Unsolved Mysteries is an American television program, hosted by
Robert StackRobert Stack was an American actor. In addition to acting in more than 40 films, he was the star of the 1959-1963 ABC television series The Untouchables and later served as the host of Unsolved Mysteries.-Early life:...
, from 1987 until 2002, and later by
Dennis FarinaDennis Farina is an American actor of film and television and former Chicago police officer. He is a character actor, often typecast as a mobster or police officer. His most known film roles are those of mobster Jimmy Serrano in the comedy Midnight Run and Ray "Bones" Barboni in Get Shorty...
, starting in 2008. It was broadcast first as specials in 1987, then as a regular series on
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
(1988–1997),
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
(1997–1999),
LifetimeLifetime Television, often referred to as Lifetime TV, or most commonly, Lifetime, is an American cable television specialty channel devoted to movies, sitcoms and dramas, all of which are either geared toward women or feature women in lead roles. The cable network is owned by A&E Television Networks...
(2001–2002), Spike (2008-2010) and back to
LifetimeLifetime Television, often referred to as Lifetime TV, or most commonly, Lifetime, is an American cable television specialty channel devoted to movies, sitcoms and dramas, all of which are either geared toward women or feature women in lead roles. The cable network is owned by A&E Television Networks...
(2010-present).
Overview
Unsolved Mysteries uses a documentary format profiling real-life mysteries and features reenactments of unsolved crimes, missing persons, conspiracy theories and unexplained paranormal phenomena (alien abductions, ghosts, UFOs, and "
secret historyA secret history is a revisionist interpretation of either fictional or real history which is claimed to have been deliberately suppressed, forgotten, or ignored by established scholars.-Secret histories of the real world:...
" theories).
The concept of
Unsolved Mysteries was created upon a series of three specials produced by John Cosgrove and Terry-Dunn Meurer that they pitched to
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
in 1985 and were shown in 1986 called "Missing... Have You Seen This Person?". The success of the three programs led to Cosgrove and Meurer to broaden the program to include mysteries of all kinds. The pilot of
Unsolved Mysteries was a special that aired on NBC on January 20, 1987 with
Raymond BurrRaymond William Stacey Burr was a Canadian actor, primarily known for his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside. His early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television and in film, usually as the villain...
as host/narrator to a rousing success. Six more specials aired with the next two being hosted by
Karl MaldenKarl Malden was an American actor. In a career that spanned more than seven decades, he performed in such classic films as A Streetcar Named Desire, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, On the Waterfront and One-Eyed Jacks...
and the final four by
Robert StackRobert Stack was an American actor. In addition to acting in more than 40 films, he was the star of the 1959-1963 ABC television series The Untouchables and later served as the host of Unsolved Mysteries.-Early life:...
for the remaining 1987–1988 season.
In 1988, the show became a weekly run series on
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. The show would lose some of its popularity after the 1994–1995 season. Until 1998, the show was hosted by Stack, and during its brief 2-year run on CBS, co-hosted by
Virginia MadsenVirginia Madsen is an American actress and documentary film producer. She came to fame during the 1980s, having appeared in several films aimed at a teenage audience...
in 1999. Later episodes featured journalist
Keely Shaye SmithKeely Shaye Smith , also known as Keely Shaye Brosnan, is an American journalist, author, and television host/correspondent. She is married to Pierce Brosnan.-Career:...
and television host Lu Hanessian as correspondents in the show's telecenter, from where they provided information on updated stories. Due to failing health, Stack quit hosting the show in 2002 and died a year later. In 2008, Spike revived the series, and it is now hosted by
Dennis FarinaDennis Farina is an American actor of film and television and former Chicago police officer. He is a character actor, often typecast as a mobster or police officer. His most known film roles are those of mobster Jimmy Serrano in the comedy Midnight Run and Ray "Bones" Barboni in Get Shorty...
. The show was known for its eerie theme song composed by Michael Boyd and Gary Remal Malkin, as well as Stack's unmistakable voice and presence, which became synonymous with the show. The theme song was later changed in 1995 and remained until 2002. In 2008, the theme and music used was changed to an up-beat rock music much to dismay of loyal fans.
Much earlier,
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
had aired an unsuccessful similar half-hour crime documentary series entitled
WantedWanted is a short-lived half-hour CBS crime documentary television series hosted by the late Walter McGraw, which aired in the 1955-1956 season at 10:30 EST on Thursdays following the original version of The Johnny Carson Show, not to be confused with the subsequent The Tonight Show.This "Wanted"...
during the 1955-1956 season, hosted by Walter McGraw.
