The Blacklist facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Blacklist |
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| Created by | Jon Bokenkamp |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 10 |
| No. of episodes | 218 (list of episodes) |
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| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 40–45 minutes |
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| Original network | NBC |
| Picture format | HDTV 1080i |
| Original release | September 23, 2013 – July 13, 2023 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | The Blacklist: Redemption |
The Blacklist is an American TV show about crime and thrilling adventures. It was created by Jon Bokenkamp and developed by John Eisendrath. The main character, Raymond Reddington (played by James Spader), is a very smart criminal who used to be on the FBI's Most Wanted list.
Reddington surprises everyone by turning himself in to the FBI. He offers to help them catch dangerous criminals he has known over the years. But he has one big condition: he will only work with a new FBI agent named Elizabeth Keen (played by Megan Boone). The show follows their journey as they hunt down these hidden criminals.
The Blacklist was produced by Sony Pictures Television, Universal Television, and Davis Entertainment. It aired on NBC from September 23, 2013, to July 13, 2023. The first episode was watched by over 12 million people in the United States.
During its time, The Blacklist won a Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award and was nominated for many other awards, including Golden Globe Awards. The show also led to comic books, novels, and a video game. A spin-off series, The Blacklist: Redemption, focused on the character Tom Keen and aired in 2017.
Contents
What the Show is About
Most episodes of The Blacklist feature a new global criminal. Raymond Reddington helps the FBI team find and capture these bad guys. At the start of each episode, you see the criminal's name or alias from Red's special "blacklist."
The story mainly takes place in Washington D.C., but sometimes the characters travel to other places around the world.
The First Story (Seasons 1–8)
Raymond "Red" Reddington was a former US Navy officer who disappeared for twenty years. He became one of the FBI's most wanted criminals. One day, he surrenders to FBI Assistant Director Harold Cooper in Washington, D.C.
Reddington says he wants to help the FBI catch criminals and terrorists he has met. These are people so dangerous that the government doesn't even know they exist. He offers his help on two conditions: he gets protection from being arrested for his past crimes, and he gets to work with a new FBI agent named Elizabeth Keen.
Keen and Cooper are curious why Reddington is so interested in Elizabeth. He only says she is "very special." After Cooper tests Reddington's offer, Red reveals that the criminal they caught was just the first on his "blacklist." He explains that he and the FBI both want to stop these dangerous people.
As the show goes on, hints about Reddington's and Liz's pasts are slowly revealed. Liz tries to find out about her family and why Red is so involved in her life. Red tries to keep these secrets hidden. The danger to Liz grows each season, and Reddington uses the FBI team to protect her. This part of the story ends in season 8, when Liz is sadly killed during a dangerous event. The full truth about Reddington's identity and his connection to Elizabeth is never fully explained.
The New Story (Seasons 9–10)
After Liz's death, the FBI team that worked with Cooper breaks up. Reddington leaves the country. For two years, the deal between Red and the FBI is on hold. But criminals around the world continue to cause trouble.
When a crime boss causes an explosion that nearly kills Dembe Zuma (Red's former helper who became an FBI agent), Red has to come back. At first, Red plans to retire after this criminal is stopped. But he decides to stay and manage his criminal network.
Red and Cooper agree to restart their deal. They continue to hunt down criminals on Red's "blacklist" to honor Liz. Cooper brings the old team members back together. The secrets Red kept from Liz are no longer the main focus. Now, the story is about Red, Cooper, and the agents Liz used to work with. They face new criminals and old enemies who want revenge on Red.
Later, the team faces a new challenge: a politician who thinks they are doing things outside the law. He tries to uncover their secrets. Red also starts closing down parts of his criminal empire for unknown reasons. Eventually, a legal investigation begins against the team. Cooper has to arrest Red to protect himself and his team. Reddington is never caught by them. He meets an unexpected end in Andalusia.
Main Characters
- James Spader as Raymond "Red" Reddington: A former US Navy officer who became a master criminal. He now helps the FBI as a secret helper. For many seasons, the big question was his true identity and if he was Elizabeth Keen's father. Later, he deals with traitors and old enemies.
