What to Watch on Friday: A ’20/20’ special on ‘The Dating Game Killer’
Jeopardy! (7 p.m., WTVD) - Tonight is the final episode hosted by Alex Trebek, filmed in October shortly before his death on Nov. 8, 2020. Tonight’s episode will include a special tribute to Trebek, who hosted the show for 37 years.
The Wrong Fiance (8 p.m., Lifetime Movie Network) - In the latest in Vivica A. Fox’s series of “Wrong” movies, Abby (Jessica Morris), a photographer, is sent out of town on a job assignment by her boss Charlotte (Vivica A. Fox), she thinks it is the perfect opportunity to get away from her nightmarish ex-fiancé, Richard (Jason- Shane Scott). But Abby quickly discovers it may be impossible to escape Richard. (Note this is Lifetime Movie Network, not Lifetime.)
20/20: The Dating Game Killer (9 p.m., ABC) - Tonight’s “20/20” tells the story of Rodney Alcala, an American serial killer who appeared on the game show “The Dating Game” in 1978, in the middle of his killing spree. As far as investigators know, Alcala began his series of cross-country attacks in 1968, when he lured a young girl into his car in Hollywood, and took her to his apartment where he raped her and beat her nearly to death. “20/20” packs a lot into this special: first-hand accounts from investigators, victims, eye witnesses and even Alcala’s court-appointed psychologist. We’ll get interviews with Tali Shapiro, who miraculously survived an attack by Alcala when she was just eight years old; Chris Camacho, former LAPD officer who saved Shapiro’s life; Jed Mills, who sat beside Alcala on “The Dating Game” as a fellow contestant; Gina Satriano, LA prosecutor; Matt Murphy, Orange County prosecutor; victims’ family members; and more.
Dateline (9 p.m., NBC) - Dateline has the story of Micki Kanesaki, a California woman who vanished from a cruise ship in the Mediterranean in 2006, while on a trip Kanesaki thought was intended to rekindle the romance with her ex-husband, Lonnie Kocontes. An investigation reveals secret recordings, a surprising star witness and an undercover hitman. Josh Mankiewicz has interviews with Kocontes’ friends Bill Price and Susan McQueen, prosecutors Susan Price and Seton Hunt, Kanesaki’s brother Toshi Kanesaki and more.
Pretend It’s a City (Netflix) - This documentary series from New Yorker critic and essayist Fran Lebowitz presents her thoughts on subjects ranging from tourists, money, subways and the arts to the not-so-simple act of walking in Times Square (there’s a right way to do it). Directed by Lebowitz’s longtime friend Martin Scorsese and peppered with his own witty takes on a town he knows best.
Some programming descriptions are provided by networks.
