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Who hasn't binged away an embarrassing amount of time reliving the horrific experiences of other people via one of the many true crime documentaries available in the streaming era? True crime will seemingly never go out of fashion, which is good news for Netflix as the company has consistently pumped out documentaries recounting tales of murder and missing persons ever since the streamer had a mega-hit with 2015's "Making a Murderer."

This year alone, Netflixers have flocked to the tale of online dating turning deadly with "Lover, Stalker, Killer," and have binged themselves into a stupor with "What Jennifer Did" — a true crime doc that used nightmarish AI images. Now, a new obsession has arrived in the form of "American Murder: Laci Peterson." It follows 2020's "American Murder: The Family Next Door," a Netflix true crime documentary which told the harrowing story of murderer Chris Watts. This latest installment, however,...

The experience of watching Netflix‘s American Murder: Laci Peterson often feels intensely familiar.

Part of that, of course, is because the three-part docuseries from director Skye Borgman covers a very well-known true crime case. Laci Peterson was first reported missing on December 24, 2002 by her father and step-father. Eight months pregnant with her and her husband Scott Peterson’s first child, Laci was last seen the day before at a salon owned by her sister. Her body would eventually be discovered in a marshy section of a Bay Area park on April 13, 2003.

The case of Peterson’s disappearance and murder made news for a host of reasons. Laci was young, vibrant, attractive, and living the apparent American dream with a successful husband and a child on the way. Perhaps the biggest reason the Laci Peterson case came to prominence, however, is just how transparently guilty her husband Scott was of her murder.

True crime content is easily accessible no matter how you prefer to consume it.

As soon as a horrific crime has been committed, a network (usually Investigation Discovery) is chasing the story to turn it into the next big docu-hit. With little holding these networks back legally or financially, they can quickly produce compelling, detailed docuseries.

The question is: should they?

It's a complicated question, and we're not the first to ask it.

The voyeuristic obsession with some of the most unfathomable horrors that could happen to a person isn't new.

More than a century ago, people were desperate to learn new facts about the Jack the Ripper case as soon as they were revealed, and writers and publishers were happy to oblige.

There seem to be two leading schools of thought surrounding the ethics of this kind of media.

The first is that heinous crimes deserve to be brought...

Would you be able to live in the house that Chris Watts murdered his pregnant wife and two daughters in? If you have $775,000 in the bank, then the spacious Colorado home could be yours today!

Unless you have been living under a rock, then you are most likely familiar with the gruesome Watts Family history.

In August 2018, the charming Frederick, Colorado home was declared a crime scene after pregnant Shanann Watts was found strangled to death. Shanann and Chris’ daughters were also murdered.

Chris Watts’ – Former Colorado Home For Sale

Eventually, Chris Watts stood trial for his family’s murders and was found guilty. The trial was heavily covered by the media and social media.

Watts’ motive was horrific, he apparently had a mistress and decided he wanted to be with her, and had to make his wife and kids “go away” so he could have his happily ever after.

Key art for ABC News Studios’ ‘The Interrogation Tapes’

ABC News Studios is adding the new true-crime documentary series The Interrogation Tapes: A Special Edition of 20/20 to ABC’s primetime lineup in April 2024. The series, premiering on April 1st, will delve into recent criminal cases, focusing on interrogations conducted in each specific case. New one-hour episodes will air on Mondays at 10pm Et/Pt.

The series is executive produced by Janice Johnston, Eamon Mcniff, Remy Weber, and ABC News Studios’ David Solan. Lisa Soloway serves as executive editorial producer.

“The Interrogation Tapes: A Special Edition of 20/20 [is] a new true-crime docuseries looking at some of the most compelling criminal cases in recent history through the lens of interrogations, unveiling the tricks of the trade detectives use to coax confessions from suspects. As the stories unfold, experts in the science and tactics of interrogations, along with ABC News legal correspondents Ryan Smith,...

Get ready for a gripping episode of “Killer Performance” as Season 1 Episode 3, titled “Chris Watts,” airs at 9:00 Pm on Monday, February 19, 2024, on Reelz. This installment delves into the chilling case of Chris Watts, who presented himself as the epitome of a loving family man while hiding a sinister truth.

To the outside world, Chris Watts appeared to have it all together, portraying himself as a devoted husband and father. However, when his family mysteriously vanished, his facade began to unravel. Despite his public appeals for their safe return, Watts was concealing a dark secret that would shock the nation.

Join “Killer Performance” as it unravels the complexities of this tragic case, exploring the chilling events that led to the disappearance of Watts’ family and the shocking truth that ultimately came to light. Through interviews, archival footage, and expert analysis, viewers will gain insight into the disturbing psychology behind Watts’ actions.

Nature documentaries, true crime, even controversial stories of child-sexual abuse — they all need music, and this television season offered composers of varied backgrounds supplying outstanding scores.

“Really, you’re writing a concerto for dialogue,” says Michael Abels (“Get Out”), whose firstever doc assignment was the HBO series “Allen v. Farrow,” which outlined the case against Woody Allen, whose adopted daughter Dylan Farrow has accused the director of abusing her at age 7.

