I decided to make this topic since it's quite relevant to a show that lasted as long as Unsolved Mysteries. (mid/late 80's to early 00's) Besides the obvious things such as fashion(80's hair, anyone?), Stack aging, and production improvements, what changed in your mind? It could be anything. Perhaps it involves certain elements in cases that became more rare as time went on. I'll list some of the changes I noticed.

-A lot of the cases in the 80's and early 90's seemed to mention Satanism a whole lot. Obviously this had to do with the whole Satanic panic in the 80's but still. I can't recall any one the UM in the 00's mentioning Satanism or anything.

-From my memory, I don't recall any of the late 90's/early 00's cases involving hitchhiking. It seems like after the 80's, less and less people hitchhiked even in rural areas.

I decided to make this topic since it's quite relevant to a show that lasted as long as Unsolved Mysteries. (mid/late 80's to early 00's) Besides the obvious things such as fashion(80's hair, anyone?), Stack aging, and production improvements, what changed in your mind? It could be anything. Perhaps it involves certain elements in cases that became more rare as time went on. I'll list some of the changes I noticed.

-A lot of the cases in the 80's and early 90's seemed to mention Satanism a whole lot. Obviously this had to do with the whole Satanic panic in the 80's but still. I can't recall any one the UM in the 00's mentioning Satanism or anything.

-From my memory, I don't recall any of the late 90's/early 00's cases involving hitchhiking. It seems like after the 80's, less and less people hitchhiked even in rural areas.

In the earlier shows, UM was more creepy. Covering more genuine murder cases and disappearences. As the years went on, the show lost the creepier music and took a more paranormal bent. Also, the lettering changed identifying the interviewees as the show became more modern.

Oh goodness... that satanic panic trend throughout the 80s was just nuts.

Outside of UM, day care providers around the world were accused, and I think some were convicted, of sexually attacking young children as part of an organized satanic cult.

On UM, the Tallman's Ghost was supposed to have been caused by a strange woman placing a curse on the house, use of a ouija board was said to summon spirits, and bunkbeds were said to be haunted by evil.

The Ellenders were said to have been murdered and and their bodies defiled by an organized group of teen satan worshippers.

Michael Johnston and Rochelle Robinson were thought to have been murdered due to their interest in the Dungeons and Dragons game, which led them to being involved in the "occult".

I'm sure there are others, those just come to mind right now...

Oh goodness... that satanic panic trend throughout the 80s was just nuts.

Outside of UM, day care providers around the world were accused, and I think some were convicted, of sexually attacking young children as part of an organized satanic cult.

On UM, the Tallman's Ghost was supposed to have been caused by a strange woman placing a curse on the house, use of a ouija board was said to summon spirits, and bunkbeds were said to be haunted by evil.

The Ellenders were said to have been murdered and and their bodies defiled by an organized group of teen satan worshippers.

Michael Johnston and Rochelle Robinson were thought to have been murdered due to their interest in the Dungeons and Dragons game, which led them to being involved in the "occult".

I'm sure there are others, those just come to mind right now...Yes, the whole Satanic panic scare back then was out of control. If UM covered a case like Bryan Nisenfeld's in the 80's, they'd probably say that he died because he was involved in Satanism. I'm not even kidding about that.

Did you see where a bank robber was recently caught because the cops knew he was going to be attending a Dungeons and Dragons event? The computer forensics people found that info on his computer so cops headed there and arrested him.

Oh the fun that UM could have had with the D&D connection with this one!

http://www.timescall.com/news_story.asp?ID=23755

Regarding the original topic here, "what changed"....

Has anyone gone to the unsolved.com site and watched their trailers videos? Gah! They're awful. Nothing like the original UM and definitely a change in the wrong direction, imo.

And let's see..... what else has changed?

In the first few episodes, which were hosted by Karl Malden and Raymond Burr, I think the entire show was dedicated to one subject. Later, they subdivided the show into the segments that each covered a different crime or event.

I remember that Stack hosted the 90 minute Alcatraz special. What year was that? Was the whole 90 minutes dedicated to Alcatraz or did they feature mini segments that were unrelated during that show?

If it was all Alcatraz, was that the only Stack hosted episode that was wasn't divided into segments?

