Perhaps because these are stories about regular average joes that simply had something extraordinary happen to them, something about UM conjours up a slice of "everyday 80s America" to me, far more than any movie or TV show with actors reading lines and playing parts. Lots of stories seemed to take place in the Midwest too, which is probably more "typical America" than huge cities like LA, NYC or Chicago.

One major thing that depresses me is the demographics have totally changed since the 80s and really 90s too. People's ages are getting really weird now (relative to what I remember as a kid) and everybody's kinda stepped into different roles.

Think about it. Babies of 1989 are now 25, a 10 year old is now 35, teenagers are now in their 40s, middle aged parents/working people are now seniors, seniors are all dead (or very very old), etc.

Older people (back then) like The Wackers are really symbolic to me of a past era. Like, they remind me of typical grandparently people who came of age in the jazz era, who'd be saying "Whippersnapping kids!" or "Turn that racket down!" and who were confused or annoyed by (then) modern technology like VCRs or microwaves.

I see what you are saying (I'll be hitting the big 4-0 in a couple of years!), but you also have to remember that a lot of the more horrific crimes covered in UM would have been avoided if modern technology was around back in the 80s/early 90s.

How many abductions would have been prevented if cell phones were around back then? (it would have at least stopped people like Angela Hammond stopping at lonely phone booths where they made easy targets) How many armed robberies would have been prevented/solved if convenience or drug stores had surveillance cameras back then? I still find it shocking when UM would report on crimes that happened at major shopping malls without any video footage! Police procedures have also improved massively - not only has DNA testing revolutionised law enforcement, but cops today are unlikely to treat reports of missing young people with the same sort of yawning indifference they did back in the day and computer organisation has made it far easier for cops to match suspects with MOs, known associates etc.

I see what you are saying (I'll be hitting the big 4-0 in a couple of years!), but you also have to remember that a lot of the more horrific crimes covered in UM would have been avoided if modern technology was around back in the 80s/early 90s.

How many abductions would have been prevented if cell phones were around back then? (it would have at least stopped people like Angela Hammond stopping at lonely phone booths where they made easy targets) How many armed robberies would have been prevented/solved if convenience or drug stores had surveillance cameras back then? I still find it shocking when UM would report on crimes that happened at major shopping malls without any video footage! Police procedures have also improved massively - not only has DNA testing revolutionised law enforcement, but cops today are unlikely to treat reports of missing young people with the same sort of yawning indifference they did back in the day and computer organisation has made it far easier for cops to match suspects with MOs, known associates etc.

Definitely agree. Even by the late 90s when more people had basic cellphones, some of the major crimes like Angela Hammond, could've been averted or drastically reduced. Smaller towns definitely had less resources and were often (even for then) behind on technology (such as 911, even up into the earlier 90s)...which adds to the retro and creepy factor too.

Yeah, I agree with what you're saying.

Late 80's/Early 90's UM did capture a different point in time. People were less obsessed with technology like computers and cellphones. People were more socially connected with one another. Although, I will not deny that today's technology would obviously help to solve many cases.

It's also sad to think that many of the families on UM who are still seeking justice for their loved ones are growing older and older. :(

It's funny you brought up the various locations where UM cases took place. That's one of the reasons why I think UM is such a fantastic show. It gave the viewers a small peek into the various small towns across America, whether it be in Alabama, Oregon, or any other state.

I wouldn't say that people were less obsessed with technology - It just wasn't as widely utilized.

I was an early adopter of computers and the internet and have had an email address since the late 80's. Back then anyone that used a computer was considered a shut in or a nerd.

UM is much like Seinfield: 90% of the problems would have been solved with a smart phone.

It's funny you brought up the various locations where UM cases took place. That's one of the reasons why I think UM is such a fantastic show. It gave the viewers a small peek into the various small towns across America, whether it be in Alabama, Oregon, or any other state.

Agreed. This is also part of the reason I enjoy City Confidential so much. Large cities are covered, of course, but I like the feel of what the communities are like described on the show. I just love the way communities were filmed in the early years of UM as well. Some of the camera work was actually quite beautiful. The Gail Delano, Harold & Thelma Swain, and Orange Sock Murder segments come to mind.

Now, as far as bygone eras go, there are things I appreciate about the late '80s and early '90s, but I'm glad we're not still living in them. We live in exciting times with amazing technologies that have done SO much more than just allow people to watch cat videos. We have also seen great social strides throughout the world, despite the challenges that still exist. I LOVE all things retro, but I'm not really very sentimental about most of them.

UM is much like Seinfield: 90% of the problems would have been solved with a smart phone.

More cases would have been helped with today's technology but unfortunately, criminals and criminal activities are timeless. A smart phone wouldn't have stopped Beverly McGowan from getting the worst possible roommate one could get. It wouldn't have stopped Rick Church from stabbing the Ritter family, or Joe Weldon Smith from killing his wife and step daughters in their sleep. It wouldnt have prevented any of the family abductions to my knowledge, the Baskin kids, Christophe Day, Ladonna Morrow's son Jerrod.

And the tragic story from the Jim Burnside segment still applies today. If someone is THAT hellbent on killing you, they're most likely going to be able to pull it off because police can't get involved until the sicko strikes. A restraining order is nothing more than a piece of paper.

There have been a ton of cases profiled on ID shows from the current cell phone era and all of these people still managed to get abducted or go missing with their cell phones on them. There are times when you don't even have time to react technology or no technology.

More cases would have been helped with today's technology but unfortunately, criminals and criminal activities are timeless. A smart phone wouldn't have stopped Beverly McGowan from getting the worst possible roommate one could get. It wouldn't have stopped Rick Church from stabbing the Ritter family, or Joe Weldon Smith from killing his wife and step daughters in their sleep. It wouldnt have prevented any of the family abductions to my knowledge, the Baskin kids, Christophe Day, Ladonna Morrow's son Jerrod.

And the tragic story from the Jim Burnside segment still applies today. If someone is THAT hellbent on killing you, they're most likely going to be able to pull it off because police can't get involved until the sicko strikes. A restraining order is nothing more than a piece of paper.

There have been a ton of cases profiled on ID shows from the current cell phone era and all of these people still managed to get abducted or go missing with their cell phones on them. There are times when you don't even have time to react technology or no technology.

I think that if you magically moved most of the UM cases to the present a great many could have been avoided or at least the perpetrator would have been tracked, exposed and caught much sooner. Definitely as a previous poster also pointed out, the availability of CCTV would been more of a factor today than it would have been in the late 80s or 90s.

You cannot fake documents like you could 20 or 30 years ago and be on the run. Your passport is not just paper with a photo, it has to be scanned now. It is much more difficult to generate a new identity and continue living a life than it was in the past.

How often are cases solved and thus never aired on ID due to cameras or technology that did not exist 20 years ago? Impossible to tell but I would argue that it would dwarf the number of cases where all technological safeguards are sidestepped.

It's all academic anyway but I would reason that many of those cases, in a more connected world, I think for every case where you could say that technology would not have been a factor I think I could pull 10 where it could conceivably be a factor.

I may be moving the goalposts a bit including all technology in the past 20 years but I think the smartphone is the most ubiquitous and useful tool to represent the advances in the past 20 years.

I wouldn't say that people were less obsessed with technology - It just wasn't as widely utilized.

I was an early adopter of computers and the internet and have had an email address since the late 80's. Back then anyone that used a computer was considered a shut in or a nerd.

UM is much like Seinfield: 90% of the problems would have been solved with a smart phone.
That's pretty much my point - heck, even in the late 90's, people were considered nerds or recluses if they used computers, and other modern forms of technology. Now, it seems like everyone and their child has their own personal computer, iphone, etc. This has its pros and cons of course.

It would be interesting to see how new technology would affect cases like the Wackers, Tammy Leppart, and so forth.

i remember the nerd crew of the late 90's- those who knew everything about a pc. But we must also remember with newer tech, it also gives rise to more sophticated types of crime that would never happen in previous decades.

Also one problem of modern tech is that it creates a digital divide. There are still billions of everyday people in the world who do not have these products. Hence a lot of old cases could happen today- how many of us had our phone or whatever battery die out at the worst time? Or had our screen cracked?

I see what you are saying (I'll be hitting the big 4-0 in a couple of years!), but you also have to remember that a lot of the more horrific crimes covered in UM would have been avoided if modern technology was around back in the 80s/early 90s.

