'Holy Safari' with O.J. Simpson, coming soon

Like Job, he's long suffering. Like Mohammed the Prophet, he's a bloody-handed murderer. Like Baby Jesus, he will be delivered unto the world in December... because that's when he gets out of prison for armed robbery and kidnapping.

I'm talking about O.J. Simpson -- and he is hoping to star in a new religious show called "Holy Safari," who, according to his publicist Norm Pardo, is perfect for a show like this.

"He’s always been religious inside [...],’ Mr. Pardo said. "He helps people who can't find their way."

Simpson's especially good at personally helping people on their way to Heaven.

If the promotional art is any indication, "Holy Safari" is going to be shockingly bad. *I* could have Photoshopped a better image. Hell, I make better promotional images on a regular basis for NUELOW Games if I do say so myself.

You can read all about Norm Pardo's fantasies regarding the future greatest wandering holy man since Jesus by clicking here. (For another display of cheap half-assedness, check out the web address where the promo page for the show can be found.)

There's also this article in the Daily Mail Online about O.J. Simpson's latest excursion into obnoxiousness. Does anyone but Norm Pardo actually think the Pope will grant an interview to a thug who got away with murder and who has shown no remorse whatsoever. One might even say that he has been the opposite of remorseful.

Then again, when one is a holy man--a Prophet even--one doesn't have to be remorseful.

'Supernova' is a bit of a disaster

Supernova (2005)
Starring: Luke Perry, Tia Carrere, Emma Samms, and Lance Henriksen
Director: John Harrison
Rating: Four of Ten Stars

When the sun is hit by a large meteor, it stars throwing off waves of superheated plasma and magnetic storms, which cause massive devastation on Earth. But that's only a prelude to the real disaster: A brilliant astronomer has predicted that the sun will go supernova in mere weeks, destroying all life on the planet.

"Supernova" originally aired as a two-part mini-series on the Hallmark Channel. I almost didn't bother watching it, because if the disaster being faced by Earth really is a supernova then the ending is a foregone conclusion. Well, since the DVD was sitting around, I ended up watching it anyway.

Basically, it's a by-the numbers disaster movie. If you like such things, you'll probably enjoy it... if the occasional bad special effect or computer graphic doesn't bother you, and you don't mind the number of continuity gaffs sprinkled throughout the film. Or the fact that there's a disorienting disconnect between the film's stated location and the locations it was filmed at. I know cities double for other cities all the time, and that Vancouver, Canada, has been passed off as just about every major American city at one time or another, but rarely has any cinematic effort been so sloppy in trying to get viewers to believe one place is actually somewhere entirely different.

The bulk of the series supposedly takes place in and around Sydney, Australia. But the principal photography took place in and around Cape Town, South Africa. South African license plates can be seen in several shots... and famous natural scenery such as Table Mountain is front and center in several scenes. This of course accounts for the strange lack of Australians anywhere in the film, white or aboriginal.

I can't help but wonder if the series was originally set in South Africa, and that it was decided that for some reason it would work better if it was set in Australia. Whatever the rationale, if you recognize Africa for Africa while watching it, it will appear that more than one set of characters manage to drive across the ocean.

Aside from the settings gaffes, the most annoying thing in the movie revolves around the calculations used to determine that the sun is about to blow up. I can't go into details without ruining a plot-twist in the second episode, but I doubt I was the only one one saying, "Seriously?" to it.

On the acting and casting front, everything is serviceable... like the general thrust of the film, every actor is playing the sort of character we're used to seeing them play. No one stands out as particularly bad or particularly good. The only missed beat is that if you're going to put Tia Cararre in your film or series, shouldn't there be at least one scene where she's in a tight outfit or showing lots of cleavage? I thought that was some sort of cinematic rule?

