''Confession'' is an American interview television series. Hosted by Jack Wyatt, the show explored the root causes of crime and possible ways of addressing them. The series aired locally in the

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, area beginning early in 1957 and nationally on ABC during the summer of 1958 and the 1958–1959 television season.

Synopsis

In each episode, host Jack Wyatt interviews a convicted criminal who has been vetted and approved by local police officials, discussing his or her crimes and reasons for committing them.McNeil, Alex, ''Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming From 1948 to the Present, Fourth Edition'', New York: Penguin Books, 1996, , p. 176.Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime-Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present (Sixth Edition)'', New York: Ballantine Books, 1995, , p. 211.Erckson, Hal, ''Encyclopedia of Television Law Shows: Factual and Fictional Series About Judges, Lawyers and the Courtroom, 1948–2008''
Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2009, , pp. 61–62. After the interview, Wyatt moderates a discussion by a panel which includes a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

, a member of the

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

, either a

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

or a

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

, and either a penologist or a sociologist, during which the panelists analyze the interview and suggest ways of reforming the criminal.

Production

Patrick Fay directed ''Confession'', which began as a live local program in

, broadcast from the studios of

WFAA WFAA (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, serving as the American Broadcasting Company, ABC affiliate for the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Decatur, Texas, Decatur-li ...

. With relatively few network shows to broadcast during prime time during the late 1950s, ABC picked up the show for network broadcast to help fill out its schedule during the summer of 1958, and continued to broadcast it during the first half of the 1958–1959 season. Episodes for ABC were

videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually Sound recording and reproduction, sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog signal, analog or Digital signal (signal processing), digital signal. V ...

d at WFAA. Although its live local broadcasts in Dallas prior to its ABC run commonly prompted a flood of telephoned complaints to WFAA after each episode, the little-watched series managed to avoid some of the strict

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

that constrained the content of most other television shows of the 1950s. This allowed it to cover a variety of topics rarely permitted on the air by censors and sponsors of the era, including the crimes of drug addicts, prostitutes, sex offenders, and murderers. In one of its more notable 1957 episodes, Darrell Wayne Kahler, a 22-year-old male transvestite arrested for

vagrancy Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging, waste picker, scavenging, or petty theft. In Western ...

while drunk, dressed as a woman, and being molested by three men, discussed his dysfunctional upbringing, his heavy use of alcohol and cigarettes, and his work as a "B girl" at a nightclub, and police allowed him to dress in a black cocktail dress to reenact his arrest for Wyatt's interview."Television: Confession," ''Time'', December 30, 1957. The Kahler episode brought the show to national attention and prompted ABC to pick it up for network broadcast.

Broadcast history

''Confession'' premiered as a local program on

in Dallas, Texas, in early 1957. It began its national run on ABC on June 19, 1958, airing on Thursdays at 10:00 p.m.

Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behi ...

until September 1958, when it moved to Tuesday at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The show faced stiff competition on both NBC and CBS, and it was cancelled at mid-season. Its last episode was broadcast on January 13, 1959. '' Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond'' replaced it in ABC's schedule.

References

{{reflist 1950s American television talk shows 1958 American television series debuts 1959 American television series endings Black-and-white American television shows American Broadcasting Company talk shows Television shows set in the United States American English-language television shows