Primetime’s Most Unbelievable Claim to Beat The Biggest Show of 2000s Officially Never Happened

Robert Pattinson‘s Primetime has definitely triggered the real-life host of To Catch a Predator. Chris Hansen has a few too many complaints about the A24 film starring Robert Pattinson as the TV host. While Primetime is inspired by the popular NBC show and its host, director Lance Oppenheim confirmed that they were trying to adapt Hansen’s internet version.

That said, the movie, although it sticks close to true-to-life events, sometimes took creative liberties to fit the structure of the narrative. In one such scene in Primetime, NBC executive Jeff Zucker (playing himself) declares that he put Hansen’s (Pattinson) To Catch a Predator up against Lost on ABC on Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. ET. Hansen cheers that they will be “bigger than Lost!” This was quite a confident remark given that Lost was ruling TV in those days and was heading into its third season.

Chris Hansen Wants to Beat Lost in Primetime, But Reality Was Different

Robert Pattinson as Chris Hansen in Primetime | Credit: A24

The event, as shown in Primetime, is far from the reality. The real To Catch a Predator series never aired on the same night as Lost. The third season of the hit sci-fi mystery drama occupied Wednesday nights on ABC, while To Catch a Predator aired on Fridays on NBC. The time slot was the same, but not the day. That said, the claim in the movie that it is bigger than Lost is also inaccurate in reality.

According to Nielsen, To Catch a Predator averaged about 7 million viewers per episode during the final 2006-2007 season. Meanwhile, Lost averaged at $13.74 million U.S. viewers per episode on a live basis. Its third season premiere drew a whopping 18.82 million viewers. Meanwhile, Hansen’s peak viewership came in the May 2006 episode, earning around 10.27 million viewers. Even its peak viewership failed to compete with Lost‘s average viewership. So, despite Primetime claiming otherwise, it never happened in reality.

Primetime Changed a Few Things About Chris Hansen and His Show

Robert Pattinson in Primetime | Credit: A24

Robert Pattinson-starring Primetime moved around a few things that were different from the real-life events. One of the biggest timeline inaccuracies was Hansen’s extramarital affair. The movie shows it happening during the period of To Catch a Predator. However, in real life, it was exposed in 2011 by the National Enquirer, a few years after the show had ended its run in 2007.

Meanwhile, Andie Bender (Merritt Wever), who is a producer of the show in the movie and has a key role in Primetime, is an invented or composite character. The character was inspired by several people involved with the show. However, Bender isn’t based on a single real-life character.

Primetime opened in U.S. theaters on September 25. The movie had a $11.2 million (via The Numbers) opening Friday and is on track for a $17-$20 million opening weekend. Have you watched the movie yet?