Oh, and if you are attracted to "Supernova" because you're a fan of Peter Fonda, you need to know that despite his presence on the DVD cover, his role amounts to an extended cameo. Not only does his character have nothing to do with the main action of the story--his role in it is over as the movie is starting--he has no scenes with any of the main cast. I can't help but think that is time on the series was a couple of half-days.

All in all, "Supernova" is something most of you can miss without feeling your life is poorer for it.

My Television Set Upgrade!

A friend of mine got a new TV, so she gave me her old one... which was far newer than the 25+ year-old Montgomery Ward-branded set (with "electronic remote!") that I have been watching things on. It was a great gift, and I'm grateful.

My new television set... it's like a drive-in movie in my own living room!

It's one of those new-fangled widescreen jobbies with crystal clear, razor-sharp HD picture, and great stereo speakers built right in... and now I'm finding myself more grossed out by some of the gory horror flicks I watch for review purposes than I ever have been before. And I thought watching CSI in HD was a Bad Idea....

I suppose I should be extra grateful, because it's kinda-sorta doubling as a diet aid, given that I know have to assume that there is not going to be any eating while watching films from distributors like Chemical Burn or Maxim Media. :)

In honor of the new television, I offer you the Weird Al song I thought of when I first fired it up some weeks ago. It's not quite the set from the song, but it continues to blow me away. And my fear that my vast collection of PD cheapjack DVD digital tranfers would be unwatchable has turned out to be unfounded. Even they look better on the new screen!

Bad news, good news....

The day started out with the sad news that one of the true modern-day champions of free speech, website operator and author Andrew Breitbart, collapsed last night and passed away early Monday morning of an as-of-this-writing unknown cause. Love his work or hate it--me, I'm a big fan of Breitbart.com employee and Big Hollywood editor John Nolte, and an admirer of what Breitbart accomplished over all. His death is a great loss for those of us who despise speech codes, political correctness, and the media serving the bidding of the White House and other government institutions instead of fulfilling its role as watchdog. (That's not to say Breitbart is perfect... but his outlets didn't pretend to be hard news, unlike what you get from ABC. ABC who wants us to believe they do unbiased reporting with a group of random Americans in a townhall broadcast from the White House.)

The GOOD NEWS is that televison, the opiate of the masses with ease our pain and loss. PSYCH returns to the USA Network tonight, March 1, with new episodes!

Favorite TV Shows

While driving to the office today, I heard a radio host talking about a list of favorite and least favorite TV shows broken down by conservative and liberal viewers. I figured I'd offer my list of favorites, which doesn't match the choices of either campt (except for a single program). I guess that means that I am still a follower of "common sense" and Steveism, as I've been claiming for years. Right and left be damned.

My Ten Favorite Television Series

1. Burn Notice
2. CSI: (Las Vegas... and I'm loving Ted Danson on it)
3. NCIS
4. Eureka
5. Leverage
6. Dr. Who
7. In Plain Sight (which will be cancelled after 8 episodes this year...boo!)
8. Psych
9. Royal Pains
10. Sanctuary

'Day of the Daleks' is a classic Doctor Who adventure

Doctor Who: Day of the Daleks (1972)
Starring: Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, and Nicholas Courtney
Director: Paul Bernard
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

On the eve of an international summit that hopes to stave off a war between China and the United States, time travelers arrive to assassinate the British delegate, claiming he is the cause of the inevitable war, and that it is his fault the evil Daleks enslave humanity in the future. With the TARDIS out of commission, the Doctor uses their primitive time travel technology to go forward in time to stop the Daleks from meddling in the present.

"The Day of the Daleks" is a film that was created by editing together four episodes of the long-running British television series. They combine seamlessly and present an interesting tale of cause and effect in time travel. It's a little more cerebral than most of the original "Doctor Who" storylines, but the pay-off is worth it.

The Daleks--and other time travelers in play in this episode--are almost as sinister as they got during the original run of the series; this is one of those story-lines that makes it clear why the Doctor has the fearsome reputation they like to play on in the revival of the show. Even better, it features Katy Manning as Jo Grant, one of my favorite of the Doctor's Companions.

