Premise
Each episode typically followed the search for one individual under tight time constraints. The stories also focused on the personal lives of the team members and illustrated how their experiences gave them insight into cases.
The team consisted of Jack Malone (Anthony LaPaglia), Samantha Spade (Poppy Montgomery), Vivian Johnson (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), Danny Taylor (Enrique Murciano), Martin Fitzgerald (Eric Close), and Elena Delgado (Roselyn Sánchez), who joined the cast starting in the fourth season.
The real FBI does investigate missing persons; specifically they have the authority to help in any "mysterious" disappearances of children abducted by non-family members. The groups that investigate these crimes are called CARD (Child Abduction Rapid Deployment) Teams. They get involved in other missing persons cases as needed but do not have a dedicated unit.
One element that set the series apart from other TV crime dramas was the display of information about real-life missing persons at the end of most episodes. Occasionally such information was replaced with other public service announcements, such as an episode about an attempted suicide which presented information on a suicide help line. Showings outside the United States tend to omit missing persons info; however, Australia's Nine Network usually showed Australian cases, and in Hong Kong the TVB Pearl showed information about local missing persons during the first two seasons.
Without a Trace took place within Jerry Bruckheimer's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation universe. A crossover episode featured characters Gil Grissom from CSI and Jack Malone from Without a Trace working together to solve the same case.
Read more about this topic: Without A Trace
Famous quotes containing the word premise:
“We have to give ourselves—men in particular—permission to really be with and get to know our children. The premise is that taking care of kids can be a pain in the ass, and it is frustrating and agonizing, but also gratifying and enjoyable. When a little kid says, “I love you, Daddy,” or cries and you comfort her or him, life becomes a richer experience.”
—Anonymous Father. Ourselves and Our Children, by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, ch. 3 (1978)