The Details

Hookers: Saved on the Strip

Investigation Discovery, Wednesdays, 10 p.m

With an uneasy mix of lurid true-crime reenactments and self-help psychobabble, the three-part reality series Hookers: Saved on the Strip tries to both titillate and chastise its audience with the very same subject matter. It lures viewers in with salacious tales from the sex trade, and then scolds them for being drawn to such seediness. The star of the show is Annie Lobert of the Las Vegas organization Hookers for Jesus, which works to take women out of the sex industry and help them start new lives. Lobert, a former prostitute, is bubbly and a little superficial, and the show exploits the tales of her past without ever really addressing the role of religion in turning her life around or how she uses it to bring new people out of prostitution. Lobert’s mission is admirable but muddled; the show does no more than cheaply take advantage of a sordid situation.