I agree with the statements above - UM became more modern in later times and lost it's creepy effect.

I agree with the statements above - UM became more modern in later times and lost it's creepy effect.


i agree. i miss the acting/ and genderal creepy feel about the show from the 80's and early 90's

OT, but I always thought Satanic Panic would be a great name for a band. :lol:

And let's see..... what else has changed?

In the first few episodes, which were hosted by Karl Malden and Raymond Burr, I think the entire show was dedicated to one subject. Later, they subdivided the show into the segments that each covered a different crime or event.

I remember that Stack hosted the 90 minute Alcatraz special. What year was that? Was the whole 90 minutes dedicated to Alcatraz or did they feature mini segments that were unrelated during that show?

If it was all Alcatraz, was that the only Stack hosted episode that was wasn't divided into segments?


From memory it was 1989 and it was an Alcatraz special featuring a swimmer who swam from the rock to SF and a team of rafters who didn't make it. I also recall the ep having other small segments.

From memory it was 1989 and it was an Alcatraz special featuring a swimmer who swam from the rock to SF and a team of rafters who didn't make it. I also recall the ep having other small segments.

Cool... thanks for the info. :) Knowing me, I probably saw it when it first aired and then just totally forgot it. I'm almost positive I've that special on dvd somewhere. I need to look at it again and see what those small segments were about.

Cool... thanks for the info. :) Knowing me, I probably saw it when it first aired and then just totally forgot it. I'm almost positive I've that special on dvd somewhere. I need to look at it again and see what those small segments were about.

Its on the CD collection, not sure which vol but its on there somewhere. Thats how I got to see that ep. It is also co hosted by a lady who I cant recall her name but its definitely worth watching.

I found my dvd and watched the alcatraz special. Diana Nyad was sort of the co-host that day. They probably chose her because she's a competitive swimmer. I just looked up an article that says that she's 61 years old and still challenging herself in the sport. As of august, she was planning to swim from Cuba to the US without a shark cage.

About 50 minutes into the special the first of the mini segments are shown. (Not sure if I have everything, my copy is from a friend of a friend.)

Louis Bourgeois and Jean Marie Gagnon, the Canadian bank robbers (Massachusetts) who escaped US Marshall custody in 1985 during transport.

and other criminals at large:

Thomas Robert Noss, Jr. (Moss?)

Carl Alfred Eder - California teenager using the alias Charles Harrison. In 1958, murdered the wife and four children of Mr. Thomas Pendergast, a man who had given him shelter 6 weeks earlier. Escaped 1974. Apparently, he's never been found.
http://www.elcajonpolice.org/coldcase/Eder.htm
http://www.amw.com/fugitives/case.cfm?id=55472

Lina (Lena, Nina?) Regina Smith

Joseph Mancini

UM did change over the years, but I really don't mind the recent episodes (of original UM that is, not the Dennis version, which has an awful format. It's not even Dennis' fault, really. The stule is terrible!) I like some of the later ones a lot, but feel that the late 80s, early 90s episodes are certainly the peak and have a much spookier feel. I really don't even mind Keely Shaye that much, considering 99% of the time she was there for updates and only once can I recall her talking for a really long time compared to usual (about case connections in the Angeles National Forest) and it was only about 5 minutes tops. I always found it funny she called RS "Bob" :P When I was younger I thought RS was scary and had no emotion/empathy and that made him scary. Now I fully understand that he is in no way unsympathetic, and is just probably one of the best hosts of all time. It still cracks me up when someone speaks informally to him, though! I still think the latter part of the show can be included with the show for nostalgia and is very good, even if not quite as classic.

hmm...
No one said anything about the UM web site.

A couple of years ago, unsolved.com had less cases featured on the web site than they do now. added some cases and deleted some cases on the web site.

More than 50 percent of the wanted fugitives profiled on Unsolved Mysteries have been captured—most as a result of tips from our viewers. Unsolved Mysteries has contributed to over 100 family reunions, and helped prove the innocence of seven people convicted of crimes they did not commit.

This was added to the web site too.

Sorry to be off topic, but it's driving me crazy.


