Maryland, U.S.A. — They say when you marry a man, you’re marrying his family too, but these ladies didn’t realize they were signing up for a family. Investigation Discovery’s hit series I married a mobster returns this August to reveal true stories of being a Mrs. in the mafia, from the riches of the rise to the ferocity of the fall. Each half-hour episode sits down with one woman as she recounts the fast-paced and dangerous lifestyle of being a first lady in the mob, whether she knew what she was signing up for or got the surprise of a lifetime when the feds came knocking. The second season of I married a mobster premieres on Wednesday, August 15 at 10 and 10:30 PM (E/P) on Investigation Discovery, with the premiere episode featuring the story of Lyndsey Cyr, Whitey Bulger’s ex who reveals how the “love of her life” transformed into the FBI’s most wanted man.

“The women in I married a mobster literally dance with the devil: they are strong, resilient and fierce. Indeed, their stories will leave viewers wondering what gets mobsters into more hot water: crossing their Dons, or their Donnas!” said Henry Schleiff, president and general manager of Investigation Discovery. “In a world where death before dishonor is a vow, we realize that by appearing in this series on ID, these women must now live in real danger, so we are particularly grateful to them for sharing their stories with our viewers.”

Expanding beyond the New York mafia, the new season of I married a mobster tells of mob families across the country, from Boston, Philadelphia and even Las Vegas. Episodes profile women such as a wife who transformed from goomah to boss’ consigliere, another who became a Kodak Girl turned skilled getaway driver, and one who had to choose between testifying against her husband…or John Gotti, Jr.

Next episodes during this season include:

• Breaking Bulger – Lindsey Cyr’s Story

Premieres Wednesday, August 15 at 10 PM
When 21-year-old Lindsey Cyr falls in love with 36-year-old James “Whitey” Bulger, she has no idea the man she has fallen for will soon become one of Boston’s most infamous criminals. Madly in love, Cyr finds herself not only pregnant, but also caught in the middle of a Boston mob war. Regardless of the danger, the birth of the couple’s son brings happiness for them both, and Bulger is an adoring father from the moment he lays eyes on him. But when the boy suddenly dies of an allergic reaction at 6-and-a-half years old, the grief is too much. With a vow to “never hurt like this again,” Bulger begins his final transformation into a cold-hearted killer that will soon make him the FBI’s most wanted man. For the first time since his arrest, Cyr reveals what life was like with her “Jimmy,” the man she calls brilliant, a fabulous lover, a wonderful father, and the love of her life.

• Scarred for Life – Toni Marie Fappiano’s Story

Premieres Wednesday, August 15 at 10:30 PM
Toni Marie Fappiano grew up in a big, loud, and loving Italian family surrounded by macho Neapolitan men, including her loving father. So it’s no surprise when she falls for the handsome and charming Michael “Mikey Scars” DiLeonardo. But Fappiano gets a wakeup call when her cousin is murdered in a mob-related bombing, and it isn’t long before she realizes that not all the men in her life are as dependable as her father. After her husband rats out fellow mobster John Gotti, Jr., Fappiano is left to choose between taking the stand against Gotti or her husband. But after discovering that her husband had a child with his mistress, the decision isn’t too difficult for Fappiano in the end.

• The Rule Breaker – Sharon McDonnell’s Story

Premieres Wednesday, August 22 at 10 PM
Sharon McDonnell is beautiful, feisty, and independent, but her life takes an unexpected turn when she finds herself knocked up and mobbed up. A shotgun wedding to her boyfriend brings McDonnell into the family of mobster Carmine Fiore, but it isn’t long before a battle rages between this headstrong Irish girl and her godfather-in-law and she flees. Continuing on her mobster streak, McDonnell falls into the arms of yet another wise guy, the notorious Ronnie One Arm. After their differences, and despite Ronnie’s warnings, McDonnell thinks third time’s a charm when she starts dating mobster Joe Cali. But when the danger and abuse become too much, she flees New York to start a new life in a secret location. Just when McDonnell thinks she’s safe and escaped her dance with the devil, the phone rings and it’s a number she knows all too well.

