When it comes to true crime, Dateline is the gold standard. The long-running series is a go-to source of information for case deep divers and casual viewers alike. And it boasts a legion of high-profile fans. Michael Scott on The Office watches Deadline, so does Taylor Swift. The L.A. Times even dubbed the Dateline team “true crime sex symbols.” Notably, one of the show's hit podcasts, The Thing About Pam, is being adapted into a TV series starring Renee Zellweger.
Indeed, Dateline is a legend in the realm of true crime, and this Friday kicks off the start of its 30th season, cementing it as NBC's longest-running primetime series. Andrea Canning has been one of the show's correspondents for nearly 10 years. This season will mark her 100th episode. Ahead of the season premiere, Canning caught up with T&C to discuss the genre's ever-growing popularity and what her co-hosts are like in real life.
True crime has exploded in popularity over the past few years. Why do you think people are so interested in the genre?
I think people are interested in true crime in general because they love to see a mystery unfold from beginning to end. We all have the curiosity. So many families look perfect from the outside, but there’s so many secrets behind those walls. Like, what is your neighbor really doing? Because so many of these stories just seem like normal people, right? And everyone always says the same thing: “This does not happen around here.” It’s always the same story. No one’s ever like, “Oh yeah, we just had a murder down the street.”
I think people like to watch along and try to figure it out for themselves, as well. Like my husband will be like, “She did it,” and then five minutes later he’s like, “No, he did it,” and “I think I know why they did it.”
It’s interesting from someone who’s covered it for so long to see the evolution. Even when I started at Dateline almost 10 years ago, it was a popular show, but it wasn’t like… the whole idea of true crime wasn’t as ubiquitous, and now everywhere I go people are like, “Oh my gosh, I love your show!” That wasn’t happening when I first started at Dateline.
Do you worry about sensationalizing these stories or people becoming desensitized to them?
The reality check for me, and I hope for everyone else who’s watching the show, is when they listen to the families, and they hear the families’ stories. What may start out as, “Oh wow, that’s an interesting story,” or “That’s a sensational detail,” then you sit down with those families and you just… you feel their pain. And it’s real. Once you really think about it from that perspective, I hope that everyone doesn’t just see it as entertainment because while, yes, we’re all watching it, it’s not [entertainment] to these families. They’re doing this to either honor their loved one or because they need our help. They’re not doing it so people can watch Dateline. They’re doing it for a reason. You don’t want to lose sight of that.
Were you a true crime fan before getting involved with Dateline?
I really was. I remember, I don’t even know how old I was, but I was at my parents’ house, so I know I was pretty young, and I watched a Lifetime one-hour thing on Lawrencia “Bambi” Bembenek... and I just remember being transfixed by this show. And it never stopped after that. I just started watching all the shows. I [recently] cleaned out my closet at my parent’s house and I found this book that I had written when I was eight years old and it was called “A Murder Mystery,” and it had a knife with blood on it on the cover that I had drawn! And I was like, “What was wrong with me?” I did read all the Agatha Christie books from a young age. I read Nancy Drew; I read the Hardy Boys. So, that’s probably where that came from.
Thirty seasons—that's a long run! What do you credit for Dateline's popularity?
I think [viewers] really like the storytelling and the interactions, and the fact that we interview killers. Usually we get everybody, right? We get the police, the killers, the families—just the whole package. It's a real quality presentation of a story from beginning to end. And 99% of the time on Dateline, at the end you will be told who the killer was. We don’t delve into the unsolved very much because we do like to present A to Z, here’s the entire story. I think it’s just a testament to the quality of the show and the programming and what we put on the air. It’s destination television.
