Word: specializations
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Rivera, network TV's original advocacy reporter, is riding high. After getting dumped from ABC's 20/20 in 1985, Rivera started an improbable comeback by opening Al Capone's long-sealed vault on live TV. The cupboard was bare, but ratings were huge, and Rivera followed up with melodramatic specials on such topics as drugs and death row, as well as with a daytime talk show. This week he returns to network TV with a two-hour special on NBC, Devil Worship: Exposing Satan's Underground. The sometimes graphic show dwells on criminals purportedly influenced by satanic beliefs, among them...
There's more, lots more. A string of ABC specials in coming weeks will focus on people who have committed mayhem against those they love (Crimes of Passion), efforts by law enforcement officials to catch parole violators (Trackdown) and "infamous events that have shocked a nation" (Scandals). The Secret Identity of Jack the Ripper, a syndicated special airing this week, presents new clues on the Victorian bad guy, while Who Murdered J.F.K.? claims to offer new evidence of an assassination conspiracy. In the meantime, Morton Downey Jr. shouts down guests nightly on his talk show; a parade of lesbian mothers...
Still, once sex and violence start drawing ratings, the slope can be slippery. NBC is the only network not to have a weekly hour of news programming in prime time; yet it had no trouble finding two hours for Geraldo's devil special (being produced under the auspices of the entertainment division, not news). TV's new fascination with real-life crime, moreover, has the whiff of pandering. The correspondents on 60 Minutes have been called prosecutorial, but they at least come armed with sheaves of evidence. The hot-button journalists of The Reporters and other tabloid shows pursue their...
...strands of human complexity can be found on this seamy beat. The new syndicated show On Trial, featuring footage from actual court cases, has drawn criticism for turning courtroom proceedings into entertainment. Yet the trial excerpts are gripping and ambiguous as only real life can be. And a syndicated special airing on local stations this month, Crimes of Violence, probes disturbingly into the psychology of several confessed criminals. The shock is how calmly detached from their acts many of these "brutal" offenders are. One soft-spoken rapist, pressed to show remorse for his crimes, responds at last...
...Conal Murray (Sandy) and Beth Norman (Jackie), these special moments never come. Both actors display little or no genuine emotion, use English accents which frequently fade and have difficulties speaking clearly...