i have had my first view of segments hosted by burr... any thoughts as to who was better, him or stack?

There's no question in my mind that RS is better than Burr and Malden. I do think Burr did a good job (he had some good lines such as "swept up in a vortex....") but he didn't have the creepy expression that RS brought to the table. Although I do admit even though he needed it for physical reasons the cane was a nice touch. :)

Burr was okay. I thought Malden was better than Burr, but neither held a candle to Stack. Burr did have some good lines though. I like the ending in which he says something to the effect of "perhaps you can help someone trapped in a story without an end".

An obvious precursor to the whole "perhaps you hold the key" ending that would come much later.

On a slightly different note, I was watching special 4 the other night (my personal fave out of all the specials) and I noticed that some of the same music used during the Don Kemp story was used in the Aileen Conway story, specifically when they showed the offhook phone by the bathtub. It was neat to see a connection like that between the later (Stack hosted) and earlier (pre-Stack) specials.

Neither of them held a candle to Stack which is irreplaceable IMO. I thought Burr was alright, had a better hosting voice than Malden did but I liked them both equally.

I wonder if George C. Scott could have hosted Unsolved Mysteries? I remember he hosted a special on ABC in 1984 called World's Greatest Mysteries in which Arthur C. Clarke of 2001 A Space Odyssey was featured.

Stack was the man no question about it - had the deep voice which really made the seasons from the time he started to around 1993 really interesting. Unfortunatley as we all know the series went downhill post 1993 and through no fault of his own Stack in my mind became less effective as the show itself became less effective. When Burr and Malden hosted it, it was a new venture and was a pretty stunning piece of work. So I look at it this way:

1 - Stack Specials and segments hosted by RS between 1988-1993
2 - Karl Malden Segments
3 - Raymond Burr Episode
4 - Most anything post 93

Thats my general feeling on my preference when it pertains to the show.

Later.

Hey DarkDante,

Where does the CBS/Virginia Madsen crap fit on your list? Did you forget to include it? :)

Mailed your DVDs, btw. Should be there by the end of the week.

-J

Hey DarkDante,

Where does the CBS/Virginia Madsen crap fit on your list? Did you forget to include it? :)

Mailed your DVDs, btw. Should be there by the end of the week.

-J

Hah see the fact that you called it crap basically sums it up right there - Um #106.5 on my list of things I prefer watching?

I take it you don't hold them in that high esteem either - thanks for the dvds

Later.

I agree about the CBS episodes do stink. But Justin probably has a nice collection of them because he has a thing for Virginia Madsen. ;)

I agree about the CBS episodes do stink. But Justin probably has a nice collection of them because he has a thing for Virginia Madsen. ;)

The robot ice queen??? Are you nuts???!!!

The robot ice queen??? Are you nuts???!!!

don't talk about crystaldawn that way! ;)

*ducks*

runs for cover...

Later.

don't talk about crystaldawn that way! ;)


::me falls over in the guffaws of laughter::

DD - you trying to give me a heart attack? :lol:

Justin, thanks so much for referring to me as a Queen! :lol:

As for you Dante, you're time is coming! I sometimes get bored only having Justin to harass now I've added another to my list. :p

Robert Stack!! Robert Stack!! Robert Stack!!

I agree with everyone here about Robert Stack being a better host than Raymond Burr; Robert just brought an extra "gravity" to each and every case that was profiled on UM.

I too think Robert Stack's voice was better suited than Raymond Burr's. Though Burr also had the ability to make his voice sound dark, Stack's was more convincing. I've never heard Karl Malden's voice.

As far as I'm concerned, Burr absolutely annihilates Stack. If you look closely, you can clearly see Stack was reading cue cards. While I'm sure Burr did the same thing, it was far less obvious. It really seemed like he was just speaking extemporaneously, whereas Stack was more impersonal and robotic.

It's all irrelevant, of course, as both hosts are now pushing up daisies. Unfortunately, Unsolved Mysteries is gone, and there will probably never be another. :crying:

I think that a reason Stack is so revered is because he is the one constant thing in UM: He was the host everybody remembers. Give Burr a shot to do it as long as Stack and I think he would have crafted his own unique way of telling the tales. Then, this topic might read, "Robert Stack as good as Burr?"