Zlatko - Who is the girl in your avatar? I can't remember her name and it's bothering me. Thanks! :)


(Oh, I didn't realize this was my first post. Hi everyone! I've been lurking for a while. Time for me to make some real posts now)

Sorry to be off topic, but it's driving me crazy.


Zlatko - Who is the girl in your avatar? I can't remember her name and it's bothering me. Thanks! :)


(Oh, I didn't realize this was my first post. Hi everyone! I've been lurking for a while. Time for me to make some real posts now)Welcome to the forum. :wave: It's always good to have new UM posters.

The girl in my avatar is Morgan Nick. UM featured a case on her; she was abducted at a baseball. To this day, authorities haven't found her.

Welcome to the forum. :wave: It's always good to have new UM posters.

The girl in my avatar is Morgan Nick. UM featured a case on her; she was abducted at a baseball. To this day, authorities haven't found her.

Thank You and Thank You! :) Browsing around, I'm not as good with the names as everyone else, but after many years of watching the show (I believe I was 4 or so when I started watching), I think I have every case stored in my brain :) I knew I knew Morgan's case, I just couldn't connect the face with the case. My brain is overloaded with True Crime :p

UM did change over the years, but I really don't mind the recent episodes (of original UM that is, not the Dennis version, which has an awful format. It's not even Dennis' fault, really. The stule is terrible!) I like some of the later ones a lot, but feel that the late 80s, early 90s episodes are certainly the peak and have a much spookier feel. I really don't even mind Keely Shaye that much, considering 99% of the time she was there for updates and only once can I recall her talking for a really long time compared to usual (about case connections in the Angeles National Forest) and it was only about 5 minutes tops. I always found it funny she called RS "Bob" :P When I was younger I thought RS was scary and had no emotion/empathy and that made him scary. Now I fully understand that he is in no way unsympathetic, and is just probably one of the best hosts of all time. It still cracks me up when someone speaks informally to him, though! I still think the latter part of the show can be included with the show for nostalgia and is very good, even if not quite as classic.

I always thought the Bob thing was funny too. John Cosgrove refers to RS as Bob in the interview on one of the dvd sets too yet everywhere else he's referred to as Robert.

From a purely cultural perspective, UM's biggest legacy might be how it recorded for posterity the satanic panic thing. Every third segment, it seems, from the earliest days of the show eventually gets around to suggesting satanism might have been involved in whatever mystery it was describing.

As far as what changed? Well, two things. For one, later episodes had the re-enactments shot on videotape, instead of film. So off the bat, when you see those you can tell the difference.

Secondly, the style of HOW the reenactments were done changed a lot from the beginning of the show to the end. Earlier re-enactments seemed, for lack of a better term, more narrative-conscious: the "scenes" in the reenactments would go on longer, and the camera work was more "artistic" - there was the occasional close-up, but a lot of stuff was done from medium length on out, and there were a fair number of shots you might label as "experimental" or "artistic."

As the show went on, that type of approach to filming sequences gradually faded, with more and more standard television close-up shots of everything, and shorter amounts of time spent on any one individual "scene." By the end, everything was shot in extreme close-up, and the "scenes" in the re-enactments had gotten perilously short.

And the show really suffered in quality for it, IMHO. Those early episodes had a definite style to them, with the grainy filmstock (I am guessing they might have used 16 rather than 35 mm film on early episodes), and some effort put into setting up scenes and framing shots. By the end, it was as if episodes were directed from a book on "how to shoot footage for television." By the way, most shooting for television is terrible. Notice that even the film of interviews from the early segments appear to be shot from a further distance away than the interviews later - gradually, UM zoomed those cameras further and further and further in. That's the television thing to do. Terrible.

There's one notable difference between the Stack-era and the Farina-era...the music. When Robert Stack was host, the music scared the hell out of everyone. It could have been a lost loves segment and I'd go hide in the closet, and Stack's voice added to the heir of mystery. Now Farina has a decent voice for the show, but it's obvious there trying to go more towards a "true crime" type show...I was watching a episode two days ago and they were using fast paced heavy metal music to build up tension for a scene and I was like WTF is going on here? Where's the piano music!?

