# The Division
**The Division** is the name of two unrelated entertainment properties: an American police drama television series that aired on Lifetime from 2001 to 2004, and a [Tom Clancy](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-clancy)-branded video game franchise published by Ubisoft beginning in 2016.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| TV series | Lifetime ensemble drama about female San Francisco police detectives, created by Deborah Joy LeVine, premiered January 2001[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jan-06-ca-8894-story.html) |
| TV run | 2001–2004[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0272376/fullcredits/) |
| TV lead cast | Bonnie Bedelia, Nancy McKeon, Tracey Needham, Lisa Vidal, and Lela Rochon Fuqua[3](https://www.nexttv.com/news/division-slave-gender-133509) |
| Game franchise | Tom Clancy's The Division (2016) and The Division 2 (2019), open-world shooters published by Ubisoft[4](https://time.com/4205964/the-division-preview/) • [5](https://time.com/5552303/division-2-review/) |
| Game setting | A pandemic tied to a Black Friday event collapses society; players act as agents of the Strategic Homeland Division[4](https://time.com/4205964/the-division-preview/) |
| Franchise status | The Division 3 announced in development in 2023; series executive producer Julian Gerighty left Ubisoft for EA in 2025[6](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/with-the-division-3-still-in-early-development-series-boss-julian-gerighty-leaves-ubisoft-to-work-on-battlefield-instead/) |
## The television series (2001–2004)
*The Division* was a Lifetime ensemble drama following four female homicide detectives and their captain in the [San Francisco Police Department](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-francisco-police-department). It was created by Deborah Joy LeVine, previously the force behind *Lois and Clark* and *Any Day Now*, and went through several working titles before broadcast: *City Lights*, *Shades of Blue*, and *Hearts of the City*[7](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jan-05-ca-8454-story.html). LeVine said she had long wanted to create a show about female police officers, inspired by *Cagney & Lacey*, and framed it as a way to show how far women had progressed in society[7](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jan-05-ca-8454-story.html).
**Cast and characters.** [Bonnie Bedelia](https://www.edgepedia.org/bonnie-bedelia) played Capt. Kate McCafferty, the head of the station, given a volatile relationship with her grown daughter and an affair with a much younger district attorney. Her squad consisted of Inspectors Jinny Exstead ([Nancy McKeon](https://www.edgepedia.org/nancy-mckeon)), a detective struggling with alcohol and other addictions; Candace "C.D." De Lorenzo (Tracey Needham), a tough veteran; Angela Reide (Lela Rochon Fuqua); and Magdalena "Magda" Ramirez ([Lisa Vidal](https://www.edgepedia.org/lisa-vidal))[3](https://www.nexttv.com/news/division-slave-gender-133509) • [7](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jan-05-ca-8454-story.html). Fuqua's real-life pregnancy was written into Angela Reide's storyline[7](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jan-05-ca-8454-story.html). In the second half of the first season, after the character Peter left the Division, Magda was paired with Jinny Exstead[8](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-division/details/).
**Production context.** The series aired as Lifetime, a women's cable network, was building its slate of original dramas; the network had become the most watched cable network in prime time in 2001 with an average of 1.58 million households[9](https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/lotz/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2014/02/CSMC-ADN.pdf). The show ran from 2001 to 2004[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0272376/fullcredits/).
**Reception.** Critical response to the premiere was mixed. The Los Angeles Times review called the show conventional, criticizing a weak script and hackneyed situations while crediting Lisa Vidal and Bonnie Bedelia with the most favorable impressions[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jan-06-ca-8894-story.html). A Multichannel News review argued the producers had not thought past the premise of an all-female cast, while praising the cast's potential[3](https://www.nexttv.com/news/division-slave-gender-133509). A later Los Angeles Times profile positioned the series as taking up where *Cagney & Lacey* left off[7](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jan-05-ca-8454-story.html).
