Does anybody know if FilmRise is planning on posting the 'specials' that were hosted by Burr and Malden?

Does anybody know if FilmRise is planning on posting the 'specials' that were hosted by Burr and Malden?

They said that they have no plans to at this time.

I've never seen these episodes and would like to just out of curiosity but to he honest as far as I'm concerned, Robert Stack is the only host of this show.

I've never seen these episodes and would like to just out of curiosity but to he honest as far as I'm concerned, Robert Stack is the only host of this show.

They are all good episodes. The Burr one is my favorite because of the Don Kemp story.

as far as I'm concerned, Robert Stack is the only host of this show.

In my opinion, Burr and Malden (and I'll throw in Keely Shaye Smith) were ok, but entirely lacking the presence that RS brought to the role. I'd say that Burr was probably the closest, but I have read that he wanted far too much money for the role. On the flip side, I've come to believe that RS viewed his participation in more of a public service light- sticking with the show for relatively small sums of money because he was very enthusiastic about the good that UM served.

That being said, the Burr and Malden specials contain some of THE BEST segments of the entire series if you ask me.

Don Kemp
Roger Wheeler
Wanda Jean Mays
John Burns
Robert Weeks
Glen Consagra

Since those have never been in syndication (Lifetime or Spike), I have to imagine there are some trademark/copyright issues. I'm sure when the rights to rebroadcast UM were sold, that doesn't cover Burr and Malden.

I agree some of the segments were fantastic. I think Raymond Burr did a very nice job in narration, but Robert Stack was the best.

It would be neat to see those episodes cleaned up and updated but I'm not holding my breath.

Since those have never been in syndication (Lifetime or Spike), I have to imagine there are some trademark/copyright issues. I'm sure when the rights to rebroadcast UM were sold, that doesn't cover Burr and Malden.

I think it has always been about the royalties that would need to be paid to the Burr and Malden estates. The fact that we've gotten segments from the Stack-hosted Specials is all the proof I need.

Was Don Kemp ever on a Stack version? I could've swore I saw it but to my knowledge I've never seen the Burr episode.

doesn't look like we'll be getting them


however, some of those segments were redone in the Farina version which is on Youtube so you can find a version of them there

Was Don Kemp ever on a Stack version? I could've swore I saw it but to my knowledge I've never seen the Burr episode.

No, I don't believe so. The only segments Stack ever re-narrated or re-shot for Lifetime, to my knowledge, were the segments co-hosted by Virginia Madsen on CBS. When those segments were shown on Lifetime, any reference to Virginia Madsen was removed and the narration she read originally was overdubbed with the same narration re-read by Stack.

I believe that this reshooting and editing by Lifetime to remove Virginia Madsen was likely due to royalty issues and probably speaks to the same problem that continually holds up the Burr and Malden episodes even all these years later.

The logical question might be why didn't Stack re-narrate or re-shoot those (Burr/Malden) episodes. I think the answer is the timing. Lifetime started showing UM reruns in 1992. At that point, they only acquired the first four or five seasons and obviously had no idea how successful the show would be. Under that circumstance, I think the path of least resistance was to just not purchase the Burr and Malden segments. Paying Stack to redo them at that time would have been seen as too costly and probably unnecessary.

In the later years (early 2000s), Lifetime conceivably could have hired Stack to redo the episodes like he did with the Virginia Madsen segments. However, it could be that the episodes were just so old at that point that they didn't want to bother (or didn't think to) and the work required might have been viewed as still too exorbitant. Re-shooting three entire episodes versus a few segments might have been seen as a tall order.

The only connections I have found between the Lifetime RS airings and the pre-Stack specials are mentions of the capture of Jon Burns (I believe this was part of the 50th case solved report) and updates on the arrest of Ted K. as the Unabomber, plus some of that same footage was used in the Unabomer/Zodiac episode. Moreover, UM reused a lot of stock footage, so many of the shots from the PSS ended up in later episodes that were shown on Lifetime. Aside from those instances, I am not aware of any connection.

Of course, the producers DID include many of the Burr/Malden segments in the Farina version of the series. However, since the entire series was re-shot, re-narrated, and so on, it was an easier undertaking.