There's one notable difference between the Stack-era and the Farina-era...the music. When Robert Stack was host, the music scared the hell out of everyone. It could have been a lost loves segment and I'd go hide in the closet, and Stack's voice added to the heir of mystery. Now Farina has a decent voice for the show, but it's obvious there trying to go more towards a "true crime" type show...I was watching a episode two days ago and they were using fast paced heavy metal music to build up tension for a scene and I was like WTF is going on here? Where's the piano music!?

There's one notable difference between the Stack-era and the Farina-era...the music. When Robert Stack was host, the music scared the hell out of everyone. It could have been a lost loves segment and I'd go hide in the closet, and Stack's voice added to the heir of mystery. Now Farina has a decent voice for the show, but it's obvious there trying to go more towards a "true crime" type show...I was watching a episode two days ago and they were using fast paced heavy metal music to build up tension for a scene and I was like WTF is going on here? Where's the piano music!?

Yeah, the new version of UM has stripped the show of both its poignant and scary music.

I miss the creepy music :(

There's one notable difference between the Stack-era and the Farina-era...the music. When Robert Stack was host, the music scared the hell out of everyone. It could have been a lost loves segment and I'd go hide in the closet, and Stack's voice added to the heir of mystery. Now Farina has a decent voice for the show, but it's obvious there trying to go more towards a "true crime" type show...I was watching a episode two days ago and they were using fast paced heavy metal music to build up tension for a scene and I was like WTF is going on here? Where's the piano music!?

I would say the other notable difference between the Stack-era and the Farina-era is the Stack-era had Robert ****-ing Stack and the Farina era has Dennis ****-ing Farina.

;)

Also, the Farina episodes give no dates... trying to hide how old this stuff is from the kids they were ill-advisedly attempting to market it to.

As great a show that UM is/was, i have been disappointed by some of the changes over the years. In my opinion,UM was at its best during the five or so years. The majority of the segments seemed to focus on Unexplained Deaths,Missing Persons,etc. In later seasons,UM focused more on Bizarre phenomena,feel good stories,miracles(I have probably seen the Cokeville School Bombing segment about 200 times). The other change that most disappointed me was UM's music. We all know how great and creepy UM's music during the first 4-5 seasons was. After that however,they replaced the opening theme with crappy synthesized music,which to me,made UM a little less appealing. I prefer not to watch the "New" episodes with Dennis Farina as host. I have nothing against Farina,but its just not the UM I grew up with and loved.

Dennis Farina SUCKS. He ruins the otherwise "okay" new UM.

I agree with everyone for all the reasons previously discussed. The documentary and movie style presentation in '88-93 and just the depth they went into for segments, along with the music and grainier filming style was really what made the show. I also like Stack's personal involvement during those early years, you could tell he genuinely had concern for crime victims and lost loves.

Even though some people didn't Keely as much, I think it was still "classic enough" during that era (1994 to 97 or so). It was heavily modernized for its time (even now it doesn't look that old, only somewhat dated) and sure they started having more stuff like Cokeville, miracles and more lighthearted segments that got repeated too much, but they still had enough of a focus on the original roots of the show - lost loves, wanted fugitives, etc. RS was somewhat more casual, but still serious too. Even the tail end of the real UM in the late 90s and early 2000s was still connected to its roots.

Obviously Stack's death can't be helped (tragic as it is :( ) and that's not Farina's fault, but rather the presentation of the segments diverts from its original focus...TO SOLVE THE CASES! By hiding the original dates on the cases and large chunks of the original reenactments and interviews decreases the chances of new information possibly coming to light. They're so concerned with making it modern where it's almost like they forgot the original intent of the show. I've often said the best thing should have been to rebroadcast the cases as they were, just with new intros and updates from Dennis Farina a little graphic on the screen saying when the original airdate was (just so it wouldn't confuse anyone), along with making some brand new cases that Dennis could host himself.

The 21st century in general is very obsessed with updating, modernizing and renovating things (not just television, but many things in general) which aggravates me to no end, and there's not as much of a connection to the past as there used to be. That's a huge part of the problem, maybe people just have a shorter attention span or something...but I miss when lots of times you could see a case from 1980 being shown on tv in 1993. You don't really see that now.

