“Forensic Files” seems an unlikely suspect for reboot mania, although the popularity of the show, made from 1996 to 2011, has never waned.
Still, it came as a shock to see HLN advertise “Forensic Files II,” which premieres Sunday, Feb. 23.
The 16 new episodes feature the same whodunit format as the original docuseries, which takes 30 minutes to tell many of the same true-crime stories that “Dateline NBC” and “20/20” routinely pad into an hour or more.
New episodes include a look at the murder of 19-year-old Sierra Bouzigard, a couch-surfing Louisiana partyer whose case went cold for nine years. Another tells the story of small-town Texas serial killer Daniel Lee Corwin, who was caught after one survivor — rendered mute because he slit her throat — communicated in writing with a police sketch artist.
Past installments currently air on HLN in back-to-back marathons daily and streams on Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu. Plus, original producer Medstar Television is still signing 10-year syndication deals with networks in the US and overseas for the 406 episodes of the first “Forensic Files.” (They were originally made for TLC and then Court TV.)
Unfortunately, the reboot will miss one key element. A part of the ever-rewatchable show’s brand expired when narrator Peter Thomas died in 2016 at the age of 91. The series relied on the warm, understated tone of Thomas — the voice of such classic early-TV commercials as American Express and Hamilton watches — to tastefully relay such details as “B.J. was in the hot tub with the heads of their two victims” or “He used a grease gun to fill every orifice.”
But “Forensic Files II,” now narrated by actor Bob Camp (“The Outsider,” “The Night Of”), replicates the taut storytelling of the original and also scores the candid on-camera interviews viewers want to see — like Sierra Bouzigard’s mother, who admits she screwed up as a parent.
To investigate how the remake managed to snag the blessing of “Forensic Files” creator Paul Dowling, as well as what new tech has popped up since the original and how the series has strived to maintain the quality of the original, The Post spoke to Dowling ahead of the show’s premiere.
Why were you reluctant to make new episodes of ‘Forensic Files’?
I was exhausted. Murder cases are tiring — dealing with the killers and the families. Plus, “Forensic Files” was a complicated show to produce. And Peter Thomas wasn’t around anymore.
Did Peter Thomas do more than narrate?
We didn’t treat him like an employee. He was a colleague, and when he had a suggestion about a script or shoot, we treated him like a colleague.
A number of networks were interested in a ‘Forensic Files’ reboot — how did the competition get started?
It was no secret that the show was out of production. HLN was one of the first to knock on the door and I said no to them for three years — I said no to everyone.
What changed your mind?
HLN said Vince Sherry would be supervising producer. Vince was a senior producer for the original “Forensic Files,” and he’s the smartest guy I know. And HLN has one of CNN’s executives [Nancy Duffy] on it.
Plus, HLN has access to all the CNN news footage [so it can include clips in “Forensic Files II”], which is a big advantage because it was always hard to get footage from local TV stations — they don’t feel like looking it up and every few years you have to pay them more for it.
And HLN was a very good customer for many years. After we went out of production, [the original] “Forensic Files” become their highest-rated show.
You once said that there were no budget limits for shooting re-creations for the original show so no one was ever was injured. Is the reboot keeping up that — and other — standards?
Yes. They know how we do it. They’re spending plenty of money on it.
I see all the shows before they air and I let them know what I like and what I would change. They’ve been great about it.
The episodes zip along. There’s no shot where we show you the mountains to take up time.
How did you ever find someone to fill Peter Thomas’ shoes? Even though he was off-camera, he was the soul of the show.
There were a lot of people pitched to do it. Typically, networks don’t do very well with that, because they don’t think off-camera.
Bill Camp had the same agent as Peter Thomas. He’s in a bunch of movies, including “Joker,” as an actor.
He was a fan of the original “Forensic Files” and a fan of how Peter Thomas narrated.
They sent us a recording of him reading us an old script and he had a campfire storytelling style like Peter’s. And Bill lets the story move it along, without injecting his biases.
Not to say he doesn’t make the role his own. He just doesn’t sound like someone who’s trying to sell you a car.
Have there been a lot of changes in forensic science since the original show signed off?
I’ve seen 10 of the 16 new episodes, and all of them had science that wasn’t available the day the original went out of production. For one of the episodes, I was on the edge of my seat. There was one tiny blood drop and, with that, investigators could come up with pictures of what the criminal would look like — hair color, face shape, nationality. They put it on TV and a lady calls and says, “That’s someone I know.”
It scares the crap out of me that if you commit a crime, even if authorities have no DNA on file, they can find you.
Do you think the new tech is a deterrent to bad guys?
No. Criminals are so dumb.
Maybe you can solve an old mystery: Why are there a handful of the original ‘Forensic Files’ that are 60 minutes long with Peter Dean narrating instead of Peter Thomas?
When Court TV got us and changed the original name of the show from “Medical Detectives” to “Forensic Files,” they asked for some hour-long episodes, but Peter Thomas couldn’t do it.
“Forensic Files II” is 30 minutes.
My daughter is in her 20s, and a lot of her friends will look at a new show and say, “I don’t have an hour” to spend watching TV, but “I have half an hour” — and they’ll give it a chance.
Rebecca Reisner is the writer of ForensicFilesNow.com, a blog that offers updates to favorite episodes of Forensic Files.
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