I remembered this from my teenage years. Basically a show made during what I like to call "the time reality shows were big", this is another one of Fox's failed attempts to get in on the action (until the got a hit with the first incarnation of American Idol).
The premise is this: In the town of Sunrise, Maine (which is Eastport, Maine in real life), a family is murdered by a killer, and when two family members find their loved ones' bodies, and report this during the Founders' Day parade, what do they do? Well, instead of investigating and looking for the culprit like any other police force would do when a murder is reported, they get ten ordinary people who live in the United States to play the killer's twisted game, with the person who catches him winning $250,000. Yeah, that's a great idea, Sunrise P.D. Hire ten people who are not law enforcement to risk their lives to catch a dangerous murderer for a quarter million dollars.
But thankfully, everyone is okay, because despite this being labelled as a reality competition, everything, even the story and deaths, are faked, because everyone knows if the contestants really did get killed, then once the bodies are found, it would cause a controversy that all the news channels at the time would be covering. At least to help them, the show has a real cop, Gary Fredo, who is from the Southern California Police Department, to aid them, which adds some authenticity.
But sadly, this reality show does not bring anything new to the table. While the murder mystery is a nice idea, the show plays elimination style like CBS' Survivor. Near the end of an episode, the killer sends an envelope containing maps to two locations. Two of the investigators are selected: one voted by the others and another chosen by the Lifeguard, who is basically the Lead Investigator for the episode, and therefore, cannot vote, but is also safe from being voted to go out. The Killer's game is basically a 50/50 chance of staying in the game, as one map will lead to a clue, while the other will have the killer waiting and ready to "eliminate" the poor investigator who chose the place.
Given all the problems with the series, it's no wonder ratings did not live up to the critical acclaim and it ended after only one season. Also, the winner, a firefighter named Angel Juarbe, Jr., died days after his victory while attempting to rescue a fellow firefighter during the horrific events of 9/11. While his heroism will live on, this show is best forgotten as a failed attempt to change up how reality competitions could be played.