Yes, the music and film quality are two big differences. Then there's Robert Stack to Dennis Farina. I just don't think anyone can live up to Robert Stack's aura in hosting and narrating this show. Then there's the changes in graphics over the years. And as someone said, they don't mention the dates on the Farina episodes.

But to me, the music, the film quality, and not having Robert Stack are the three biggest changes.

For me noting beats the early episodes of UM. They had the scare you feeling to them.

What I really hated about UM in the later years was how they showed a lot of lost loves segments.

Since because of satanic panic in the 80's I didn't have a lot of free reign in what shows I watched as a kid. Especially being raised in a christian household. UM was my only outlet to watch something spooky or eerie. After awhile there was just a huge influx of lost love segments and it just turned me off.

The music...that's a good one to bring up. The music on the original Unsolved Mysteries could be creepy and scary but also poignant. On the "new" Unsolved, it's just generic crap with no sense of atmosphere whatsoever. It's not even hip, which is what I suspect they are trying to attempt with the makeover of the show.

"You may be able to help solve a mystery."

to

"I'm Dennis Farina and this is Unsolved Mysteries."

That change right there says it all.

I probably watched UM most when it was being rerun on Lifetime. The graphics for the earlier episodes had been changed slightly for syndication on cable, but everything else was the same except for the contact information at the end. I still have the address in Burbank memorized after hearing it so much from watching the show. ;)

One thing I really love because it's kind of hilarious about the new UM with Dennis are the updates. I love how they present a case, trying to make it all modern and fresh, but then they give us an update and we find out that that the perp was captured, tried, convicted, sent to prison and released!

I too have noticed that the new UM attempts to hide dates from the viewers because some of the cases (that they still re-air) are from the early eighties and/or seventies that were actually solved in the 90's. How "unsolved" can that "mystery" be?

You might be able to hide the dates but you sure as hell can't hide the fashion and hairstyles, not to mention the fact that the old video quality just looks old.

"You may be able to help solve a mystery."

to

"I'm Dennis Farina and this is Unsolved Mysteries."

That change right there says it all.

I probably watched UM most when it was being rerun on Lifetime. The graphics for the earlier episodes had been changed slightly for syndication on cable, but everything else was the same except for the contact information at the end. I still have the address in Burbank memorized after hearing it so much from watching the show. ;)

One thing I really love because it's kind of hilarious about the new UM with Dennis are the updates. I love how they present a case, trying to make it all modern and fresh, but then they give us an update and we find out that that the perp was captured, tried, convicted, sent to prison and released!


In my opinion, Unsolved Mysteries is nothing without Stack. He made the show.. Sorry Dennis Farina..

Farina isn't a bad host but RS was the greatest by far. But some of the older cases still unsolved you can tell the interviews were from the 80s/early 90s. In the Brad Bishop case they show the age progression of what they thought he would look like at 55. He's now 75 I believe if alive. And the Dexter Stephanek case you can tell the interviews were the same footage from the original broadcast.

Farina isn't a bad host but RS was the greatest by far. But some of the older cases still unsolved you can tell the interviews were from the 80s/early 90s. In the Brad Bishop case they show the age progression of what they thought he would look like at 55. He's now 75 I believe if alive. And the Dexter Stephanek case you can tell the interviews were the same footage from the original broadcast.

Well I grew up with Stack(he was like a tv grandpa lol). Ill admit... in the late 90s UM lost its "scaryness"...

Hi, I am new to these forums. I have been an Unsolved Mysteries fan since I was a little kid. I used to be scared of Robert Stack because his presence to me was creepy, but I got used to him as I got older. I love the times he ran the show, it was more in-depth and scarier (in a good way) and attracted your attention. Today's re-vamped Unsolved Mysteries is not as good as the old times with it and it's too "animated" to me now. That's why I watch the old episodes on YouTube. I also noticed, that in the late 90's-early 2000's, they stopped doing lost love stories and focused mostly on murders, unexplained, and missing people (I didn't mind though, I like the darker stuff).

I wonder if the transition from "creepy" to "less creepy" in the later 90s was intentional, a way to try to appeal to a wider audience. In so doing, however, I think they lost a lot of the "charm" that the show originally had. I still didn't mind the 90s episodes, though.

