Anyone else watch "Forensic Files?"

Cafe Society
#1

I find this program absolutely fascinating.

I’ve always preferred documentary type programming to the usual stuff on TV.

Don’t get me wrong, I have liked a lot of sitcoms over the years, but am not big on reality shows or especially drama programs.

“Forensic Files” on HLN is one episode after another, after another and extremely entertaining to me; it’s like real live CSI episodes. Crime scene investigators are sometimes just brilliant, and criminals oscillate between sociopaths in Columbo episodes to rednecks who are dumber than a bag of hammers.

I hate to say fascinating again, but it really is. Cops are way smarter than criminals give them credit for.

Anyone else?

#2

Yeah, I love murder shows. The only thing about Forensic Files is even though it’s a modern show, when I watch it on Netflix (and they just added season 3 on there), it looks like one of those murder shows from the 80s or 90s. Part of it’s because it’s standard aspect ratio and I guess not HD for some reason (on Netflix streaming anyway, I don’t know how it looks on regular TV), part of it’s the hokeyness of the theme and narrator, and part of it might be that they often cover really old cases so you only hear about what they could do in the 80s or 90s forensically, even when there are much better tools out there today. Although you do also sometimes get to see the updates on old and/or cold cases, where new DNA analytic technologies came along and cracked them open, which is always interesting. Good stuff overall.

#3

I love having this show on when I’m working in the wee hours of the morning. Not only do I enjoy all the forensic stuff, I never fail to be amazed by just how stupid most of the murderers seem to be in terms of leaving clues and so on.

Documentaries are about all I watch nowadays, and this is a good one!

#4

I watch ALL THE TIME. There is a 5 or 6 hour block every night, all night on Headline News.

Please keep in mind: Those that got caught are the stupid ones. Imagine all those files that don’t make it to this show. Sweet dreams.

#5

We’re rokuing it right now!

#6

In a lot of cases lately the prosecution has been wrong and the defendants were exonerated. That’s another reason to love the show.

#7

I’ve watched it in the past, but not much lately. (Too many in one sitting and my faith in humanity, such as it is, would get even more tarnished.) “Cold Case Files” can also be interesting if you’re into detective/forensic-type investigations, although ISTR it showing a greater quantity of gory images than “Forensic Files”. It can be interesting to compare the shows’ approaches when both have occasionally covered the same cases.

#8

I love this show. I like a lot of true crime programmes but some are a bit too gruesome. Not FF which is fascinating to watch because of the way even the slightest trace can often lead to an arrest and conviction.

I don’t have a murderous nature but if I did, this show alone would prevent me from killing someone.

#9

Cold Case Files on A&E was my first love and introduction to the reality TV forensic investication TV shows. I did not know there were new ones being made. Where can I find new Cold Case File shows, if I may be so bold and --shifty eye-d-- suspicious.

#10

I don’t think anything new has been produced since about 2007, but many/most of the episodes can be viewed at http://www.aetv.com/shows/cold-case-files.

#11

I watch Forensic Files from time to time. Reruns air frequently on over the air TV.

#12

We like it. My husband used to watch it on the sly when he had the TV to himself. Then I caught him, and now we watch it together.

Unsettling how often the spouse is the murderer, isn’t it?

#13

“Forensic Files” was produced for the old Court TV, which is now TruTV and has little resemblance to what it came from. If you notice obsolete-looking computers and cell phones, not to mention cars, hairstyles, etc. it’s because some of those episodes are from ca. 2000 if not before.

There were some episodes produced a few years ago.

#14

Pfff. Who cares. It’s still interesting TV.

#15

In my reply (#2) I expressed some perplexion as to why, even though it’s labeled on Netflix as a show that started 2011, it looks and feels older than that. Now it makes perfect sense - thanks nearwildheaven. I completely agree that it’s still interesting.

#16

Not surprising that there’s so much outdated technology, since the crimes depicted occurred decades ago! :slight_smile:

The prosecution in the OJ Simpson case really missed the boat in (among other things, of course) not playing up the crime’s spousal aspect. The vast majority of murders in the United States are committed by spouses, usually in the heat of passion. It would be interesting to know the proportion of these to ones that are premeditated.

#17

I’ve always been much more interested in ‘real’ crime than in crime drama crime. The combination of pressures that drive people to extreme acts is always fascinating to parse. As someone who loves mysteries and was pretty much raised in a chem lab, the science is just as fascinating as the pyschology.

There are some good modern ones, too. I particularly like “Cold Justice” that features the real-life CSI, Yoland McLeary, who was the inspiration for the Catherine Willows character in the original CSI show.

And as a Colorado resident, I get a kick out of the Detective Joe Kenda shows. “Well my my my…”

#18

Love the show. Every once in a while, someone shows up that you recognize. One episode featured Trey (OMG Benghazi!) Gowdy as the prosecutor. It’s impressive how they can figure out the blood spatter and use glue fumes to bring out fingerprints and smash melons with hammers to see if they can replicate skull impacts. They couldn’t have found a better narrator, he has the perfect voice for this show.

#19

I suggest The First 48 as well.

No forensic info., but you get to watch cops investigate murders and try to solve them. They have had some incredible cases on that show. I will never forget the moment one suspect realized they had him and he confessed, falling to the ground and puking/crying. He knew he was gone for the rest of his life.

They also had a hilarious one where a dude was telling about other dudes comitting crimes. He accidentally said, “And I killed that guy 'cause…”. He caught himself too late and the officers called him on it. He broke down, too.

#20

To be specific, there are 14 seasons of it that were produced between 1996 and 2011. I’ve been hearing rumors of a fifteenth season being in production for awhile now - nothing’s come out yet, although HLN has recently started airing some of the earlier episodes that weren’t in rotation previously.

It’s my go-to for when I’m in a hotel room in a strange town where I don’t know what’s on TV and I’m lounging around in between things to do.