Parents' Guide to Manhunters: Fugitive Task Force

Like many actual police investigations, Manhunters features plenty of mundane incidents punctuated by brief moments of real danger. The series shows commander Lenny DePaul, deputies Tommy Kilbride and Michelle Mendez, and other members of the team at work, pounding the streets, asking questions, scanning computer databases, and doing other important (if sometimes unexciting) tasks. As they proceed, the marshals offer plenty of explanation about their basic investigative techniques, which provides interesting insights into this rarely seen world and makes the segments more interesting to watch. The team often interacts with other law enforcement agencies, showing the extensive resources that can be brought to bear on finding a single person. Despite the many fictional films and TV shows that feature people evading capture on the run, the reality show version makes it clear that the odds are heavily against the fugitive.

But that doesn't make it any easier to bring them in. Oncethe marshals locate their quarry, they have to actually capture them. When the team is suited up in body armor, guns drawn, waiting in a hallway and ready to burst through some anonymous doorway, it's obvious that these are real people performing a really dangerous job. It may be too intense for younger viewers, but teens and adults with a taste for this topic will find it interesting.