Doctor Who checks out the Pyramids of Mars

Doctor Who: The Pyramids of Mars (1975)
Starring: Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen
Director: Paddy Russel
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

When the Doctor, an alien time-traveler (Baker), and his human companion Sarah-Jane Smith (Sladen) are drawn to the year 1911 by a strange distruption, they discover that a destructive alien who inspired the legends of Seth, the Egyptian god of death, is plotting an escape from his enternal prison... and that he'll destroy Earth in all future timelines if he escapes!

"The Pyramids of Mars" consists of several half-hour episodes of the long-running "Doctor Who" sci-fi/fantasy TV series that have been edited together seamlessly to form a 90-minute movie (well, almost; there's one weird jump-cut that illustrates where one of the original cliffhanger-endings had been). The pace is faster than many of the old "Doctor Who" stories, the acting by the supporting cast somewhat better... and the storyline is one that should entertain horror and fantasy fans alike.

This storyline is also one of those that clearly establishes why the Doctor was viewed as a "harbinger of doom" by internet conspiracy theorists in the first episode of the revived TV series... the only people who walk away alive from this adventure are the Doctor and Sarah-Jane.

This tale is definately one of the highlights of the original "Doctor Who" series.

(It is also interesting for some to see how creators other than those responsible for the "Stargate" movies and series spin tales with Egyptian mythology and the notion of super-aliens being mistaken for gods.)

Well, I think they're funny!

I thought the Groupon ads satirizing the overly touchy-feely, obviously phony begging-for-donation TV spots were hilarious. The company has decided to pull them, because they have outraged what they consider their target market (I assume).

Given that the most extreme histrionics about saving whales, saving the rain forest, and saving Tibet come from whacked-out liberals, I am wondering if the histrionics about these Christopher Guest-directed, and very funny, ads didn't come from them as well.

And I wonder how many of them thought this violent fantasy about murdering people because they don't buy into a group-think party line about Global Warming was harmless satire?

What is the phrase? You never notice until it's your ox that gets gored? (And one can't help but wonder if the "Save the Whale" ads isn't going to be considered the most offensive them all... because it's also the most honest.)

The ads are on Youtube for a the moment at least. Here are all three of them.

Groupon Ad: Save the Rainforest


Groupon Ad: Save Tibet


Group Ad: Save the Whales


I'm curious to hear what readers of this blog think. There's a comments section. Please use it. :)

WENN: Kennedys Demanded Miniseries be Axed

Kennedys 'Demanded Miniseries Axe': "Family members are said to have been upset over Greg Kinnear's depiction of JFK as sex-crazed and the portrayal of Joe Kennedy as power-hungry."

The truth hurts, but when your clan helped establish America's ruling oligarchy, the media outlets snap to when you make demands to hide the truth. Otherwise, said media outlets might be the ones feeling pain. (And no one is more fearful of feeling pain than American media outlets these days. Just look at how quick they are to make excuses for terrorists their betters have decided need to be excused, and how quick they were to sign onto the patently false mantra that the mass-shooting in Texas this weekend was motivated by "hate speech" from the "right" [aka "anyone our Masters don't agree with politically"].

Greg Kinnear and Katie Holmes star(red) in the ill-fated series.

Holy Social Security Checks, Batman!

If you were to make a Top Ten list of best TV show theme songs, the theme from the "Batman" television series would have to be somewhere near the top. And it never fails to make me smile.



Today, January 11, 2011, it is 45 years since the Batman television series debuted on the ABC network (with the Big Screen "Batman: The Movie", featuring the mostly the same cast and comedic attitude, following shortly thereafter). The series aired for two seasons, and consisted of 120 half-hour episodes, most of which were two-part story lines.

Here are a promotional stills and posters from Back in the Day to mark the ocassion!

Is your favorite scary moment in the 'Chiller 13'?

