You’ve probably seen the grainy footage. A man with a thick mane of dark, curly hair sits on a stage, smirking. He’s "Bachelor Number One." The year is 1978. The show is The Dating Game. It’s the peak of 70s kitsch, all bright lights and suggestive banter. But looking back through the lens of the Rodney Alcala 20 20 special, that footage doesn't feel like a time capsule. It feels like a horror movie.
Rodney Alcala wasn't just some creepy guy who managed to get on TV. He was a predator who had already been on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. He had already killed. And yet, there he was, laughing and competing for a date with Cheryl Bradshaw.
Honestly, the most bone-chilling part of the whole thing isn't just that he was there. It’s how close he came to claiming another victim on national television.
The Vibe Check That Saved a Life
The Rodney Alcala 20 20 documentary does a deep dive into the specific moment Cheryl Bradshaw decided not to go on that date. She won. He won. They were supposed to go on a chaperoned trip.
But behind the scenes? Things got weird fast.
Bradshaw later described a feeling of "weird vibes" coming off Alcala. He was aggressive. He was arrogant. He had this way of looking at her that made her skin crawl. She went to the show’s contestant coordinator, Ellen Metzger, and basically said, "I can't go out with this guy."
Metzger listened. Thank God.
If she hadn't, Bradshaw might have ended up like Robin Samsoe or Jill Barcomb. It’s a reminder that sometimes, that "gut feeling" people talk about is the only thing standing between life and death. Alcala was a chameleon. He was a photographer, a typesetter for the Los Angeles Times, and a former student of Roman Polanski. He knew how to play the part of the intellectual artist.
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The Trail of Chaos: More Than Just a Game Show
While the game show appearance is what everyone remembers, the Rodney Alcala 20 20 investigation highlights that his crimes spanned decades and coasts.
He didn't start in 1978. In 1968, he brutally attacked 8-year-old Tali Shapiro in Hollywood. A witness saw him lure her into his apartment and called the cops. When the police broke down the door, Alcala had already vanished out the back, leaving the little girl for dead.
He fled to New York. He changed his name to John Berger. He actually enrolled at NYU.
Think about that. He was a fugitive wanted for the attempted murder of a child, and he was taking film classes in Manhattan. This is the "complexity" that experts like Peter Van Sant often discuss when breaking down Alcala’s psyche. He wasn't hiding in a basement; he was hiding in plain sight.
The Victims We Know (and the Ones We Don't)
The sheer scale of his violence is hard to wrap your head around. By the time he died in prison in 2021, Alcala had been linked to several murders, though the real number is likely much higher.
- Cornelia Crilley (1971): A TWA flight attendant in Manhattan. Strangled with her own stockings.
- Ellen Jane Hover (1977): The daughter of a famous Hollywood nightclub owner. Her remains weren't found for a year.
- Jill Barcomb (1977): Found in the Hollywood Hills.
- Georgia Wixted (1977): A nurse killed in her own apartment.
- Charlotte Lamb (1978): Murdered in a laundry room just months before Alcala went on The Dating Game.
- Jill Parenteau (1979): Killed in Burbank.
- Robin Samsoe (1979): The 12-year-old whose disappearance finally brought the whole house of cards down.
Investigators later found a storage locker in Seattle containing over 1,000 photographs Alcala had taken. Many were of women and children in suggestive or distressed poses. For years, police have released these photos to the public, hoping people might recognize a "Jane Doe" who never made it home. It’s a haunting digital archive of potential tragedy.
Why the Rodney Alcala 20 20 Story Still Resonates
Why are we still talking about this? Why did Netflix just release Woman of the Hour?
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Because the story of Rodney Alcala is the ultimate "failure of the system" narrative. He was arrested multiple times. He was a registered sex offender. He had been in and out of prison. Yet, in the 1970s, background checks were practically non-existent. A guy could just show up, be "charming" enough for a casting director, and get a platform.
It also touches on the way we treat women’s intuition. For a long time, the narrative was about the "lucky" girl who escaped. But the Rodney Alcala 20 20 coverage shifts that. It frames it as a woman who saw the monster for what he was and had the agency to say no, even when the "system" (in this case, a TV show) was telling her he was a prize.
The legal battle was just as messy. Alcala was sentenced to death three times. Three.
His first two convictions were overturned on technicalities. He actually acted as his own lawyer during one trial, which was as bizarre as you’d imagine. He sat there in court, questioning himself in a deep voice, playing both the witness and the attorney. It was a circus. It wasn't until 2010 that DNA evidence finally locked him away for good for the California murders.
What You Should Take Away
If you're diving into the Rodney Alcala 20 20 archives or watching the latest dramatizations, keep a few things in mind. This isn't just "true crime entertainment." It's a study in how predators exploit the gaps in society.
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- Trust the "Glow": Not the good kind. If someone gives you the "creeps," there’s usually a biological reason for it. Cheryl Bradshaw’s refusal to go on that date is the single most important lesson from this entire saga.
- The Power of Cold Cases: DNA technology didn't just catch Alcala; it’s still being used to identify the people in those 1,000 photos. Many families are still waiting for answers.
- The Evolution of Safety: We take background checks for granted now, but the Alcala case is a big reason why they became standard in the entertainment industry.
If you want to help, or if you’re a true crime sleuth, you can still view the "Alcala Photos" on various law enforcement websites. Every few years, another victim is identified because someone recognizes a face from fifty years ago.
The best way to honor the victims is to stay informed and stay skeptical. Alcala’s greatest weapon wasn't just his violence—it was his ability to look like he belonged. Don't let the "smirk" fool you.
To see the actual photographs recovered from Alcala's locker and potentially help identify remaining victims, visit the official Orange County Sheriff's Department website or the FBI's missing persons gallery dedicated to this case. Keeping these faces in the public eye is the only way to close the remaining chapters of this story.