Format
Unsolved Mysteries features segments in documentary film style, with actors portraying the victims, perpetrators and witnesses. In most cases, however, victim's family members and police officials are also featured in interview segments that are interspersed throughout the dramatizations. In the earlier episodes, the following message was related to the audience at the beginning of the program:
"This program is about unsolved mysteries. Whenever possible, the actual family members and police officials have participated in recreating the events. What you are about to see is not a news broadcast."
For special episodes, like
Mysteries of the Psychic Mind or
Mysteries of the Afterlife, the message is:
"This program is about unsolved mysteries. The re-enactments and special effects are actual eyewitness accounts. What you are about to see is not a news broadcast."
Each episode of
Unsolved Mysteries usually features three or four segments, each involving a different story. The show's host offers voice over narration for each segment, and appears on-screen to begin and end segments and to offer
segueA segue is a smooth transition from one topic or section to the next.-In music:In music, segue is a direction to the performer. It means continue without a pause. It comes from the Italian "it follows". The term attacca is also used in classical music.For written music it implies a transition...
s.
While the show was in production, viewers are invited to telephone or write letters. In the new broadcast, the program asks viewers to submit tips through
their website or via a toll-free number (800-876-5353) if they have information that might help solve a mystery featured on the show.
Unsolved Mysteries segments, all of which involve actual events, generally fall into one of four categories:
- Criminal cases: Accounts of abductions
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
, suspicious deathDeath is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
s, homicideHomicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
s, robberiesRobbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
, claims of innocence, missing persons and other miscellaneous unsolved cases, where either the suspects are unknown or can't be located.
- Lost loves: Accounts of individuals trying to reunite with someone from their past; often involving closed adoption
Closed adoption is the process by where an infant is adopted by another family, and the record of the biological parent is kept sealed...
, people separated by circumstances, or an unknown "Good Samaritan" that saved someone's life.
- Unexplained/Alternative history: Alternative theories of history (among them the theories that outlaws such as Billy the Kid
William H. Bonney William H. Bonney William H. Bonney (born William Henry McCarty, Jr. est. November 23, 1859 – c. July 14, 1881, better known as Billy the Kid but also known as Henry Antrim, was a 19th-century American gunman who participated in the Lincoln County War and became a frontier...
and Butch CassidyRobert LeRoy Parker , better known as Butch Cassidy, was a notorious American train robber, bank robber, and leader of the Wild Bunch Gang in the American Old West...
did not die as history recorded, that the Russian Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov survived the 1918 regicideThe broad definition of regicide is the deliberate killing of a monarch, or the person responsible for the killing of a monarch. In a narrower sense, in the British tradition, it refers to the judicial execution of a king after a trial...
that killed her entire family, that the assassination of LouisianaLouisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
senator Huey LongHuey Pierce Long, Jr. , nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928–1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to 1935. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of Franklin D...
may have been an accident, that the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr was in fact a conspiracy, and that Kurt CobainKurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
may have been murdered).
- Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
matters: Accounts of miracleA miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...
s, alleged UFO/alien encounters (including examination of the Roswell UFO IncidentThe Roswell UFO Incident was the recovery of an object that crashed in the general vicinity of Roswell, New Mexico, in June or July 1947, allegedly an extra-terrestrial spacecraft and its alien occupants. Since the late 1970s the incident has been the subject of intense controversy and of...
and the Phoenix UFO IncidentThe Phoenix Lights were a series of widely sighted unidentified flying objects observed in the skies over the U.S...
, the UFO incident in Eupen, BelgiumThe Belgian UFO wave refers to a series of sightings of triangular UFOs in Belgium, which lasted from 29 November 1989 to April 1990.The main picture of the Belgian UFO Wave is the Petit-Rechain picture. For 20 years, the ufological organisation Société Belge d'Etudes des Phénomènes Spatiaux ...
observed by NATO fighter jets, or scientific questions about life on MarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
), ghostIn traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
s, BigfootBigfoot, also known as sasquatch, is an ape-like cryptid that purportedly inhabits forests, mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Bigfoot is usually described as a large, hairy, bipedal humanoid...
, or other inexplicable phenomena.
Viewers are given updates on success stories, where suspects were brought to justice and loved ones reunited.
Filming style
Unsolved Mysteries was shot on medium to high-standard motion picture film from 1987 to 1991. From late 1991 onward the show was filmed with the
filmizingFilmizing is a process that makes video productions seem to have been shot on film. The term is generic and informal. The process is usually electronic, although filmizing can sometimes occur as an un-intentional by-product of some optical techniques, such as telerecording.-Differences between...
process. The segments were shot on videotape and later edited and processed to make it look like it was shot on film.
