Which Unsolved Mysteries Episodes are better? The newer or the older ones? Even though I know they replay cases, which do you like better?

The older episodes (1988-1993) :D


It just seems like they focused more on crime stories rather than the supernatural or lost loves. After a certain point, 1993, the ratio seemed to change to more lost loves and less crime (missing persons, unexplained deaths, etc.) I also find the older shows to be more interesting.

No contest - the older ones are better!

I prefer the older cases but I don't mind the newer ones at all.

I agree, the older ones are the more interesting. They are also more "intriguing" as Robert Stack would say, and if this counts for anything, they creeped me out more. :) Although I like the newer episodes too, nothing beats the older ones. :)

The older ones seem more spooky to me. (which I like)

I like the middle ones

I prefer the older cases as well.

I think the reason the older cases seem more spooky is because the picture quality was a little darker and they used alot more freaky background music.

I would say the NBC Seasons. After the show left NBC, they made some changes:

-Switched from Film to Videotape (budget reasons). It started with the interviews, and then the entire show was shot on tape. It took away from the Cinema feel each segment had.

-Music Changes. Gary Malkin had great music for the segments. Most of it made it over to the CBS years, but almost all of it was dumped for "fresh" new cues when it aired on Lifetime. Also, the main title was changed during the CBS and Lifetime years. The changes were fine, but they should have just kept the original music. Graphics I can understand, you want a fresh look, but music has a longer life, plus, the audience probably can recall the original music, and might be more inclined to watch.

-Graphics Makeovers. The NBC graphics were the best. The style, typeface, and the Black/Marble background gave the show a great visual feel to it. CBS/Lifetime wanted a newer feel, so they went with a light blue/white look which fits with a medical type show. Stay with darker graphics, it suits the show. At least when Lifetime shows the NBC seasons, they left most of the graphics alone.


Sorry to ramble. Well, that's my thoughts at least. Still a great show up until the end. Robert Stack was a great person, and will be missed.

UMfan basically nailed it.

That was the big one for me, the change to videotape. Just gave it a cheap look. Took away from the murky, spooky cinematography they had, with a lot of dark, dimly lit stuff for the night stuff.

The music yes, those "woo woo" tones added to the creepy feel of the recreations. Plus the actors were 10 times better.

But most of all the types of stories featured. I stopped watching when it basically became Unsolved UFO Mysteries, cuz that's all they featured! Or ghosts. That stuffs okay for a Halloween ep, but stick to the real life stuff of murders and missing persons.

Actually, a show like that should get worse. It's not unlike the theory a writer's first novel is his/her best. All your best stuff goes there; the witty lines, clever stories based on true experiences from your life, basically everything you've wanted to say for so long and now you finally have the vehicle. A show like Unsolved Mysteries doesn't fit that analogy perfectly, given unfolding crimes, but look at it this way, they started out with every possible story then depleted their own pool every time they ran a segment. Naturally you will tend to run the best and most interesting segments very early. For one thing, a lifespan of a network primetime show is extremely short and not exactly guaranteed. Can you imagine a UM producer saying, "This story looks great! Let's save it for season 10."

Well, bizarre crimes occur every day. I think they could've scraped up a ton more to keep the show going. Like one of the few I liked toward the mid 90s was where the guy was driving his big rig through a national park at like top speed. Them muttering to himself, then he disappeared. Those are the ones they dumped in favor of "Look a UFO!" Or "Eeee, a ghost!"

Actually, a show like that should get worse. It's not unlike the theory a writer's first novel is his/her best. All your best stuff goes there; the witty lines, clever stories based on true experiences from your life, basically everything you've wanted to say for so long and now you finally have the vehicle. A show like Unsolved Mysteries doesn't fit that analogy perfectly, given unfolding crimes, but look at it this way, they started out with every possible story then depleted their own pool every time they ran a segment. Naturally you will tend to run the best and most interesting segments very early. For one thing, a lifespan of a network primetime show is extremely short and not exactly guaranteed. Can you imagine a UM producer saying, "This story looks great! Let's save it for season 10."

