Cheaters

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Cheaters (disambiguation).

For the act of cheating on a partner, see Adultery.

Cheaters
Cheaters logo used from Season 2 through the present
Genre	Reality
Created by	Bobby Goldstein
Written by	Bobby Goldstein Stephanie Kovac Patrick Sellars
Directed by	John McCalmont
Presented by	Tommy Grand (2000-2003) Joey Greco (2004-present)
Narrated by	Robert Magruder
Opening theme	"Broken Hearted" by Bill Mason
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	8
Production
Producer(s)	Bobby Goldstein Billy Tears John McCalmont Tommy Habeeb
Associate producer(s)	Patrick Sellers
Editor(s)	Jeremy Hechler John McCalmont Lance Larson James Horak
Running time	30 mins.
Broadcast
Original channel	Syndication
Original airing	October 21, 2000
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Cheaters is a weekly syndicated reality TV show that documents people who suspected of cheating on their partners. Investigations are headed by the Cheaters Detective Agency.

1 Episode structure
2 History
3 Controversy
4 Legal entanglements/Bizarre moments
5 DVD Releases
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Episode structure

Cheaters logo (Season 1)

The show is filmed mostly in North Texas around the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex as well as the Houston area. As of October 2007, Cheaters has started airing its eighth season of first-run episodes.

Cheaters episodes usually follow two unrelated complainants and follow a typical pattern:

An episode usually begins with a brief interview with a complainant and a description of that complainant's partner.
The episode shows investigation surveillance footage narrated by Robert Magruder. Later, the host shows portions of the footage to the complainant, which usually shows the complainant's partner cheating.
After the complainant views the often-graphic video evidence, the host, the complainant, and a large group of camera and sound operators, drivers, and bodyguards seek out and confront the alleged cheater. Often during the confrontation, either a nasty verbal argument or violence will take place.
The episode ends with parting thoughts from complainants, their partners, and any suspects. The narrator summarizes what appear to be post-facto interviews with each person. People who do not sign releases with the producers of the show are anonymized and their faces obscured.
On occasion, Cheaters shows updates from past guests and their allegedly cheating partners.
There have been episodes that featured gay and lesbian couples.

[edit] History

The show, created by Bobby Goldstein, made its debut in 2000. Until early 2003, the show was hosted by one of its co-producers, Tommy Habeeb, who used the screen name Tommy Grand. Habeeb left the show due to a dispute with the production company regarding race.^{[citation needed]} Later, Habeeb settled the dispute out of court for $16 million^{[citation needed]} and now hosts Pay-per-view specials of raw Cheaters footage under a different name and often nudity plays a part.^[1]

2004 brought syndication reruns of previous seasons, edited into a half-hour Monday-through-Friday strip format with new intros with Joey Greco as host. In 2006, G4 began showing the strip version with faster-paced editing and music due to complaints that the show seemed boring and contrived^{[citation needed]}, as well as a different voiceover artist, for weekly airings on its Midnight Spank block.^[2]

The sexual encounters captured by the Cheaters' hidden cameras are usually displayed with heavy editing and verbal censorship in the broadcast version. Home video releases of several episodes, however, include uncensored footage.

[edit] Controversy

In 2002, the Houston Press tracked down several individuals who said they were paid $400 per show by one of the detectives of the agency to act on the show, and were paid $50 per referral to refer other actors.^[3] The show's private investigator denies that he staged anyone's scenario and further added that he does not need to do so based on the number of inquiries the agency receives.^[4] Due to many fans of the show complaining that often the show seems fake, and the characters always appear so conveniently to complete each scenario, the producers of Cheaters currently have a legal disclaimer at the end of each episode, reiterating the reality of the show.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Legal entanglements/Bizarre moments

On December 16, 2005, four employees of the show were indicted on charges of restraining a woman. The charges were against the host Joey Greco, director Hunter Carson and two security guards. On November 9, 2006, the four were acquitted. [1]
Greco was stabbed during the filming of an episode.^[5]^[6]^[7]He recovered and came back to the show shortly afterwards. Jack E. Jett, served as a fill-in host briefly after the Greco stabbing incident (and hosted the episode with the incident itself), and several episodes were filmed where Greco hosted, but other personnel led confrontations. The stabbing incident was ranked number two by E! Entertainment's 101 Craziest TV Moments program.
In another incident (shown in the DVD release The Best of Cheaters 5), Greco and his team are attacked by a man firing a "semi-automatic" paint ball gun.
In a separate episode, Greco was arrested at the scene of a bachelor party while helping a man confront his cheating fiancée. After Greco explained the situation about the couple to police, he was given a short talk about disturbing the peace and released with his copy of a written warning.
A moment where a man named Drew caught his girlfriend cheating with other women having a threesome with costumes and ballroom music. After confrontation, his girlfriend asks for both forgiveness and if Drew wants to have anal sex while dressed as a construction worker. The crew were asked to leave by the couple and it is noted that they have strange sexual fetishes.
In one episode, a wife suspected her husband was cheating on her in their home while she was away. Hidden cameras placed in the bedroom of the home revealed that it was actually their son having sex with his girlfriend in the home while both parents were away. This was one of the very few episodes in which the investigation found no evidence of cheating taking place.