The showrunner of an unaired reality series is getting candid about the show’s failure to launch.
In 2010, the Lifetime network greenlit P.I. Moms, a reality show following a group of mothers who worked as private investigators for an agency. However, the series never aired due to crimes committed by agency owner Chris Butler that were exposed by a seemingly jealous male coworker.
The new Netflix documentary Trainwreck: P.I. Moms examines the cancellation of the production before the series ever aired and how it affected the cast and crew. In it, showrunner Lucas Platt says Butler, a former police officer and private detective, was always “the weak link” of the cast.
“As we started shooting, I really saw Chris as the weak link,” Platt says. “I couldn’t tell if he was just the type of person who played everything really close to the vest or shy.”
Netflix
Lucas Platt in ‘Trainwreck: P.I. Moms’
“I was concerned because quiet, inarticulate, awkward characters in reality TV are death,” he continues. “But I knew we were going to be able to overcome it because the moms were big characters and their stories were rich. I knew if we focused on them, not him, we could make something great.”
As the documentary continues, it is revealed that Butler was involved in selling contraband drugs that had been confiscated by the Contra Costa County Task Force. Carl Marino, an aspiring actor and investigator, played a major role in exposing his crimes through a sting operation after Marino had been axed from the show due to allegedly spreading misinformation about the production and the mothers.
According to NBC, Butler ended up receiving an eight-year prison sentence and was ordered to pay a $20,000 fine for his involvement in the crime in association with former police officer Louis Lombardi.
After his sentencing, Butler said, “I want to apologize to the community for the anxiety, fear and suffering I caused,” per NBC.
He also issued an apology “to the law enforcement community for the embarrassment and betrayal inflicted on it.”
Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty
Christopher Butler arrives for a hearing at Contra Costa County Superior Court on April 21, 2011 in Walnut Creek, Calif.
P.I. Mom Denise Antoon reflects on Butler and Marino, the latter of whom several participants accuse of having tried to hijack the Lifetime series, in an emotional segment in the documentary. “Chris and Carl just took it away from everybody,” she says. “They put their desires above everybody else’s, and so many people were affected by that show.”
“I know for a lot of people, they’re like, ‘It’s just a show.’ But it was a show we were really passionate about, sharing our stories and empowering other women to do this kind of work. And then it was gone. It was taken away from us,” she adds.
“The only person who ruined the show was Chris Butler,” Marino previously told PEOPLE in an exclusive statement. He also claimed that officials told him the show was “never going to air” anyway, because of his undercover work in the sting and its outcome.
“I am the only person, besides my wife, that knew everything that was going on,” Marino added in the statement. “I am the only person in this whole mess that did the right thing, for the right reasons, at extreme risk to my life, I might add. I am very proud of what I did. My wife is as well.”
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The documentary also features interviews with Platt, P.I. Mom Ami Wiltz and others.
The Trainwreck series launched in 2022. Previous installments included documentaries about the 2009’s viral “Balloon Boy” incident, a disastrous “Poop Cruise” and the fall of the American Apparel brand.
Trainwreck: P.I. Moms is now streaming on Netflix.
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