The First 48

Overview

The First 48 follows detectives from around the country during these first critical hours as they race against time to find the suspect. Gritty and fast-paced, it takes viewers behind the scenes of real-life investigations with unprecedented access to crime scenes, autopsies, forensic processing, and interrogations.

Status

Returning Series

Seasons

30 seasons

Episodes

608 episodes

First aired

Jun 3, 2004

Last aired

Aug 13, 2026

Episode length

45m

Network

A&E

1. 

   Season 1

   13 episodes Jun 3, 2004 ★ 9.0
2. 

   Season 2

   13 episodes Jan 6, 2005
3. 

   Season 3

   12 episodes Oct 5, 2005 ★ 1.0
4. 

   Season 4

   19 episodes Jun 14, 2006 ★ 0.5
5. 

   Season 5

   13 episodes Jan 18, 2007
6. 

   Season 6

   17 episodes Jul 11, 2007
7. 

   Season 7

   32 episodes Jan 9, 2008
8. 

   Season 8

   15 episodes Jan 1, 2009
9. 

   Season 9

   13 episodes Jun 16, 2009
10. 

    Season 10

    29 episodes Jan 14, 2010
11. 

    Season 11

    39 episodes Sep 30, 2010
12. 

    Season 12

    32 episodes Dec 8, 2011
13. 

    Season 13

    36 episodes Mar 6, 2013
14. 

    Season 14

    39 episodes Jun 17, 2014
15. 

    Season 15

    29 episodes Nov 5, 2015
16. 

    Season 16

    22 episodes Dec 1, 2016 ★ 6.1
17. 

    Season 17

    28 episodes Oct 19, 2017
18. 

    Season 18

    18 episodes Jan 10, 2019 ★ 10.0
19. 

    Season 19

    54 episodes Jan 1, 2020
20. 

    Season 20

    23 episodes Oct 20, 2021 ★ 1.0
21. 

    Season 21

    19 episodes Nov 2, 2022
22. 

    Season 22

    8 episodes Sep 20, 2023
23. 

    Season 23

    10 episodes Jan 1, 2024
24. 

    Season 24

    9 episodes May 29, 2024
25. 

    Season 25

    9 episodes Jan 1, 2025
26. 

    Season 26

    9 episodes May 30, 2024
27. 

    Season 27

    12 episodes Jan 1, 2025
28. 

    Season 28

    12 episodes Jun 12, 2025
29. 

    Season 29

    19 episodes Jan 1, 2026 ★ 7.0
30. 

    Season 30

    7 episodes Jul 17, 2026
31. 

    Specials

    31 episodes May 11, 2011