## The video game franchise (2016–present)
**Tom Clancy's The Division** is an open-world third-person shooter with role-playing game progression, developed by Ubisoft and launched in 2016 for PC, PlayStation 4, and [Xbox One](https://www.edgepedia.org/xbox-one)[4](https://time.com/4205964/the-division-preview/). The premise places players as agents of the Strategic Homeland Division activated after a pandemic, tied to a Black Friday event, collapses society; developers described narrative themes of lawlessness and the corruption of power[4](https://time.com/4205964/the-division-preview/). The game brought the RPG into a modern military setting for the first time, according to its [PlayStation](https://www.edgepedia.org/playstation) listing, which also notes online play requirements and support for up to 24 online players with PS Plus[10](https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/tom-clancys-the-division/).
**The Division 2**, released in 2019, moved the setting to Washington, D.C., where the city is at risk of collapse after the Strategic Homeland Division HQ goes dark; reviewers noted its detailed reconstruction of real museums and landmarks such as the [National Air and Space Museum](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-air-and-space-museum) and the American History Museum[5](https://time.com/5552303/division-2-review/).
**Franchise direction.** In 2023 Ubisoft announced that *The Division 3* was in development and named Julian Gerighty, who had moved to Ubisoft Massive in 2014 and worked on *The Division*, *The Division 2*, and *Star Wars Outlaws*, as executive producer of the franchise[6](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/with-the-division-3-still-in-early-development-series-boss-julian-gerighty-leaves-ubisoft-to-work-on-battlefield-instead/). Gerighty left Ubisoft for EA's Battlefield team in 2025, with *The Division 3* still in early development at that time[6](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/with-the-division-3-still-in-early-development-series-boss-julian-gerighty-leaves-ubisoft-to-work-on-battlefield-instead/). Ubisoft also released *The Division: Definitive Edition*, a bundle priced at $49.99 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC, without new content or current-gen graphical updates[11](https://www.techradar.com/gaming/no-ubisoft-did-actually-announce-the-division-definitive-edition-but-no-one-saw-it-and-its-not-a-remake-or-remaster-like-fans-expected).
## Distinguishing the two
The two properties share only a name. The television series is a character-driven police procedural about women working homicide in San Francisco, produced for a cable network whose audience was built on women's programming[3](https://www.nexttv.com/news/division-slave-gender-133509) • [9](https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/lotz/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2014/02/CSMC-ADN.pdf). The game franchise is a cooperative shooter set in a collapsed United States, in which players fight criminal factions rather than investigate crimes; reviewers have noted its avoidance of politics and real-world social questions in its storytelling[12](https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/27/the-division-2-is-the-brain-dead-antipolitical-gun-mongering-vigilante-simulator-we-deserve/).
## References
1. ['Division' Doesn't Add Up to Much, Los Angeles Times (January 6, 2001)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jan-06-ca-8894-story.html)
2. [The Division (2001–2004) Full cast & crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0272376/fullcredits/)
3. [The Division a Slave to Gender, Multichannel News (January 8, 2001)](https://www.nexttv.com/news/division-slave-gender-133509)
4. [8 Things We Just Learned from Playing The Division, Time (2016)](https://time.com/4205964/the-division-preview/)
5. [Review: The Division 2 Is a Worthy Successor, Time (2019)](https://time.com/5552303/division-2-review/)
6. [With The Division 3 still in early development, series boss Julian Gerighty leaves Ubisoft, PC Gamer (2025)](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/with-the-division-3-still-in-early-development-series-boss-julian-gerighty-leaves-ubisoft-to-work-on-battlefield-instead/)
7. ['Division' Takes Up Where 'Cagney & Lacey' Left Off, Los Angeles Times (January 5, 2001)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jan-05-ca-8454-story.html)
8. [The Division details, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-division/details/)
9. [A. D. Lotz, Lifetime Television and the development of original series](https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/lotz/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2014/02/CSMC-ADN.pdf)
10. [Tom Clancy's The Division, PlayStation Store listing](https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/tom-clancys-the-division/)
11. [Ubisoft announced The Division: Definitive Edition, TechRadar (2025)](https://www.techradar.com/gaming/no-ubisoft-did-actually-announce-the-division-definitive-edition-but-no-one-saw-it-and-its-not-a-remake-or-remaster-like-fans-expected)
12. [The Division 2 review, TechCrunch (2019)](https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/27/the-division-2-is-the-brain-dead-antipolitical-gun-mongering-vigilante-simulator-we-deserve/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Genre and subject-scripted series › Crime, police, and detective series › American crime series*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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