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2w ago

'Predators' Documentary Reopens Scrutiny of 'To Catch a Predator' and Its Controversial End

The film foregrounds Bill Conradt’s 2006 death during a Dateline sting to probe the ethics of NBC’s partnership with Perverted-Justice.

To Catch a Predator
Chris Hansen and Lorne Armstrong in To Catch a Predator
Chris Hansen speaks during the 'Angie Tribeca' panel at New York Comic-Con 2015 at The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on October 9, 2015 in New York City

Overview

  • Predators, directed by David Osit and now streaming on Paramount+, revisits the Dateline franchise through interviews with former decoys, Chris Hansen, and others.
  • Coverage highlights that many observers tie the series’ quiet 2008 cancellation to Conradt’s suicide, though NBC has not formally stated that as the sole reason.
  • In the Conradt case, producers and police went to his home after he skipped the sting house, Dateline cameras were present, and NBC later aired footage from the raid.
  • Conradt’s sister filed a wrongful-death suit seeking more than $100 million; while some claims were dismissed, a judge said a jury could find NBC crossed a line, and the network settled in 2008.
  • Hansen continues to defend the show’s intent, saying it ran its course, and he now fronts predator-sting programming on the TruBlu streaming service with Takedown with Chris Hansen.