Probably a much longer answer than you anticipated. But yeah... :)

^Thanks for the long explanation. :)

Was Don Kemp on the Farina version?

^Thanks for the long explanation. :)

Was Don Kemp on the Farina version?

Yes, it was.

^Thanks for the long explanation. :)

Was Don Kemp on the Farina version?



yes, type Unsolved Mysteries Don Kemp on Youtube and you will find it

The Kyra Cook and Robert Weeks segments (hosted by Karl Malden) are also excellent. Some of the most mysterious and compelling segments the show ever did.

No, I don't believe so. The only segments Stack ever re-narrated or re-shot for Lifetime, to my knowledge, were the segments co-hosted by Virginia Madsen on CBS. When those segments were shown on Lifetime, any reference to Virginia Madsen was removed and the narration she read originally was overdubbed with the same narration re-read by Stack.

I believe that this reshooting and editing by Lifetime to remove Virginia Madsen was likely due to royalty issues and probably speaks to the same problem that continually holds up the Burr and Malden episodes even all these years later.

Although the motive could have been royalty issues, I have always speculated that it was due, at least in part, to Virginia Madsen not clicking with audiences. In a recent interview with True Crime Factor, John Cosgrove stated that Virginia Madsen was hired to co-host UM in an attempt to get a wider audience and more female audiences. But it goes without saying that people didn't tune in to the show in very large numbers, so the response was less than enthusiastic. But if the failure to boost the show's ratings with Virginia Madsen on board wasn't the main reason for her omission from the reruns, then it was at least a contributing factor.

I hope these get released on Amazon at some point.

1000 posts now :lol:

Although the motive could have been royalty issues, I have always speculated that it was due, at least in part, to Virginia Madsen not clicking with audiences. In a recent interview with True Crime Factor, John Cosgrove stated that Virginia Madsen was hired to co-host UM in an attempt to get a wider audience and more female audiences. But it goes without saying that people didn't tune in to the show in very large numbers, so the response was less than enthusiastic. But if the failure to boost the show's ratings with Virginia Madsen on board wasn't the main reason for her omission from the reruns, then it was at least a contributing factor.


That's pretty interesting... I have never actually seen one of the Madsen hosted segments, and Keely Shaye Smith's performance didn't really move the needle for me, but then again, I'm not the demographic they were targeting with these moves. Having not seen her segments, I can't comment on her performance, but...

The fact that they were re-dubbed by RS before being shown on Lifetime is a pretty strong indicator to me that it was money-related. I don't really have any evidence to back this up, but I think a female co-host would have been readily received by a network basically dedicated to women.

To take it a step further, for Lifetime, they dubbed over Danny Dark's "This Program" intro with a female voice. Again, I assume this was for monetary, not gender reasons. If the decision was gender-based, then why remove the female co-host?

That's pretty interesting... I have never actually seen one of the Madsen hosted segments, and Keely Shaye Smith's performance didn't really move the needle for me, but then again, I'm not the demographic they were targeting with these moves. Having not seen her segments, I can't comment on her performance, but...

The fact that they were re-dubbed by RS before being shown on Lifetime is a pretty strong indicator to me that it was money-related. I don't really have any evidence to back this up, but I think a female co-host would have been readily received by a network basically dedicated to women.

To take it a step further, for Lifetime, they dubbed over Danny Dark's "This Program" intro with a female voice. Again, I assume this was for monetary, not gender reasons. If the decision was gender-based, then why remove the female co-host?

I was thinking the same thing. Including Virginia Madsen on the Lifetime airings might have made more sense simply because Lifetime was branded as "television for woman" and targeted a very gender-specific demographic.

Interestingly, I don't think Keely Shaye Smith was ever removed from the Lifetime reruns of her episodes.

I always found it somewhat amusing that UM has been on both Lifetime (for women) and Spike (geared toward men).

I was thinking the same thing. Including Virginia Madsen on the Lifetime airings might have made more sense simply because Lifetime was branded as "television for woman" and targeted a very gender-specific demographic.

Interestingly, I don't think Keely Shaye Smith was ever removed from the Lifetime reruns of her episodes.