- Megan Boone as Elizabeth "Liz" Keen (seasons 1–8): Also known as Masha Rostova. She is an FBI agent who studies criminals. She works on Harold Cooper's team. Her connection to Reddington is a big mystery in the show.
- Diego Klattenhoff as Donald Ressler: An FBI agent on Cooper's team who always follows the rules.
- Ryan Eggold as Tom Keen (seasons 1–5): Born Christopher Hargrave, he is Liz's husband and a secret agent. He used to work for Reddington.
- Parminder Nagra as Meera Malik (season 1): A field agent from the CIA who worked with Cooper's FBI team.
- Harry Lennix as Harold Cooper: The assistant director of the FBI's counter-terrorism team. He uses Reddington's help to find and stop dangerous people.
- Amir Arison as Aram Mojtabai (seasons 2–9): An FBI agent and a super smart computer expert on Cooper's team.
- Mozhan Marnò as Samar Navabi (seasons 2–6): An agent from Mossad (Israel's intelligence agency) who works with Cooper's FBI team.
- Hisham Tawfiq as Dembe Zuma (seasons 3–10): Reddington's loyal bodyguard and trusted friend. In later seasons, he becomes an FBI agent.
- Laura Sohn as Alina Park (seasons 8–9): An FBI agent who joins Cooper's team.
- Anya Banerjee as Siya Malik (season 10): Meera Malik's daughter and an intelligence officer from MI6 (British intelligence). She comes to work with Cooper's team.
How the Show Was Made
Getting Started
The idea for The Blacklist came about in 2012. Jon Bokenkamp thought of a crime show where a bad guy helps catch other bad guys. This idea was inspired by a real-life criminal, Whitey Bulger, who was found around that time.
NBC bought the rights to the series in August 2012. John Eisendrath, John Davis, and John Fox joined as executive producers. NBC ordered a test episode (called a pilot) in January 2013. Bokenkamp wrote it, and Joe Carnahan directed it.
On May 10, 2013, NBC decided to make The Blacklist a full series. It was announced that the show was NBC's best-testing drama in 10 years. The official preview trailer was released on May 12, 2013.
The first season was planned to have 13 episodes. But after the first episode got 12.3 million viewers, NBC ordered nine more episodes. This brought the first season's total to 22 episodes.
In June 2021, after season 8 ended, Jon Bokenkamp announced he would not return for future seasons. John Eisendrath became the only showrunner. However, Bokenkamp is still credited as the creator.
The production of the seventh season was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming had to stop in May 2020. The producers decided to shorten the season to 19 episodes. The last episode of season 7 was made using a mix of live-action filming and animation. This animated part was created by a visual effects company called Proof.
Filming for season 8 started again with extra COVID-19 safety measures. The series was renewed for a ninth season in January 2021. It was renewed for a tenth season in February 2022. James Spader himself announced this on The Tonight Show. On February 1, 2023, it was announced that the tenth season would be the final one for the series.
Choosing the Actors
Choosing the right actors was a challenge. For the main role of Raymond Reddington, the creators considered actors like Kiefer Sutherland and Bryan Cranston. But just three days before filming, they contacted James Spader. After talking, they felt he understood the character perfectly.
Spader wanted Reddington to be bald or have short hair and wear a hat. The producers didn't like the bald idea at first. But when Spader tried on a fedora hat during filming, everyone agreed it made Reddington look great, so they kept it. Spader said he really got into the role over the nine seasons.
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For the role of Elizabeth Keen, the producers looked for newer actors. Megan Boone heard about the role and was very excited. She prepared for a week and had many auditions before getting the part in March 2013. Eisendrath said they found "something special" about Boone. In 2015, Boone became pregnant, and this was written into the show's story for season 3. She left the show after season 8, and her character's story was concluded.
Ryan Eggold joined as Tom Keen, Elizabeth's husband, in March 2013. He left the show for the spin-off The Blacklist: Redemption but returned after it was canceled. He eventually left the main series later.
