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The Age
Thursday January 7, 2010
To Catch a PredatorCI, 3.30pmTHIS creepy but compelling series takes viewers inside pedophile sting operations set up by NBC's Dateline program and the American anti-pedophile group Perverted Justice. Perverted Justice members posing as under-age girls and boys converse with pedophiles in internet chat rooms, then lure them to a house full of hidden cameras with the promise of sex. When the predators arrive, the decoy (a young-looking adult) tells them to make themselves comfortable while he or she takes a shower, then host Chris Hansen emerges to spring the trap. Hansen makes the pedophile squirm €” asking them to explain why they've brought condoms and tequila, for instance €” then the cops swoop and make the arrest (in many American jurisdictions, soliciting sex with a minor is a crime even if the minor does not exist). The series has resulted in more than a hundred convictions and at least one death €” that of an assistant district attorney in Texas who shot himself after being released on bail. The parade of teachers and law-enforcement officials being led away in handcuffs is disturbing to say the least.Hitched or DitchedLifeStyle You, 9.30pmHERE'S an early contender for Most Revolting Reality Show of the Year. Each week, host Tanya McQueen (Extreme Makeover: Home Edition) turns up on an unmarried couple's doorstep and informs them they have four days to get married or break up forever. There's obviously a third option €” to tell McQueen and her crew where to stick their cameras and slam the door in their faces €” but this is the US, so the chance to be on television trumps privacy, dignity and common sense. Tonight's willing victims are 29-year-old Jesse and 24-year-old Gabriela, who've been together for three years but have no wedding plans. They've been dobbed in by their "best friend", Mandi, who seems to think her meddling is justified because Gabriela still keeps in touch with her ex-boyfriends. The mothers of the railroaded bride and groom are stunned to learn of the impending nuptials but go along with it, meeting at the bridal boutique to help Gabriela pick out her dress (Jesse's mum even has a squeeze of her fake boobs). The show, created by Mike Fleiss (The Bachelorette, High School Reunion), got the chop after six episodes, so I suppose we can be thankful for small mercies.Worth a lookLonely Planet Roads Less Travelled: China (Nat Geo Adventure, 8.30pm)Air Crash Investigation (National Geographic, 8.30pm)Killer Jellyfish (Animal Planet, 9.30pm)
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