On April 21, 1986, a large portion of television viewers in Chicago went to bed disappointed. That night, after nearly a year of hype, three out of every four televisions in Chicago were tuned in to “The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults,” a live, two-hour broadcast from the basement of Capone’s former headquarters at the Lexington Hotel at Michigan Avenue and Cermak Road, hosted by the flamboyant Geraldo Rivera.
The vault at the Lexington, where Capone ran his operations from 1928 until 1932, didn’t turn up any money, jewels, or even dead bodies — but it did lure millions to watch, not only in Chicago but around the country. The show attracted 30 million viewers, the most-ever for a syndicated show and a record that stands to this day.
“Ratings, reality television was found,” says William Hazelgrove, historian and author of Capone’s Vault: The Real Story of the Greatest Disaster in Television History, set to release April 21. “The fact that you could give people a great ride and that was enough. So, in a way, Capone’s vault held a lot.”…