I always found it somewhat amusing that UM has been on both Lifetime (for women) and Spike (geared toward men).
UM is bisexual. ;)

It seemed to me that the cases that were solved, they probably didn't see a need to go back and redub or renarrate them. However unless I am mistaken, stack did the updates for certain earlier segments hosted by Malden or Burr. As I recall it seems for these that they showed more of the segment (with Stack now narrating) than they otherwise would have with a normal update. Some of these updates had been solved while others were really just additional info that had come from or since the first broadcast. I could be wrong, but I remember the very first case UM showed (the name of the victim escapes me at the moment, but he was shot in his car in a golf course parking lot I think), I am pretty sure that Stack narrated a detailed update for this as well as one for new info in the Don Kemp case. Possible I'm remembering incorrectly though so take that with a grain of salt.

Amazon Video does have one segment from the Malden/Burr edition of the show. It is only an Update Segment with the narration of Stack but the topic is Lost Heirs: George Marsh. The segment runs for 3 mins however most full segments of Lost Heirs Cases are only 5 mins anyway so this Update is a big improvement on seeing a 3 min clip of a 15 minute WANTED Segment.

You can watch this segment from the Malden/Burr Edition on Episode 1 of Season 1 at timestamp (12:16).

It seemed to me that the cases that were solved, they probably didn't see a need to go back and redub or renarrate them. However unless I am mistaken, stack did the updates for certain earlier segments hosted by Malden or Burr. As I recall it seems for these that they showed more of the segment (with Stack now narrating) than they otherwise would have with a normal update. Some of these updates had been solved while others were really just additional info that had come from or since the first broadcast. I could be wrong, but I remember the very first case UM showed (the name of the victim escapes me at the moment, but he was shot in his car in a golf course parking lot I think), I am pretty sure that Stack narrated a detailed update for this as well as one for new info in the Don Kemp case. Possible I'm remembering incorrectly though so take that with a grain of salt.

You are correct.

On the fourth special (the first Stack hosted), Stack did present an update on the location of the heirs of George Marsh. Marsh was the subject of the first ever lost heirs segment, and it was shown for the first time in September 1987. Interestingly, when that special was repeated in April 1988, Malden narrated the update on Marsh, so they must have brought him back at least one more time.

On special seven, Stack updated the Roger Wheeler case (from the Burr special) with information about a new suspect who confessed to the crime. He also talked about the conviction and sentencing of Robert Weeks (second Malden special).

I don't believe any of this ever made it to Lifetime, but that makes sense since Lifetime never showed the Burr and Malden specials anyway.

A couple things:

1) To me, one of the spookiest UM segments ever was the Unabomber profile, done in one of the Malden specials. That sketch of the guy scared the piss out of me. I was also freaked out by the scene where they recreated how a witness happened to spot the Unabomber when he was leaving one of his deathtraps in a parking lot. I can still hear Karl Malden's voice saying, "At one point the witness made direct eye contact with the bomber!" And then of course, on screen the actor playing the Unabomber looked straight into the camera... I had trouble getting to sleep that night. :eek:

2) I just posted it in another thread, but here's a link (https://youtu.be/nMHOXLCh500) to a video of TV ads from the mid-'80s. At about 2:20 there's an ad for the original special hosted by Burr (though I don't know if it was for the original airing or a later repeat airing.)

A couple things:

1) To me, one of the spookiest UM segments ever was the Unabomber profile, done in one of the Malden specials. That sketch of the guy scared the piss out of me. I was also freaked out by the scene where they recreated how a witness happened to spot the Unabomber when he was leaving one of his deathtraps in a parking lot. I can still hear Karl Malden's voice saying, "At one point the witness made direct eye contact with the bomber!" And then of course, on screen the actor playing the Unabomber looked straight into the camera... I had trouble getting to sleep that night. :eek:


Karl Malden did a great job with this one, but I couldn't help but imagine how Robert Stack's delivery would crush this segment, especially in that scene and others i.e. when Malden listed off the clues as to how a viewer may be able to identify the suspect by his knowledge of engineering and knowledge of metal work.

It woulda freaked me out no matter who was doing the narrating.