Diego Klattenhoff joined as Donald Ressler, the rule-following FBI agent, on March 13, 2013. The next day, Harry Lennix was cast as Harold Cooper, the leader of the FBI team. Lennix has been in every season and said he would be happy to continue his role for a very long time.
Parminder Nagra joined as Meera Malik, a CIA agent, in July 2013. Her character left after the first season. Years later, Anya Banerjee joined the show as Siya Malik, Meera's daughter, in season 10.
Amir Arison was promoted to a main role as Aram Mojtabai, the computer expert, after showing great skills in his first episode. He left the series after season 9, but might return for guest appearances.
Hisham Tawfiq's role as Dembe Zuma was only supposed to be a one-time appearance. But he did so well that he became a main character. He even got permission to help shape Dembe's story based on his own life experiences.
Mozhan Marnò joined the cast for the second season as Samar Navabi, an agent from Israel's intelligence agency. She left the show in the middle of season 6 but returned for a guest appearance in season 9.
Laura Sohn was promoted to a main role as Alina Park, another FBI agent, in May 2020. She left after season 9.
Two important actors sadly passed away while the show was running. Clark Middleton, who played Glen Carter (Reddington's tracker), died in 2020. The show honored him by having his character also pass away from the same illness. Brian Dennehy, who played Elizabeth's grandfather, also passed away in 2020. His character was recast with Ron Raines for story reasons.
Filming Locations
Even though the show is set in Washington, D.C., it is filmed in New York. The FBI Task Force headquarters are located at Chelsea Piers. The producers chose to film famous Washington, D.C. places like the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument because they are "iconic American locations."
All other sets are filmed in different locations in New York or in special studios. Filming one episode usually takes about nine days. Sometimes, two episodes are filmed at the same time to save time.
The series is filmed in high quality (4K resolution) using special cameras. An average of three cameras are used at once, but sometimes up to six cameras are recording. The final episode of the series was filmed in Nyack, New York, on April 24, 2023.
Other Media
Books and Comics
Titan Books released an official comic book series based on The Blacklist. The show's crew also worked on the comics. The comics introduced new criminals that were not seen in the TV series. The first comic story was called The Gambler, and the second was The Arsonist.
There were also two novels based on the series. They introduced new criminals and focused on catching them. The first novel was The Beekeeper, and the second was The Dead Ring.
Games
Mobile Game
A mobile game called The Blacklist: Conspiracy was released in June 2016 by Gameloft. Players could join the FBI team, interact with characters like Reddington and Cooper, and question suspects. The game involved finding hidden items and playing mini-games to solve cases. Players could also make choices that changed the story.
City Hunt
After Super Bowl XLIX, NBC launched a city scavenger hunt event called Red Is on the Run to Thursdays. People had to search in different cities to find a "doppelgänger" (a look-alike) of Red. The first person to find him won money. Hints were shared on Twitter and Facebook.
This competition took place from February 2 to February 5, 2015, in 25 cities across the United States. At the end, a national lottery was held where participants answered questions about a recent episode.
Spin-off Show
In March 2016, NBC started developing a spin-off series created by the same team as The Blacklist. Ryan Eggold played the main role, Tom Keen. The series followed Tom as he left Washington, D.C. for New York City. There, he uncovered secrets about his past and learned the truth about his mother, Susan Hargrave, and his father, Howard Hargrave.
Famke Janssen played Susan Hargrave, and Terry O'Quinn played Howard Hargrave. Other actors from The Blacklist also appeared. The episodes "Susan Hargrave" and "Alexander Kirk" in The Blacklist (season 3) served as a special introduction for this new series.
On May 14, 2016, NBC announced that The Blacklist: Redemption would have eight episodes. It aired on Thursdays, taking over The Blacklist's time slot when the original show was on a break. It premiered on February 23, 2017, and its last episode aired on April 13. The show was canceled after one season because it didn't get enough viewers. Ryan Eggold then returned to the main Blacklist series.
See also
In Spanish: The Blacklist para niños
