The Ultimate Forgotten True Crime Reality Show You’ve Never Seen
Andrew Ward
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For all the wild ideas that reality TV has produced, few have even come close to scratching America’s true crime itch. The reluctance to crossover might be because the few true crime-reality entries haven’t been all that successful or good.
But, I posit that now is the time for producers to strike while the iron is hot. Just look at the culture today and the concept makes sense. America’s true crime obsessed. It only makes sense that reality TV gives it another try.
It’s been 22 years since reality TV took a genuine stab at combining true crime, mystery, and tribal council-style eliminations. While it was far from a perfect show, Fox’s Murder in Small Town X serves as a foundational building block that any capable reality producer could use to captivate today’s audiences.
Murder in Small Town X’s Promising But Flawed Premise
Murder in Small Town X is a forgotten reality entry, and rightfully so. But despite its shortcomings, the show does have many elements that make an ahead-of-its-time premise.
Set in the fictional Maine town of Sunrise, ten contestants are sent to play amateur detectives. Each week, they whittle down a list of 15 suspects to find the killer responsible for a double murder and kidnapping of the Flint family—as well as many more killings throughout the season. The contestant who could take down the killer would win $250,000. However, the prize was reduced to $100,000 after the show failed to perform as expected.
Contestants eliminated possible suspects weekly through sleuthing and correctly answering the killer’s riddles. The number of contestants also declined each week, as two voted members faced off in a spooky elimination/fact-finding challenge.
What made Murder in Small Town X stand out was its unique premise. Everyone in Sunrise was an actor. Unlike other true crime-mystery-reality entrie—like 2001’s The Mole or 2013’s Whodunnit?—Murder in Small Town X didn’t plant a killer or saboteur among the contestants.
With Survivor just kicking off seven months before its launch, Murder in Small Town X offered a fun, unique premise that should be regarded highly today–and it likely would if the show were any good.
Things Get Convoluted in Sunrise
While many praised Murder in Small Town X during the lead-up to its premiere, reviews became mixed over time, with the show receiving many criticisms.
Some critics felt the producers got in the way of the fun premise by installing overly complicated rules for viewers to follow. It’s a fair knock when the show involves:
- Tons of twists
- Tribal council-style votes
- One-on-one eliminations determined by a 50-50 draw
- A “Lifeguard” who does nothing with the ocean but does get immunity from the upcoming elimination vote
In one early episode, there’s a scene where host Gary Fredo corrects one contestant’s misinterpretation of the rules. The moment led me to wonder why the rules were so complicated. More so, it left me asking who in editing felt this scene needed to make the final cut. Also, who thought Gary Fredo had the charisma to host a show?
Critics also noted that the show’s camerawork and premise felt derivative of popular horror entries, namely The Blair Witch Project. Others considered the townspeople’s acting to be less than ideal.
The ten contestants receive their fair knocks too. Producers probably told the cast to play up their fear in interviews as they headed into elimination battles. But my god, their fear was often hysterically laughable. Some contestants sent “If I don’t make it back…” type confessionals to their kids. It’s almost as if they don’t know it’s a game.
The combination of flawed elements doomed a fun premise. What could’ve been a true crime reality thrill ride ended up being a flat show with little horror or entertainment. Low ratings doomed the show despite promising early reviews, resulting in its cancellation after one season. A UK (The Murder Game) and Brazilian version (O Jogo/The Game) of the show both aired in 2003. Each aired one season.
Murder in Small Town X is vaguely remembered today. And if so, it’s often for tragic reasons. The first and only season finale aired one week before the 9/11 terrorist attacks in America. Sadly, the show’s winner, Ángel Juarbe Jr., was killed while serving as a First Responder at the World Trade Center.
It’s Time to Revive The True Crime-Reality Genre
There haven’t been many attempts at fusing true crime and horror with reality competitions. However, now is the perfect time to give it another try.
With the ongoing writer strike, more reality-based shows are expected to hit the airwaves to fill the production gaps. If true, we could be in for an influx of unoriginal programming. And yeah, we could pitch a true crime-based reality show during the strike. But we’re more concerned about ensuring writers and actors get paid fairly. So let’s keep this great idea on hold until the strike ends and everyone gets their fair pay.
With the public clamoring for anything creative after this prolonged strike, reality producers could benefit by introducing a unique, rarely-used premise. There’s enough data to show that viewers are consuming tons of true crime, horror and reality. Go on any streaming service and you’re sure to see at least one, if not all, of those genres represented in the trending and most watched sections.
Americans especially love their true crime. A 2022 YouGov survey found that half of those polled enjoyed true crime. Many also thought true crime content helped solve cases.
2023 research from Pew found that women are twice as likely than men to listen to true crime podcasts, at a rate of 43% to 23%. According to the poll, people with less formal education and women represented the highest likelihood of true crime podcast listeners. Additionally, 41% of younger listeners, aged 18 to 29, said they were likely to listen to a true crime podcast. That number changes to just 15% among adults 65 and over.
So why not give it a shot? People love their true crime and reality-type game shows have not slowed their momentum in the past two or so decades. We’re also in the age of remakes. When everything is getting a reboot, why shouldn’t Murder in Small Town X? It’s the perfect candidate if you think about it.
The show has a fixable premise that can easily be remedied with today’s production standards. Casting directors could easily find entertaining characters. Plus, the show didn’t perform well the first time around. When most remakes get criticized, it’s because the public loved the story so much the first time around. Fans are afraid that the quality will diminish with the remake.
With Murder in Small Town X, we get an example of how a remake can improve the situation. Give this show a reasonable budget and capable production staff, and you’re off to the races. Partner it with a mega streaming service like Netflix or Hulu that will give it solid marketing, and you’ve likely got a success. Or, go another route and bank on a true crime or horror-specific streaming service to reach dedicated fans. While Shudder may not have the same numbers as Netflix, it does have a loyal fan base of subscribers.
Murder in Small Town X is the ideal show to reboot if you want to use its foundation to build upon something better. With improved production standards and a less convoluted set of rules, the show could be a remake success story in the same vein as the newest iteration of Unsolved Mysteries.
Categorized:Editorials