It woulda freaked me out no matter who was doing the narrating.

Picture all these cases narrated by Gilbert Gottfried.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0c1g1tjEk1qeibfxo1_400.gif

If they were going to go back to Burr/Malden, they should release the original Missing...Have you Seen this person? Specials. I did alot of research on the 3 specials done in 85 and 86 for the UM wikia.

They were also done by C-M, but have David Birney and Meredith Baxter hosting. It had almost the same 'this is not a news broadcast' warning by the same NBC voiceover. But none of the cases (such as my avatar Cherrie Mahan) were ever repeated on UM.

Although C-M produced them, it isn't clear to me whether or not they own the rights to them.

If they were going to go back to Burr/Malden, they should release the original Missing...Have you Seen this person? Specials. I did alot of research on the 3 specials done in 85 and 86 for the UM wikia.

They were also done by C-M, but have David Birney and Meredith Baxter hosting. It had almost the same 'this is not a news broadcast' warning by the same NBC voiceover. But none of the cases (such as my avatar Cherrie Mahan) were ever repeated on UM.

Although C-M produced them, it isn't clear to me whether or not they own the rights to them.

Apparently, the Missing...Have You Seen This Person? specials are independently owned. Since Cosgrove/Meurer created and produced them, that would make them the owners. At the time NBC aired those specials in the mid-80s, there were regulations that prevented broadcast networks from owning the programs they aired. The regulations had changed by the early '90s, but before then, networks had to return the shows to the producers when they were done airing them.

I wish they would release the Burr/Malden specials. They are quite good. Neither one of those hosts was a Robert Stack (then again nobody was) but they were hands down better than Farina.

If it wasn't something related to royalties, then I bet it's the fact that either most of the cases Malden/Burr hit on were solved *or* (as was the issue with other, later cases) law enforcement didn't want the specific segments re-aired.

Either way, they're still fascinating. Browsing through reddit, I heard those clips and more (uploaded to the forbidden site by 'Tim Sydal'), came from a bootleg DVD set that is still circulating BT

https://www.reddit.com/r/UnsolvedMysteries/comments/5uzv5t/rip_tim_sydal/

If it wasn't something related to royalties, then I bet it's the fact that either most of the cases Malden/Burr hit on were solved *or* (as was the issue with other, later cases) law enforcement didn't want the specific segments re-aired.

I would push all in on the royalties to the estates of RB and KM. I'm sure it may not have been cost effective for as few cases as there were.

Which is really too bad because a few of those were some of my favorites, and some of them also had an extra creepy air to them. Had Stack not been the host, I would have been happy with either RB or KM as they both did a very good job.

I too wish those were available for streaming and/or purchase officially (beyond the bootlegs).

I would push all in on the royalties to the estates of RB and KM. I'm sure it may not have been cost effective for as few cases as there were.

Which is really too bad because a few of those were some of my favorites, and some of them also had an extra creepy air to them. Had Stack not been the host, I would have been happy with either RB or KM as they both did a very good job.

I too wish those were available for streaming and/or purchase officially (beyond the bootlegs).

Absolutely, they would have been great hosts!
I'm looking for the bootleg of the S00E03 with Malden as the host, if anyone knows where to find it.
Ref: https://thetvdb.com/series/unsolved-mysteries/episodes/6729771

E01 and E02 are easily available, but the 3rd looks nowhere to be found :(

I have tons of Unsolved Mysteries, Forensic Files, FBI files, New Detective, should anyone want to share :)

Absolutely, they would have been great hosts!
I'm looking for the bootleg of the S00E03 with Malden as the host, if anyone knows where to find it.
Ref: https://thetvdb.com/series/unsolved-mysteries/episodes/6729771

E01 and E02 are easily available, but the 3rd looks nowhere to be found :(

I have tons of Unsolved Mysteries, Forensic Files, FBI files, New Detective, should anyone want to share :)

Just to mention that a reader helped me find it.

Thanks again!

Looking for similar help finding that episode.

Looking for similar help finding that episode.

I just put it up here:
https://archive.org/details/s-00e-03-karl-malden

Cheers,

I'm on the hunt for the Wanda Jean Mays clip.