I agree that the original focus of the show was *more* on actual solvable mysteries rather than paranormal. But remember that the paranormal stuff had a place on UM from nearly the beginning. The first episode on the weekly run featured a UFO segment. To be honest, while too much of anything is overkill, I think that the paranormal cases provided a healthy balance to UM, preventing it from being simply another AMW. Those UFO and ghost segments scared me more than the murders/missing cases. UM wouldn't have been the same without them.

Regarding lost loves, I realize that many don't care for them. But consider this: the lost loves segments served a valuable purpose in uniting people separated. Plus, they often ended episodes on a more positive and less creepy note. This was important for me personally, as I would sometimes get so freaked out at the prior segements that I needed something to calm me down a bit.

What's really lacking in the Farina version of UM is no creepy music and static camera work. They use generic heavy metal music and when it cuts to action scenes, they use jump cuts and they put some type of blurry white or blue overlay on top of it so it looks scary, but it really takes away from the scenes and it's very distracting. It's a reality crime show, not a horror movie from 2005!

If they do bring UM back with possible new stories, they should really return to the original format. Modern doesn't necessarily mean better. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

I too have noticed that the new UM attempts to hide dates from the viewers because some of the cases (that they still re-air) are from the early eighties and/or seventies that were actually solved in the 90's. How "unsolved" can that "mystery" be?

The Farina episodes really go out of their way to hide the dates! I've noticed recently that when they show the old segments that involve home video footage, they blur out the timestamp on the video! I've been meaning to take a look at the old original RS segments to see if they were blurred also. I'm almost certain they were not.

An other thing is RS would travel to be filmed. I always enjoy when you see people in the background while RS is filmed not even caring(Sacramento thrill killer). However Farina just waits in the telecenter yet they don't even provide a phone number any more.

Maybe it just me, but I noticed in the later NBC Years ('95-'97) CBS and Lifetime, that there were a lot less Fraud cases then the early years, it could be because of better technology in fighting these cases, and maybe the producers wanted to expose a national TV audience to harder-to-solve cases.

As with all TV Shows over time the amount of commercials has gone up, in the late 80's episodes the shows had 11-12 mins of ads per hr,
in the late 90's/early 2000's it was over 16 mins of ads,

the Farina verison is probably around 17-18 mins of ads.

The music changed, nothing beats the original version, but I thought the CBS Theme music was second best.

Speaking of CBS,
They didn't give the show much of a chance IMO, airing it on Friday Nights in the Spring and Summer, probably the worst primetime slot and time of year
you could give to a show.

why did NBC cancel the show in the first place....because of bad ratings, and what night did NBC air the show for the last 3 seasons....Friday!

I decided to make this topic since it's quite relevant to a show that lasted as long as Unsolved Mysteries. (mid/late 80's to early 00's) Besides the obvious things such as fashion(80's hair, anyone?), Stack aging, and production improvements, what changed in your mind? It could be anything. Perhaps it involves certain elements in cases that became more rare as time went on. I'll list some of the changes I noticed.

-A lot of the cases in the 80's and early 90's seemed to mention Satanism a whole lot. Obviously this had to do with the whole Satanic panic in the 80's but still. I can't recall any one the UM in the 00's mentioning Satanism or anything.

-From my memory, I don't recall any of the late 90's/early 00's cases involving hitchhiking. It seems like after the 80's, less and less people hitchhiked even in rural areas.


First off :wave:

In the 80s it was a lot creepier and the acting was horrible. I remember one episode where some guy said "Look why dont you guys just leeaavvee usss alone". Sad case but the acting was terrible.

In the 90s UM changed it up a bit to me more modern. But I wasnt too crazt about it. And now Ferina.. well excuse me my language but he sucks!

Stack aged? The man looked so good you could never tell. The only noticeable difference at the very end was that his voice was getting weaker.

Stack aged? The man looked so good you could never tell. The only noticeable difference at the very end was that his voice was getting weaker.I didn't mean that in a physical sense. Just that he was getting older in age.

Another trend UM effectively recorded for posterity was changing facial hair trends...seems like every other guy interviewed on UM first 5 seasons or so had a mustache. Definitely changed as the show progressed.