I've been watching UM since the specials in 1987 and binge it a lot on Pluto TV. Recently I was watching a segment, and seeing Robert Stack talk about a case, it occured to me that UM seems to have a lot of unintentional morality tales. Kind of like an '80's horror movie where the pot smoking teenagers having sex get killed (maybe) because of those decisions.

I realized that UM has a lot of these morality plays: don't pull into a rest area (Dexter Stefonek & Gord McAllister), don't go out late to parties (Jeremy Bright, Kurt Sova, etc.), don't give your money to a guy promising unrealistic returns (Stephen Cox, Woody Kelly, Gene Flannes, many others). Obviously UM is not trying to blame the victims for what happened, but I think what may explain the popular appeal of the show is how ordinary people doing ordinary things often find themselves in extraordinary circumstances.

Here are some other classic examples I came up with:

- Don't go drinking in a ballpark dugout late at night (Mark Adams)
- If you meet a guy in a bar that has "no style, no class," don't marry him a month later in said bar (Louis Carlucci)

Feel free to post your own...

The quickest way to lose $160 is to give it to a stranger whom you think is drunk for some coins in an envelope.

Don't drive out into the bayou to have an affair.

Don't play Dungeons and Dragons or Magic: The Gathering....

Call the cops if you hear your neighbor getting tortured

don't threaten to hang a judge and call them a nazi.

don't cooperate with overly aggressive detectives if you are innocent.

Reality itself is a "morality play", that is how it goes. Do stupid things, win stupid prizes.
If you make a show about bad things that happened to people, in the vast majority of cases there will be identifiable factors, actions on their part, that led to that outcome.
Many of the cases are a good example of the Swiss Cheese Model in risk.

I don't think the vast majority of cases on UM call into the category of people doing something wrong. So many were people in the right place at the wrong time. I'm thinking specifically about the women abducted by strangers. Probably most of the murder victims are similar. In the "Victims you don't have much sympathy for" thread, the list is pretty short considering the hundreds of segments on UM over the years.

Don't play Dungeons and Dragons or Magic: The Gathering....

i play magic. and the closest i've come to being killed was from my opponents body odor

i play magic. and the closest i've come to being killed was from my opponents body odor

I agree. I used to play D&D in college and the closest I every came to being killed was my character biting it. LOL

Don't talk on a payphone late at night
Don't go to the atm late at night

Don't take your young stud b/f into the Nevada desert during the dead of night looking for your newly deceased hubbie's buried treasure.

I agree. I used to play D&D in college and the closest I every came to being killed was my character biting it. LOL

exactly! i also played D&D and when I first saw that segment I was dying of laughter at how dark and sinister they were trying to make magic and d&d players

some of the most harmless people you'll ever meet sans personal hygiene and social skills

exactly! i also played D&D and when I first saw that segment I was dying of laughter at how dark and sinister they were trying to make magic and d&d players

some of the most harmless people you'll ever meet sans personal hygiene and social skills

I probably shouldn't admit this FB, but about 25 years ago I remember spending a hazy evening in my cousin's basement smoking a lot of pot and playing something he called D&D. As I recall, there was nothing particularly disturbing or sinister about that night and the people present...unless one takes exception to the dozen or so bags of Cheetos that were sacrificed.

I probably shouldn't admit this FB, but about 25 years ago I remember spending a hazy evening in my cousin's basement smoking a lot of pot and playing something he called D&D. As I recall, there was nothing particularly disturbing or sinister about that night and the people present...unless one takes exception to the dozen or so bags of Cheetos that were sacrificed.

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

Don't go to the atm late at night

I broke this rule a couple years ago. It was summer, around 9:00 at night and I needed to withdraw some money from the ATM outside the bank.

I was out of there in about 3 minutes. But the entire time, I was thinking that my peeps on the UM forum would scream at me if they knew I was doing this. ;)

So much of the show confirmed my parents' saying that "nothing good ever happens after midnight." I think there were only two ATM cases on the show, Matthew Chase and Gretchen Burford, but they sure had an outsized impact on the audience.