Chiller 13: The Decade's Scariest Movie Moments (2010)
Director: Shane O'Brien
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

'Tis the season for Top X countdown lists, and cable channel Chiller appropriately enough brings a selection of horror movie hits to the table.

Premiering on Friday, December 17 at 8pm, "Chiller 13: The Decade's Scariest Movie Moments" looks back at the scariest films of the past 10 years. This hour-long countdown intersperses clips from the selected movies with opinions on the specific films the scenes were selected from, and horror movies in general, from a diverse group of actors, filmmakers, comedians, and horror movie experts. It is the first original documentary produced for Chiller.

Featured participants includes the star of "Orphan" Isabelle Fuhrman; actress Betsy Russell of the "Saw" anthology; actor Tony Todd of the "Candyman" and "Final Destination" films, as well as dozens of other horror flicks; renowned special makeup effects supervisor Greg Nicotero of "The Walking Dead" television series and countless other projects; comic book and screenwriter Steve Niles, best known for "30 Days of Night"; comedians Dan Gurewitch & David Young of collegehumor.com); and horror film directors Lucky McKee ("May") and Ti West ("Cabin Fever 2"), among others.

Focusing on big screen, big studio releases that every horror movie fan has at least heard of, the hour-long program leads off with #13 on the list, Sam Raimi's "Drag Me to Hell". My heart sank a bit when a scene from this movie was chosen as the least scary as that's a film that would be near the top of my list of the scariest movies of the past decade if I were to compile one. However, as the show progressed, I found myself agreeing with just about every choice made and commented upon by the hosts. After all, the program isn't about the best horror movie or even the scariest, but about the scariest moments from the past ten years of horror films. And as much as I found "Final Destination" to be absolutely stupid--and I remain amazed that it spawned all the successful sequels that it did--the moment from it that made the list is indeed a very scary one. The same is true of "Orphan" and a number of other films spotlighted and discussed.

I won't spoil the program by mentioning any more of the movies selected, as part of the fun of a show like this is watching the list be revealed. Horror fans, from the casual to the hardcore, will also find the commentary from the featured hosts amusing and enlightening, more often than not at the same time. The musings and comments from horror veteran Tony Todd are particularly interesting, and the comedy duo of Dan Gurewitch & David Young are funny in ways that only horror geeks through-and-through can be.

"Chiller 13: The Decade's Scariest Movie Moments" is a fast-paced, highly entertaining show that horror fans will consider time well spent. The one drawback to watching it will be that you'll be wanting to either rewatch or seek out to experience for the first time every movie featured.

For more about the program and air-times, click here to visit chiller.com and consult your local television schedule to see what cable channel Chiller can be found on. If you want to have your appetite whetted, check out the broadcast ad, and a clip from interview with Tony Todd discussing "Candyman".

'The Time Monster' is a 'Doctor Who' classic

Doctor Who: The Time Monster (1972)
Starring: Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, Roger Delgado, and Ingrid Pitt
Director: Robert Sloman
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

The time-traveling alien known as the Doctor (Pertwee) and UNIT operative Jo Grant (Manning) find themselves squaring off against their old nemesis, the Master (Delgado). The Master's latest scheme for domination of all of time and space involves harnessing the might of Chronos, the creature that brought low the mighty land of Atlantis.

"The Time Monster" is a film that originally aired as 30-minute segments as part of the long-running and very popular BBC sci-fi/fantasy television series "Doctor Who". It is one of my all-time favorite storylines from the show, as it features an equal blend of sci-fi, fantasy, social commentary, and nifty actions with plenty of cool story twists. It's fun the way the story moves easily from the 1970s Earth setting with the Master conducting mad science experiments with interdimensional physics, to the purely sci-fi environment of time-travel machines and the Doctor and Master matching wits and testing each other's nerve, and to a pure fantasy environment with an evil and duplicitous Atlantean queen (played by the sexy Ingrid Pitt) who would have been perfectly at home in one of those Italian Hercules movies. The film is further enhanced by multi-faceted minor villains and by the way the personalities of the Master and the Doctor are compared and contrasted as the story unfolds.