How many abductions would have been prevented if cell phones were around back then? (it would have at least stopped people like Angela Hammond stopping at lonely phone booths where they made easy targets) How many armed robberies would have been prevented/solved if convenience or drug stores had surveillance cameras back then? I still find it shocking when UM would report on crimes that happened at major shopping malls without any video footage! Police procedures have also improved massively - not only has DNA testing revolutionised law enforcement, but cops today are unlikely to treat reports of missing young people with the same sort of yawning indifference they did back in the day and computer organisation has made it far easier for cops to match suspects with MOs, known associates etc.

We could eliminate the need for 'lost loves' because of Facebook!

Despite the depressing and often tragic things that would happen in some of the cases profiled on UM, the show was definitely still good at capturing the spirit of bygone eras. Some of the many small towns that we've gotten a taste of over the years, such as Clinton, Missouri (Angela Hammond), Lyons, Nebraska (Anna Anton and Greg Webb), or the many places famous for supernatural activity or old western legends (i.e. Hico, Texas or Deadwood, South Dakota) are so off the beaten path that 99% of the general population probably wouldn't give them a second thought, but after seeing them on UM, you can't help but develop a desire to want to visit some of these places yourself. It is kind of saddening, however, that with all of the mass development and commercialism to take place just in the last couple of decades, some of these places no longer have that cute "small town Americana" kind of atmosphere anymore.

I'm not sad. I was about 10 when I started watching the show, fresh off the Richard Ramirez case in Los Angeles (I live in a neighboring county). All of the friends I had watched the show because of it's cinematography and overall aesthetic, it was the closest thing to scary movies we could watch coming from strict christian households. I've always been fascinated with the unknown and the big picture of what life means and peoples existence on this Earth. Even when I was a kid if something didn't make sense to me I wouldn't ask my parents or teacher, I'd grab an encyclopedia or magazine and teach myself. The show was just amazing and there are some fascinating stories I've found, since I started watching, on my own that I think would have been amazing presented by the shows producers back in the 80's/90's. I've grown from watching the show as a person and learned to be a little more open minded about life and what's possibly out there in the universe.

Technology is a double edged sword to me. On the one hand, it's great because of the strides we've made not to mention the fact that a lot of these UM cases would have been solved quicker or outright prevented with technology. But then again, the advent of technology also takes away from some of the things that previous generations had and what they went through in terms of human interaction. Pen pals are obsolete, everyone now has cell phones so no more awkward teenage phone calls to a crush's house to have their parent answer, using maps to navigate or stop and asking for directions, etc. On the surface technology seems to be better because it makes things easier, but for me personally I would rather have something of a challenge.

Back to the OP's point about Um representing a bygone era...

Satanic ritual abuse figures in many of the cases as a truly 80's and 90's moral panic that seems to me to be stuck in it's era.

I agree. I do think UM catches some aspects of life that no longer exist, but it did make us aware of so many things from crime to supernatural and beyond. I also thought it did a good job of capturing history and making us aware of different places across the US. They did a great job of showing different places and what they were about. Someone else touched on this before. They showed big towns and small towns. And actually those small towns like marfa texas still do exist!!! It's a disconnect between big city folks and small town country folks that suggests their world is right or wrong but shows like UM brought us together.

Back to the OP's point about Um representing a bygone era...

Satanic ritual abuse figures in many of the cases as a truly 80's and 90's moral panic that seems to me to be stuck in it's era.


No kidding. I sometimes wonder how many innocent people's lives were destroyed by that crazy satanic panic nonsense in the late 80s. Even today, I shake my head in disbelief that something like that could occur in modern times.

I definitely love modern tech and people I'm friends with today, so while I wouldn't want to "go back" (unless it was just for a week like Marty McFly did! And providing I didn't mess with history), UM portrayed these very simple things that just sum up the (late) 20th century zeitgeist like no other.

To me an era isn't just represented by its technology or pop culture or fashion (which, of course, you can get into later), but by its people. All co-existing the way they were then. Like, the metalhead dudes (such as the Megadeth "clerk" from the Debra Poe segment, or the guys playing the Texas teen thrill killers) or valley girls (i.e. Christie Mutzfeld, Kristi Krebs) really take me back to how I remember so many teens and early 20s people when I was a kid. And since today's youth aren't like that anymore (even if some do dig older rock music, etc) it feels very lost in time.

This is even true (albeit to a lesser extent) for middle aged people of that time too. I think of guys like Woody Kelly and Roger Dean as kinda fitting into the materialistic, greedy 80s yuppies. My dad was friends with some guys like that when I was really young. People that were like 40 or 45 back in 1985, say.

Definitely agree that small, no man's land towns being represented on vintage UM was amazing. In those days, that was kinda the best snapshot you had of life or people from towns all over the country.

I do often find myself incredibly nostalgic over the bygone era UM portrays. While I absolutely appreciate the massive safety benefits of our internet/smartphone culture, I also HATE how antisocial and socially incompetent it has made people. I won't get on a rant, but suffice it to say the pre-selfie world is one I miss.

I agree with the previous poster that some of the great personality types of the 80s-90s aren't found today. When I was a little kid in the early 90s, my older cousin was a total "metalhead" and my other cousin was kind of a U2-listening, khaki-wearing "save Africa" college kid along the lines of some of UM's featured players. I also remember the older "valley girls" who babysat me in the 80s and seemed SO cool...with names like Brandi, Dawn, Tiffany, etc., big hair, tons of makeup and so on. And some of my parents' friends were total yuppies that had those cool "car phones" and drank lots of wine and always seemed to be in their work clothes.

The Roger Wheeler case, which involved Jai-Alai in Florida, reminds me of my childhood so much. My power-couple/yuppie aunt and uncle lived in South Florida and it seemed SO glamorous and I remember my impossibly tan uncle being into Jai-Alai, lol.

When I was in junior high circa 1996, I remember the coming of the "skateboarder" culture mixed with a little bit of pseudo-hippie culture, with MANY guys reminding me of the unidentified Grateful Dead fan.

In the 90s there was also a lot of fascination with aliens...does anyone else remember when they showed on TV the infamous "alien autopsy" that later turned out to be fake? I distinctly remember my mom gasping in front of the TV in shock and awe, LOL.

I do often find myself incredibly nostalgic over the bygone era UM portrays. While I absolutely appreciate the massive safety benefits of our internet/smartphone culture, I also HATE how antisocial and socially incompetent it has made people. I won't get on a rant, but suffice it to say the pre-selfie world is one I miss.

See I wish there was a way to blend the two, and bring things from the past into the 2010s! I suppose that's why it makes me smile a bit when I see comments from kids on YT videos that Glee or Family Guy got them into a classic rock song or whatever... it's like affirmation that things from my childhood are cool/relevant to at least some of today's kids/younger folks.

I'd be a hypocrite to completely rip on selfies (I've got one as my avatar!) but (like anything else), some people can get carried away with them.

I agree with the previous poster that some of the great personality types of the 80s-90s aren't found today. When I was a little kid in the early 90s, my older cousin was a total "metalhead" and my other cousin was kind of a U2-listening, khaki-wearing "save Africa" college kid along the lines of some of UM's featured players. I also remember the older "valley girls" who babysat me in the 80s and seemed SO cool...with names like Brandi, Dawn, Tiffany, etc., big hair, tons of makeup and so on. And some of my parents' friends were total yuppies that had those cool "car phones" and drank lots of wine and always seemed to be in their work clothes.

The Roger Wheeler case, which involved Jai-Alai in Florida, reminds me of my childhood so much. My power-couple/yuppie aunt and uncle lived in South Florida and it seemed SO glamorous and I remember my impossibly tan uncle being into Jai-Alai, lol.

When I was in junior high circa 1996, I remember the coming of the "skateboarder" culture mixed with a little bit of pseudo-hippie culture, with MANY guys reminding me of the unidentified Grateful Dead fan.

In the 90s there was also a lot of fascination with aliens...does anyone else remember when they showed on TV the infamous "alien autopsy" that later turned out to be fake? I distinctly remember my mom gasping in front of the TV in shock and awe, LOL.

I can't possibly add anything else to this, except to say I agree 100%! :) You must've been born circa 1983, so we're right around the same age.

Strangely, I was much hipper and in tune with things as a kid than I was as a teenager (even if I understood more about the world by then)...probably because I'm just more of an 80s fan than a 90s fan, and I was pretty much an indie hipster I guess (or what kids like that today would be called) so I wasn't up on fashions and stuff. Unfortunately, I didn't even appreciate alot of the music and pop culture of the 90s until years later.