• It’s Me or the Mob – Nancy Esposito’s Story

Premieres Wednesday, August 22 at 10:30 PM
When Nancy Esposito meets restaurant owner Michael Delucia, she thinks he’s funny and charming. After they get married, Esposito is sure she has it all… until she comes home to find the FBI searching her house. It’s a wake-up call that forces her to take a hard look at her husband and the life he’s leading. As she comes to terms with who her husband really is, she delivers him an ultimatum: choose between their family or the mafia family.

• Stunt Lady – Georgia Durante’s Story

Premieres Wednesday, August 29 at 10 PM
Modeling just wasn’t enough for the beautiful Georgia Durante, who had a taste for speed and was a frequent competitor in local drag races. When her mob friends discover her skill, they put her to work driving getaway cars for notorious mob boss Carlo Gambino. Now a part of the mob’s inner circle, Durante meets club owner Joe Lamendola. He sweeps her off her feet, but as soon as they say I do, her prince charming turns into the prince of darkness. Durante finds herself thrust down a road of constant violence that won’t end until one of them is dead.

• No Way Out – Lynda Milito’s Story

Premieres Wednesday, August 29 at 10:30 PM
As childhood sweethearts, Lynda was a Jewish Juliet to Louie Milito’s Italian Romeo. But Lynda had no idea when they got married that she was setting herself up for heartache, with Louie’s ties to the Gambino mob going deeper than she could ever have imagined. When he’s caught in a power struggle with the mob’s “Prince of Darkness,” Sammy Gravano, Lynda forces Louie to make the ultimate decision: it’s her or the mob. The choice has unintended consequences and sends Lynda on a lifelong quest to uncover the truth behind her husband’s mysterious disappearance.

• Street Smart – Ruthann Seccio’s Story

Premieres Wednesday, September 5 at 10 PM
Ruthann Seccio didn’t have an ideal childhood. At the age of 12, “less than ideal turns” to “nightmare” when she’s raped and arrested for a crime she didn’t commit. By the time justice is served and Seccio is released, she survives on the streets of Philadelphia using her street smarts to get her through. At 23, Seccio sets out to find a better life, catching the attention of Philly’s mob boss, Ralph Natale. Despite their 35-year age difference, his status as a married man and her friendship with his daughter, Seccio gives into Natale’s advances. But after she becomes his most trusted confidant and after he becomes a rat, the love affair not only puts her life on the line but also threatens to destroy the Philly mob all together..

Image Courtesy of Investigation Discovery

The article Investigation Discovery Premieres I Married a Mobster appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Silver Spring, U.SA. – Investigation Discovery’s new series Reel Crime/Real Story, hosted by legal champion and biopic subject Erin Brockovich, uncovers the true facts and real personalities behind iconic crime-and-justice movies that have become a part of our pop culture.

Featuring the headline-stealing homicides that inspired Hollywood hits, Reel Crime/Real Story reveals the true tales on which award-winning films Selena, Monster, and To Die For were based, with never-before-seen interviews, crime scene reconstructions, and footage gathered from the actual investigations. Reel Crime/Real Story premieres as a three-part series on Tuesday, May 29 at 10 PM E/P on Investigation Discovery.

“Box office numbers and industry accolades are a testament to the fact that Hollywood continues to be fascinated by true-life crimes,” said Henry Schleiff, president and general manager of Investigation Discovery. “Our new series, Reel Crime/Real Story is further evidence of what Investigation Discovery’s growing audience already knows: truth is often stranger and more interesting than fiction!”
Each episode of Reel Crime/Real Story reveals how art imitated life in some of the world’s most notorious cases:

Monster premieres Tuesday, May 29 at 10 PM E/P
The media dubbed her the “Damsel of Death” and Hollywood immortalized her as “Monster.” This episode explores the life and crimes of Aileen Wuornos, America’s first female serial killer. Though executed in 2002, her story was immortalized by actress Charlize Theron, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of the prostitute turned femme fatale in 2003′s Monster.

