The Con Premiere Date/Status
ABC is yet to cancel or renew The Con for Season 3
About The Con TV Series
WHOOPI GOLDBERG TAKES VIEWERS ON A GUIDED TOUR OF SOME OF THE MOST STUNNING TALES OF DECEPTION WHEN ABC NEWS STUDIOS' PRIMETIME SERIES 'THE CON' RETURNS FOR SEASON TWO
Season Premiere Examines the Story of a Trusted Small Town Savior Turned Scheming Sinner, Thursday, July 28, on ABC
Duplicity, broken promises and greed ... ABC News Studios' primetime series "The Con" returns for season two, narrated by Emmy(R), GRAMMY(R), Tony(R) and Oscar(R) winner and moderator of "The View" Whoopi Goldberg. Each week Goldberg takes viewers inside the shocking tales of deceit and fraud, revealing the con artist's schemes, devasting costs, and hope for justice as told by the key people who lived the life-changing events. Podcaster Laci Mosely ("Scam Goddess") joins the series as a featured expert making weekly appearances. Season two of "The Con" premieres Thursday, July 28 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC, and next day on demand and on Hulu.
In the series premiere, "The Faithful Investor," Goldberg introduces viewers to Aubrey Lee Price, a once beloved Georgia pastor turned financial advisor. Price, who came to boast over 100 clients in his portfolio and millions of dollars in assets, turned his attention to a floundering small-town bank in need of funding. An opportunity that he thought would be his cash cow ended up being "the nail in his coffin." He had no way to pay back his investors, most of whom were the faithful parishioners who trusted Price with their life savings when things did not go as planned. The father of four boarded a ferry from Key West to Fort Myers, Florida, after sending what amounted to suicide notes to friends and family. He disappeared in June 2012 while his victims were left to pick up the pieces of their lives and ruined retirements, but a routine traffic stop solved the mystery of what happened to Aubrey Lee Price. "The Faithful Investor" includes interviews with Price's victims, attorneys and even the preacher himself, who takes a turn at confession.
This season, "The Con" will feature the stories of Jim Bakker, who prosecutors say has been up to his old tricks conning his faithful followers with a sham COVID cure; the stories of a complex love fraud with victims spanning the country; ill-gotten gains in the film business; a counterfeit ring fueled by extreme couponing and graphic design skills; and the billion-dollar heist of the century that threatened the global financial system.
For the series, David Sloan is senior executive producer, and Carrie Cook serves as executive producer for ABC News. Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman are executive producers for The Intellectual Property Corporation (IPC), a part of Sony Pictures Television, along with executive producer and showrunner John Henshaw.
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ABC NEWS DEBUTS NEW PRIMETIME SERIES "THE CON," NARRATED BY WHOOPI GOLDBERG
Series Documents the Stories and People Behind the Most Stunning Cons
Series Premiere Examines a Love Story Gone Bad for a Television Producer and Her World-Renowned Surgeon Fiancé, Wednesday, Oct. 14 (10:02-11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC
ABC News will debut the new primetime series "The Con," narrated by Emmy(R), GRAMMY(R), Tony(R) and Oscar(R) winner and "The View" moderator Whoopi Goldberg, on Wednesday, Oct. 14. The series explores the troubling tales of people taken in by claims and promises that proved too good to be true, from identity fraud and misleading romance to the high-profile college admission scandal and Fyre Festival. It will reveal how the victims were fooled and the cost of their false trust - emotional and financial. "The Con" will feature interviews with the key people caught up in the cons, including victims and eyewitnesses, and, in some cases, law enforcement and the perpetrators themselves. The series will lift the curtain on the people behind some of the most outrageous cons ever. "The Con" kicks off Wednesday, Oct. 14 (10:02-11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC.
In the series premiere, Goldberg introduces viewers to Benita Alexander, an award-winning documentary television producer and single mother, and Paolo Macchiarini, an internationally renowned surgeon. Alexander meets Macchiarini while producing a documentary on his groundbreaking surgical techniques using stem cells in synthetic trachea transplants. Despite crossing professional lines, Alexander finds herself wooed by Macchiarini's charm, intellect and good looks, and the pair quickly falls in love. After traveling the world together, the couple gets engaged and, according to Alexander, Macchiarini tells her he wants to take over planning the wedding. It quickly becomes a grand, fairy-tale affair with an impressive guest list, including Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Elton John. He says they'll even be married by the pope. However, weeks before their Italian wedding, Alexander realizes things aren't as perfect as they seem and uses her investigative producer skills to uncover the truth behind Macchiarini and the planned wedding.
At around the same time, the Karolinska Institute, where Macchiarini performed some of his transplant surgeries, has been digging into allegations from Macchiarini's colleagues that he fabricated parts of his medical research. Macchiarini eventually loses his position at the institute. His groundbreaking surgeries have been under investigation by Swedish prosecutors, and just last week he was indicted on charges of aggravated assault relating to three of his surgeries. A court date has yet to be set and Macchiarini has not yet entered a plea. He has denied all of the allegations against him. The premiere episode includes interviews with Alexander, her friends, family and former co-workers.
Each week, "The Con" will document a different con and its victims. Future episodes feature the stories of Johnathan Walton and con artist Marianne Smyth, who claimed to be an Irish heiress whose family was trying to swindle her out of her massive inheritance; Anthony Gignac of Michigan, who created a false identity to deceive people into thinking he was a member of the Saudi royal family; and the story of three women who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to psychic frauds who preyed on their vulnerability and dependency.
For the series, David Sloan is senior executive producer, and Carrie Cook and Colleen Halpin serve as executive producers for ABC News. Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman are executive producers for IPC, along with executive producer and director Star Price. The premiere episode of "The Con" is produced by ABC News. Other episodes in the series are produced by Industrial Media's The Intellectual Property Corporation (IPC) for ABC News.
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