So much of the show confirmed my parents' saying that "nothing good ever happens after midnight." I think there were only two ATM cases on the show, Matthew Chase and Gretchen Burford, but they sure had an outsized impact on the audience.

Chase in part because the body was eventually found in the fashion that it was, although I have always doubted the "solved" status on that one.
I can't think of a case off the top of my head where there was not some element of poor decision involved, though I am sure there are a few.

I broke this rule a couple years ago. It was summer, around 9:00 at night and I needed to withdraw some money from the ATM outside the bank.

I was out of there in about 3 minutes. But the entire time, I was thinking that my peeps on the UM forum would scream at me if they knew I was doing this. ;)

I also broke that rule one night. Was looking over my shoulder the time and then got my butt back in my car and hightailed it outta there! LOL

exactly! i also played D&D and when I first saw that segment I was dying of laughter at how dark and sinister they were trying to make magic and d&d players

some of the most harmless people you'll ever meet sans personal hygiene and social skills

Exactly! My college was not near anything and we often had weekend marathon D&D sessions. The people I played with I counted as my closets friends(some still are). Those were great days!

exactly! i also played D&D and when I first saw that segment I was dying of laughter at how dark and sinister they were trying to make magic and d&d players

some of the most harmless people you'll ever meet sans personal hygiene and social skills

My husband plays D & D and whenever I watch the Kurt McFall segment and other ones like it, I always laugh. As for the hubby, so far he seems normal, although I don't attend these weekly games...

My husband plays D & D and whenever I watch the Kurt McFall segment and other ones like it, I always laugh. As for the hubby, so far he seems normal, although I don't attend these weekly games...

keep a close eye on him. according to UM he may be sacrificing kittens to a dark demon overlord on a weekly basis

Funny you posted this because I just watched a segment about the Swedish girls who were murdered hitchhiking and there was a stern warning at the end of the segment from Stack about the dangers of hitchhiking and or picking up hitchhikers. I can think of about 3 other cases off the top of my head that included hitchhikers and each person died.

Don't pick up hitchhikers (Phillip Fraser).

Don't engage in a relationship with deadbeats or psychos who only know how to manipulate your emotions (many cases, but some of the most notorious include James Burnside and Dennis Depue).

Never do business of any kind with a total stranger or something that sounds too good to be true (pretty much every fraud case).

If you are driving and suspect you are being followed, never try to confront the stalker and drive to a police station, military base (if you're close to one) or some other safe checkpoint then report it (Dick Hansen).

I don't think the vast majority of cases on UM call into the category of people doing something wrong. So many were people in the right place at the wrong time. I'm thinking specifically about the women abducted by strangers. Probably most of the murder victims are similar. In the "Victims you don't have much sympathy for" thread, the list is pretty short considering the hundreds of segments on UM over the years.

Yeah so many of the cases people were not doing anything to deserve being killed or attacked in any way. I think of Lisa M. Kimmel, she stopped at a rest stop and was kidnapped and murdered. Amy Bechtel went for a run and was most likely abducted. They were probably both thinking that they were ok just going about their business.

I don't know if it relates to the topic or not, but one of the interesting things for me is how UM toed the morality line with how they produced fraud segments and other religious/psychic/treasure type segments that were meant to be "mysterious"

I'm sure the producers of UM (and other shows) recognize that audiences like some degree of a morality play or question in their stories. I bet a lot of people smugly feel, "I would never fall for that." after the psychic or treasure stories.

I'm sure the producers of UM (and other shows) recognize that audiences like some degree of a morality play or question in their stories. I bet a lot of people smugly feel, "I would never fall for that." after the psychic or treasure stories.

And most of them are probabally right. Scammers are like lions, they prey on the weakest part of a heard. There is a reason that so many of them still say they are from Nigeria despite the stereotype, its a filtering mechanism.