But I really really miss the chill grungers, skaters, feminists and environmentalists (I think at least certain people were way more liberal in the 90s) and just how laid back and cool most things seemed to be.

Did you notice, one thing that definitely screams 80s from UM's classic era too, are the hairstyles? Especially on the younger women, like Matt Chase's friend/girlfriend Teresa Dahl.

so while I wouldn't want to "go back" (unless it was just for a week like Marty McFly did! And providing I didn't mess with history

I watched that movie over the holiday weekend just for the hell of it. It's one of my all time favorites. Even though I was only 5 when it came out, I love the 80's feel of the film...when Marty isn't in 1955.

I think the feelings of nostalgia for the bygone era of Unsolved Mysteries is one of the reasons that I love to watch the original show. I think this is lacking in the Farina series, or maybe Farina is just a vehicle for confirming that times are changing and bygones must be bygones. I love the new UM for sliver of a connection that it has to the bygone era.

Everytime I sit down to watch UM, all of those feelings come back. They may not be as strong as they were when I was living through it, but it definitely reminds me of those times. There was no Wikipedia back then, so there was no quick way to look up a small town. The people who were interviewed always seemed representative of whatever city they were located in. I can remember thinking that certain people in certain segments were cool and seemed nice. These were the type of people that I would like to meet and form relationships with, and I just assumed that all of the people in that town/city were the same way. Social media destroyed the necessity of such introductions, or assumptions, as I can now, with only slight effort, make a friend in any city in the country, simply by finding someone with a similar interest who lives in a particular area.

We can fact check so many things immediately now. It's truly amazing how the Internet has changed our lives. We had to take the information presented from UM, as well as the statements of those interviewed in the segments, as true, lest the show would have been pointless to watch. Example: UM showed that Dr. John Branion didn't have enough time to make it home and kill his wife in the timeframe provided. He must be innocent. We now know that he likely did have enough time, and much of the credit for this discovery must go to the resources of the Internet.

I work in IT, so I both appreciate and understand the improvements, interruptions, and implications of having so much knowledge readily available. The era presented in the Stack version of Unsolved Mysteries is a bygone era, but the Unsolved Mysteries franchise, mission, and medium is not a bygone product. If implemented correctly, it could continue indefinitely by utilizing the resources available today, as well as the advances that will certainly be made in the future.

I share the nostalgic bond with all of those who watched Unsolved Mysteries on broadcast, over-the-air television.

Now that we're well into the 2010s, it strikes me as "quaint" how the 90s were always portrayed (during the 90s themselves) as this totally WILD, anything-goes, out-of-control decade. Remember the phrase "it's the 90s"? Often uttered on sitcoms when someone's teenage kid brought home a leather-jacket-wearing, smoking, outspoken new friend, lol.

There were even movies about this -- The Brady Bunch movie was all about the squeaky-clean Brady era contrasted with the "wild" 90s, and I think the late-90s movie "Pleasantville" had a touch of this theme as well.

I even have proof:

http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6618231/people-saying-its-the-90s-compilation

I even have proof:

http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6618231/people-saying-its-the-90s-compilation

YES! Awesome!

Hard to believe the '90s were 20 years ago! :eek:

More cases would have been helped with today's technology but unfortunately, criminals and criminal activities are timeless. A smart phone wouldn't have stopped Beverly McGowan from getting the worst possible roommate one could get. It wouldn't have stopped Rick Church from stabbing the Ritter family, or Joe Weldon Smith from killing his wife and step daughters in their sleep. It wouldnt have prevented any of the family abductions to my knowledge, the Baskin kids, Christophe Day, Ladonna Morrow's son Jerrod.

And the tragic story from the Jim Burnside segment still applies today. If someone is THAT hellbent on killing you, they're most likely going to be able to pull it off because police can't get involved until the sicko strikes. A restraining order is nothing more than a piece of paper.

There have been a ton of cases profiled on ID shows from the current cell phone era and all of these people still managed to get abducted or go missing with their cell phones on them. There are times when you don't even have time to react technology or no technology.

I agree with your version. Change is coddled and overhyped. My father was a sociology and psychology professor. He told me that one of the great lazy doctoral thesis topics is to promote the benefit of change. Society wants to lap that up. Nobody is willing to concede, for example, that the next presidential election doesn't mean much of anything. All the big decisions will be made 20 years from now. Nope, it's our era so it's the greatest and most important ever. Hence we must change or face ruination.

Criminals are remarkably resilient, and ahead of the game. Cell phones and the internet create as many crime opportunities as they prevent, if not far more. Craigslists murders, and so forth.

The one aspect I do appreciate is that cell phone pings can be tracked, often eliminating the alibi and pinpointing the actual culprit(s). That aspect stands out all the time when you watch true crime shows. One perpetrator after another would have gotten away with it if he simply didn't bring the darn phone.

Now that we're well into the 2010s, it strikes me as "quaint" how the 90s were always portrayed (during the 90s themselves) as this totally WILD, anything-goes, out-of-control decade. Remember the phrase "it's the 90s"? Often uttered on sitcoms when someone's teenage kid brought home a leather-jacket-wearing, smoking, outspoken new friend, lol.

There were even movies about this -- The Brady Bunch movie was all about the squeaky-clean Brady era contrasted with the "wild" 90s, and I think the late-90s movie "Pleasantville" had a touch of this theme as well.

I even have proof:

http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6618231/people-saying-its-the-90s-compilation

Halfway related, but when you mentioned Pleasantville it reminded me... Even though I'm not a big 50s fan (save for a few things), I do miss all the 50s nostalgia that seemed to be around forever. Like in the mid 90s you'd hear Elvis and doo wop songs on oldies stations. Now any pre-Beatles/pre-1965 music is too old for the radio, period, which is a bit sad.

Along the same lines, I think that was comforting because during the 80s and even 90s and to a reduced extent, even up to about 2000...the 1950s teens were kinda still the "parents/adults" and in the workforce still...instead of the grandparents/seniors. Now, all of that stuff is too old for the demographic that marketers like, so it's been pushed totally off the map.

(Luckily I think the late 60s is the first "modern" decade, and enough people love The Beatles etc. to keep that relevant forever. I hope! :) )

I am sad that UM represents a bygone era. Even though I mostly watched reruns of UM from about 1996 through today, I see comparisons of UM to today that don't leave 2014 in a positive light.

I miss how UM was a portrait of America, and all of it. Sort of "On the Road with Charles Kuralt," only in a mystery format. You saw stories from Los Angeles (Adam Hecht) or New York City (Weinberg case), to Silver Plume (Keith Reinhard) and Marfa, Texas (ghost lights), with suburban stories too. I never felt UM was condescending to the participants. The goofiest characters that I can think of from the show, Bob Bean, Pat Snead and Danny Wheeler, set themselves up to look like twits. UM didn't exploit them, so to speak.

Think of what's on TV today, what with all the reality television. Shows spotlighting the Amish Mafia, Honey Boo-Boo's family or some hedonistic, ignorant teens in West Virginia ("Buckwild"), plus the moonshiner shows. These shows do exploit people in Middle America, and these shows have no redeeming value. How do these people compare to Mabel Woods, John Martin (Virginia police officer) or a good samaritan nurse from Vietnam? (Not to say that UM didn't have it's share of vile people, but 99 percent of them were criminals or went to jail. So you felt a sense of justice).

And I'm also sad to see how the mystery show genre has changed since UM. The "ghost hunter" shows just come off as disingenuous and cliched, whereas what mystery shows you do see are often overdone with special effects that are useless. The minimal effects of UM, at least during the earlier era of the show (1987-1992), could give me nightmares into my 20s. Now that's good TV.

''It's not everyday you see someone walking around on a telephone everywhere they go!'' :D

I think this line says it best and perfectly encapsulates the UM time period, at least when the show was in its prime.

I am sad that UM represents a bygone era. Even though I mostly watched reruns of UM from about 1996 through today, I see comparisons of UM to today that don't leave 2014 in a positive light.

I miss how UM was a portrait of America, and all of it. Sort of "On the Road with Charles Kuralt," only in a mystery format. You saw stories from Los Angeles (Adam Hecht) or New York City (Weinberg case), to Silver Plume (Keith Reinhard) and Marfa, Texas (ghost lights), with suburban stories too. I never felt UM was condescending to the participants. The goofiest characters that I can think of from the show, Bob Bean, Pat Snead and Danny Wheeler, set themselves up to look like twits. UM didn't exploit them, so to speak.