And then all the pop culture references everywhere! I was watching the Goldie Hawn and Amy Schumer movie [Snatched] in the movie theater, and Amy Schumer gets them out of the trunk, and Goldie Hawn is like, “How did you know how to do that?” And she’s like, “I saw it on Dateline,” and I was like wait a minute—that was me! I’m the one who escaped out of the trunk! I’m looking around the movie theater like... I wanted to like raise my hand like, “You’re welcome, Amy Schumer!” Then there’s like all the celebrities who say that it’s their favorite show, from Taylor Swift, Kaley Cuoco, Denzel Washington, the list goes on and on and on. And actually, Kaley and I became friends because she’s such a big fan of the show.
And now it's spawned a network television show with Renee Zellweger. What makes the story of Betsy Faria and Pam Hupp so fascinating to people?
It’s the story that never seems to end, first of all. I feel like every single year that name is coming up. And the craziest thing for me was how our own producer got roped into it! I think it’s just one of those stories where new things just keep popping up. And then it caught the attention of Hollywood! When I heard that, I thought that was so cool that Renee Zellweger was going to do a Dateline-type series. I’ve met her, and she’s so nice and such a good actress. I kind of felt like we hit a home run with Renee Zellweger! It hasn’t even been made yet, but the fact that Renee signed on, I feel like it’s a home run.
Andrea Canning with Dateline host Lester Holt and fellow Dateline correspondents Josh Mankiewicz, Keith Morrison, and Dennis Murphy.
It seems like one of the things people love about the show are the correspondents. What are the relationships like among you all?
Oh my gosh, I have nothing unkind to say about any of them. I love them all. Josh [Mankiewicz] is funny. He always makes me laugh. And Keith [Morrison] is more serious. Maybe it’s our Canadian connection but Keith and I, whenever we see each other, it’s just so easy. But Josh is the one that I have long phone conversations with. We’ll talk about work and all kinds of stuff. And Natalie [Morales] and I have been friends for years. We bonded on our way out to Oregon for a story on a flight, and we’ve just been really good friends ever since. And Dennis [Murphy] is funny, too.
Does Keith talk like that all the time?
He definitely talks kind of slow and methodical. I mean, not quite the Dateline voice because that would be weird, but he does have that soothing voice. I can just imagine his children when they were little having Keith put them to bed; they were probably out. Meanwhile I’m losing my mind at bedtime, Keith was probably just Mr. Calm Dad reading bedtime stories.
What can viewers look forward to for this new season?
It’s gonna be good. You know what I’m most impressed about from the new season? The production value. I was just watching [an episode]... the production value was just incredible. With technology and drones and the just quality of cameras, it was slick. I guess we just keep upgrading with new technology, but it really takes you there even more when it’s that crystal clear, and you’re looking at the drone view or whatever. It just gives you a different feeling, you know? It’s interesting because it’s the first time I’ve really noticed it. I think it’s gonna be a good season. There’s lots of good cases, interesting stories.
Dateline’s 30th season premiere airs on September 24 at 9 p.m. on NBC.
Head to Peaco*ck's free channel, DATELINE 24/7, for around-the-clock streaming of Dateline episodes.
Meg Donohue
Associate Fashion Commerce Editor
Meg (she/her) is the associate fashion commerce editor at ELLE.com, where she specializes in shopping stories spanning the fashion, home, and lifestyle categories. Over the past three years, she has devoted countless hours to researching brands, testing hundreds (maybe even thousands!) of products, and deep-diving into market and consumer trends. Her favorite job responsibilities consist of co-writing the monthly series Same Same But Different and curating the fashion market for ELLE Escapes. Meg graduated magna cum laude from the Missouri School of Journalism with an emphasis on magazine editing. In 2020, one of her feature stories in the service article category was recognized by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. The year prior, the Society of Professional Journalists named voxmagazine.com “Best Affiliated Magazine” in its Mark of Excellence Awards, when she was on staff. Meg’s stories have appeared on Cosmopolitan, Town & Country, Harper’s Bazaar, and Good Housekeeping, among many other outlets. Her personal passions include travel, buffalo sauce, and gardening. You can find her in New York, where she lives, or on Instagram, where she also lives. She will never stop hoping for a One Direction reunion tour.
