Locked Up Abroad (National Geographic Channel)

Locked Up Abroad does have several things going for it. The production values are good, and the stories are told in the voices of the people immediately involved, which gives viewers a personal connection to the stories. The re-enactments are eerily close to the original photography and video taken at the time of imprisonment. And it's certainly eye opening to witness the cruelty and miscarriage of justice that occurs in some of these place.

But because there's no mention of any intervention from anybody's embassy, the whole thing smacks of sensationalism. And the show never mentions the many documented cases of similar experiences happening to foreign nationals here in the United States. While teens may be interested to see what happens when you smuggle drugs in a place like Bangladesh (and it might even scare them out of ever trying anything similar!), they also need to understand that these experiences aren't a complete picture of what life is like in a foreign country. Bottom line: It's riveting TV, but it doesn't give the best or most accurate picture of other cultures.