Think of what's on TV today, what with all the reality television. Shows spotlighting the Amish Mafia, Honey Boo-Boo's family or some hedonistic, ignorant teens in West Virginia ("Buckwild"), plus the moonshiner shows. These shows do exploit people in Middle America, and these shows have no redeeming value. How do these people compare to Mabel Woods, John Martin (Virginia police officer) or a good samaritan nurse from Vietnam? (Not to say that UM didn't have it's share of vile people, but 99 percent of them were criminals or went to jail. So you felt a sense of justice).

And I'm also sad to see how the mystery show genre has changed since UM. The "ghost hunter" shows just come off as disingenuous and cliched, whereas what mystery shows you do see are often overdone with special effects that are useless. The minimal effects of UM, at least during the earlier era of the show (1987-1992), could give me nightmares into my 20s. Now that's good TV.

Yep TV isn't what it used to be. My dad just said to me yesterday "I pay all this money for cable and nuttin' is on". I DVR UM each day as well as City Confidental, Cold Case Files and American Justice. Yep I'm stuck in the old days.

I agree with your version. Change is coddled and overhyped. My father was a sociology and psychology professor. He told me that one of the great lazy doctoral thesis topics is to promote the benefit of change. Society wants to lap that up. Nobody is willing to concede, for example, that the next presidential election doesn't mean much of anything. All the big decisions will be made 20 years from now. Nope, it's our era so it's the greatest and most important ever. Hence we must change or face ruination.

Criminals are remarkably resilient, and ahead of the game. Cell phones and the internet create as many crime opportunities as they prevent, if not far more. Craigslists murders, and so forth.

The one aspect I do appreciate is that cell phone pings can be tracked, often eliminating the alibi and pinpointing the actual culprit(s). That aspect stands out all the time when you watch true crime shows. One perpetrator after another would have gotten away with it if he simply didn't bring the darn phone.

Tell me about it ! You hit the nail on the head :) its amazing watching ID channel true crime cases - the amount cases were cell phones now turn up to be key evidence ....interestingly enough I was reading about FBI investigations in the 70`s were they had to climb up telephone poles or break into suspects houses to tap criminals phones yet today all they would have to do is subpoena someone like AT&T or kindly ask the NSA (oops :lol: ) and they will have all the dirt on criminals :D .......its amazing how times have changed . Although I suspect that eventually criminals will wiseup to this and become more careful just like how crimnals eventually got savvy on fingerprint eveidence ......

I do often find myself incredibly nostalgic over the bygone era UM portrays. While I absolutely appreciate the massive safety benefits of our internet/smartphone culture, I also HATE how antisocial and socially incompetent it has made people. I won't get on a rant, but suffice it to say the pre-selfie world is one I miss.

I agree with the previous poster that some of the great personality types of the 80s-90s aren't found today. When I was a little kid in the early 90s, my older cousin was a total "metalhead" and my other cousin was kind of a U2-listening, khaki-wearing "save Africa" college kid along the lines of some of UM's featured players. I also remember the older "valley girls" who babysat me in the 80s and seemed SO cool...with names like Brandi, Dawn, Tiffany, etc., big hair, tons of makeup and so on. And some of my parents' friends were total yuppies that had those cool "car phones" and drank lots of wine and always seemed to be in their work clothes.

The Roger Wheeler case, which involved Jai-Alai in Florida, reminds me of my childhood so much. My power-couple/yuppie aunt and uncle lived in South Florida and it seemed SO glamorous and I remember my impossibly tan uncle being into Jai-Alai, lol.

When I was in junior high circa 1996, I remember the coming of the "skateboarder" culture mixed with a little bit of pseudo-hippie culture, with MANY guys reminding me of the unidentified Grateful Dead fan.

In the 90s there was also a lot of fascination with aliens...does anyone else remember when they showed on TV the infamous "alien autopsy" that later turned out to be fake? I distinctly remember my mom gasping in front of the TV in shock and awe, LOL.

I would agree about the personality types , the characters ,gurus and dare I say even some criminals from that era had a debonair style that I dont quite see today :rolleyes:

Your uncle and aunt sound so adorable :cool: ! Yeah , considering that TV was filled with flashy shows like Dallas, Santa Barbara , Miami Vice etc your uncle and aunt really typified the era in a nice way..... I am kinda curious what do your aunt and uncle say about those days of the 80`s today ?

Speaking of the internet and smartphones , allow me to ge a bit geeky :D - a lot of this technology we now take for granted had its foundations set in the 80`s e.g. BBS `s of the 80`s are now todays forums and the processors in todays smartphones , tablets , TV`s were researched and developed in the 80`s only to be perfected and mass produced now ...... in a round about way the 80`s are still with us ;)

Did you notice, one thing that definitely screams 80s from UM's classic era too, are the hairstyles? Especially on the younger women, like Matt Chase's friend/girlfriend Teresa Dahl.

Yes ! Thats usually the first clue that you are watching something from the 80`s :lol:
Thats why I secretly enjoy seeing classic Madonna videos and 80`s movies. Interestingly enough, the women also wore a lot of makeup and bright colors (compared to today generation of yound women) , do you remember the shoulder pads craze :) ... . Another nice thing about the 80`s were those sporty cars- while I am certainly not a car fan, I have to say it always warms me up whe I see them in UM or movies ......

What I loved about UM is that they chose to profile cases from all walks of life. Nobody was neglected. Rich 80's yuppies, poor rural families, working class folks, Asians, blacks, Hispanics, Jewish, Middle East, middle-class suburbanites...it was so diverse and so interesting to watch these mysteries featuring people who could be your neighbor, someone in your family, someone you worked with. It seems these days, and I may be generalizing, but if most mysteries don't involve attractive upscale people, it doesn't get attention. (I think the rare exception is Snapped and some of the ID shows that don't focus on rich, bored housewives). Would the Sammy/Danny Wheeler saga even get a mention today? Or Jule Caylor and his salad skills? Or the "enormous" Bonnie Wilder? (Fat people like myself can be considered persona non grata in the media unless we're on The Biggest Loser).

I was glad to be a kid before the idea of smartphones, selfies and having to air every aspect of your life on social media happened. While I own a smartphone and occasionally take selfies (of the non-drunk kind) I still wax nostalgic. UM, despite all the scares, was really one of the few shows that represented slices of life from everywhere, and a rare example of a reality show that didn't set out to exploit or make celebrities of the people they had on.

What I loved about UM is that they chose to profile cases from all walks of life. Nobody was neglected. Rich 80's yuppies, poor rural families, working class folks, Asians, blacks, Hispanics, Jewish, Middle East, middle-class suburbanites...it was so diverse and so interesting to watch these mysteries featuring people who could be your neighbor, someone in your family, someone you worked with. It seems these days, and I may be generalizing, but if most mysteries don't involve attractive upscale people, it doesn't get attention. (I think the rare exception is Snapped and some of the ID shows that don't focus on rich, bored housewives). Would the Sammy/Danny Wheeler saga even get a mention today? Or Jule Caylor and his salad skills? Or the "enormous" Bonnie Wilder? (Fat people like myself can be considered persona non grata in the media unless we're on The Biggest Loser).

I was glad to be a kid before the idea of smartphones, selfies and having to air every aspect of your life on social media happened. While I own a smartphone and occasionally take selfies (of the non-drunk kind) I still wax nostalgic. UM, despite all the scares, was really one of the few shows that represented slices of life from everywhere, and a rare example of a reality show that didn't set out to exploit or make celebrities of the people they had on.well put. I think I loved the show because of it's diversity. It taught me geography, fascinated me with sci-fi mysteries some credible some laughable. And the crime solving lost love finding was a very noble and successful part of the show. I also find myself astonished at all of the unexplained deaths features in which they exposed poor and at times perhaps corrupt investigative practices.

All in all I do think UM is gone and could not be brought back obviously, but look at all of the crime fascination shows on tv today. Some real some fake, but you have to credit UM for being one of the best and certainly one of a kind original.

As far as society I do think technology has made us soft and lazy and awkward socially compared to the way it used to be. People are less educated in real life experiences and are very judgmental with their opinions. And media just perpetuates these aspects it is rather annoying.

As far as society I do think technology has made us soft and lazy and awkward socially compared to the way it used to be. People are less educated in real life experiences and are very judgmental with their opinions. And media just perpetuates these aspects it is rather annoying.

I do think that social media has an especially polarizing effect. When you're getting into legitimate flame wars over an article about cotton candy (yes, I once actually saw this), you might have a social ill at hand.

