Does anyone else prefer the old format of investigation discovery to the new one?
I know Investigation Discovery tried to move into 1st person story telling and a more news-reporting style, more like Dateline. A lot of this was done to give victims more power in telling their stories, but also just to copy where other networks were heading with their programming. I 100% agree with giving survivors more power and changing the narrative around victims to embrace them as real people. I liked the old format so much better and believe there is a better way to integrate these foundational beliefs into it.
The old format felt much more concise in its storytelling; the bad acting was interesting to watch, and I preferred the blend of hearing the real impact on victims and having them tell their stories, mixed with the more objective narration style. I think that because people have emotional connections to these stories, they are not always concise in the way they tell them, which can be hard to follow along with as a viewer.
I also don't think that their redoing old shows in new ways has been particularly successful, as evidenced by the reinvented final season of Web of Lies.
Old Programming I really enjoyed: Blood Relatives, Disappeared, Nightmare Next Door, Who the Bleep Did I Mary, Homicide Hunter, Breaking Homicide, Your Worst Nightmare, People Magazine Investigates: Cults, Forbidden Dying for Love, Fear Thy Roommate (better than the Netflix show Worst Roommate Ever imo), Unusual Suspects, Twisted Sisters, Web of Lies, Obsession Dark Desires to name some.
Current Programming I still enjoy: Evil Lives Here, Fear thy Neighbor (up in the air, but likely canceled), Body Cam, See No Evil, Signs of a Psychopath, The Murder Tapes, American Monster
I know that's a long list, but their programming used to be extensive. I am a criminal justice graduate student, and so many of the cases I've gotten to highlight in papers, projects, and presentations, I learned about from ID. I do not just learn about these cases for no reason; they've inspired my advocacy work. I aim to keep victims and survivors' names alive, however I can. ID is part of what inspired me to become a criminal justice student to begin with. However, I was also a film major in undergrad for a while, and I understand the importance of telling stories in a way that is digestible for people, concise, and corresponds with learning styles. ID used to do that, now they have moved so far away from some of these goals that I've moved more to getting true crime from podcasts, YouTube, and books.
Did you prefer the old format, and what are your thoughts on being able to incorporate families and survivors' voices at the forefront while keeping some of the old format?