Unsettling Reenactment of Crime

What is “I, Detective,” a new series premiering tonight at 9:30 on Court TV?

(A) a documentary

(B) a murder mystery

(C) a quiz show

(D) all of the above

The correct answer is D, which also stands for “disquieting,” “disconcerting” or “disturbing”--take your pick.

The basic premise of “I, Detective” is to reconstruct a real-life crime and retrace the steps investigators took to solve the case, with interviews and reenactments providing the bulk of the program. Countless TV documentaries have followed this formula, for better or worse; at least it keeps former law enforcement officials, faceless actors and composers of sinister background music off the streets.

Where this show differs from its predecessors, however, is in its use of intermittent multiple-choice quizzes, designed to make the program more interactive. Sometimes the questions test general knowledge, such as which poison smells like bitter almonds; others are based on viewer comprehension or analysis. If you still suffer from trauma in connection with high school or college entrance exams, this might not be a good show for you.

Joking aside, though, the quiz gimmick points up the troubling issues surrounding any portrayal of real-life crime, and therefore actual victims and their families and friends, in a program that is essentially entertainment.

Tonight’s installment focuses on the 1986 investigation of the death of Sue Snow in Seattle. Snow died after taking painkillers laced with cyanide, and though initial clues pointed to her husband, he was cleared when the investigation became much wider.

You have to wonder how horrific it must be for the victims’ survivors, if they tune in, to relive the trauma of 16 years ago--and pick logical answers related to deaths that were senseless.