But there's always murders/robberies/missing persons. You can't "save" a story like that because it could easily be solved beforehand if you do... there were just as many(if not more) murders/robberies/missing persons/wanted etc. in the later years, it's just that the show seemed to want to focus on UFO's/Ghosts/Miracles/Resurrection. I refuse to watch the show when *most*(not all) of those segments air.

But there's always murders/robberies/missing persons. You can't "save" a story like that because it could easily be solved beforehand if you do... there were just as many(if not more) murders/robberies/missing persons/wanted etc. in the later years, it's just that the show seemed to want to focus on UFO's/Ghosts/Miracles/Resurrection. I refuse to watch the show when *most*(not all) of those segments air.

Look at it this way, if Unsolved Mysteries had debuted in the mid-'90s instead of late '80s, the heyday would have been the mid-to-late '90s, simply because they would have been showing the best stuff available over the previous 30 years or more. I knew my hypothesis would be disputed. I mentioned in my earlier post that the analogy didn't fit perfectly due to the certainty of unfolding crimes. But it's indisputable a show like that debuts with specific segments in mind, then the writers have to scramble after the prime material is exhausted. The writers and producers become bored and burnt out to some extent, just like a longrunning sitcom. It's hardly surprising they detoured to weird segments partially to amuse themselves and perhaps re-energize, even if the show suffered as a consequence.

Contrary to most of the comments here there's nothing wrong with the segments aired during the show's run. I'm really fascinated by the unexplained and other unknown phenomena so segments about UFO's, Psychics, Miracles, and Ghosts are really interesting to me. I think it was rather refreshing to watch an episode where they have a mixture of all those elements because it kept things fresh and not a particular type of story constantly which could've gotten boring. I do admit however that unexplained deaths, missing persons, and wanted segments were my all time favorite to watch but I wouldn't want to see cases such as these constantly on the show. I don't think the show "jumped the shark" a term alot of people use on this board but one thing that I believe really took alot of interest from the show and I've mentioned this before just like the poster above, when they switched from Film to shooting the show digitally it really took away alot of the feel and creepiness and those are big parts of what keep people interested in a program, all shows have something about them that people pick up on and love and that's why most fans of this show enjoy the early NBC years as opposed to the later seasons on CBS and Lifetime.

I loved it when they shot in film! It added to the spooky element! :D

I loved it when they shot in film! It added to the spooky element! :D


I agree, the film they used in the earlier episodes really gave it a creepy, mysterious look.

The older episodes were better. And I agree when they used film it was spookier. My younger brother still reminds me of how scared he was when we were kids watching UM on TV back in the day with the lights out and it was dark outside, bwahahahahaha!!!!!

I agree, the film they used in the earlier episodes really gave it a creepy, mysterious look.

I agree... I can watch the later episodes, but they don't have that same "feel" that makes the show good. The mysterious/spooky feeling.

I definately love the older ones more than the newer

the NBC (and CBS) years seemed to have a great variety of stories. They'd have the best stories to choose from in every catagory (murder, ghost, ufo, legends etc), so (most of the time) they didn't get tricked into airing ******** segments (runaway animals with psychic ability, sheep cloning, etc). other than a few exceptions (the psychic who pretended to bleed gold, some of the lost heir stories etc), the selection was great.

UM started to run out of good UFO and Ghost stories around the time they got to lifetime, and at the same time I believe they were probably pressured into filming more of those damned lost love segments by Lifetime

once UM went crazy with the boring lost love bits, even some great new murder stories werent enough to keep your attention because for every one good murder story they'd air twice as many lost loves. all this trailer trash reuniting garbage took away from some great stories.

I agree... I can watch the later episodes, but they don't have that same "feel" that makes the show good. The mysterious/spooky feeling.


Also the re-enactments had more dialogue (albeit still brief) and character interaction. They are showing the older episodes now and I noticed those characteristics.