Dateline

There is no reason each of these cases requires a 2 hour show. Two hours for a special? Sure. Is every episode a special? Hell no. The same cases are thoroughly covered in other series/TV shows in 1 hour or less. Cut out the BS interviews with friends and relatives answering low-brow questions like, "Were you sad when you found out they were dead?", or, "Did you feel relieved when the perpetrator was caught?" These are duhhh questions and answers that offer no added perspective to the story, only a drawn out episode with fading attention from the viewer. I would rather watch the same crime case on another program and get the same information without my back hurting from sitting so long.

I watch each and every episode of "Dateline NBC". I love all reporters and news people who talk and tell the stories. Of course the best is Mr. Morrison but the rest of them are all good and they really work hard. ONLY i have one thing to say. That lady Andrea, she needs to learn to correct the tone of her voice. A reporter is supposed to talk the way to attract people's interest. This lady has an annoying tone. Her voice goes up and down with no reason. You raise your voice when the story is in such mood. You dont talk the same tone all the time no matter what subject matter is your subject. Please change it. I like you and this feedback is just to help you being more successful.

I love a great podcast and Dateline is a great one! I don't have the time to sit and watch the broadcast but I'll listen to the podcast all day. Andrea Canning's singsong voice and absolutely stupid interview questions makes my ears bleed, though. How she's still interviewing people is beyond me. I skip all of the Andrea Canning episodes. But I love Keith Morrison and Josh Mankiewicz. They are great narrators and interviewers.

I understand the frustration with the subscription cost and I'll probably get rid of it, especially since the other podcasts I was promised are only a few episodes long.

Dateline just isn't the same as it used to be. And why do they show the hosts profiles?? This is irritating, I don't want to see the side of their faces!

Dateline is predictable in the best way: I know it's going to be well produced and interesting, if necessarily uneven. That said:

1) First, high praise: What I like most about Dateline (and other crime shows) is that vast majority of people we meet in any given episode are good people. There's always a murderer or two, but they're the exception. The rest-- survivors, witnesses, prosecutors and most cops-- are truth-seekers in search of justice. (I forgive the defense lawyers because they're doing a necessary job). Ultimately, far from being a condemnation of humanity, Dateline proves that most of us are honorable.

2) This bugs me. Common to many, if not most, episodes is a phrase like "Stuff like that never happens here." Give it up, guys. Obviously homicides can happen anywhere-- especially the murders that Dateline specializes in, which involve family dysfunction and/or sociopaths.

3) Could someone please ask Andrea Canning to tone down her sing-song delivery; it undermines the gravity of the subject matter. She speaks like a normal adult when she's interviewing people, but her voice-over narration sounds like she's reading "Goodnight, Moon" to a four-year-old.

4) I'd also appreciate it if the women being interviewed weren't coiffed and slathered in make-up. A significant number have also had significant plastic surgery without significant success. So while the men are allowed to age gracefully, the women are often one whorl of hair away from looking grotesque.

5) The series was better at one hour. Expanded to two hours, we get a lot of filler interviewing survivors about what the victim was like, which becomes repetitive and sentimental. It works best as a procedural-- like "Law and Order," but more powerful because it is history, not fiction.