Investigation Discovery Has Helped Usher In A Questionable New Era Of Tabloid TV

It’s never good when the disturbing and urgent subject matter of your docuseries takes a back seat to the increasingly equivocal way it’s packaged. But Investigation Discovery, which recently brought us “ Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV ,” is now two for two in that regard.

“Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter” largely examines allegations of sexual assault that three women made against Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter beginning in 2017 . But the series leaves the viewer with more pressing questions about its storytelling and motivations.

Fans of the network since its origins in 2008 might be more used to its sensationalized reporting of celebrity events.

Piggybacking off the then-burgeoning successof true crime TV, ID began to make a name for itself with shows like “Wicked Attraction,” which examined real-life murderous couples, long before hits like “Joe Exotic: Tigers, Lies and Cover-Up” in 2020.

The network’s success was brought on by a number of things: more people staying at home and watching television in the thick of the pandemic; a greater investment in a 24-hour news cycle that lends itself to an interest in true crime; and our own celebrity obsession.

Combine those last two things, and you get to where we are with the state of the form today. Pop culture’s insatiable hunger for celebrity news and scandal, combined with our everyday doomscrolling ritual, has helped popularize a new golden era of tabloid television reminiscent of sensational, journalism-adjacent hits like “Hard Copy” and “A Current Affair” in the ’80s and ’90s.

Today, though, the audience is able to immediately and visibly contend with the question of which details are presented in the series, and how. That chatter on social