Since its debut in 2006, BET’s groundbreaking documentary program AMERICAN GANGSTER has earned a rare mix of critical praise and popular acclaim. Now in its third season, this series of one-hour episodes reflects the life and times of American criminals, and how their actions have affected the public at large, and the Black community in particular.

Drawing the highest viewer ratings of any series debut on the network, AMERICAN GANGSTER has garnered several citations for its overall quality and depth of purpose, culminating in its recent nomination for a 2007 NAACP Image Award.

The stories in AMERICAN GANGSTER are told from the street, utilizing first-person accounts from everyday citizens, community leaders, law enforcement officials, social historians, crime victims, and associates and intimates of the subjects themselves. These are gritty urban tales whose effects ripple far and wide, sometimes ascending to the highest levels of government.

Part biography, part social history, AMERICAN GANGSTER neither glamorizes nor air brushes the grim acts and consequences of criminal behavior, but provides a detailed view of the social and historic circumstances which surround it - a view rarely provided amid the oft-sensationalized treatment of crime-related issues on television.

Combining high production values with original and archival interviews, rarely seen historic footage and old fashioned investigative reporting – and with absolutely no ‘re-creations’ - BET's AMERICAN GANGSTER is a crime series without the con - true reality TV.