Most of the music in “Allen v. Farrow” supports the “reporting” segments. “Music helps us hear that part of the story, giving it momentum and direction,” says Abels, who enlisted a 40-member string ensemble to record and perform from Budapest.

The occasional clarinet solo, and ’30s- and ’40s-style big-band numbers, reminded viewers of Allen’s own musical tastes and Manhattan jazz-club performances.

The most sensitive material, however, went unscored. “When you see a little girl talking about what happened,...

Discovery U.K. is undergoing a major restructure that will see the company expand focus on streamer Discovery Plus, which was launched last year.

Discovery’s linear channel teams will be merged with those of the streamer — a move that could result in a 10% cull of its 100-strong U.K. work force. Should the headcount reduce, it is not immediately clear which departments will be affected.

The plans were revealed by Discovery executive VP James Gibbons in a virtual town hall with employees on Thursday.

As part of the restructuring senior VP and head of lifestyle and entertainment brands Clare Laycock will take additional charge of Discovery’s program planning, media planning, and audience measurement teams under the title senior VP planning, lifestyle and entertainment head of content.

Discovery head of factual and sports Simon Downing will also be in charge of linear and digital marketing and communications, and creative services,...

Channel 4 Visits ‘Murder Island’

Channel 4 has commissioned Stv Studios, the producer behind BBC crime drama The Victim, to make genre-bending immersive competition format Murder Island. The six-part series blends factual entertainment and crime drama by asking members of the public to play detective in a murder mystery penned by a yet-to-be-announced major crime writer. They will have one nail-biting week to compete to find out if they’ve got what it takes to solve a murder. The series was developed by Stv Studios’ creative director for factual, Craig Hunter; director of development Lucy Hazzard; and executive producer Jonathan Smith. Executive producers are Hunter, Smith, Sara Evans, and David Clews, who also directs. Motion Content Group co-produces with Melanie Darlaston executive producing. Murder Island is funded from Channel 4’s Contestable Pot – a ring-fenced fund to find innovative, channel-defining formats.

Breaking Through The Lens Unveils 2021 Plans

Exclusive: Breaking Through The Lens,...

In today’s Global Bulletin, BBC Sport plans a week of content dedicated to International Women’s Day, Nent Studios U.K. closes several deals for “Manhunt II: The Night Stalker,” Discovery orders more “Faking It” in the U.K., and “Weakest Link” gets an new Australian adaptation.

International Women’S Day

BBC Sport will dedicate the week of March 8 to broadcasting content promoting International Women’s Day, March 11.

Kicking off the coverage, Serena Williams will feature in a specially recorded video reciting Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If.” Later in the day, results will be shared from the BBC Sport’s Global Prize Money Study, which examines the difference in prize money awarded between men and women’s sports.

Key interviews broadcasting during the week include British Olympic cyclist Elinor Barker MBE and New Zealand track cyclist Kirstie James; teenage swimmer Ellie Challis, who lost her limbs to Meningitis at...

This The Little Things analysis contains spoilers. Read our spoiler-free review here.

The Little Things can be seen as a tainted police procedural with its murky ambiguity and troubling ending. But it’s also the story of a man for whom the allure of a charismatic serial killer goes too far. After all, serial killers make up less than one percent of homicides but they average a double-digit percentage of Hollywood crime films, and probably a majority of prison fan mail. What is it about these one-percenters we love so much?

Directed by John Lee Hancock, the supposed sociopath in The Little Things is Albert Sparma, a drifter who works as a repairman. Jared Leto is certainly magnetic in the part, serving Sparma up with a now-stereotypical “charismatic serial killer” vibe. But the Oscar-winning actor also brings an ambiguous energy to the part, suggesting he may merely be a serial killer groupie.

Exclusive: Lifetime has set airdates for its Winter 2021 slate of five films, including its 400th original movie. The theme of the bundle is Ripped from the Headlines, a catch-all for the true crime films that will air every Saturday night beginning Feb. 13 through March 13.

Kicking off the quintet of movies will be Death Saved My Life on February 13, starring Meagan Good. That will be followed by Lifetime’s 400th original movie premiere, The Long Island Serial Killer: A Mother’s Hunt for Justice starring Kim Delaney on February 20.

Judd Nelson, Joely Fisher and Stefanie Scott star in Girl in the Basement the week following on February 27. Diane Neal leads Circle of Deception on March 6, and Stephanie March leads A House On Fire on March 13. Both films were inspired by works from New York Time’s best-selling crime writer Ann Rule.

As part of Lifetime’s Broader Focus initiative supporting the...

YouTube creator Bailey Sarian has signed with talent agency WME for representation in all areas.

Sarian takes a novel approach on her channel, which merges two popular and unlikely verticals: beauty tutorials and true crime. To this end, the 31-year-old created an ongoing series dubbed Murder, Mystery and Makeup in Jan. 2019, where she explores, for instance, West Virginia’s infamous Mothman while putting on a full face of makeup (see below).