In a never-before-seen interview shot before Wuornos became one of only 11 women executed in the past two decades, she comes clean and reveals intimate details of the lesbian love affair that led her to kill seven men. This episode also includes the first ever on-screen interview with the undercover detective who brought Wuornos into custody.

Selena premieres Tuesday, June 5 at 10 PM E/P
Latin music sensation Selena Quintanilla Perez found new life in a posthumous biopic starring Jennifer Lopez in her career-launching role. Lovingly nicknamed the “Mexican Madonna,” Selena was just 23 years old when her personal assistant and the president of her fan club, Yolanda Saldivar, gunned her down in a cheap motel room in Corpus Christi, Texas.

The 1997 film, Selena, tracks the star’s meteoric rise to chart-topping stardom and her whirlwind romance with band member and husband Chris Perez. Through interviews with Perez, law enforcement, and the hotel manager in whose arms Selena died, Reel Crime/Real Story explores the story beyond the movie: a shocking and senseless crime that snuffed out a bright young star’s life and career.

To Die For premieres Tuesday, June 12 at 10 PM E/P
Pamela Smart lives on in Hollywood history as the woman whose salacious story inspired Nicole Kidman to win her first Golden Globe. The real-life scandal of a teacher who used sex to entice her 15-year-old student boyfriend to murder her husband rocked the small town of Derry, N.H. before exploding into a national media frenzy.

The 1995 film To Die For parodies Smart as an ambitious, cold-hearted seductress out for her husband’s blood, but who is the real Pamela Smart? Family members, local law enforcement, lawyers, and media who followed the case from day one attempt to piece together the profile of a woman who thought murder was the only answer to an unhappy marriage.

Reel Crime/Real Story is produced by ITV Studios America for Investigation Discovery. For ITV Studios, John X. Kim is executive producer. For Investigation Discovery, Eugenie Vink is executive producer, Sara Kozak is senior vice president of production, and Henry Schleiff is president and general manager.

The article Reel Crime/Real Story Reveals True Stories Behind Crimes Films appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Out of the ashes of the Twin Towers emerged a group of survivors. They had all been through hell and back, but one survivor in particular stood out as inspirational: Tania Head.

Tania’s devastating story of narrowly escaping death from the 78th floor of the South Tower, badly burned and crawling through carnage and chaos, is one of true courage and a fighting will to survive. But while she made it out alive of one building, her life was essentially taken away by the other. Her fiance had perished in the North Tower.

Tania’s remarkable tale of recovery and loss catapulted her to being the face of the tragedy, earning her the respect of victims’ families, public officials like Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Americans everywhere.

Her story quickly traveled through the survivor community and in 2004 she became president of the World Trade Center Survivors’ Network, tirelessly working to give the survivors support and a place of prominence in a post 9/11 landscape. But there was one problem with Tania’s story that wouldn’t emerge until September 2007, when a New York Times article blew the lid off of her seemingly miraculous tale: absolutely none of it was true.

An ID Films presentation of a film directed by Angelo J. Guglielmo, Jr. and produced by Meredith Vieira Productions and 4235 Productions, The Woman Who Wasn’t There exposes the truth behind 9/11 “survivor” Tania Head.

With exclusive footage from interviews with Tania shot before her story crumbled, the documentary divulges the full circle of deception from before the truth and after the lies. The special Investigation Discovery presentation of The Woman Who Wasn’t There makes its world premiere on April 17, 2012.

“Despite the traumatic impact, those who lived through 9/11 have a yearning to feel connected, even in some small way. In an extreme example, Tania Head crafted her story in order to belong, making herself both a victim and a hero on that tragic day,” said Henry Schleiff, president and general manager, Investigation Discovery.