This is a classic "Doctor Who" storyline that has stood up well to the passage of time. The effects can't hold a candle to what we've gotten with the revival of the series in recent years, and the acting might be a little hokey at times, but the storyline and the characterization of the Doctor and the Master fit right in with the "Drums of War" story line from a few seasons back. (In fact, watching "The Time Monster" before watching "The Drums of War" and "The Last Timelord" will make those modern episodes feel all the more impactful, because the love/hate relationship of the Doctor and the Master is so well defined in this film... and because Roger Delgado plays a GREAT Master.)

"Doctor Who: The Time Monster" is worth seeking out by fans of both the new and classic series.

'Quark' is a show that should stay lost in space

Quark: The Complete Series (1977)
Starring: Richard Benjamin, Timothy Thomerson, Richard Kelton, Patricia Barnstable, Cyb Barnstable, Conrad Janis, Bobby Porter, Alan Caillou and Ross Martin
Director: Hy Averback
Rating: Four of Ten Stars

Some televisions shows die a premature death, undeservedly cancelled because for whatever reason there was no audience for the show. The latest of these is "My Own Worst Enemy", but there are dozens upon dozens of quality shows that died early in the 50-year-plus history of network televison in the U.S.

"Quark", a shortlived 1977 sci-fi comedy show, is not one of these.

Every episode of "Quark", including the pilot--eight in total--is available on DVD. It's a nice-looking package, and it was a decent looking show. The sets were nice, the costumes were nice... the primary target of "Star Trek" was evident throughout--but the scripts simply weren't funny.

The set-up was good--the show followed the adventures of the unfortunate Adam Quark and his bizarre crew of misfits as they traveled the galaxy on a space-faring garbage scow, the bravely collect trash where no-one had collected trash before; the characters had the potential of being sufficiently weird--such as Science Officer Ficus, an overly logical humanoid plant played by Richard Kelton; the all-in-one "transmute" who keeps switching between his/her male and female halves played by Tim Thomerson; the ship's navigator and her clone, played by twins Patricia and Cyb Barnstable; the heroic, dedicated and perpetually unlucky Commander Quark himelf, played by Richard Benjamin--but neither the set-up nor the potential of the characters was never fully realized because of the bad writing.

Hardcore sci-fi fans may find a chuckle or two early on, but it isn't until the last three episodes that anything that a general audience will find remotely funny starts to happen. (The one exception is the "Star Wars" spoof in the second episode, "May the Source Be With You". The whiney superweapon in that episode was pretty good.)

The best part of the show is the interplay between Richard Benjamin and Richard Kelton. There's a goofy Kirk/Spock vibe in the realitionship between these two characters, the actors have a good sense of the comedic, and it helps make even the lamest episodes watchable. But then we've got Tim Thomerson who is so bad that it's hard to imagine that this is the same guy who will go onto be so hilarious in "Trancers" and "Dollman"... of course, it's not entirely Thomerson's fault. The material he's working with is truly awful. The rest of the cast do little more than take up space, and they are neither good enough nor bad enough to really warrant any particular attention.

Don't believe the hype about "Quark"--I did, and I wish I hadn't--and don't rely on fond memories you may have of catching part of an episode as a young kid. This is NOT a show that will stand up to your memory of it.

The Fruit Guys

I don't watch much television when I'm at home, but there isn't much else to do sometimes when you're traveling.

And maybe it's because I'm away from home at the moment, but the Fruit of the Loom television commercials with the singing fruits are seeming funnier to me than ever before. And it got even funnier when I went to this website. (It's perhaps the goofiest way to sell underwear ever devised.)

What's more troubling than the fact I found myself laughing like a madman over guys dressed up in fruit costumes singing about underwear, is that I found the music videos and the songs more entertaining than most REAL pop songs I've also been watching recently on television.

