Unusual Suspects

I think the show is well executed and documented. However sometimes the facts are blurred. An example is how a 1985 case was solved using DNA which wasn't in use at that time. The only other thing that stands out is that seemingly every case is about the murder of a female. I say this because in every single show the producers will replay the victims screaming at least 15 times. There is always multiple suspects and they replay the screams with each one as they might have committed the crime as well as catch ups after commercials. In almost every case there were no I witnesses so there is no evidence there was any screaming to begin with. It may be a minor point to many people but it drives me to distraction.

I watch everything True Crime, and I can't stand the shows where the narrator talks in an exaggeratedly dramatic, whispy voice. He is also super disrespectful and keeps referring to sex workers as hookers and prostitutes like it's 1999. I was recommended this show because I liked Your Worst Nightmare - which is 1000x better - and was hugely disappointed.

This has become the template for modern true crime shows, so in that sense it is ground breaking. Rather than the relentless teases at the start and before each ad break we now get (which is ridiculous by the way), this show doesn't feel the need to constantly dangle carrots in a desperate bid to keep you watching. This ran from 2010 - 2016. Whether it's a reflection of the times or not, I appreciate that there is no "hard sell" or overly salacious cases to shock the viewer into watching or trying to get the audience to endlessly pour over grisly details. True Crime competition increased exponentially in the years this show aired and by 2016 there was an ocean of choice. If you're interested in quality true crime, start here and avoid the "tabloid" shows. This is where it's at. One of the true and best originals.

I think it is very sick and twisted that HBO uses the actual names of people involved in crimes. I was the actual friend that was with Charmel Ulrich as we walk down the road at age 13/14.... I am still traumatized by it all and I'm 48 now. It's horrible that you associated Michael Perry Jackson with the story. Surprised you couldn't fit Michael Butler in too ....the guy I had such a good description of, someone turned him in...... The details of the Capital Murder trial are sketchy to me as I was only 14 years old. My parents did their best to shield me from all of this and HBO puts these names together like peanut butter and Jelly.....shame on you!

This show covers so many different murder cases but it also gets extremely repetitive over time. Literally 9 out of 10 times, you get the same story. Cops try for years to solve the case but they can't. They come to a dead end. No one knows who murdered our victim....and then years later cops get an unexpected phone call and they receive a tip.

Then this leads to case being solved and it turns out that the killer is someone completely random or someone they haven't mentioned at all up until the last 5 minutes of the episode. Literally 9 out of 10 times cases aren't solved with evidence or police work but an anonymous tip that comes years later after the case is closed with introduction of a whole new person in the last 5 minutes. Then the killer just confesses everything and goes to jail.

It would have been much better if they actually picked cases where the case is solved by evidence and police work instead of random anonymous tips that come years after case is closed.