Chris Hansen Returns to TV With Copycat Program of Hit NBC Show: Report

Tarnished TV newsman Chris Hansen has reportedly mounted a career comeback more than a decade after the To Catch a Predator crusader's own sex scandal was exposed, RadarOnline.com has learned.

Unfortunately for Hansen, critics have branded his latest project a pale imitation of his old NBC hit.

The disgraced TV host's latest project — TruBlu's Takedown with Chris Hansen — is reportedly being bashed as a low-rent rip-off of his infamous Dateline segment, which used hidden cameras to snare predators from 2003 to 2007.

"It's basically the same show with lower production values," a snarky industry insider dished to the National Enquirer.

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That being said, sources claimed TruBlu — a streaming network focusing on crime and investigation — has committed to six ten-episode seasons of the series, which debuted late last year.

NBC honchos chose not to renew Hansen's contract in 2013 after the National Enquirer exposed the Dateline host's four-month extramarital fling with a young network producer.

While Hansen initially denied cheating on his now ex-wife, explicit text messages — which were said to be too graphic to print — provided damning evidence contracting his denial.

In 2019, then-64-year-old Hansen was busted for bouncing checks with a Connecticut vendor for nearly $13,000 in promotional materials. Luckily for the embattled former TV host, the charges were later dropped.

According to tipsters, the holier-than-thou host's professional life took a hit after the outlet covered his marital troubles — and he laid low until landing the desperately needed gig with TruBlu.

However, the insider alleged Takedown is Hansen's "last shot" at television, adding, "If this doesn't work, nothing will."

Hansen's bounced checks haven't been his only brush with the law since having his hit TV segment axed by NBC.

As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Hansen was forced to turn himself over to authorities back in 2021 after a Michigan judge issued a warrant for his arrest over a missed court hearing.

The investigative journalist was supposed to appear in court to present evidence against three men arrested in an October 2020 Shiawassee County Sting Operation but was a no-show.

After Hansen turned himself in, the judge rescinded the arrest warrant — and Hansen's attorney, Clint Perryman, explained the ordeal was just a misunderstanding.

"He wasn't intending to not appear or to be somebody that was trying to circumvent the process. It was just an unfortunate set of circumstances that resulted in a failure to appear," Perryman told the Associated Press, while noting confusion over the subpoena and bad timing.