'Chiller': When B-movies go bad

Chiller (1985)
Starring: Michael Beck, Beatrice Straight, Paul Sorvino, and Jill Shoelen
Director: Wes Craven
Rating: Three of Ten Stars

Young corporate mogul Miles Creighton (Beck) was placed in cryogenic suspension until the day medical science could save him from an organ transplant that failed. Ten years later, he is revived and healed. However, there is something different about him: He is vicious, coldhearted... and homicidal!


"Chiller" is a classic example of a bad B-movie... we have a mildly interesting idea that's ground to death with pedestrian dialogue, so-so acting, and a story that's entirely too slow moving. Worse, the scares in "Chiller" are few and far between. This is definitely one of the worst movies Wes Craven has made. (He DID startle me at the end, but everything up to that point was either yawn-worthy or eye-rolling worthy.)

"Chiller" is worth seeing if you see it on TV late at night and every other channel is running info-mercials, or if you're the world's biggest Paul Sorvino fan (who is featured as the reverend who concludes that Miles may have come back to life, but his (duh-duhn-duuuhhn!) SOUL stayed in the afterlife), but otherwise it's best to leave it cooling on the shelf.





Click here to read a special post at Terror Titans that covers all of Wes Craven's famous and successful "Scream" movies.

Superior adaptation of classic romance

Jane Austin's Persuasion (2007)
Starring: Sally Hawkins and Rupert Penry-Jones
Director: Adrian Shergold
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

As a young woman, Anne Elliot (Hawkins) rejects a marriage proposal from Wentworth, a penniless Army officer (Penry-Jones), but as time passes she discovers that he is her true love. When he re-enters her life nearly a decade later, will she be able to correct the biggest mistake of her life and find happiness?


"Jane Austin's Persuasion" is a fabulous adaptation of one of the great romantic tales of the English language. Featuring a great cast (led by unconventional beauty Sally Hawkins) each is talented enough to make the 18th century dialogue sound perfectly natural and commonplace. Hawkins is particularly excellent, able to convey complex and shifting emotions through nothing but facial expressions.

This is another excellent British television production that in addition to the excellent cast features great costumes, excellent camerawork and lighting, and a perfect musical score. The story moves swiftly and always carries a sense of immediacy and passion... and high romance. It's a film that touched the heart of even a hardened cynic like me.

Television and What Politicians Fear

In case you haven't heard, Obama and the rest of Democrats were trying to delay the switch-over to digital broadcasting next month because of a waiting list for government handouts regarding the converter boxes for old televisions. Here's a brief update from WENN...


The bill that would have delayed the February 17 switchover from analog to digital television failed to get the necessary two-thirds vote in the House Wednesday after House Republicans united to block it.

The GOP members had argued that a delay would place undue hardship on smaller broadcasters who would be forced to maintain dual transmitter sites for an additional 90 days and that it would confuse consumers.

They favor a more limited measure that would free up funds to allow more $40 vouchers for converter boxes to be sent to those requesting them. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration says that 2.6 million coupon requests are currently wait-listed.


There shouldn't even have been a voucher program to begin and it certainly shouldn't be expanded in the current economic crisis.

Television is not a necessity nor a Constitutional Right. It is a luxury, and the government should not be using tax dollars to fund luxuries for the citizenry.

Of course, if the American public wasn't zoning out in front of crap like "Survivor" and "Damages", they might actually start paying attention to how our elected officials are abusing their power and the money they extort from us via the tax system. If the American public started paying attention, we might actually see some real change in the way our government functions.

And that idea gives Obama and the rest of the Democrats, as well as most of the Republicans, nightmares.

Don't Say I Didn't Warn You!

In order to help prevent America's cities from being burned to the ground in the great TV riots of 2009 that were predicted early this year by the FCC chairman, I am calling attention to the fact that today is the last day to order your $40-off coupon for a DTV converter box if you want to get it before the Day of Doom (otherwise known as Febuary 17, 2009).

