What to Watch Friday: 20/20 on the complicated search for the Happy Face Killer
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Dateline: Horror at the Lake (9 p.m., NBC) - Dennis Murphy reports this week’s story, about Florida teacher Denise Hallowell, who was brutally murdered with an ax as she slept in her home in July 2019. “Dateline” looks at the Hallowell family’s tumultuous past and gets an exclusive interview with her adopted son Carlos Hallowell, and with insiders close to the case, including Det. Chris Holloway and Citrus County Sheriff Mike Prendergast.
20/20 (9 p.m., ABC) - “20/20” reports on how a bizarre false confession derailed the investigation into the first murder committed by the notorious “Happy Face Killer,” Keith Hunter Jesperson. The episode chronicles how after authorities discovered the body of Taunja Bennett in the Columbia Gorge in 1990, 57-year-old Laverne Pavlinac confessed to the police that she took part in the crime. But her confession turned out to be false, and an attempt to escape what she described as an abusive relationship. Juju Chang looks at how Pavlinac was able to dupe police and features an exclusive interview with a friend of the last person Jesperson killed before his arrest, and with Jesperson’s daughter. Also, new interviews with detectives and prosecutors, plus family members of those involved.
Being Blago (Hulu) - This original documentary series traces former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich’s rise to the top tier of American politics — and his fall. It’s a story about purpose and power, and the search for redemption when you lose both.
Hello, Jack! The Kindness Show (Apple TV+) - A new live action series that aims to ignite kindness by exploring empathy, humor, playfulness and imagination. The series is anchored around Emmy Award-nominee Jack McBrayer’s infectious positivity and whimsical humor, and invites preschoolers into a world where a little act of kindness can change the world.
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