Current Forensic Files title card

Forensic Files is a documentary style show which reveals how forensics and science are used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and even outbreaks of illness. The show is broadcast on Court TV, narrated by Peter Thomas, and produced by Medstar Television, in association with Court TV Original Productions. It has broadcast over 900 episodes so far. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to document reality. ... The word forensic (from Latin: forensis - forum) refers to something of, pertaining to, or used in a court of law. ... For the Canadian channel, see CourtTV Canada The Courtroom Television Network, more commonly known as Court TV, is an American cable television network owned by Time Warner that launched on July 1, 1991. ... Peter Thomas (born 28 June 1924) is a well known television narrator of television programs, including shows such as Nova and more recently Forensic Files. His career as a narrator spans over fifty years. ...

Production and broadcast history

Forensic Files began airing on Court TV in 2000. However, the series actually began on the TLC Network in 1995 as Medical Detectives. Old episodes of Medical Detectives now air on Court TV under the Forensic Files label. The show was created and continues to be filmed and produced by Medstar Television, in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Overseas, the show airs under these two titles, and others, on various channels in over 100 countries. It is distributed by CableReady. TLC is a cable TV network in the US and Canada, that carries a variety of informational and reality-based programming. ... Nickname: Motto: Sic Semper Tyrannis Pennsylvanias location in the United States Allentowns location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States State Pennsylvania County Lehigh Founded 1762 Government  - Mayor Ed Pawlowski Area  - City  18. ...

Premiering just as the O. J. Simpson murder trial had focused attention on the world of DNA and forensics, Medical Detectives became a hit. It was one of, if not the first of the popular forensic science shows. A few years later, Court TV snapped up the show and it quickly became the cornerstone of their primetime schedule, increasing its annual production run to 42 episodes. The show was so successful that, in 2002, NBC aired it as a summer replacement series. The O. J. Simpson murder case was a highly-publicized U.S. criminal trial in which former American football star for the National Football League (NFL) and actor O. J. Simpson was charged with the murder of one of his ex-wives and her friend, Ronald Goldman. ... The structure of part of a DNA double helix Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is a nucleic acid molecule that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms. ... The word forensic (from Latin: forensis - forum) refers to something of, pertaining to, or used in a court of law. ... The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ...

Weird Science

The show helped pioneer documentary style crime-science shows, and promotes itself as profiling "puzzling, often baffling cases whose riddles are ultimately solved by forensic detection." The cases and people are real. Perhaps surprisingly, DNA testing is actually rarely focused on. While ballistics, hair analysis, and fingerprinting do turn up, the show seems to prefer unusual evidence, such as animal hairs, plant analysis, or arson investigation. Scientists and forensic experts in many fields are all interviewed. Ballistics (gr. ... The Skyline Parkway Motel in Afton, Virginia after an arson fire on July 9, 2004. ...

Not every case is a crime. In some cases, the investigation reveals that suspects are innocent, and the death was an accident or suicide. Several shows have profiled people who have been jailed for or convicted of a crime, and ultimately exonerated by forensic evidence.

Although "Medical Detectives" also showed how outbreaks of mysterious illnesses were tracked (such as the Hantavirus and Legionellosis), most of those have been dropped in favor of criminal cases (and occasionally civil cases) on Court TV. Species Andes virus (ANDV) Bayou virus (BAYV) Black Creek Canal virus (BCCV) Cano Delgadito virus (CADV) Choclo virus (CHOV) Dobrava-Belgrade virus (DOBV) Hantaan virus (HTNV) Isla Vista virus (ISLAV) Khabarovsk virus (KHAV) Laguna Negra virus (LANV) Muleshoe virus (MULV) New York virus (NYV) Prospect Hill virus (PHV) Puumala virus... Legionellosis is an infection caused by the genus of Gram negative bacteria Legionella, notably Legionella pneumophila. ...

Show format

The show takes a "whodunit" approach, making each case a mystery to be solved. Every half-hour episode follows one case from initial investigation until conviction, acquittal, or some other legal resolution. Pathologists, medical examiners, police officers, detectives, prosecutors, defense attorneys, friends and families of victims or suspects are all interviewed about their roles. A whodunit or whodunnit (for Who done it? and sometimes referred to as a Golden Age Mystery novel) is a complex, plot-driven variety of the detective story in which the puzzle is paramount. ...

Video of the lab tests is shot in a modernistic film noir style, in dark, moodily lit settings with odd, glowing colors. The crimes and parts of the investigation are re-enacted with actors in dramatic recreations. These recreations are indicated by a change in video style. In earlier episodes they were blurry and black & white, and some appeared to actually be shot on film. More current shows use video that is in color, with letterboxing and a 'fuzzy' look. These recreations sometimes include alternate versions of the crime, which are eventually disproved by the science. This technique would later be appropriated, in a modified form, by the hit series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation-- essentially a fictionalized big-budget version of Forensic Files. This still from The Big Combo (1955) demonstrates the visual style of film noir at its most extreme. ... CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is a popular Alliance Atlantis/CBS police procedural television series, running since October 2000, about a team of forensic scientists. ...

In 2006 Forensic Files "Advanced" episodes began to air. This format takes previously released episodes and adds random extra bits of information related to the case previously left out. These bits of info are in the "pop-up" format reminiscent of Pop-up Video and often add interesting factoids related to the case and those involved. These facts often have the ironic or "wow" element to them. Pop-Up Video was a popular VH1 show that popped up bubbles ( ) — officially called info nuggets — containing trivia and spry witticisms throughout music videos. ...

Trivia

• The theme music of the show is strikingly similar to one of the Terran music tracks on the Blizzard Game Starcraft.

Notes and references

External links

• Forensic Files Site
• Medstar