Murder in Small Town X

I remembered this from my teenage years. Basically a show made during what I like to call "the time reality shows were big", this is another one of Fox's failed attempts to get in on the action (until the got a hit with the first incarnation of American Idol).

The premise is this: In the town of Sunrise, Maine (which is Eastport, Maine in real life), a family is murdered by a killer, and when two family members find their loved ones' bodies, and report this during the Founders' Day parade, what do they do? Well, instead of investigating and looking for the culprit like any other police force would do when a murder is reported, they get ten ordinary people who live in the United States to play the killer's twisted game, with the person who catches him winning $250,000. Yeah, that's a great idea, Sunrise P.D. Hire ten people who are not law enforcement to risk their lives to catch a dangerous murderer for a quarter million dollars.

But thankfully, everyone is okay, because despite this being labelled as a reality competition, everything, even the story and deaths, are faked, because everyone knows if the contestants really did get killed, then once the bodies are found, it would cause a controversy that all the news channels at the time would be covering. At least to help them, the show has a real cop, Gary Fredo, who is from the Southern California Police Department, to aid them, which adds some authenticity.

But sadly, this reality show does not bring anything new to the table. While the murder mystery is a nice idea, the show plays elimination style like CBS' Survivor. Near the end of an episode, the killer sends an envelope containing maps to two locations. Two of the investigators are selected: one voted by the others and another chosen by the Lifeguard, who is basically the Lead Investigator for the episode, and therefore, cannot vote, but is also safe from being voted to go out. The Killer's game is basically a 50/50 chance of staying in the game, as one map will lead to a clue, while the other will have the killer waiting and ready to "eliminate" the poor investigator who chose the place.

Given all the problems with the series, it's no wonder ratings did not live up to the critical acclaim and it ended after only one season. Also, the winner, a firefighter named Angel Juarbe, Jr., died days after his victory while attempting to rescue a fellow firefighter during the horrific events of 9/11. While his heroism will live on, this show is best forgotten as a failed attempt to change up how reality competitions could be played.

In Fox's next "reality" show, a bunch of people try to solve a FICTIONAL murder mystery. The reason I put "fictional" in bold type is because apparently some of the contestants don't grasp this concept. They say how scared they are, pray, cry and carry on. Are they told by the producers to act this way?? They do know this is a game right? Also, just like in most "reality" shows, the contestants are constantly fighting (over stupid things). I like the actors, I like the premise for the show, but I wish they would just find normal people to play instead of immature idiots.

There have been some harsh critics of this show. To anyone who has done an 'at home' murder mystery or been to a special murder mystery night dinner theatre, this was great!

Although the actors were very limited on what they could say which made them very cardboard the clues and plot twists were excellent in the true tradition of a good mystery.

In this reality show the people have something to do. Not sit around on a beach and bitch or in a backyard and bitch at each other. Bravo to Fox for making this show. I hope they keep doing it.

My next trip out east I will visit the small town of Sunrise (Eastport) Maine.

"Murder in Small Town X" has to be the worst reality show to come down the pike. I love reality based programming, but this program has so many loose bolts it makes " The Michael Richard's Show " look like a tight-well oiled machine. The direction and or editing ( had to spread around the credit ) is so poor it hasn't given us any incite into the players personalities and feelings towards there fellow players. In some shows ( especially big budget blockbuster Hollywood movies ) charaterization can be over looked, but in a reality show it's a vital esscential to the connection between the audience and the characters. By knowing the players it adds to our dismay when our favorite contestant is ejected from the show. On " Murder " we have nameless and faceless sheep being led to the slaughter and how can we care?

I'm not going to bore you with the rules or gameplay of the show it's arbituary, even a game with the most complex rules in the world can be good. And that's the problem with " Murder " it's just no good and on top of that it's dumb and not visable. Here's an example: on each episode the killer delivers a red envelope to the crime solver's headquarters during the duration of the show. In this envelope contains a cheesy clue dealing with the case. Now does this strike anyone as stupid? I would love to hear a contestant proclaim to the host, " Wouldn't it just be easier if we held 24 hour surveillance over our headquarters and discover the identity of the person delivering these letters?"

In the end " Murder " is one of those sad shows that really could've been good and not the target of my critical nature. But, I have to say it's time to set up the surveillance camera and put this puppy to sleep.

This show was permanently scrapped as the 1st season winner Angel Juarbe was one of the firemen killed on Sept 11 when the towers fell. Out of respect to his memory, bravery, and courage, the show was scrapped. RIP Angel.

Angel Juarbe Jr. Firefighter Ladder 12 Laid to Rest on December 1, 2001

The following were taken from the NYFD's website:

Firefighter Juarbe, Jr. died on September 11, 2001, as a result of injuries sustained while operating at Manhattan Box 8087, transmitted at 0847 hours on September 11, 2001.

(09/11/03) NEW YORK CITY - The Juarbes family spent the day grieving for their beloved Angel who died on 9/11. On the second anniversary of the September 11th attacks, the Juarbe family attended the ceremony at Ground Zero to honor Angel Juarbe. Angel was a firefighter for Ladder 12 in Chelsea. He responded the day the World Trade Center was attacked, but he never returned home.