While Sarian started out as more of a traditional beauty creator in 2013, she has said that Murder, Mystery and Makeup was initially inspired by her fascination with the Chris Watts case. (Watts is currently serving three life sentences for murdering his wife and two daughters). Today, her channel has amassed 2.9 million subscribers, and she’s clocking roughly 30 million monthly views -- largely thanks to her unique, crime-infused take on the space, though she does post non-crime-related beauty videos as well.

Exclusive: Lifetime has lined up the next movie in its Ripped from the Headlines franchise, Girl in the Basement. The film, inspired by actual events of a young woman imprisoned in her family home, stars Stefanie Scott (Insidious: The Last Key), Judd Nelson (St. Elmo’s Fire) and Joely Fisher (9-1-1).

Elisabeth Röhm, who headlined Lifetime’s 2019 movie Family Pictures, is making her directorial debut with Girl in the Basement as part of the network’s Broader Focus initiative. Manu Boyer, who directed Röhm in Family Pictures, will guide Röhm through her first steps as a director. Röhm will also make a cameo in the movie, produced by Big Dreams Entertainment and Swirl for Lifetime, which has started filming in Atlanta for a 2021 debut. (You can see a photo from the set above.)

“We believe in Elisabeth and know her craft as an actress will be invaluable as she...

The latest buzzy Netflix documentary tells the story of Chris Watts who murdered his pregnant wife Shanann and their two daughters Celeste and Bella. In this doc we hear the 911 call from Shanann’s friend Nickole Atkinson the morning of her death and the police footage of the moments they arrived at the house to find a frantic Nickole and later a very cagey Chris Watts. We see the last text messages Shanann sent and the last moments her daughters were alive. And we see Chris Watts lying about Shanann and their kids’ disappearance mere hours after he had killed them all. It is tough.

Streaming services are packed to the rafters with murder documentaries, while true crime seems to be an ever increasing preoccupation. From the internet sleuths of Don’t F**k With Cats, questions about the American legal system in Making A Murderer to the shocking self-incrimination...

"All materials in this film were captured by police, media or uploaded to the internet. Personal footage and messages were also provided by Shanann's family and friends." That is the message that kicks off Netflix's documentary American Murder: The Family Next Door. Released Sept. 30, the 83-minute film examines the disappearance of Shanann Watts and her children that made national headlines in 2018. Many people know the tragic story that followed: Her husband Chris Watts confessed to murdering his then-15-weeks-pregnant wife and two daughters, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3. But the events leading up to the gruesome crime are more devastating than ever imagined.  After pleading...

(Spoiler alert: Do not read on if you don’t want to know what happens in Netflix’s “American Murder.”)

On Aug. 13, 2018, Chris Watts murdered his pregnant wife Shanann and his two daughters, four-year-old Bella and three-year-old Celeste. Yet, it would take three months for him to tell authorities the true story of what transpired that night.

“American Murder: The Family Next Door” is Netflix’s newest true-crime doc that tells the story of the Watts family murders through body-cam footage, home videos, text messages, social media posts and interrogation room footage.

From the time Shanann Watts and her daughters disappear, authorities and friends became aware that Chris Watts was not the man he made himself out to be. And that he wasn’t always truthful in his marriage to Shanann, whom he’d been married to since in 2012.

See below for 9 most shocking revelations from the documentary, hitting Netflix on Wednesday.

Shanann Watts appeared to be fighting for her marriage up until she was murdered by her husband Chris Watts. Just a couple of weeks after the first trailer for American Murder: The Family Next Door was released, Netflix has a new sneak peek that sheds more light on a true crime that captivated the nation. In a sneak preview released Sept. 29, viewers can read text messages and letters Shanann sent to her husband weeks before her death.  "I miss and love you so much," she shared in a text after learning she was expecting their third child together. "I am still in shock we are having a little boy! I'm so excited and happy! Thank you for letting me hold you this morning, it felt good! Your...

On August 15, 2018, Chris Watts confessed to killing his pregnant wife Shan’ann, but said he did it in a fit of rage after she strangled their children in response to his request for separation. A few days later, he admitted the lie and confessed that he also killed their two young daughters. In between, all hell broke loose. The Colorado drama made national headlines, and for a few days Shan’ann became the focal point for a particular set of news-obsessed freaks who thought nothing of tearing apart a dead woman’s reputation because a) social media made it easy and b) her husband did the same thing.

Jenny Popplewell’s slickly made “American Murder: The Family Next Door” only spends a few minutes analyzing those awful days when people and pundits took to TV and the internet to announce that Shan’ann deserved to be killed, but her true-crime...

Lifetime TV airs Chris Watts: Confessions of a Killer tonight. But the broadcast comes amid controversy over whether the film blames Chris’ murdered wife Shanann rather than Watts himself. Following the movie, a documentary special on what the network calls the Watts Family Tragedy will air. It’s the “Me Too” era, where women are finding their voices. But as the […]...