Cameos and reenactors
- Matthew McConaughey
Matthew David McConaughey is an American actor.After a series of minor roles in the early 1990s, McConaughey gained notice for his breakout role in Dazed and Confused . He then appeared in films such as A Time to Kill, Contact, U-571, Tiptoes, Sahara, and We Are Marshall...
, who played a man named Larry Dickens that was murdered by a man named Edward Harold Bell.
- Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins is an American singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, writer, comedian, publisher, actor, and radio DJ....
, who played himself in a segment about the murder of his friend, Joe ColeJoseph Dennis "Joe" Cole was a roadie for Black Flag and Rollins Band. He was the best friend and roommate of the musician/author/actor Henry Rollins. His memoirs were published posthumously by 2.13.61 publishing, Planet Joe, in which he documented his experiences on the last Black Flag tour and...
.
- Daniel Dae Kim, who played the friend of a Korean businessman, whose wife, Su-Ya Kim was murdered.
- Stephnie Weir
Stephnie Carmel Weir is an American actress and comedian, best known for her membership in the recurring cast on MADtv.-Early life:...
, who played a woman that encountered a man named Bill Blackwell, who was wanted for the murder of Neal Jennings.
- Cheryl Hines
Cheryl Ruth Hines is an American actress and director, known for her role as Larry David's wife Cheryl on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm. She currently appears on the ABC sitcom Suburgatory...
, who played a nurse in a 1997 segment about Alice Hawthorne, who was injured in the 1996 Olympic park bombingThe Centennial Olympic Park bombing was a terrorist bombing on July 27, 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States during the 1996 Summer Olympics, the first of four committed by Eric Robert Rudolph...
in Atlanta, Georgia but died instantly from her injuries.
- Comedians Blake Clark
Blake Clark is an American actor, voice artist, comedian, and veteran of the Vietnam War, having served as a Captain with the 101st Airborne Division....
and Joey Gaynor appeared in one segment titled "Comedy Store Ghosts."
NBC (1987–1997)
The show aired on
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
from 1987 – 1997. It was originally hosted by actor
Raymond BurrRaymond William Stacey Burr was a Canadian actor, primarily known for his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside. His early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television and in film, usually as the villain...
as a television special.
Karl MaldenKarl Malden was an American actor. In a career that spanned more than seven decades, he performed in such classic films as A Streetcar Named Desire, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, On the Waterfront and One-Eyed Jacks...
also hosted the show before
Robert StackRobert Stack was an American actor. In addition to acting in more than 40 films, he was the star of the 1959-1963 ABC television series The Untouchables and later served as the host of Unsolved Mysteries.-Early life:...
took over full-time.
Unsolved Mysteries was also one of the few prime-time shows of its era to appeal to fans of the supernatural and used effective
special effectThe illusions used in the film, television, theatre, or entertainment industries to simulate the imagined events in a story are traditionally called special effects ....
s to enhance tales of the unexplained.
In 1992, NBC aired a short-lived spin-off series called
Final Appeal: From the Files of Unsolved Mysteries, with Robert Stack as host also. The premise of this series was to try to give the unjustly accused a final appeal for help, with the debut episode taking an in-depth look at the
Jeffrey MacDonaldJeffrey Robert MacDonald , is an American convicted in 1979 for the murders of his pregnant wife and two daughters in February 1970. At the time of the murders, MacDonald was an Army officer, medical doctor and practicing physician...
case. The series was canceled after only a few episodes due to poor ratings.
CBS (1997–1999)
By 1997, the show started to lose its audience, and NBC canceled the show. Ratings declined when the program moved from its original Wednesday evening to
Friday eveningThe Friday night death slot is a perceived graveyard slot in American television, referring to the concept that a television program in the United States scheduled on Friday evenings is destined for imminent cancellation....
beginning in the fall 1994 season. When CBS canceled its
Block PartyCBS Block Party was a programming block that aired on the CBS television network during the 1997-1998 television season. The block was similar to, and was intended as direct competition to, ABC's TGIF lineup and aired on Friday nights from 8pm-10pm ET...
line-up with shows such as
Family Matters, and
Step By Step,
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
moved the show to its 8:00 p.m timeslot. In early 1999, Stack was joined by actress
Virginia MadsenVirginia Madsen is an American actress and documentary film producer. She came to fame during the 1980s, having appeared in several films aimed at a teenage audience...
for hosting duties in hope to regain ground on the ratings, but to no avail (in later cable reruns, segments originally narrated by Madsen were re-dubbed with Stack's voice). After two years, CBS removed the show from its Friday night lineup.
Lifetime (2001–2002)
Lifetime TelevisionLifetime Television, often referred to as Lifetime TV, or most commonly, Lifetime, is an American cable television specialty channel devoted to movies, sitcoms and dramas, all of which are either geared toward women or feature women in lead roles. The cable network is owned by A&E Television Networks...
