'To Catch a Predator' Revival Updates: Show receives an independently manned revival, inspires other citizens to act on catching offenders

By Staff Writer

Oct 24 2015, 10:26 AM EDT

The popular television series "To Catch a Predator" will be finally making its comeback. After being cancelled in early 2008 due to a court dispute faced by then-mother network NBC, Chris Hansen and the gang are now resuming with their predator hunting and this time, a huge social media platform is backing them up.

Without any support from a major TV network, Hansen singlehandedly launched a Kickstarter campaign last May to solicit help from netizens and supporters to fund the revival of his infamous program. According to Complex, Hansen has already gathered almost $90,000 which exceeded his original targeted amount of $75,000.

This immense amount of passion from Hansen and his crew is what made the show's return possible, said news reporter Spencer Woodman.

"One thing I can definitely tell from speaking with him was that he absolutely loves doing this," Woodman relays to Inverse when asked about Hansen's thoughts on rebooting the said program.

Along with its return, the popular program has been renamed to "Hansen vs. Predator", a title that Hansen himself concocted which entails a more direct and no-frills approach to crime busting, just like how the show has been known before.

Although "To Catch a Predator" has been off the air for quite some time, the show's format of luring in potential criminals has lived on with guerilla operations done by ordinary citizens across the globe. An example of this is 28-year old Justin Payne from Toronto, Canada who is a construction worker by day and a hooligan chaser by night.

Payne follows the same format as Hansen program does - posing as a minor on dating websites and then cornering the croons on the spot with print screened copies of their online conversations and a bunch of cameras.

"Payne, 28, considers himself a vigilante pedophile hunter. At any given time, the construction worker is logged onto three different dating websites, posing as a child between the ages of nine and 13," VICE narrates during their report on Payne's sting operations.

With this kind of influence on people and the immense demand from fans, it is no surprise that the people behind "Hansen vs. Predator" are more than inspired to bring back the show that had pedophiles take their seats, as what Hansen would famously quip back then.