TV Review: Murder: Real People Solving Real Crimes - Page 2

The show is hosted by homicide Detective Tommy Le Noir, a well known 27-year veteran of the Arlington, Texas police department. He has been earned numerous awards and commendations and some of his cases have been featured in the media, such as CBS’s Cold Case Files, among others. Not a flashy host, Le Noir tends to be a bit stern, and he has to chastise each team in their early evidence gathering efforts.

He doesn’t try to pit one team against another, but I noticed that one team tended to squabble amongst themselves and whether this wee rivalry was contrived or not, I imagine real detectives don’t always agree while building their cases. However, this arguing and the concept of having the investigation turn into a competition are too suggestive of the unsavory parts of reality TV. An additional flaw was that one team obviously dressed more professionally than the other, as if they were being set up to “win.”

As you might expect, Murder is gruesome, which will be appealing to some viewers, and a turn-off to others. But based on the popularity of the C.S.I. franchise (and Quincy?), the chance for average citizens – and the home audience – to play “whodunit” will be a huge draw. Another redeeming feature of the show is that a donation is made to a selected victims’ charity in the names of the winning team members.

Murder will have to walk a fine line to avoid overt crassness, but shows promise. It premieres tonight, July 31, at 10:00 p.m. (ET) on the SPIKE network.

Article Author: Mary K. Williams

Mary K. is a freelance entertainment writer living in the Greater Boston area. She pens CD reviews for Metronome Magazine and is a former Features Editor for Hot Psychology Magazine. Mary K. has also contributed to the anthology, Brewed Awakenings.

Visit Mary K. Williams's author page — Mary K. Williams's Blog