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The problem, of course, is that prime-time news shows must compete for ratings just as Home Improvement and L.A. Law do. "We could do an hour on Whitewater, but we wouldn't survive," says Now executive producer Jeff Zucker. "If I don't do at least some of these true-crime stories, I won't be doing anything." Andrew Heyward, executive producer of CBS's Eye to Eye, is worried that the similar impulses of these shows will ultimately turn viewers off. "To the degree that we all chase the same surefire stories," he says, "we'll stand out less and less."
To be sure, these shows are more objectionable in the mass than individually. Sawyer's interview with the Manson women, despite a couple of squishy moments ("The homecoming princess who sang in the church choir -- remember her?"), was relatively restrained and undeniably compelling. Stone Phillips was less circumspect with Dahmer ("Was it the killing that excited you, or is it what happened after the killing?") but didn't pander needlessly.
Both shows recognized that viewers are fascinated with these stories less for the gory crime details than for the peek they provide into the extremes of human psychology. We watch to be reassured these people are monsters, not at all like you and me. And to face the fear that in some basic ways they are exactly like you and me. Krenwinkel and Van Houten today could be mistaken for high-school English teachers. Even Manson had a rare moment of recognizable ) humanity. Shown a videotape of Krenwinkel, whom he had not seen in nearly 25 years, he turned from the screen and offered one sincere, poignant response. "She got old on me," he said.