Beyond Scared Straight on A & E

From The Hollywood Reporter website.....

A&E has ordered a sequel to the hugely influential and Oscar-winning 1978 documentary "Scared Straight!"

Teaming with the documentary's original producer, Arnold Shapiro, the cable network has ordered four one-hour specials of "Beyond Scared Straight!" that will chronicle modern confrontational approaches to juvenile crime prevention.

The original version of "Scared Straight!" showed a then-radical inmate-led intervention program for young offenders at a New Jersey prison. Teens ages 12-18 were subjected to a brutal reality check from hardcore prisoners about what it's like to spend time behind bars.

The resulting documentary won an Academy Award for best documentary feature and, after airing on TV, won two Emmys in documentary categories. The film spawned similar programs across and the country, was shown in school classrooms for years afterward and was even spoofed on NBC's "The Office."

For a generation, "Scared Straight!" was the first glimpse of "reality TV."

"Beyond Scared Straight!" will once again show young offender intervention programs, only these have evolved since "scaring teens is no longer as easy of a task." Each of the four episodes will focus on a different prison program, following a group of at-risk teens and preteens going through the program and then catching up with them two months later.