Torn from the Headlines: The New York Post Reports

Over the past couple of years I've become a fan of true crime shows, but unfortunately a lot of the offerings in this genre suffer from extremely low production values, especially when it comes to dramatizations. So with a name like "Torn from the Headlines..." I didn't have a lot of hope for this one.

But if the first two episodes are any indication, this is much better than the average true crime show. The stories are compelling and well told. The interviewees (including numerous Post employees) are intelligent and well spoken. And, best of all, the dramatizations are simply used to illustrate the story, instead of as a cheesy replacement for substantive interviews.

From the name, I expected tabloid schlock, but after the first couple of episodes this looks like it could be as interesting of a series as "Dateline: Secrets Uncovered" and "Reasonable Doubt" (IOW, the opposite of "Betrayed").

Hard to rate this one versus other TV shows in general since that's highly dependent on the viewer's interest in the genre, but as true crime shows go the first two episodes are a solid 9 out of 10. This is from someone with absolutely no affiliation with the show itself, nor with the NY Post.

Almost all the ID shows spend most of the airtime interviewing the victims' family, boyfriends, girlfriends, mailman, milkman, maid, dog...you get the picture. The women among the above lot never miss a brushstroke on their make up, and try really hard to contain their tears in front of the camera. Everyone says the victim was a fallen angel, who "loved life" and "lit up any room they walked into". The actual detective work get less than 15 minutes screen time, and the culprits are often family members or loved ones who brag to others and get caught.

This show is better in the way that it has less tears and whining. Although the detective work ain't exactly "Forensic Files" worthy, it's watchable and gets about half the screen time. Hearing the quintessential NY accent adds some flavor.

7/10.