I do think that social media has an especially polarizing effect. When you're getting into legitimate flame wars over an article about cotton candy (yes, I once actually saw this), you might have a social ill at hand.
Haha that's funny. Yeah some people will say anything online but yet will say nothing in person because they fear what others will say. And they don't realize how many more people see what they post.

Haha that's funny. Yeah some people will say anything online but yet will say nothing in person because they fear what others will say. And they don't realize how many more people see what they post.

That's another problem with social media. People often hide behind their keyboards.

As a kid I love anything paranormal: Ghosts, Bigfoot, UFO's, etc. I still do but now I am far more skeptical than I was when I was 12.

UM tended to lean toward the credulous side but, as a "paranormal" show, was far more balanced than most that you would see today like Finding Bigfoot or Ghost Hunters (neither of which has actually found anything...).

For instance, you wouldn't expect to see the Gulf Breeze models on UFO files. It is sad that they did not interview James Randi for the Tina Resch case. He actually has a photo of the flying phone being faked.

I see what you are saying (I'll be hitting the big 4-0 in a couple of years!), but you also have to remember that a lot of the more horrific crimes covered in UM would have been avoided if modern technology was around back in the 80s/early 90s.

How many abductions would have been prevented if cell phones were around back then? (it would have at least stopped people like Angela Hammond stopping at lonely phone booths where they made easy targets) How many armed robberies would have been prevented/solved if convenience or drug stores had surveillance cameras back then? I still find it shocking when UM would report on crimes that happened at major shopping malls without any video footage! Police procedures have also improved massively - not only has DNA testing revolutionised law enforcement, but cops today are unlikely to treat reports of missing young people with the same sort of yawning indifference they did back in the day and computer organisation has made it far easier for cops to match suspects with MOs, known associates etc.
Exactly. Unfortunately criminals adapt with the times but all of what you have said is so very true...many of these cases I am betting could have been solved with what technology we have now.

I do think that social media has an especially polarizing effect. When you're getting into legitimate flame wars over an article about cotton candy (yes, I once actually saw this), you might have a social ill at hand.
Wait what????!!! Oh my lord.
I thought the stupid NFL QB debates were bad enough (Manning vs Brees vs Rodgers) but this...wow. :crazy:

Exactly. Unfortunately criminals adapt with the times but all of what you have said is so very true...many of these cases I am betting could have been solved with what technology we have now.


Criminals do adapt... but serious crime has fallen massively all over the developed world over the past 20 years.


http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21582004-crime-plunging-rich-world-keep-it-down-governments-should-focus-prevention-not

Look at armed robberies in Britain - down over 80% from the level 20 years ago!

Even the dumbest criminals have realised that if you do something major league these days, you're likely to get caught.

I can't possibly add anything else to this, except to say I agree 100%! :) You must've been born circa 1983, so we're right around the same age.

Yep, 1984! :cool:

This show brings back great memories from my childhood. As I watch this show now through various sources, it brings me back to a much more simple time in life. I also always wonder why this show doesn't exist now. It would never be as good as the classic, but the idea of this show is great. Feature stories about criminals so that they can get caught. With all of the social media networks we have, this could be much more efficent than back in the 80's.

''It's not everyday you see someone walking around on a telephone everywhere they go!'' :D

I think this line says it best and perfectly encapsulates the UM time period, at least when the show was in its prime.

The first several years cell phones startled the hell out of me. Why were there so many crazy people in supermarkets talking to themselves when formerly this only occurred among homeless hobos and a few bus bums?

Web of Lies on the Investigation Discovery channel should be required viewing for everyone aged 12 and up. Not only is it excellent, every bit as good, and in some aspects better, than Unsolved Mysteries, like UM it is a vital educational tool. Web of Lies deals with any kind of crime either internet or text-related, and covers one such crime per hour-long episode. The first child believed to have been harmed as a result of the internet has been identified and there have been many since.

That being said, the '80s sucked bigtime and I'd never want to go back.

The episodes from the late NBC days and all through the CBS and Lifetime days (1997-2002), really give me that nostalgic feel, especially when they film the segment in a strip mall or housing division scene. Feels older yet new at the same time, you know what I mean? The episodes pre-dating 1994 feel dated because of the format, but are still fun to watch.

One major thing that depresses me is the demographics have totally changed since the 80s and really 90s too. People's ages are getting really weird now (relative to what I remember as a kid) and everybody's kinda stepped into different roles.

Think about it. Babies of 1989 are now 25, a 10 year old is now 35, teenagers are now in their 40s, middle aged parents/working people are now seniors, seniors are all dead (or very very old), etc.

Older people (back then) like The Wackers are really symbolic to me of a past era. Like, they remind me of typical grandparently people who came of age in the jazz era, who'd be saying "Whippersnapping kids!" or "Turn that racket down!" and who were confused or annoyed by (then) modern technology like VCRs or microwaves.

Great thread! The part about the demographics and ages really got me thinking. If you really think about it, ages today really aren't what they were back in the 80's. The 20's and 30's of today are more like teenagers and the 40's are more like the upper end of young adulthood. I am in my early 40's and I am just now starting to feel grown up. I work with someone who is right at 50, and she had her first child at 16. Her youngest daughter is around 27-28 and is having a baby. My co-worker told me that while she is very glad that her daughter did not follow in her footsteps and get pregnant at 16 like she did, she also believes that her daughter having a baby at 28 will be very akin to her having had her first child at 16.

I guess that is a testament to the times. Pregnancies in young adulthood today are pretty much equal to what teen pregnancies were back in the 1980's. It's really something how much time changes things.

The technology aspect is VERY interesting. I do wonder how many of the cases presented on UM would have never been actual cases if they occurred in this day and age. Cases like Angela Hammond and Deborah Poe probably would not have happened due to things like smart phones. The Wackers case would have never escalated like it did and the Circleville letters definitely would not have happened because face it, who writes letter now? :) Of course there are other cases that would not have been affected by today's technology. For instance, the Blind River Reststop murders. I have though it over and sadly, I just can't see any way that technology would have stopped any of that from happening that night. Maybe Gord and Jackie contact the authorities if they had cell phones, and assuming that reception was good at the Blind River Reststop. But even that would not have been enough to have prevented the killings. Perhaps Gord could have gotten a picture of the van and maybe even a picture of the license plate with a smart phone, but it was at night, so who knows how well the picture quality would have been.

Excellent thread. After reading through these posts, I can honestly say that this is my favorite thread on this board :) As a new viewer of the original UM, the discussion about the show representing a bygone era is spot-on. Going along with this, since I'm an '80's kid & am watching the show 30+ years after it was originally released - the nostalgia aspect is especially strong here.

One major thing that depresses me is the demographics have totally changed since the 80s and really 90s too. People's ages are getting really weird now (relative to what I remember as a kid) and everybody's kinda stepped into different roles.

Think about it. Babies of 1989 are now 25, a 10 year old is now 35, teenagers are now in their 40s, middle aged parents/working people are now seniors, seniors are all dead (or very very old), etc.

Older people (back then) like The Wackers are really symbolic to me of a past era. Like, they remind me of typical grandparently people who came of age in the jazz era, who'd be saying "Whippersnapping kids!" or "Turn that racket down!" and who were confused or annoyed by (then) modern technology like VCRs or microwaves.

Great post, and I agree with all of this. As someone who was a teen in 1989 & in my 40's when this thread started, I completely relate to everything being said here. I do remember my grandparents from that era not really understanding VCR's/computers/etc. - LOL.

Great thread! The part about the demographics and ages really got me thinking. If you really think about it, ages today really aren't what they were back in the 80's. The 20's and 30's of today are more like teenagers and the 40's are more like the upper end of young adulthood. I am in my early 40's and I am just now starting to feel grown up.

Agree completely with this as well. This probably has something to do with societal changes/changing expectations. Back in the '80's some people were able to afford their own apartment/house by the time they got to be in their 20's (and sometimes even in their late teens). Conversely, these days - because of the economy/rising prices/etc., it's not unusual for people to be living at home with their parents/other family members well into their 30's - and sometimes beyond.

The technology aspect is VERY interesting. I do wonder how many of the cases presented on UM would have never been actual cases if they occurred in this day and age. Cases like Angela Hammond and Deborah Poe probably would not have happened due to things like smart phones. The Wackers case would have never escalated like it did and the Circleville letters definitely would not have happened because face it, who writes letter now? :)

Agree with all of this as well. There are also a lot more security cameras around in public places/businesses these days than there were in the '80's/'90's - which have definitely helped with solving crimes.

