Review: 'Dates From Hell'

Investigation Discovery has a talent for slicing continuously thinner slices from their big loaf of real-life murder stories. But no matter the overall topic of the show, what really matters are the stories and producers seem to have a talent for uncovering odd and unsettling stories.

"Dates From Hell" returns for a second season on Friday and the two premiere episodes show the limitations of the show's premise. Episode one is the story of a Florida woman who has a bad first date and thinks she has let him down easily. But he shows up unexpectedly at her door and ultimately shoots her, runs her over and leaves her for dead. She's found but despite a lot of therapy remains paralyzed, while her assailant is serving life in jail. Perhaps the oddest thing about the story is that as the police were closing in, this bad guy tried to kill himself by parking in a Home Depot parking lot with the windows rolled up on a sunny day. He apparently believed that he'd die of heat stroke like some forgotten puppy dog.

A much more unusual story comes in episode two, which revolves around the first date of two Kentucky college students. Unlike the previous "my date was nuts" story, this tale turned into a horrible night of abduction, rape, murder and loss. I won't give away the big twist at the end, but the identity of the couple's assailant was a real surprise.

And generally speaking, the stories on "Dates From Hell" that involve an outside assault rather than one part of the couple attacking their date are the ones that tend to be the most interesting to watch. Because in shows like this - with minimal production values and acting skills that are often non-existent - the story is 90% of what really matters to the viewers.

Although "Dates From Hell" doesn't have stories as flamboyant as the ones in "Evil Twins" or "Happily Never After," the show was generally pretty entertaining in its first season. Like most of the shows in this genre, it's not appointment television. But when you're flipping through the channels and can't find something to watch, this is inevitably the type of show you'll choose.

Season Two of "Dates From Hell" premieres on Friday, April 12th, 2013 on Investigation Discovery.