The Woman Who Wasn’t There is a chilling and enthralling look at how one person’s desire to be a part of America’s inspiring recovery can go to such deceptive lengths, and will likely leave viewers with more questions than answers.”

The Woman Who Wasn’t There began as a small advocacy film after Tania approached filmmaker Angelo J. Guglielmo, Jr. in 2006, wanting to tell the resiliency of the 9/11 survivors. She was eager to film the issues they face and their painstaking road to recovery. Guglielmo not only filmed hours of exclusive interview footage with Tania, but he also became her friend and confidant. When it came to light that the facts of her astounding tale were completely fabricated, Guglielmo kept the cameras rolling.

With complete access and participation from The World Trade Center Survivors’ Network, the documentary is told from a unique inside perspective that has yet to be seen by audiences, allowing viewers to unravel the psychological mystery of Tania’s tale as her closest friends did in real time.

The Woman Who Wasn’t There follows the rise of Tania, the telling her story of survival and the eventual revelation of its fabrication as well as the reactions and repercussions from her closest colleagues, all in search of an answer to the biggest question of all: who is Tania Head?

The Woman Who Wasn’t There: The True Story of an Incredible Deception by New York Times bestselling author Robin Gaby Fisher and filmmaker Angelo J. Guglielmo, Jr. will be published on April 3 by Touchstone Books.

Image Courtesy of   Ken Tannenbaum / Shutterstock.com

The article The Woman Who Wasn’t There: Special Investigation of 9/11 appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Fans love Investigation Discovery to death, and they’re not shy about proclaiming their addiction to true-crime programs like On the Case With Paula Zahn and Deadly Women via social media from across the globe. Ever the enabler of great storytelling, ID has prescribed its addicts with a water cooler of their very own: IDAddicts.com, a new social platform launched Saturday, January 21.

The site encourages all sorts of “bad” behavior among the newly dubbed “ID Addicts,” like experiencing the rush of real-time conversation with other fans through live-streamed chatter from Facebook and Twitter; nourishing the habit with personalized user profiles and the ability to subscribe to updates from fellow Addicts; and scheming when to get their fix throughout the week with information about upcoming premieres and exclusive opportunities.

The inspiration behind IDAddicts.com is the viewers themselves, whose incredible engagement has spawned incriminating tweets such as:

• “Watching the anti sleep channel aka @DiscoveryID … Its #DigitalCrack”
• “Working a 12-hour day seriously cuts into my ‘watching investigation discovery’ time. #MoreUnusualSuspectsPlease”
• “If you’re buying duct tape and a tarp, I automatically assume you’re planning a murder. Thanks @DiscoveryID”
• “I’m watching way too much Discovery ID Network. I suspect my 92 yr old neighbor may be a serial killer. Why is he always ‘gardening’?”

“By uniting fans under an official moniker and community base, IDAddicts.com plants a flag in our pledge to reward viewers for investing their time and curiosity in ID’s programming,” said Henry Schleiff, president and general manager of Investigation Discovery. “We are in ripe position to empower our flourishing social fan base with even more opportunities to chat, debate, and share theories about the true-crime stories they see on ID.”

To spark chatter on IDAddicts.com, Investigation Discovery has plenty of dark influences in store. Saturday also saw the launch of ID’s new ”Red Hot Saturdays” lineup with the series premiere of Scorned: Love Kills at 10 PM E/P, examining the dark side of love with a voyeuristic peek into the lust and obsession that fueled some of the most senseless, but certainly emotionally charged crimes to make front-page headlines.

Scorned is paired with all-new episodes of Who The (Bleep) Did I Marry? at 9 and 9:30 PM E/P, uncovering deceitful spouses who kept deep, life-altering secrets from their significant others well after the honeymoon was over. To add more fuel to the fire, Investigation Discovery is hosting weekly watch-and-win viewer giveaways of “red hot”-themed prizes to thank fans for further indulging their incurable addiction.

The article Investigation Discovery Launches IDAddicts.com to Hook Fans appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.