It Takes a Thief (2005 TV series)



It Takes a Thief is a reality television show that aired on The Discovery Channel between 2005 and 2007. It starred two former thieves (Matt Johnston & Jon Douglas Rainey) who had reformed their lives; Matt had become a schoolteacher, and Jon a private eye. The episodes consist of them finding a homeowner who has very lax security on his/her home, which they then rob with the homeowners' consent, in exchange for a full upgrade to the security in their home. This robbery is filmed on an ad-hoc CCTV system installed in the house by the show's technical staff, and is played back for the viewing audience in real-time (burglaries that take over 10 to 15 minutes are edited for time, however). The homeowners must secure their house normally.

Matt usually comments on the robbery in progress while watching the CCTV in a nearby van, while Jon cases and then robs the houses. The homeowners then return to their houses (either with Matt or, in later episodes, independently) to survey the damage that Jon caused while robbing their house. Invariably, despite the fact the homeowners know they are going to get everything back, they are always devastated to discover how vulnerable they were, and being robbed (even with their consent) makes them feel violated.

After Matt calms the upset homeowners down after they are forced to confront what they could lose, the two hosts then help them get properly secured so that they can prevent being robbed in the future.

They then return about two weeks later to attempt to break into the house to make sure that the family has actually improved their habits. In about 1/2 the cases, despite the family knowing there will be a second robbery attempt, they're still able to break in again!

Not to be confused with the 1968-1970 series starring Robert Wagner.

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 * Blatant Burglar: No ski masks (the "crimes" are being filmed, after all), but Jon often wears a black stocking cap.
 * Buddy Cop Show / Crime-Time TV: The show mixes both of these tropes together.
 * Burglar POV: In some episodes, Jon wears a miniature camera so Matt, the house owners, and the viewers can watch the crime from his point of view.
 * Evil-Detecting Dog: Not played out nearly as straight as the homeowners would like. In some cases the big Angry Guard Dog actually comes over to make friends.
 * Donut Mess with a Cop: On one notable occasion, the "target" of the episode was a police station. ("I can't believe we're going to jack the cops.") When Jon showed up for the meeting with his victims, he brought a plate of donuts as a peace offering.
 * Reformed Criminal: Both of the hosts, though their records were exaggerated a bit for the opening credits.
 * Too Dumb to Live: Looking at the "before" scenes, as the homeowners show Matt what they're (not) doing for home security, you have to wonder why some of these people haven't been robbed blind already. Bonus points to the homeowners who still don't secure their place after Jon's demonstration and the free home security system installation.
 * Also, one person's security was so lax, they robbed her house while she was in it, and played back the tape later.