Tonight (Sunday) On I.D. Network - Dating Game Murderer

Pearlee · ‎06-11-2011

According to our newspaper, there are two shows on the I.D. network about the serial killer (perhaps the most prolific in US history) who was a photographer and was also a contestant on the Dating Game (a show which I well remember). The first program is an I.D. reenactment show beginning at 8:00 pm ET. Following that according to our paper is another show about the real killer. I'm going to be watching those. This murderer hasn't gotten as much publicity as some of the other rehashes lately about famous murderers.

CareBears · ‎08-30-2015

@Pearlee I have already set this one up to record, saw it advertised last week, thanks for the reminder!

CareBears · ‎08-30-2015

@Pearlee I know I had never heard of this killer before?

Pearlee · ‎06-11-2011

@CareBears wrote:
@Pearlee I know I had never heard of this killer before?

@CareBears I know of this case and remember when it happened (although I do not remember this guy's particular appearance on th Dating Game, which I always watched in its first TV run). The guy was a photographer and lured women out alone with him to the middle of the desert promising to make them models or some such thing and they never came back from those photo shoots.

NickNack · ‎03-10-2010

I remember when that happened. I don't remember a lot about it though. I just set up my Tivo to record it. Thanks for letting us know about this @Pearlee.

The Bluebird Carries The Sky On His Back"
-Henry David Thoreau

sabatini · ‎06-29-2015

I wish I hadn't seen this case before, but it was either Dateline or 48 Hours that did a 2 hour episode on him years ago. Probably the latter.

Quite a few of the investigative shows profile the same things, and I'm always disappointed when something 'new' really isn't.

Muddling through...

Pearlee · ‎06-11-2011

@sabatini wrote:
I wish I hadn't seen this case before, but it was either Dateline or 48 Hours that did a 2 hour episode on him years ago. Probably the latter.

Quite a few of the investigative shows profile the same things, and I'm always disappointed when something 'new' really isn't.

In the show last night, it said 48 HRs. had done the story before. A woman looked at the photos found in this guy's storage locker that 48 HRS. had posted on its website when it did the show, and she was able to find her deceased sister that he'd murdered, from looking at the photos on the site.

My comments: I didn't care for the first show much. The acting was terrible (esp. the main deceased girl's mother), the actor playing Alcala didn't look anything like him and I didn't care for the flashback format. Interesting that the show focused on the pedophile aspect of Alcala and they focused on his girl victims, whereas as I remember this case there were plenty of young women (not minors) victims who were lured into thinking he'd photograph them for modeling jobs. The first show focused almost solely on the underage victims, whereas the second show indicated more of both, although the focus was still on the one young blong girl who was murdered after Alcala saw her playing at the beach.

I really did like the second show a lot, about the real guy and the real victims (real names were used, unlike the victims in the first show). Excellent show.

Would be interested in others' opinions who watched the shows too.

Mz iMac · ‎07-26-2014

@Pearlee

Your review/synopsis was spot on!

"Never argue with a fool. Onlookers may not be able to tell the difference."

software · ‎06-08-2016

@Pearlee wrote:
@sabatini wrote:
I wish I hadn't seen this case before, but it was either Dateline or 48 Hours that did a 2 hour episode on him years ago. Probably the latter.

Quite a few of the investigative shows profile the same things, and I'm always disappointed when something 'new' really isn't.

In the show last night, it said 48 HRs. had done the story before. A woman looked at the photos found in this guy's storage locker that 48 HRS. had posted on its website when it did the show, and she was able to find her deceased sister that he'd murdered, from looking at the photos on the site.

My comments: I didn't care for the first show much. The acting was terrible (esp. the main deceased girl's mother), the actor playing Alcala didn't look anything like him and I didn't care for the flashback format. Interesting that the show focused on the pedophile aspect of Alcala and they focused on his girl victims, whereas as I remember this case there were plenty of young women (not minors) victims who were lured into thinking he'd photograph them for modeling jobs. The first show focused almost solely on the underage victims, whereas the second show indicated more of both, although the focus was still on the one young blong girl who was murdered after Alcala saw her playing at the beach.

I really did like the second show a lot, about the real guy and the real victims (real names were used, unlike the victims in the first show). Excellent show.

Would be interested in others' opinions who watched the shows too.

I have a different view. I love Carrie Preston, who played the 12 year old's mom. She was the one bright spot in the show.

I thought the first show was an accurate depiction. If you go to Rolling Stone, you can see the original clip from The Dating Game. The actor looks very much like the real killer. The actor who played the host looks nothing like Jim Lange!

Different strokes!

I didn't watch the 2nd.

Pearlee · ‎06-11-2011

@software wrote:
@Pearlee wrote:
@sabatini wrote:
I wish I hadn't seen this case before, but it was either Dateline or 48 Hours that did a 2 hour episode on him years ago. Probably the latter.

Quite a few of the investigative shows profile the same things, and I'm always disappointed when something 'new' really isn't.

In the show last night, it said 48 HRs. had done the story before. A woman looked at the photos found in this guy's storage locker that 48 HRS. had posted on its website when it did the show, and she was able to find her deceased sister that he'd murdered, from looking at the photos on the site.

My comments: I didn't care for the first show much. The acting was terrible (esp. the main deceased girl's mother), the actor playing Alcala didn't look anything like him and I didn't care for the flashback format. Interesting that the show focused on the pedophile aspect of Alcala and they focused on his girl victims, whereas as I remember this case there were plenty of young women (not minors) victims who were lured into thinking he'd photograph them for modeling jobs. The first show focused almost solely on the underage victims, whereas the second show indicated more of both, although the focus was still on the one young blong girl who was murdered after Alcala saw her playing at the beach.

I really did like the second show a lot, about the real guy and the real victims (real names were used, unlike the victims in the first show). Excellent show.

Would be interested in others' opinions who watched the shows too.

I have a different view. I love Carrie Preston, who played the 12 year old's mom. She was the one bright spot in the show.

I thought the first show was an accurate depiction. If you go to Rolling Stone, you can see the original clip from The Dating Game. The actor looks very much like the real killer. The actor who played the host looks nothing like Jim Lange!

Different strokes!

I didn't watch the 2nd.

@software They showed a clip from the real Dating Game on the second show last night, and I thought the actor in the first show looked nothing like the real Alcala. The real guy, years ago, was fairly handsome; the actor was definitely not.