Confesssed ‘BTK’ killer talks on ‘Dateline’
“Dateline” (8 p.m., NBC) will broadcast an interview with Dennis Rader, who recently confessed to being the notorious “BTK” serial killer wanted for a series of gruesome killings dating back to the 1970s.
Before his capture, Rader had a spotless reputation as a father, husband, church leader and scoutmaster.
Harvard psychologist Robert Mendoza, hired by Rader’s defense team to evaluate his sanity, conducted the interview. “Dateline” also will present a timeline of Rader’s killings, his subsequent obsession with the media, his arrest – which took him completely by surprise – and his willing confession.
As even casual listeners of sports talk radio know, nobody is more second-guessed than managers of Major League Baseball teams. “Costas Now” (9 p.m., HBO) offers viewers a dugout seat with St. Louis Cardinals Manager Tony LaRussa. Host Bob Costas spent three days with LaRussa in mid-July and interviewed him after each game about his expectations, decisions and disappointments.
Not to second-guess a second-guesser, but why LaRussa? His team is running away with the National League Central division. How difficult can his job be?
How about a losing manager, or one with a team in the thick of a pennant race?
In the same hour Costas will chat with Lance Armstrong and also discuss allegations that a South Carolina physician prescribed steroids to more than a dozen members of the Carolina Panthers football team.
The high school soap opera “Degrassi: The Next Generation” (5 p.m., Noggin) may just be the most popular Canadian import since Wayne Gretzky. “Degrassi” wraps up its fourth season with a three-part story over the next three Friday nights. These feature a number of notable cameos. And that’s not necessarily a good thing.
The “Nature’s Nightmares” installment “Elephants: The Dark Side” (9 p.m., National Geographic) looks at the increasing number of fatal incidents involving peevish pachyderms.
Elephants kill hundreds of people every year, and the numbers keep rising. While people in India and Asia have been using elephants as farm and work animals for thousands of years, some of the animals have begun to demonstrate a violent streak, invading fields, attacking motorists and even besieging villages.
“Nightmares” looks at possible explanations for this erratic and deadly behavior.
Other highlights
The case of the mysterious mail-order bride on “Veronica Mars” (8 p.m., CBS).
On a four-episode marathon of “Arrested Development” (Fox), at long last love (8:30 p.m.), a funny uncle (9 p.m.), Michael mulls his possible love child (9:30 p.m.) and a farewell to arms (10 p.m.).
Jenifer Lewis stars in the 2004 drama “Nora’s Hair Salon” (8 p.m., UPN).
Diana Degarmo, the runner-up on “American Idol” 2004, guest-stars on “Blue Collar TV” (8:30 p.m., WB).
The daughter of a math whiz is kidnapped on “Numb3rs” (10 p.m., CBS).
Witnesses prove scarce in a murder case from the civil rights era on “Crossing Jordan” (10 p.m., NBC).
Scheduled on “20/20” (10 p.m., ABC): an abused wife’s tale of survival; ever-louder car stereos; ambush photographers.
Cult choice
A wealthy widow (Jane Wyman) challenges the snobbery of her social circle when she takes up with a younger tree surgeon (Rock Hudson) in the 1955 Technicolor melodrama “All That Heaven Allows” (7 p.m., Turner Classic Movies), from director Douglas Sirk.
Series notes
A faculty fracas on “8 Simple Rules” (8 p.m., ABC) … A torch singer’s lament on “What I Like About You” (8 p.m., WB).
On back-to-back episodes of “Hope & Faith” (ABC) catered affairs (8:30 p.m.), and a spy in the house of love (9 p.m.).
Tommy Hilfiger hosts “The Cut” (9 p.m., CBS) … A grandmother pageant on “Reba” (9 p.m., WB) … Joan Rivers guest-stars on “Less Than Perfect” (9:30 p.m., ABC) … Doubts about Allison’s beau on “Living with Fran” (9:30 p.m., WB).