Dateline is predictable in the best way: I know it's going to be well produced and interesting, if necessarily uneven. That said:
1) First, high praise: What I like most about Dateline (and other crime shows) is that vast majority of people we meet in any given episode are good people. There's always a murderer or two, but they're the exception. The rest-- survivors, witnesses, prosecutors and most cops-- are truth-seekers in search of justice. (I forgive the defense lawyers because they're doing a necessary job). Ultimately, far from being a condemnation of humanity, Dateline proves that most of us are honorable.
2) This bugs me. Common to many, if not most, episodes is a phrase like "Stuff like that never happens here." Give it up, guys. Obviously homicides can happen anywhere-- especially the murders that Dateline specializes in, which involve family dysfunction and/or sociopaths.
3) Could someone please ask Andrea Canning to tone down her sing-song delivery; it undermines the gravity of the subject matter. She speaks like a normal adult when she's interviewing people, but her voice-over narration sounds like she's reading "Goodnight, Moon" to a four-year-old.
4) I'd also appreciate it if the women being interviewed weren't coiffed and slathered in make-up. A significant number have also had significant plastic surgery without significant success. So while the men are allowed to age gracefully, the women are often one whorl of hair away from looking grotesque.
5) The series was better at one hour. Expanded to two hours, we get a lot of filler interviewing survivors about what the victim was like, which becomes repetitive and sentimental. It works best as a procedural-- like "Law and Order," but more powerful because it is history, not fiction.