Owners of TV sets who currently receive over-the-air analog broadcasts and who have not yet requested $40 coupons from the government to be used for purchasing converter boxes may discover that those coupons will no longer be available in less than two weeks, according to the Washington Post. In fact, it's taken up to FOUR weeks for the coupons to be delivered in many cases!

Those unable to obtain the coupons will have to wait until after the February 17 analog-to-digital transition day when the government determines how many coupons have not been redeemed.

So, if you think that can afford to pay full price for a converter box and you will panic and/or get violent if you turn on the television to watch "Oprah" or "Wheel of Fortune" and all you get is static, please order your coupon immediately! If not for yourself, then for America's children.

For God's sake... think of the children and go to [url=https://www.dtv2009.gov/]https://www.dtv2009.gov/ for your home entertainment version of government cheese!

(For the record, I ordered mine. If my tax dollars are going to pay off other people's mortgages and bad investments aod to welfare--otherwise known as the Earned Income Tax Credit--I figure I should get my government cheese, too.)

Brits upset about 'South Park' episode

I wonder how many of these offended crybabies were praising "Death of President" as a masterpiece and the height of cleverness? (In case you don't know, "Death of a President" was sqeezed from between the hairy buttcheeks of a British filmmaker.)

At least the "South Park" episode was entertaining, which can't be said about "Death of a President".

"South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, having already offended almost everyone in America, have exported their outrageousness overseas, where the British are expressing indignation over a recent episode of the animated series depicting the Queen committing suicide.

Although the show has not yet been broadcast in the U.K., word of the American broadcast last week has teed off British bloggers.

"Tasteless, no other way to describe that show. ... It's such trash," wrote one.

Another described it as "cruel humor."

A spokesperson for Comedy Central, which produced the show, told the London daily Mirror, "South Park has never shied away from offending people in the name of comedy. Nobody is off-limits."

Critics worried about hidden camerapedophile busts... are they worried on a personal level?

Over the past couple of weeks, I've seen journalism professors and TV critics express concern about a series of "Dateline" reports that feature the luring and busting of child-rapists (or maybe just would-be child-rapists).

The reasons for why they're upset has mostly been because "Dateline" supposedly paid those who set up the sting, although some have also been bent out of shape over the lengthiness of the reports.

It seems to be that ANYTHING that raises awareness of the sort of sub-human scum that are out there intent on raping kids, and ANYTHING that gets these creatures into the justice system where they belong, is a Good Thing.

I can't help but wonder... is the real reason these professors and critics are upset is that they're nervous if they're going to head to a house for a little under-age nookie only to find TV cameras and cops waiting for them?

NBC Draws Fire for "Dateline" Pedophile Reports

NBC plans to air four special editions of its magazine show "Dateline" on Wednesdays beginning tonight and continuing through the May sweeps.

The specials show "stings" in which alleged pedophiles operating in Internet chat rooms are lured to houses in several cities, only to be confronted by "Dateline" correspondent Chris Hansen and then arrested by local police -- all captured by hidden cameras.

The new broadcasts follow three similar ones that aired during "Dateline's" regular time period earlier this year. TV writers could not recall any previous television news magazine devoting eight entire programs to a single subject.

While drawing praise from groups like the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the programs have also been roundly criticized by several journalists' groups, particularly, the Poynter Institute, the respected journalism school based in St. Petersburg, FL. Kelly McBride, ethics group leader at the school, told today's (Wednesday, April 26) "Los Angeles Times", that colleagues were particularly concerned about tonight's episode in which members of the group Perverted Justice, who are paid by NBC to pose as juveniles and lure marks to the house, were also deputized by the local sheriff.

"By working with a group that has been deputized, "Dateline" is essentially partnering with local law enforcement," McBride said. "Even if the outcome is a desirable outcome, in the long run it undermines their ability to serve as a watchdog."