When the cameras rolled on ABC’s The Dating Game in 1978, millions tuned in expecting a harmless dose of televised flirtation. What they got instead was a real-life nightmare in disguise. It was a serial killer smiling his way into America’s living rooms.
25-year-old Rodney Alcala looked the part of a ’70s heartthrob. Tall, tanned, and smooth-talking. He introduced himself as a “photographer who likes to take pictures of beautiful women.” Sitting behind the partition, bachelorette Cheryl Bradshaw giggled through the show’s cheeky questions as Alcala answered with unsettling confidence.