Technology is a double edged sword to me. On the one hand, it's great because of the strides we've made not to mention the fact that a lot of these UM cases would have been solved quicker or outright prevented with technology. But then again, the advent of technology also takes away from some of the things that previous generations had and what they went through in terms of human interaction. Pen pals are obsolete, everyone now has cell phones so no more awkward teenage phone calls to a crush's house to have their parent answer, using maps to navigate or stop and asking for directions, etc. On the surface technology seems to be better because it makes things easier, but for me personally I would rather have something of a challenge.

You are so right I came up in the 90s (born late 80s) and I indeed remember when three way calling was all the rage; also when Caller ID came out. We were fascinated you could see who is calling before you answer lol.

I hate what cellphones have done to us as a society in whole. It used to be when you wanted to meet someone new you get dressed up, go out and put in effort. Now you date from the convenience of your phone. Took all the fun out of everything.

UM holds a special place in my heart because I watched this show with my grandparents as a kid when I spent weekends with them. That era was just so amazing we experienced so many firsts. I remember AOL days and when the Internet was the latest rage especially AOL IM.

I like to point out back then how the cost of living was so cheap and affordable. You had guys like Charlie Scheel and Howard Drummond that were so frugal their entire life they socked away a lot of money which near impossible to do now a days. You can't even get eggs and bacon for a 1.99 anymore... Interesting to think that none of them were taking meds or had any underlying health issues like so many people their age or younger do now.

I like to point out back then how the cost of living was so cheap and affordable..

Growing up in the 80s/90s, the best thing about was that housing (as well as education) was FAR more affordable and middle class jobs seemed to be far more plentiful - unemployed/underemployed graduates were nowhere near as plentiful as now. This allowed young people to really "get ahead" in a way that it is extremely difficult for them to do now.

You also had "macro-culture" back then. Everybody watched the top rated TV shows and movies, so you really did have common cultural touchstones everyone could discuss around the water cooler (the movie "Titanic" was ubiquitous in 1997/98 popular culture in ways that I imagine most young people today would find hard to comprehend). Compare with today, where even the most popular cable/streaming hits (Game of Thrones/Stranger Things) would be regarded as "cult status" by 80s/90s standards.

Against this however, there were genuine downsides. TV shows today may not be as popular, but even middling shows today are vastly superior in quality to 90% of the trash networks pumped out decades ago. Streaming means that music is both available and cheap - not the case back in the day (on a number of occasions, I had to order in compact discs - and then pay $30 Australian for them!). Crime was more of a problem then too - DNA and surveillance cameras are a genuine revolution in law enforcement.

I see what you are saying (I'll be hitting the big 4-0 in a couple of years!), but you also have to remember that a lot of the more horrific crimes covered in UM would have been avoided if modern technology was around back in the 80s/early 90s.




I agree, yet disagree! it might have helped where someone is lost on some highway, to trace somewhere using their cell "pings" or especially with the many cases of locating some lost relative using google. but i think that the internet age has created more cases that it would solve. without looking at the figures, i'm 99.999% certain that there are more people going missing today then during the 80s, and at times this technology only serves as a tool to commit crimes! how many children have been groomed on line?

You also had "macro-culture" back then. Everybody watched the top rated TV shows and movies, so you really did have common cultural touchstones everyone could discuss around the water cooler (the movie "Titanic" was ubiquitous in 1997/98 popular culture in ways that I imagine most young people today would find hard to comprehend). Compare with today, where even the most popular cable/streaming hits (Game of Thrones/Stranger Things) would be regarded as "cult status" by 80s/90s standards.

That's an interesting thing to think about. Adding to that, Titanic was one of the best selling movies on VHS at 25 million copies sold. DVD came out the same year that movie was released in 1997 but would takes years to really catch on still. Then Netflix started making streaming popular in 2007.

I have a feeling that physical media with movies will become more popular again in the future given what issues there have been with streaming in the last five years.

Yes & that's why need to for the GOP to save traditional America! That's why we're called conservative because we CONSERVE the America we all LOVE & grew up in!!

The biggest difference between Democrats and Republicans is Republicans LOVE America the way it is with some minor tweaks. Democrats, on the other hand, want DRASTIC & CATASTROPHIC changes to America that would NO longer be America!!

You realize TONS of shows from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, & 90s could NEVER be made today because liberals are so EXTREMELY political correct that they find EVERYTHING offensive??

Even Seinfeld & Friends have both been called racist by the CRAZY left!

Yes & that's why need to for the GOP to save traditional America! That's why we're called conservative because we CONSERVE the America we all LOVE & grew up in!!

The biggest difference between Democrats and Republicans is Republicans LOVE America the way it is with some minor tweaks. Democrats, on the other hand, want DRASTIC & CATASTROPHIC changes to America that would NO longer be America!!

You realize TONS of shows from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, & 90s could NEVER be made today because liberals are so EXTREMELY political correct that they find EVERYTHING offensive??

Even Seinfeld & Friends have both been called racist by the CRAZY left!

Oh boy. :rolleyes: You've been binge watching waaaay too much Fox News.

In an effort to save this thread from getting hijacked with political talk, please remember that this has been a horrible, HORRIBLE year and most of us would like any escape from the current world's problems that we can get. Your comments are NOT helping. So if you have any more of these kind of talking points you feel you need to get out, please take it to another forum.

Just some friendly advice from a "crazy left" Democrat who, contrary to what you think, is actually NOT out to destroy America.

This thread has become way off topic. Please take any political talk to the politics board. Thank you.

https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/forumdisplay.php?f=419

This thread has become way off topic. Please take any political talk to the politics board. Thank you.

https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/forumdisplay.php?f=419

What TJ said.... thank you, please drive through...

Things were simpler/less complex back then and thanks to the fact that there was no internet, every week UM brought us not only new cases, but provided us glimpses into settings (big cities and small towns alike) and showed us people and situations/phenomena we otherwise would've never heard about or discovered.

These different places, people and things/phenomena had an air of mystery about them or otherwise took on a kind of mystique that I think the internet/modern technology completely erased (thanks to the ability to have instantaneous access to just about every bit of information on every conceivable topic known to man).

I may be moving the goalposts a bit including all technology in the past 20 years but I think the smartphone is the most ubiquitous and useful tool to represent the advances in the past 20 years.

Not only can you shop, chat, or check bank statements on your phone, but you can possibly literally, save your life or the life of another person. In the 80s or 90s, you'd be on UM.

This thread has become way off topic. Please take any political talk to the politics board. Thank you.

https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/forumdisplay.php?f=419

Thank you.

Not only can you shop, chat, or check bank statements on your phone, but you can possibly literally, save your life or the life of another person. In the 80s or 90s, you'd be on UM.

Exactly.

Exactly.

I agree with that but you guys know that 99.9% of time people spend on a cell phone is just GOOFING off & a waste of time.

It's the .1% that is useful & potentially life saving. But doubt many cases would've solved on UM if cell phones existed back then. Because the killer would've obviously known that too so he either would've destroyed their cell phone or they'd already be dead by the time police found them.But

Only in cases of being lost in the wilderness it would've most likely helped IF a signal could be found.

The apartment listing in the Woonsocket Murder episode: 3 bedrooms for $175 per month + security. Obviously this was almost 40 years ago, but :(

Growing up in the 80s/90s, the best thing about was that housing (as well as education) was FAR more affordable and middle class jobs seemed to be far more plentiful - unemployed/underemployed graduates were nowhere near as plentiful as now. This allowed young people to really "get ahead" in a way that it is extremely difficult for them to do now.

Exactly. I graduated college in late 1995, and got a decent entry-level "professional" job in 1996; this is in the U.S. With my salary, I was able to rent a small apartment (without the need for a roommate), keep up with bills/groceries, my payments on an old car, etc. Granted, I wasn't making much money - but given that things were a lot less expensive at that time, I wasn't spending an astronomical amount either. Going along with all of this, the economy in the mid-late 1990's was a hell of a lot better than it was later (even pre-virus).

Conversely, with everything being extremely expensive these days - it's evident that this type of thing is not as frequent.

It is a bygone era and I remember it well. People were more trusting, kids played outside, kids were rarely obese, and people talked to one another, and didn't stare at their phones. Your wallet or your car keys, if you needed either of them, was the only thing that might be in your pocket instead of a phone that followed you everywhere. You knew your neighbors as well. I always felt safe on our street because there were half a dozen homes I could run to and knock on the door. People looked out for each other more back then. You made a mistake and you dealt with it, nowadays it is on Youtube or social media for the world to see.