, which had been airing re-runs of NBC episodes since the early 90s, began airing new episodes sporadically in 2001. Consisting of a mixture of newer and older cases, these episodes were produced between that year and 2002, and usually aired on weekdays between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
After Stack's death in 2003, old episodes continued to run in syndication on several television networks (notably Lifetime) in the U.S., Canada, and Australia; but as of August 14, 2006,
Unsolved Mysteries switched to airing on
Lifetime Real WomenLifetime Real Women is a digital cable channel that is the sister network to Lifetime. It was launched in August 2001 and is available in over 10 million homes via digital cable...
, which is mostly on
digital cableDigital cable is a generic term for any type of cable television distribution using digital video compression or distribution. The technology was originally developed by Motorola.-Background:...
. In 2007, the show was yanked entirely from the schedule.
During some shows, callers gave tips to the telecenter. When the show aired on NBC and CBS, the number was displayed on the bottom of the screen. When it moved to Lifetime, the number was removed and an address was put in place. Lifetime kept the telecenter segments in the broadcast, despite the fact that this would not make sense to a viewer who hadn't seen the show on NBC and/or CBS.
Spike TV (2008–2010)
According to
Broadcasting & CableBroadcasting & Cable magazine is a television industry trade magazine published by NewBay Media. Previous names included Broadcasting/Telecasting, Broadcasting and Broadcast Advertising, and Broadcasting...
, in 2007, HBO Distribution announced plans to bring back
Unsolved Mysteries when the cable channel
LifetimeLifetime Television, often referred to as Lifetime TV, or most commonly, Lifetime, is an American cable television specialty channel devoted to movies, sitcoms and dramas, all of which are either geared toward women or feature women in lead roles. The cable network is owned by A&E Television Networks...
contract expired in 2008. The show featured a new set, new logo, new music, and updates on old cases. In addition, actor
Dennis FarinaDennis Farina is an American actor of film and television and former Chicago police officer. He is a character actor, often typecast as a mobster or police officer. His most known film roles are those of mobster Jimmy Serrano in the comedy Midnight Run and Ray "Bones" Barboni in Get Shorty...
became the new host, as Stack had died some time previous. The show debuted on Spike on October 13, 2008.
Initially, Spike's airing schedule for the show was sporadic. Some weeks the channel would air a marathon during the daytime hours (11AM-3PM), similar to Lifetime's schedule for the show. But other times the show replaced with a
CSICSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
marathon and would only air during late night hours (12AM-4AM). New episodes began to air again on April 5, 2010 with three episodes back-to-back-to-back Monday through Friday.
Lifetime (2010–present)
As of late August 2010,
Unsolved Mysteries began to air on the
Lifetime TelevisionLifetime Television, often referred to as Lifetime TV, or most commonly, Lifetime, is an American cable television specialty channel devoted to movies, sitcoms and dramas, all of which are either geared toward women or feature women in lead roles. The cable network is owned by A&E Television Networks...
cable television network again. The Unsolved Mysteries official website is now taking stories for new segments to be filmed.
U.S. television ratings
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of
Unsolved Mysteries.
- Note: U.S. network television seasons generally start in late September and end in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.
| Season |
TV Season |
Rank |
Viewers
(in millions) |
| 1 |
1987–1988 |
#17 |
15.73 |
| 2 |
1988–1989 |
#11 |
16.58 |
| 3 |
1989–1990 |
#16 |
14.71 |
| 4 |
1990–1991 |
#13 |
15.20 |
| 5 |
1991–1992 |
#21 |
13.22 |
DVD releases
First Look StudiosFirst Look Studios was an independent American film studio that specialized in home video releases of films and TV series. It purchased the Blockbuster subsidiary, DEJ Productions, in 2005...
released six theme-based DVD sets in Region 1 in 2004/2005. The sets were re-released on June 21, 2005 with a lower suggested retail price. On March 21, 2006, a compilation set called
The Best of Unsolved Mysteries was released, which contained selected segments from each of the earlier DVD sets along with some previously unreleased-on-DVD content. A special boxed set featuring the first six sets along with the new content from the
Best of collection was also produced.
| DVD Name |
Ep # |
Release Date |
| Volume 1: UFOs |
26 |
September 7, 2004 |
| Volume 2: Ghosts |
34 |
September 14, 2004 |
| Volume 3: Miracles |
33 |
October 26, 2004 |
| Volume 4: Bizarre Murders |
32 |
January 25, 2005 |
| Volume 5: Psychics |
28 |
January 25, 2005 |
| Volume 6: Strange Legends |
27 |
February 15, 2005 |
External links