Chris Hansen hosted Dateline NBC's To Catch a Predator from 2004 to 2007, a series of televised sting operations in which he confronted adults attempting to meet minors, usually opening with his calm request to take a seat. Clips of those confrontations spread across YouTube and meme forums in the late 2000s, and Hansen's deadpan persona became shorthand for getting caught red-handed. The association stuck, and short Hansen clips are still dropped into edits as an instant 'busted' signal, often paired with an airhorn for extra punch.