No one had heard of cancel culture, there were less broken homes and kids played sports all of the time. I almost get sad when my kids tell me all of the rules and regulations in school these days. Stuff like no snowball fights at recess. Cameras are everywhere, there is no privacy these days................and the worst part is people actually prefer it that way.

Yeah sometimes it is sad seeing old UM segments that are at least 30 years old. Now I know why my parents liked the 1950s and 1960s so much. It was THEIR day, just like the 1980s and 1990s was my day. And now, I sound like my parents! We all get there someday! :D

Agree with many of the points above.
I sometimes have the FilmRise episodes on in my earbuds while I'm working. What I love as much as anything is the memory of not only the cases themselves but watching the shows for the first time. It was appointment viewing for my family and many of my friends Wednesday nights at 8. We didn't watch as much when it went to Fridays because of other commitments.
I was nine in 1987, so it was a staple for me growing up. Lunchtime talk at school on Thursdays often revolved around the cases from the night before and our clearly educated theories on what might have happened. :D
That's partly why to this day, I skip a lot of the cases including child abuse and murders, especially if those kids were right around my age. I still find them tough to watch.
The music at the end of the final segment of every episode still triggers a tiny portion of my brain that back then, it meant that it was almost 9 and time to get ready for bed! Also that I couldn't watch another episode for seven days, unlike now when it takes about seven seconds to launch into the next set of cases.

Ever since Film Rise has secured the rights to the series with Stack and uploaded them to Amazon Prime, I've watched the series from start to finish 3 times. I'm on my 4th re-watching right now and while watching the episode featuring the disappearance of Dan Wilson, I wondered to myself why am I watching this? I've seen it multiple times and know how it ends. So why watch again and again? And I think the #1 reason is the nostalgia. #2 is because it does kind of bring back an era that's gone and never coming back. Almost like a time hop.

I am an innate historian and antiquarian so watching UM usually provokes a strong feeling for the era for me. Some of this is associative and artificial, 480x640 resolution video is representative of a certain era for example.
But some of it is genuine to the era in which the stories take place. The high crime rate is reflected in many of the earlier seasons, because while rates did fall in the 90's a great many of the cases took place before the show by some years.
Yes cell phones were not a part of society back then, which seems like a net benefit in some ways. You can also see a society where a show like UM had significant power because it could disseminate information to a very large number of people and solve not just crimes but searches for lost loved ones, etc. That society no longer exists.
And the show's portrayal of history itself was different, you can tell it was not as far removed from events like the Second World War which had many veterans watching the show. Events which now would only be discussed by researchers could be documented with actual interviews with some of the witnesses or participants to the event.
Some segments seem to highlight the economic decline that has occurred since, simply by portraying factories or stores that are no longer there.

It is a bygone era and I remember it well. People were more trusting, kids played outside, kids were rarely obese, and people talked to one another, and didn't stare at their phones. Your wallet or your car keys, if you needed either of them, was the only thing that might be in your pocket instead of a phone that followed you everywhere. You knew your neighbors as well. I always felt safe on our street because there were half a dozen homes I could run to and knock on the door. People looked out for each other more back then. You made a mistake and you dealt with it, nowadays it is on Youtube or social media for the world to see.

No one had heard of cancel culture, there were less broken homes and kids played sports all of the time. I almost get sad when my kids tell me all of the rules and regulations in school these days. Stuff like no snowball fights at recess. Cameras are everywhere, there is no privacy these days................and the worst part is people actually prefer it that way.

Yeah sometimes it is sad seeing old UM segments that are at least 30 years old. Now I know why my parents liked the 1950s and 1960s so much. It was THEIR day, just like the 1980s and 1990s was my day. And now, I sound like my parents! We all get there someday! :D


What you are saying in your post can also be said for the decades that I was born and grew up in. Mid 50s through the mid 70s. I married and began raising a family in the 80s. My youngest was born in 89 so I raised my kids during the UM era.

We are currently watching UM from start to finish for the second time. It makes me nostalgic for the era.

Ever since Film Rise has secured the rights to the series with Stack and uploaded them to Amazon Prime, I've watched the series from start to finish 3 times. I'm on my 4th re-watching right now and while watching the episode featuring the disappearance of Dan Wilson, I wondered to myself why am I watching this? I've seen it multiple times and know how it ends. So why watch again and again? And I think the #1 reason is the nostalgia. #2 is because it does kind of bring back an era that's gone and never coming back. Almost like a time hop.

I have been a UM fanatic for so many years. UM represents my childhood to me. I would go spend weekends with my grandparents who I love dearly. My grandfather and I would watch Unsolved Mysteries re-runs on Lifetime back in the mid to late 90s and I have been hooked ever since.

I probably have watched the entire series 10x over. The later seasons are not my favorite due to Stack's voice diminishing so greatly. However, I still watch. The first 4 or 5 seasons are chef's kiss though.

I think those of us who continue to re-watch the series all share that nostalgic reminder of how easy going life was back then. I had a wonderful childhood and I miss when life was so innocent and I was so content.

I have been a UM fanatic for so many years. UM represents my childhood to me. I would go spend weekends with my grandparents who I love dearly. My grandfather and I would watch Unsolved Mysteries re-runs on Lifetime back in the mid to late 90s and I have been hooked ever since.

I probably have watched the entire series 10x over. The later seasons are not my favorite due to Stack's voice diminishing so greatly. However, I still watch. The first 4 or 5 seasons are chef's kiss though.

I think those of us who continue to re-watch the series all share that nostalgic reminder of how easy going life was back then. I had a wonderful childhood and I miss when life was so innocent and I was so content.


Agreed 100%. This thread actually made me go looking for old episodes of "On The Road with Charles Kuralt" :D

It is a bygone era and I remember it well. People were more trusting, kids played outside, kids were rarely obese, and people talked to one another, and didn't stare at their phones.

Kids still play outside. In the 1980s food was laden with artificial sugars and sweeteners, and, instead of playing with their phones, your '80s kids played with Atari and Nintendo. You're right about obesity rates.

I should know. I was an '80s kid. I'm not nostalgic. I had a good childhood but it's over.

Kids still play outside. In the 1980s food was laden with artificial sugars and sweeteners, and, instead of playing with their phones, your '80s kids played with Atari and Nintendo. You're right about obesity rates.

I should know. I was an '80s kid. I'm not nostalgic. I had a good childhood but it's over.

Kids certainly do not play outside like they did in the 80's. Comparing a contemporary cell phone to the Atari or Nintendo is ridiculous. The former connects to an unlimited supply of games, video content, music, and social networks. Everyone has one. The latter is a very limited computer that can play only the few dozen games most people would have encountered for them. Some kids may have spent a lot of time on them, but by and large they were just a popular toy that many people didn't even own. There is a vast and fundamental difference between the two so much so that to compare them is comical. :lol:

I'm not sure about the food differences, but I know in the 80's McDonalds served real fries made with beef tallow and KFC had actual honey instead of "honey sauce" made with corn syrup.

And despite the hand wringing, I don't think obesity really matters as an indicator of how society is doing.

Kids certainly do not play outside like they did in the 80's.

Yes they do. Do you have numbers or data? You know, it's possible to play with your phones after shooting hoops.

What hasn't changed is the hand-wringing by old folks about How Things Used To Be. I

Kids still play outside. In the 1980s food was laden with artificial sugars and sweeteners, and, instead of playing with their phones, your '80s kids played with Atari and Nintendo. You're right about obesity rates.

I should know. I was an '80s kid. I'm not nostalgic. I had a good childhood but it's over.

Yeah we had Nintendo. We also had Atari, Sega Genesis, etc. Television of course. Kids played video games in our era too in the 1980s and 1990s. Child obesity rates went up a bit in the 1980s with Nintendo and such, which was 1985. However, kids still weren't fat like they are today. Our parents still kicked us out of the house if we played too much. When you were outside, there was nothing to do but play sports and run around and ride bikes and such. There was no technology outside back then. That is the huge difference. But kids are easily not outside as much as they used to be. Part of it is paranoia from parents. Parents were not paranoid in the 1980s. My parents used to let me wander around Major League baseball stadiums in between innings and after the game. They barely knew where we were when we were outside, they just knew we were in the neighbourhood somewhere.

Today a parent texts their child on their own phone - if they are 12 - if they haven't heard from them in the last half hour.

