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'''''Confession''''' is an [[ABC]] crime/police [[documentary]] which aired from June 19, 1958, to January 13, 1959, with interviewer John Francis Minford "Jack"  Wyatt (1917-2008) questioning criminals from assorted backgrounds.<ref>Alex McNeil, ''Total Television'' (New York: Penguin Books, 1996), p. 178./ref> The program was carried by videotape from WFAA-TV, the network affiliate in [[Dallas]], [[Texas]].<ref name=erickson>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=RXQNIs12SzQC&pg=PA61&lpg=PA61&dq=jack+wyatt+of+%22Confession%22+TV+series&source=bl&ots=Pf0iaPKBMy&sig=nQD9wokLlasDUk5yNUTYfg9RV6g&hl=en&ei=Ajf8TKPRO8H_lgfI9eyMBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=jack%20wyatt%20of%20%22Confession%22%20TV%20series&f=false|title=Hal Erickson, Encyclopedia of Television Law Shows: Factual and Fictional Series about Judges, Lawyers and the Courtroom, 1948-2008|publisher=Jefferson, [[North Carolina]]: McFarland and Company, Inc.|date=2009|accessdate=December 5, 2010}}</ref>​

'''''Confession''''' is an [[ABC]] crime/police [[documentary]] which aired from June 19, 1958, to January 13, 1959, with interviewer John Francis Minford "Jack"  Wyatt (1917-2008) questioning criminals from assorted backgrounds.<ref>Alex McNeil, ''Total Television'' (New York: Penguin Books, 1996), p. 178./ref> The program was carried by videotape from WFAA-TV, the network affiliate in [[Dallas]], [[Texas]].<ref name=erickson>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=RXQNIs12SzQC&pg=PA61&lpg=PA61&dq=jack+wyatt+of+%22Confession%22+TV+series&source=bl&ots=Pf0iaPKBMy&sig=nQD9wokLlasDUk5yNUTYfg9RV6g&hl=en&ei=Ajf8TKPRO8H_lgfI9eyMBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=jack%20wyatt%20of%20%22Confession%22%20TV%20series&f=false|author=Hal Erickson|title=Encyclopedia of Television Law Shows: Factual and Fictional Series about Judges, Lawyers and the Courtroom, 1948-2008|publisher=Jefferson, [[North Carolina]]: McFarland and Company, Inc.|date=2009|accessdate=December 5, 2010}}</ref>​

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==Episode about the transvestite==​

==Episode about the transvestite==​

In a contralto voice, Kahler said that he earned his living as a nightclub B girl. Kahler said that he had never known his father and that his mother had "a lot of marriages." He said that schoolmates had long taunted him and that he was a chain smoker who used large quantities of [[alcohol]] in despair. The program was shocking by the television standards of the 1950s.<ref name=time/>​

In a contralto voice, Kahler said that he earned his living as a nightclub B girl. Kahler said that he had never known his father and that his mother had "a lot of marriages." He said that schoolmates had long taunted him and that he was a chain smoker who used large quantities of [[alcohol]] in despair. The program was shocking by the television standards of the 1950s.<ref name=time/>​

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[[Methodist]] minister Walter Underwood joined the program to say that his denomination does not condemn transvestites but offers "its sympathy, its help, its counsel." A [[psychiatrist]], John C. Montgomery, said that Kahler's conditions "can be helped if it can be gotten to soon enough. He's been trying to be like his mother all his life. Physically, organically, there's no reason in the world why this should be. He has all the attributes of the male—except for the fact that he doesn't want to be." Montgomery said that the "problem can be laid at the parents' doorstep."<ref name=time/> ​

[[Methodist]] minister Walter Underwood joined the program to say that his denomination does not condemn transvestites but offers "its sympathy, its help, its counsel." A [[psychiatrist]], John C. Montgomery, said that Kahler's conditions "can be helped if it can be gotten to soon enough. He's been trying to be like his mother all his life. Physically, organically, there's no reason in the world why this should be. He has all the attributes of the male—except for the fact that he doesn't want to be." Montgomery said that the "problem can be laid at the parents' doorstep."<ref name=time/>

 

As Kahler returned to jail on a [[vagrancy]] conviction, calls flooded the WFAA switchboard. One caller declared the transvestite episode  a "disgrace," but 80 percent of the callers favored keeping ''Confession'' on the air.<ref name=time/> The case became public enough to make ABC pick the program nationally late in the spring of 1958.​

As Kahler returned to jail on a vagrancy conviction, calls flooded the WFAA switchboard. One caller declared the transvestite episode  a "disgrace," but 80 percent of the callers favored keeping ''Confession'' on the air.<ref name=time/> The case became public enough to make ABC pick the program nationally late in the spring of 1958.​

==Wyatt's background==​

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After each interview, as with Kahler, Jack Wyatt discussed each case with a clergyman, psychiatrist or [[psychologist]], an [[attorney]], and a [[sociologist]] or a [[penologist]]. The program attempted to determine the root causes of crime and to recommend remediation for the offenders. At times, Wyatt said that the "authorities tell me that we've actually helped criminals change their ways."<ref name=erickson/>​

After each interview, as with Kahler, Jack Wyatt discussed each case with a clergyman, psychiatrist or [[psychologist]], an [[attorney]], and a [[sociologist]] or a [[penologist]]. The program attempted to determine the root causes of crime and to recommend remediation for the offenders. At times, Wyatt said that the "authorities tell me that we've actually helped criminals change their ways."<ref name=erickson/>​

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