WFLD Channel 32 - Scared Straight! (Part 4, 1979)

Here's Part 4 of the controversial Academy Award-winning documentary Scared Straight! (hosted and narrated by Peter Falk) as aired on WFLD Channel 32. This was from an "encore presentation." Includes:

"27 Years" orders the audience members to sit up, and gets into the face of several of them, even so far as to threaten to bite off the nose of one teen; he bluntly points out that what they see on TV is "fantasy," and that in real life when one does time, they do time. He also takes the teens' shoes as a demonstration of the extent to which he means business in his lecture; we see an entire pile of pairs of sneakers on the floor. Next, he emphasizes how when the teens commit a crime, they have no regard for the consequences their actions would entail.

After him comes "25 Years - Murder," who notes, "The police can make a thousand mistakes - you can only make one mistake and you're done," and takes issue with what he perceives to be one audience member thinking "something's funny"; he urges them to think long and hard about the consequences of their committing crimes. He points out that young people who hang out on street corners end up committing murder or other crimes because "that's what they gotta do."

In the middle of his absolutely frank talk, we see a lower-third station ID slide for a few seconds. After his last words, we dissolve to the zooming title bumper.

NOTE: This program contains language and descriptions that are unsuitable for children. Parental discretion is advised.

This aired on local Chicago TV on Sunday, May 20th 1979 during the 10:00pm to 11:30pm timeframe.

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