I don't think there is a thread on this. I was just curious what everyone thought were the best and worst seasons of the show.

My picks for "best" - tossup between season 2 and season 3.

My picks for worst - the CBS seasons. I just can't get into these.

Its hard to pick a Best season as the first 3 seasons all had an equal amount of awesome cases and ho hum cases....I dont think I can pick between the 3

Now worst season I would have to disagree with the CBS sseason. Seasons 10 and 11 were pretty good, but when they shortened the show and only did 1-2 cases a show starting with Season 12 when it went to Lifetime that is what Id call the worst seasons and not because of case quality as there were still a lot of very memorable cases just the amount of old cases they re-ran was greater than the 1-2 new cases they would present a show..plus in general I think Robert Stack while still great wasnt stellar in these seasons probably due to the oncoming health issues

I unfortunately wasn't old enough to start watching UM a lot until it was already on Lifetime so I don't know the seasons that well. However, the old ones especially from seasons 1-4 (from what Ive seen) I love. The last season in 2001-2002 are terrible.

I was 8 when Season 1 aired and it was scary as all hell. I couldnt NOT watch it though so I made my mom watch that with me, I watched Rescue 911 by myself though...I was such a trooper lol

I think the show maintained consistent high quality at least until the 8th season or so.

We need to come up with a solution as to what to label the pre-series specials though. Specials season?

I think they are just considered "The Specials"

I was born in 1987 and its funny because once I started watching the rerun segments on lifetime from the late 80s or very early 90s, I use to think that era would've been creepy to live in and couldn't fathom how I survived it. lol Ah, being a kid and naïve lol. The early episodes just have a certain quality about them that makes them even more amazing then the later ones at least in my opinion.

Well that could be that when it hit the late 90's and early 00's people in the country were exposed to a lot of violent content with tv shows and movies that everyone just became numb to it and things like that werent as creepy...although to this day I cant watch Unsolved Mysteries in the dark by myself lmao

I unfortunately wasn't old enough to start watching UM a lot until it was already on Lifetime so I don't know the seasons that well. However, the old ones especially from seasons 1-4 (from what Ive seen) I love. The last season in 2001-2002 are terrible.

Maybe I'm in the minority. I actually LIKE the 2001-2002 episodes. Probably because they are the last ones with Robert Stack in them. You could tell that Stack was sick during those segments, in my opinion. The quality of his voice had declined somewhat.

After the disaster that was the Spike reboot, I would watch that final season of RS UM episodes any day of the week.

That being said, my least favorite "season" was the Spike season.

I like final season, too. Is it as good as the NBC days? No. But still good UM with Robert Stack. I love listening to him talk about chat rooms :D imagine him talking about Twitter or Facebook.

I vote seasons 1-4.

ETA: Agreed with justin on the CBS episodes, but I love late Lifetime episodes.

1989 was my fav period as it happened. I think I became more aware of the outside world by watching the show as a young kid. The format and stories Were amazing. Given that they scared me so much I checked out before it went to cbs. I loved the lifetime era and honestly the way the kept circulating all of the eras was really cool. From the lifetime perspective I liked the 1995-1997 era too, but it may have been different than what cbs era presented.

I watched it all the way through first run, never missed it and the CBS era had some really good cases...I mean a lot of good cases....and like I mentioned I dont dislike the Lifetime era of new shows, but the amount of new cases presented were slight to say the least...was just a bunch of rehashing of old cases with 1 maybe 2 new cases if you were lucky. I think the Spike era should be disqualified as that was just a different show all together with only the name and some case names being the only similarity

Its interesting to hear Stack's voice from the beginning of the series to the end. He sounds in poor health towards the end. What did he die from anyway? I thought he died in his sleep. Also what was the last segment he ever recorded?

The older shows (late 80s-early 90s) are the best IMO. The show was much more refined in its earlier days. Fewer expenses were spared and many details were more carefully considered.

Its interesting to hear Stack's voice from the beginning of the series to the end. He sounds in poor health towards the end. What did he die from anyway? I thought he died in his sleep. Also what was the last segment he ever recorded?
I think he died of cancer. I want to say that he last filmed in 2002. When I started watching on lifetime in 03 he was still alive. Hard to believe how fast time passes. Lifetime still aired the RS version all the way up to 2007. I was very disappointed when they stopped.

I think he died of cancer. I want to say that he last filmed in 2002. When I started watching on lifetime in 03 he was still alive. Hard to believe how fast time passes. Lifetime still aired the RS version all the way up to 2007. I was very disappointed when they stopped.

He was treated for prostate cancer in late 2002, but that's not what he died of. The actual cause of death was heart failure.

Maybe I'm in the minority. I actually LIKE the 2001-2002 episodes. Probably because they are the last ones with Robert Stack in them. You could tell that Stack was sick during those segments, in my opinion. The quality of his voice had declined somewhat.

His voice did sound frail during that last season. It was hard not to notice. It's kind of amazing that he was already 70 years old when he started hosting UM. He aged very well and he didn't look or sound that sick until that final year or so.

In answer to the original question, seasons 1-5 are the most memorable. It's not like the stories that aired after we're any less tragic or intriguing. It's just that production during those first years was darker and creepier which just made them so much more memorable as a whole.

I don't know what CBS was thinking when they changed the theme song. Tisk, Tisk.

In answer to the original question, seasons 1-5 are the most memorable. It's not like the stories that aired after we're any less tragic or intriguing. It's just that production during those first years was darker and creepier which just made them so much more memorable as a whole.

Of all the seasons throughout the show's production run (excluding the Spike "seasons"), there aren't any that I dislike. Nevertheless, I consider the first five seasons to be the best. Even as UM changed during its production years, it paid respect to the early years and maintained good production values up until the end.

The early season's were magnificent but it was great until the Stack era ended. The Spike era was such a goofy compromise.

The early season's were magnificent but it was great until the Stack era ended. The Spike era was such a goofy compromise.

"Goofy" is putting it mildly. For lack of a better word, it was horrendous. But you're right, the Spike version was a compromise.

The early seasons were the best. The film quality, the music, the narration, and the direction were all perfectly atmospheric. They lost a bit of it in later seasons, but only fully lost it in the Spike stuff.

The show is still unsettling to watch alone late at night, too. I can't think of too many other shows that still succeed that way for me.

Yes the show in it's heyday had everything to set the mood. It told great stories and was just perfect.

Definitely a fan of the earlier years. I liked the look and the reenactments when they were less polished looking. Really added to the atmosphere.

Also what was the last segment he ever recorded?

Only someone closely involved with the series would know for sure. However, what is certain is that the last first-run segment was about the disappearances of Ashley Pond and Miranda Gaddis, and it originally aired on September 20, 2002.

He was treated for prostate cancer in late 2002, but that's not what he died of. The actual cause of death was heart failure.
Oh thanks for clearing that up. When I started watching UM again in early 2003 I think he was still alive and I did not even realize how recent the production was thanks to lifetime.

Oh thanks for clearing that up. When I started watching UM again in early 2003 I think he was still alive and I did not even realize how recent the production was thanks to lifetime.

He was alive during the first 4 1/2 months of 2003; he died on May 14 that year.

He was alive during the first 4 1/2 months of 2003; he died on May 14 that year.
Oh wow that's was right after I started watching on lifetime. Man can't believe its been that long seems like yesterday