"48 Hours" kicks off 25th season Saturday
CBS News' "48 Hours" kicks off its 25th full season Saturday, Sept. 29 with a fresh new lineup of stories about crime and justice, stories that need a voice, and stories that make a difference, it was announced by Senior Executive Producer Susan Zirinsky.
The new season, which includes cases that have taken the "48 Hours" team around the globe, builds on the show's rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused long-cold cases to be reopened and solved - and most important, changed lives.
"We have a great team of hard-news journalists who are committed to uncovering some of the most intriguing crime and justice stories around us," Zirinsky says. "The correspondents have developed an incredible collection of stories for the coming season that touch on all areas of the human experience."
Delivering those stories is "48 Hours" dedicated team of correspondents: Maureen Maher, Erin Moriarty, Troy Roberts, Richard Schlesinger, Tracy Smith, Susan Spencer and Peter Van Sant.
The new season includes the debut of a new logo that is a nod to the show's rich storytelling history. "48 Hours" began as the documentary "48 Hours on Crack Street" in 1986. It became a series in 1988 with the show built around a team of correspondents covering one subject for 48 consecutive hours. It became "48 Hours Investigates" in 2002 and was renamed "48 Hours Mystery" in 2004. Now simply titled "48 Hours" for the 2012-2013 season, the show is the third longest running primetime series on television. "48 Hours" has also been the No. 1 non-sports program on Saturday nights for the past six seasons.
"Everyone on the show is focused on original reporting and is dedicated to following stories, which often change dramatically along the way," says Zirinsky. "The "48 Hours" team sometimes follows stories for years as new witnesses come forward and cases are solved or new evidence is uncovered and cases are reversed. They're some of the best journalists in the business and are committed to unraveling stories that have an impact."
The 2012-2013 season of "48 Hours" gets underway Saturday, Sept. 29 at 10 p.m. ET/PT with "My Dad's Killer," which features Richard Schlesinger's report about a daughter who spent a decade certain she knew who killed her father and his fiancee, but couldn't prove it. After "48 Hours" began reporting the story, investigators pushed the case and the killer will now stand trial for murder. It is a story "48 Hours" has been reporting on for five years and the outcome has the potential to rip the family apart.
Video: Watch a sneak peek of "My Dad's Killer"
Also, as part of the 25th full season celebration, an update to the "48 Hours" iPad app will be available Thursday, Sept. 27 with several new features, as well as new content. All users can now watch the current week's show for free, including web extras not aired on television. Paid subscribers will continue to be able to access a deep archive, which now also includes 48 "classic" episodes. In addition, subscribers will be able to mark an episode as a favorite and easily browse a list of their top shows.