Unsolved Mysteries

Unsolved Mysteries
File:Unsolved Mysteries.gif Unsolved Mysteries Logo
Starring	Robert Stack (1987-2002) Dennis Farina (2008-Present)
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	13
No. of episodes	553[1] (plus 7 Specials)
Production
Running time	44 minutes
Original release
Network	NBC (1987-1997) CBS (1997-1999) Lifetime (2001-2002) Spike TV (2008-present)
Release	January 20, 1987 - September 20, 2002 October 13, 2008-Present on Spike TV[2]

Unsolved Mysteries is an American television program that was hosted and narrated by television and film actor Robert Stack, until his death. It was broadcast from 1987-2002, first as specials in 1987, then as a regular series on NBC (1988-1997), then on CBS (1997-1999) and on Lifetime (2001-2002). On October 13, 2008, new episodes began airing on Spike TV hosted and narrated by Dennis Farina.

Unsolved Mysteries uses a documentary format and features reenactments of unsolved crimes, missing persons, and unexplained paranormal phenomena such as alien abductions, ghosts, UFOs, and "alternative history" theories.

The show was hosted by 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. Due to failing health, Stack quit hosting the show in 2002 and passed on a year later. In 2008, SPIKE television revived the series, and it is now hosted by Dennis Farina. 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. The theme was sampled in the song "Stomp" on the Horrorcore group Three 6 Mafia's album The End. In 2008, a new, somewhat similar theme song was introduced. The show, along with The X-Files, is credited with the rise in popularity of paranormal investigation.

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 segues.

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, suspicious deaths, homicides, robberies, missing persons and other miscellaneous unsolved cases, where either the suspects are unknown or could not be located.
• 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, the remarkable UFO incident in Eupen, Belgium observed by NATO fighter jets, or scientific questions about life on Mars), ghosts, Bigfoot, 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 onwards the show was filmed with the filmizing process. The segments were shot on videotape and later edited and processed to make it look like it was shot on film.

Broadcast history

File:Robert Stack-UM.jpg

Robert Stack, former-Unsolved Mysteries host

NBC (1987-1997)

The show aired on NBC from 1987 – 1997. It was originally hosted by actor Raymond Burr as a television special. Karl Malden also hosted the show before Robert Stack 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 effects 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. The series was canceled after only a few episodes due to poor ratings.

CBS (1997-1999)

By 1997, however, 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 evening beginning in the Fall 1994 season. It was soon revived on CBS. In early 1999, Stack was joined by actress Virginia Madsen for hosting duties in hope 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 switched to airing on Lifetime Real Women, which is mostly on digital cable. 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. 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.

Spike TV ( 2008-)

According to Broadcasting & Cable, in 2007, HBO Distribution announced plans to bring back Unsolved Mysteries when the cable channel Lifetime contract expired in 2008. The show featured a new set, new logo, new music, recaps on old cases, as well as new cases, and a new host. The show was on Spike TV as of October 13, 2008.

Unsolved Mysteries relaunched on October 13, 2008 at 5 p.m., and 6 p.m., ET Time.[3]

DVD releases

First Look Studios 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
Volume 5: Psychics	28	January 25 2005
Volume 6: Strange Legends	27	February 15 2005

External links

• Unsolved Mysteries at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com show
• Unsolved Mysteries official site
• Broadcasting & Cable Spike announcement