Zodiac killer documentary -- lost to History?

February 23, 2009 1:03 PM

In the early 80s, HBO aired a short TV series called "Whodunit?" and one of the 20 minute segments was about the Zodiac killer. It was done in an interesting fashion with a Monty Python-esque cutout design style..It was quite creepy. I cannot find this anywhere nor mentioned anywhere online. Does anybody have any information where I might find this? Or even information? I am just short of calling HBO. It is a segment that has haunted me since I watched it as a child and I kinda want to watch it again. If it matters they also did bits on Lizzie Borden and Richard Speck.
posted by snap_dragon to society & culture (17 comments total)

Good luck; watching this was one of the scariest experiences of my childhood! Oh, I first saw it in 1979, if that helps any, but I never knew what it was called.
posted by kimota at 1:35 PM on February 23

Wasn't there also a segment on "The Girl In the Red Velvet Swing," Evelyn Nesbit?
posted by kimota at 1:42 PM on February 23

Yep! But NOBODY can find anything on this.
posted by snap_dragon at 2:01 PM on February 23

It may be possible to track down an old tv guide which could have more information.
posted by gryftir at 4:39 PM on February 23

It may be possible to track down an old tv guide which could have more information.
Maybe easier, depending on your resources: go to your local library, get the microfilms of your local newspaper for the era you remember it being during, and check out each day's nightly listings?
posted by knile at 5:58 PM on February 23

Was it a game show? The original version was British so that would explain its Monty Pythonesque attributes. Never saw either so I'm not sure if this is what you're after.
posted by Thoughtcrime at 6:43 PM on February 23

Oops. Never mind. Those shows didn't reenact actual murders.
posted by Thoughtcrime at 6:44 PM on February 23

If you spell it as whodunNit you get a hit at least.

"And don't forget the scariest show of them all, Whodunnit, featuring Lizzie Borden, Zodiac, DB Cooper, and Jack The Ripper. I didn't sleep too well that night either, thinking about Mr. Borden lying there with his head split open in that dagguerotype,"
posted by stuartmm at 6:52 PM on February 23

Some Googling brings up a game show NBC ran for a couple of months in 1979 called Whodunnit?, hosted by Ed McMahon. I don't find any episode information, but it looks as if the crimes were staged before the contestants. Maybe the staged bits were rebroadcast by HBO? Or maybe you're misremembering the network? It aired on Thursday nights at 8 p.m.
posted by cgc373 at 4:33 AM on February 24

I'm not sure if this helps any, but I think there was also a segment on the Lindbergh baby kidnapping.
posted by kimota at 11:53 AM on February 24

IMdB has entries for the UK ('72) and US ('79) versions. The plot synopses for each confirm that this is what you're thinking of. WhosDatedWho.com, ShareTV.org, TVGuide.com.
posted by WCityMike at 1:48 PM on February 24

Definitey not the game show with Ed McMahon...this was solely on HBO and made-for show just for HBO. It was a dead serious project (no pun intended)...

Lost to history...and I wanted to just watch it. Even just on YouTube of someone's crappy VCR-Beta Tape recording of it.

thanks all.
posted by snap_dragon at 3:53 PM on February 24

If I end up calling HBO and do find a lead on getting a copy of this, is anyone interested in my findings or am I the only one who was crazy and scared of out of his diapers for this show?...and if my memory serves, it wasn't just one show but perhaps two with several features such as DB Cooper and Lindbergh like previous posters have mentioned.
posted by snap_dragon at 3:56 PM on February 24

snap_dragon, I think you can tell I'd definitely be interested. Apparently 7 others might be, too!
posted by kimota at 5:04 PM on February 24

Doing an IMdB search for anything that HBO was a distributor for, I'm not seeing anything with that title.
posted by WCityMike at 5:42 PM on February 24

I totally remember this. Scared the crap outta me. Would love to see something about it as well.
posted by duckus at 6:35 PM on February 25

WCityMike...thanks for looking..it was definitely HBO though. That is all we had for our payperview at the time. 100% certain...came out before Cinemax or Showtime.
posted by snap_dragon at 8:11 AM on February 26