerous white collar criminals with the FBI. He will also give them full time consultation in exchange for his early release from prison as part of a work-release program. After some hesitation, Burke agrees, resulting in Neal being released early from prison and working as an FBI consultant and Burke's criminal informant. They begin an unconventional and testy relationship as they set out to capture elusive and dangerous white collar criminals in New York City.

Cast and characters

Main characters

Matt Bomer as Neal Caffrey, a con artist, forger, and thief who works as an FBI consultant and Burke's informant

Tim DeKay as FBI Special Agent in Charge Peter Burke

Willie Garson as Mozzie, a con man and Neal's best friend

Tiffani Thiessen as Elizabeth Burke, an event planner and Peter's wife

Marsha Thomason as FBI Special Agent Diana Berrigan (recurring, season 1; main cast, Pilot and seasons 2–6)

Sharif Atkins as FBI Special Agent Clinton Jones (recurring, seasons 1–3; main cast, seasons 4–6)

Hilarie Burton as Sara Ellis (recurring, seasons 2 and 4; main cast, season 3), an insurance investigator

Natalie Morales as FBI Special Agent Lauren Cruz (season 1)

Recurring characters

Diahann Carroll as June Ellington, a widow who lets Neal stay with her

James Rebhorn as FBI Special Agent in Charge Reese Hughes

Bridget Regan as Rachel Turner/Rebecca Lowe, an expert in ancient books

Gloria Votsis as Alexandra Hunter, a professional thief and fence

Ross McCall as Matthew Keller, a rival thief to Neal

Alexandra Daddario as Kate Moreau, Neal's missing girlfriend

Treat Williams as James Bennett/Samuel "Sam" Phelps, a former cop and Neal's father

Mark Sheppard as Curtis Hagen, a criminal

Judith Ivey as Ellen Parker/Kathryn Hill, Neal's father's former partner

Noah Emmerich as FBI Special Agent Garrett Fowler, an agent from the Office of Professional Responsibility

Beau Bridges as FBI Special Agent Phillip Kramer, Peter's instructor at the FBI Academy

Moran Atias as Christie, a doctor and Diana's girlfriend

Andrew McCarthy as Vincent Adler, an investor and con man

Titus Welliver as Senator Terrance Pratt, Neal's father's captain

Denise Vasi as Cindy, June's granddaughter

Emily Procter as Amanda Callaway

Series overview

Ratings

Release

Syndication

ION Television acquired the rights for syndication of White Collar in 2013 along with Burn Notice. It is the third USA Network television series to be in syndication on ION Television, along with Monk and Psych.

International broadcasts

Home media

The first season of White Collar was released in the US as White Collar: The Complete First Season as a widescreen four-disc Region 1 DVD box set on July 13, 2010. The same set was released on July 26, 2010, in Region 2, and on August 18, 2010, in Region 4. The first season of White Collar was released on Blu-ray. The season two four-disc Region 1 DVD box set was released on June 7, 2011. White Collar: The Complete Third Season four-disc Region 1 DVD box set was released on June 5, 2012. White Collar: Season 4 DVD box set was released on October 8, 2013. White Collar: Season 5 DVD box set was released on November 4, 2014. White Collar: Season 6 DVD box set was released on May 5, 2015.

Reception

Critical response

For the first season, the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 96% approval rating with an average rating of 8/10 based on 27 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Featuring clever plotting and outstanding chemistry between its leads, White Collar is a witty, briskly-paced caper series." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 79 of 100 for the season, based on reviews from 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

For the second season, Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average score of 8/10, based on 13 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "White Collar's second season builds on the strengths of its first, placing greater emphasis on the charismatic cast, snappy banter, and compelling crimes."

For the third season, Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average score of 8.1/10, based on 10 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "White Collar boasts prestige pedigree with stripped down plotting and a laser focus on relationship stakes." Metacritic assigned a score of 72 out of 100 based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

For the fourth season, Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average score of 8.7/10, based on 12 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "White Collar's fourth season keeps things moving with hefty amounts of action, intrigue, and handsomeness."

For the fifth season, Rotten Tomatoes reported an 83% approval rating with an average score of 8/10, based on 6 reviews.

For the sixth season, Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average score of 8.7/10, based on 5 reviews.

Accolades

At the People's Choice Awards, White Collar was nominated in the categories of Favorite TV Obsession and Favorite Dramedy in 2011 and 2015. It was nominated for Favorite TV Cable Drama between 2012 and 2014. Matt Bomer won the award for Favorite TV Cable Actor in 2015. Diahann Carroll was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama series at the Image Awards in 2012 and 2014. At the TV Guide Awards, actors Tim DeKay and Matt Bomer were both nominated for Favorite Duo in 2014. At the NewNowNext Awards, Matt Bomer was nominated in the category of Cause You're Hot in 2010. Regan Mizrahi was nominated in the category of Best Performance in a TV series - Guest Starring Young Actor at the Young Artist Awards in 2012. The pilot received a nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Television Pilot - Drama at the Casting Society of America Awards in 2010.

Reboot

On May 6, 2020, series creator Jeff Eastin wrote on Twitter that he "Had a great convo with Matt Bomer. We have a plan to bring #WhiteCollar back." But as of 2020, Fox 21 Television Studios, which succeeded the now-defunct Fox TV Studios, was not working on a revival. Many plans were postponed or shelved because of the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A reboot was confirmed to be in the development stages on June 6, 2024, though no network or streaming service had yet signed on as a producer or broadcaster. It was being written by Eastin, with the involvements of Bomer, DeKay, and Thiessen. It was said to be a "a fantastic script and it answers all the questions that one would have if you watch the show", and that it would honor the late cast member Willie Garson (who died in 2021 of pancreatic cancer). Eastin has said that the reboot will be titled White Collar Renaissance. No further announcements have been made about the status of the revival.

References

External links

White Collar at IMDb