UNSOLVED MYSTERIES

'''Unsolved Mysteries''' was an American television program that was hosted and narrated by Robert Stack. It first debuted in 1987 and aired from 1988 to 2002 on NBC (1987-97), CBS (1997-99) and Lifetime Cable in 2001-02. It used a documentary format and featured real-life cases of unsolved criminal cases, missing persons, unexplained paranormal phenomena such as alien abductions, ghosts and UFOs and "alternative history" theories.
The show was hosted by Robert Stack and (during its brief CBS run) co-hosted by Virginia Madsen. Later episodes featured journalist Keely Shaye Smith and television host Lu Hanessian as correspondents in the show's telecenter, from where they provided information on updated stories.
The show was known for its eerie theme song, which made use of a Phrygian mode, as well as Stack's unmistakable voice, which became synonymous with the show.

Contents

Format

Broadcast History

NBC, 1987-1997

CBS, 1997-1999

Lifetime, 2001-2002

HBO

DVD Releases

External links

Format

''Unsolved Mysteries'' featured segments filmed in documentary style, with actors portraying the victims, perpetrators and witnesses. In most cases, however, victim's family members and police officials were also featured in interview segments that were interspersed throughout the dramatization. Before an episode begins, the following message is related to the audience: "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 featured three or four segments, each involving a different story. Stack offered voice over narration for each segment, and appeared on-screen to begin and end segments, and to offer segues.
Viewers were invited to telephone, write a letter, or, in later episodes, use the internet to contact the program if they had information that might help solve a crime. The toll free number, 800-876-5353 (U.S.), and website (shown below) are still active today although the show is long out of production.
''Unsolved Mysteries'' segments, all of which involved actual events, generally fell into one of four categories:

★ criminal cases : accounts of abductions, suspicious deaths, homicidess, robberies, missing persons and other miscellaneous unsolved cases, where either the suspects were unknown or could not be located. According to the show, about 40% of these episodes resulted in the capture of a suspect or suspects.

★ lost loves : accounts of individuals trying to reunite with someone from their past; often involving closed adoption or people separated by circumstances.

★ unexplained/alternative history : "alternative" theories of history (among them the theories that outlaws such as Billy the Kid and Butch Cassidy did not die as history recorded it, that the Russian Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov survived the 1918 regicide that killed her entire family, that the assassination of Louisiana senator Huey Long may have been an accident, and that the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr was in fact a conspiracy).

★ paranormal matters : accounts of miracles, alleged UFO/alien encounters (including examination of the Roswell UFO Incident and the Phoenix UFO Incident, or scientific questions about life on Mars), ghosts, Bigfoot, or other inexplicable phenomena.
Viewers were given updates on success stories, where suspects were brought to justice and loved ones reunited.

Broadcast History

NBC, 1987-1997

The show aired on NBC from 1987 – 1997. When it first appeared on television, ''Unsolved Mysteries'' was a smash hit. It was originally hosted by Perry Mason's Raymond Burr as a television special. Karl Malden also hosted the show before Robert Stack took over full-time. Part of this popularity might be credited to older viewers who recognized Stack as Eliot Ness from the popular 1960s television hit ''The Untouchables'', and Stack's ''Unsolved Mysteries'' persona seemed to echo his portrayal of Ness: he was garbed in a trenchcoat and depicted wandering through foggy landscapes. ''Unsolved'' was also one of the few prime-time shows of its era to appeal to fans of the supernatural, and used effective special effects to enhance tales of the unexplained.
In 1992, NBC aired a short-lived spin-off series called ''Final Appeal''.

CBS, 1997-1999

By 1997, however, the show started to lose its audience, and NBC cancelled the show. It was soon revived on CBS. In early 1999, Stack was joined by actress Virginia Madsen for hosting duties in hopes to regain ground on the ratings, but to no avail. After two years, CBS removed the show from its Friday night lineup.

Lifetime, 2001-2002

''Unsolved Mysteries'' slowly faded, but in 2001, the program regained some popularity with a somewhat new audience, when it was revived on the Lifetime cable television network, where new episodes aired sporadically until 2002, usually on weekdays between 11 A.M. and 3 P.M. Old episodes still run in syndication on several television networks (notably Lifetime) in the U.S., Canada, and Australia; but as of August 14, 2006, ''Unsolved Mysteries'' is not being aired on Lifetime. On January 1, 2007, the program moved to Lifetime Real Women, which is mostly on digital cable.
During some shows, callers give 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. Strangely enough, Lifetime kept the telecenter segments in the broadcast, despite the fact that this wouldn't make sense to a viewer who had tuned in after the show was taken off NBC and CBS.
Some viewers blamed the decline of ''Unsolved Mysteries'' on the addition of co-hosts Keely Shaye Smith and Virginia Madsen, or blamed the show's late-era makeover, which involved the changes to theme song and putting its telephone center on camera. Ratings also declined when the program moved from its original Wednesday evening to Friday evening beginning in the Fall 1994 season

HBO

According to an Article from ''Broadcast & Cable'', HBO Distribution is planning on bringing back Unsolved Mysteries when the cable channel Lifetime contract expires in 2008. The show would feature a new set, new music, recaps on old cases as well as new cases, and eventually a new host.
[2] Sticking with the eerie theme that Unsolved Mysteries has always had, some rumored names to be the new host include James Earl Jones, Bryant Gumbel, and actor Richard Jenkins.

DVD Releases

Six 4-disc DVD sets have been released, each with a different theme.

★ UFOs (September 7, 2004)

★ Ghosts (September 14, 2004)

★ Miracles (October 26, 2004)

★ Psychics (January 25, 2005)

★ Bizarre Murders (January 25, 2005)

★ Strange Legends (February 15, 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.

External links

★ ''Unsolved Mysteries'' official site

★ ''Unsolved Mysteries'' on the Lifetime (TV network)