My kids grew up in the 80s-90s. We lived in the country. They played in the yard and in the woods, etc. they had Nintendo but they didn’t stay inside playing video games, they spent the majority of the day outside doing kid things. They had many toys to keep them busy indoors as well. They obviously had kid favorites like Barbie, Ninja turtles and He Man. But they mostly had classic toys to make them use their imaginations. Not electronic toys.

They did not have their days planned by me and filled with structured activities like kids today do. They were allowed to choose one after school activity each. Often they didn’t do that. That’s the problem with kids today. They have no free time to just play and be kids. And when they do get free time,there is a screen in front of their face.

We are watching UM all the way through again in the evenings currently. One thing I’m noticing is that in the past I believed in the theories UM put forth such as MIA soldiers kept imprisoned by the enemy, suicides as murders, missing persons being spotted by eyewitnesses, etc. I’ve become very cynical and now see how wrong eyewitnesses are, that the supposed murders and spotting of MIA solders is just parents refusing to accept the truth. And no matter how many searchers there are with a tale about lost treasures, the treasure is never found. I don’t think such episodes would even be filmed today.

I think that if you magically moved most of the UM cases to the present a great many could have been avoided or at least the perpetrator would have been tracked, exposed and caught much sooner. Definitely as a previous poster also pointed out, the availability of CCTV would been more of a factor today than it would have been in the late 80s or 90s.

You cannot fake documents like you could 20 or 30 years ago and be on the run. Your passport is not just paper with a photo, it has to be scanned now. It is much more difficult to generate a new identity and continue living a life than it was in the past.

How often are cases solved and thus never aired on ID due to cameras or technology that did not exist 20 years ago? Impossible to tell but I would argue that it would dwarf the number of cases where all technological safeguards are sidestepped.

It's all academic anyway but I would reason that many of those cases, in a more connected world, I think for every case where you could say that technology would not have been a factor I think I could pull 10 where it could conceivably be a factor.

I do agree with the thought that bad people are always going to do bad things, and you cannot prevent everything. Also, people on the Internet can fake anything. However, in the case of Elaine Parent, Beverly McGowan could have Googled her as "Alice" or run a BeenVerified background check. But with a fake identity, who knows?

Angela Hammond is one case where I think a cell phone would have prevented the abduction--no stopping at a deserted pay phone late at night.

Also, Tammy Lynn Leppert. There might have been text messages or social media or other evidence to point to what was really going on. And some of the missing elderly might have been tracked with cell phones (assuming they took them.)

Now, there are cases in which technology has made fraud and crime easier. Catfishing. Revenge porn. Ransomware. Online sexual predators and sex trafficking. But many UM cases might have been helped with technology.

Michael Martin (Final Appeal), Season 1, Episode 2. He was the man who supposedly robbed a gas station and was convicted largely based on an arrest seven months prior, even though five eyewitnesses said he wasn't anywhere near the gas station at the time. This was 1978, and you know it because "Battlestar Galactica" was on primetime. This was that bygone era when everyone sat down and watched the latest TV show that everyone was talking about for a week after.

In the modern era, Ring cameras, security cameras, and cell phones might have eliminated Michael Martin as a suspect (or not). In the original case, UM made it seem as if the main factor that swayed the jury was his prior conviction. That said, eyewitnesses have been known to be mistaken about times and dates, so this is where technology would have been helpful.

As I rewatch these episodes, I pay more attention to when Stack is onscreen on locations. The man represents the type of star power and presence that few actors today can match. No matter what he's wearing, especially that iconic trench coat, he is elegant, poised, commanding. I would say he represents a class and grace that we all wish we had more of in today's world.

My kids grew up in the 80s-90s. We lived in the country. They played in the yard and in the woods, etc. they had Nintendo but they didn’t stay inside playing video games, they spent the majority of the day outside doing kid things. They had many toys to keep them busy indoors as well. They obviously had kid favorites like Barbie, Ninja turtles and He Man. But they mostly had classic toys to make them use their imaginations. Not electronic toys.

They did not have their days planned by me and filled with structured activities like kids today do. They were allowed to choose one after school activity each. Often they didn’t do that. That’s the problem with kids today. They have no free time to just play and be kids. And when they do get free time,there is a screen in front of their face.

Interestingly, Australia has taken steps to restrict social media for kids and Meta has deleted 550 million kids' accounts. There's the case of one kid that still managed to get around the age limits and is more depressed than ever, from reports. Like Kurt McFall, kids will always find a way to get into forbidden stuff. It's just that now it's online and digital and designed to hook you. I'm not anti-tech, but I miss the era when it wasn't such a part of our lives and we could just focus.

I agree tvscript.

We are currently watching a lot of 70s and 80 tv cop shows. They really remind me of a bygone era. We just finished Angie Dickinson’s Police Woman. Wow how different! Aside from the obvious differences in technology, the differences in procedures are almost laughable. And Pepper never went anywhere, including on chases without her purse.

What gets me the most are the older generations that lived through WWII and The Great Depression. One of the things that made UM a TV treasure, was the interviews with folks who lived through and endured these. In the time since UM was in its prime, this generation is sadly no longer around and this period of history has mostly passed out of living memory. When I watch UM now and hear them talk about growing up in hard times and losing people during the War, I am reminded of visits to relatives from small towns across the South who I used to visit when I was kid, and still dearly miss.

As I rewatch these episodes, I pay more attention to when Stack is onscreen on locations. The man represents the type of star power and presence that few actors today can match. No matter what he's wearing, especially that iconic trench coat, he is elegant, poised, commanding. I would say he represents a class and grace that we all wish we had more of in today's world.

Right?? Everything you said. Incredibly funny and by all accounts warm and gracious too. Had he been born later he might have been one of today’s most talented leading men akin to George Clooney. The fact that he was close friends with Judy Garland always gives me a fuzzy feeling. I don’t think he gets the recognition he deserves. On the other hand though, he might not have the popularity of someone like Taylor Swift but his fan base is made up of incredibly devoted people. We adore him and will for all time. His is the only celebrity autograph I own and I got it from him directly so I cherish it. Like his co-star Leslie Neilson, Stack was a Hollywood pro early on but really came into his own later in life. He didn’t realize at the time just how important he would become to the world of true crime. The show is still being happily watched (I’ve got it going most of the time in the background when I’m working on artsy fartsy stuff), but more importantly cases are still being solved. I think this is a terrific legacy for the show and for Robert Stack.

I wish we could have a Robert Stack movie night. Start with his first film in 1939 (!!!), go all the way to Airplane and beyond.

Happy Birthday, Bob!

It makes me sad how aweful this show has become....... Im glad I have as much recorded from analiogue cable when Bobby was there as I do!!

I have 1 VHS tape with a movie at the beggining and the rest of ther tape is back to back UM episodes mostly from Lifetime :)

What gets me the most are the older generations that lived through WWII and The Great Depression. One of the things that made UM a TV treasure did so many interviews with folks who lived through and endured these. In the time since UM was in its prime, this generation is sadly no longer around and this period of history has mostly passed out of living memory. When I watch UM now and hear them talk about growing up in hard times and losing people during the War, I am reminded of visits to relatives from small towns across the South who I used to visit when I was kid, and still dearly miss.

Agree that the Lost Loves segments were a treasure trove back then, putting a face on WWII and the Great Depression. They have aged like fine wine, especially for all the reasons you mentioned.

I agree tvscript.

We are currently watching a lot of 70s and 80 tv cop shows. They really remind me of a bygone era. We just finished Angie Dickinson’s Police Woman. Wow how different! Aside from the obvious differences in technology, the differences in procedures are almost laughable. And Pepper never went anywhere, including on chases without her purse.

The storytelling was still amazing.

The storytelling was still amazing.

Yes, and I still prefer them over today’s new shows. But Pepper and that purse cracked me up.

Rewatching UM (and binging the Unsolved Couple podcast that I highly recommend), Robert Stack himself represents a bygone era. Other than Johnny Carson and Regis Philbin, I don't know of another TV host that had such a magnetic presence. They were different brands of hosts, but they all originated in a similar era. I caught him on an old episode of "Murder She Wrote" and the 1980s Eliot Ness movie not too long ago.

Robert Stack was old Hollywood and represented an era of grace and class that we all hunger for. As well, you could tell he had a personality of his own (his skepticism over the paranormal segments, the emotion in his voice when a case was intense), but he let it work for him within the brand of the show. He does, indeed, represent a bygone era.

Its sad Bobby isnt with us anymore :(