Lies Woman Of The Hour Told You About The True Story

In October 2024, Netflix rolled out "Woman of the Hour," a crime thriller made all the more chilling because it's based on a true story. Written by Ian McDonald and directed by and starring Anna Kendrick, "Woman of the Hour" centers around a 1978 episode of "The Dating Game." Contestant Sheryl Bradshaw peppers three single men with questions and selects bachelor Rodney Alcala for a date, who unbeknownst to her, producers, and viewers, is one of the most notorious serial killers of all time. "Woman of the Hour" intercuts the TV taping scenes with sequences detailing a handful of the contestant's murders.

As is often the case with movie versions of real events, filmmakers took some artistic license. It's unlikely anyone will ever know exactly what Alcala and his victims talked about before he brutally murdered them in remote locations. But there is plenty of documented evidence about some of the crimes highlighted in "Woman of the Hour," and certainly regarding the background of the real-life Cheryl Bradshaw as well as the production and outcome of that haunting TV episode. Here are all the times that "Woman of the Hour" fudged the truth and departed from the wild true story of the serial killer who went on "The Dating Game" (for starters, the real figure spells her name differently — Cheryl, not Sheryl).

In order to get Sheryl Bradshaw (Anna Kendrick) face to face with serial killer Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zovatto), "Woman of the Hour" has to get the character onto "The Dating Game." In the early scenes of the movie, it's made clear that Bradshaw is a wannabe actor finding it difficult to make a living in Los Angeles. She goes on multiple, unsuccessful auditions and after it's implied that she's lying about her age because she's reaching the upper limit of her casting window, Bradshaw tells her father she's thinking of giving up the dream — until her agent calls with an urgent request to appear on "The Dating Game." Finding it beneath her as an actor, she still appreciates the exposure and tentatively agrees to do the show.

At the time that she appeared on "The Dating Game," the real Bradshaw wasn't actually a working actor. On her episode of "The Dating Game," host Jim Lange introduces her as a drama teacher from Phoenix who recently moved to the Los Angeles area. 

A "Woman of the Hour" scene set in New York City in 1971 finds a woman in her 20s painting her new apartment and talking on the phone about an upcoming trip. She misses the delivery of her furniture and after an irate moving crew leaves it all outside for her to deal with, she recruits Rodney Alcala — lurking with his camera across the street. They flirt, drink beers, and Alcala talks about how he studied under filmmaker Roman Polanski and is about to move to New Hampshire to teach photography to children. Then Alcala suddenly and shockingly beats the unnamed woman, and then strangles her with an article of clothing.

This "Woman of the Hour" setup aligns with the story of Cornelia Michael Crilley, a flight attendant who was strangled in her apartment in 1971. Alcala was found guilty of committing the murder, which likely didn't occur in real life the same way it's depicted in the film. Alcala additionally removed Crilley's clothing, bit her, and sexually assaulted her. It's unclear if Alcala helped move furniture at Crilley's provocation, or if the attack was seemingly random. However, Alcala did quickly move from New York to New Hampshire, changing his name to John Berger and finding work at a girls' theater camp.

Much of what happens on "The Dating Game" in "Woman of the Hour" was juiced by filmmakers to flesh out characters and heighten the drama. When Rodney Alcala appeared on "The Dating Game" in 1978, it was hosted by Jim Lange. In the film, the casually sexist and leering host portrayed by Tony Hale is named Ed Burke — a fictional lookalike and stand-in for Lange. The contestant introductions aren't exactly accurate. After revealing bachelors numbers one and two — a tongue-tied fool and a raging chauvinist, respectively — Alcala is shown as bachelor number three. He was actually bachelor number one on "The Dating Game."

The back-and-forth between Bradshaw and Alcala plays differently in the film. Anna Kendrick portrays Bradshaw as a reluctant participant who hastily writes her own complicated questions about science and philosophy and as a way to stand up for herself in a sexist environment. On "The Dating Game," Bradshaw was an enthusiastic participant, flirting and laughing and affecting funny voices when asking questions — and only the suggestive, show-provided ones. At one point, Bradshaw asks the bachelors to pretend that they're in acting school and to behave like a "dirty old man"; Alcala groans provocatively. And when asked to compare himself to a food, Alcala replies that he's "called the banana and I look really good." In "Woman of the Hour," Alcala presents himself as a kind, conscientious guy who doesn't much care for all the innuendo.

In an affecting "Woman of the Hour" sub-plot with high stakes, a woman named Laura (Nicolette Robinson) attends the taping of the fateful 1978 "The Dating Game" episode with her boyfriend and his family. When the stage rotates to reveal the three competing bachelors, Laura suffers a panic attack and flees the audience bleachers. She recognizes Rodney Alcala as a man from the multiple flashbacks she also suffers — she recalled him creeping around the night when after an oceanside bonfire, her friend Allison was sexually assaulted and murdered in a beach house. Racing to get somebody to hear her story and heed her warning that a likely wanted murderer is sitting on a game show stage, but not for very much longer, Laura rushes out of the studio (toppling a monitor and nearly undoing the broadcast of "The Dating Game"), and can't get her boyfriend, a studio complex gatekeeper, or anyone in the security office to listen to her. Alcala successfully tapes his episode and goes on to murder many more women, as a chyron at the end of the film and media sources report. 

While the full extent of Alcala's murder spree is unknown, the death of Laura and the actions of Rebecca seem to be specifically compiled for the sake of "Woman of the Hour." Nobody at the studio the night of Alcala's "The Dating Game" taping glaringly interrupted the show or tried to identify a murderer. No one involved with the show was aware of Alcala's criminal record.

"Woman of the Hour" accurately shows how the 1978 episode of "The Dating Game" concluded: Sheryl Bradshaw picks Rodney Alcala as the man she'd most like to see again. And from there, the plot diverges wildly from real life. In the film, the couple win a trip for two to Carmel, California, but after the taping, they go for cocktails at a restaurant across the street from the TV studio. It goes swimmingly until she suddenly becomes deeply unsettled by Alcala's remarks and wants to leave immediately. Alcala walks her to her car, and after confronting her about giving him a fake phone number and muttering something crude to her, he chases her and attempts to prevent her from getting into her car. Some exiting studio personnel give Bradshaw an out and she's off to safety.

Those final scenes were fully invented by the screenwriter. Back in 1978, the pair actually won a tennis lesson, scheduled for the next day. Cheryl Bradshaw declined to go, because her initial meeting with Alcala left her feeling uneasy. "I started to feel ill. He was acting really creepy," she told the Sydney Telegraph (via LadBible), adding that she delivered her refusal to a "Dating Game" producer telling her: "There's weird vibes that are coming off of him. He's very strange. I'm not comfortable." Bradshaw never talked to Alcala again.