Hey all-

I have decided to research information and write a book about UM. I am already in touch with a publisher. I have no idea if anyone else has written about the show (I doubt it) but if they have, please let me know. I was unable to find anything. The book I am going to be writing is to be a reference guide with details about the cases, actors, updates, etc. in season order.

I have already gone to Lifetime TV and asked who I should contact to get all the information I need, plus I've written about four or five other emails to various crew, including Shari Adagio (senior producer). If anyone else has any helpful information, please let me know. Whoever is involved gets due credit. I have tried finding contact information for Cosgrove-Meurer Productions, but I keep coming up short.

Ta,

Allie

Allie,
I think you've come up with a wonderful idea. I don't know of any other UM publications but I do believe there would be a market for something like this. It would appeal not only to fans of Unsolved Mysteries, but also fans of Robert Stack and people who are interested in true crime and paranormal cases. This same type of book (episode guide and behind the scenes information) already exists for shows like Law & Order and Homicide: Life on the Street. UM fans deserve one too. Thanks for getting the ball rolling on this.

I don't know if anybody has written a book on Unsolved Mysteries. But I do remember sometime ago, somebody suggested here that Robert Stack ought to write a book on his experiences of hosting the show. The thread is at this link:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?threadid=60183

Good luck with the book :)

-Makoto_4

Awesome! Thanks to you both!

I thought I had a contact address for the production company but it wasn't valid. I am still waiting to hear back from Shari Adagio and Lifetime TV. We'll see how it goes.

I wish you good luck, but have to tell you this would be an enormous amount of work. They have done in the neighborhood of 1200-1500 segments.

If you are able to get information directly from the Unsolved Mysteries people, then I think it would be easier but if you are doing it all on your own - it would take you hours and hours of work and research.

Allie- Wow! That is a wonderful idea! You go, girl! He he he.

Seriously, that is an excellent notion, IMO. Good luck to you.


Yours truly,

EyesoftheNile

Here's hoping you write the book with the same gusto that many of us have for reading it, Allierain.

Thank you!!

Unfortunately I am still trying to get in touch with someone for episode information...Lifetime won't tell me anything whatsoever, except the PO Box for UM in Burbank. So here's to hoping!

HI Allie. I totally wish there was a big aft book on all the cases that fans could have as reference. I would esp. love to see some of the old, original cases updated or covered. I wrote to that p.o. box to suggest they play some old episodes but as predicted it did no good. If you want any help doing research just hollar, its fun for me and I want to see a UM book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello! Actually, anything anyone who wants to contribute is fine. I welcome any help and credit will be given, no matter what. I have heard NOTHING back from those I have written to. Lifetime wasn't helpful. All they could do was give me the PO Box to UM, which I have had memorized for years. I have been thinking about sending a letter to that PO Box and seeing who can get back to me, because I would like to get started on this. I think in the next day or so I will draft a letter to UM. SOMEONE, somewhere, has to have records/archives of the cases profiled. That's just how business is done.

Well, personally Allierain, I would love for you to put up every known case that has been featured on UM, divided into each appropriate section (like Unexplained Death, Wanted, Special Alert, etc.). With each case, give a full description, photos and sketches when needed, info that was left out of the UM broadcasts, and little tidbits of information about anything like, for example, well known actors in UM cases and other things. Other ideas:

A timeline chronicling each UM case from the earliest known to the latest one that was featured on the show.

Biography about Robert Stack and the other people who made the show.

UM History, starting from 1986-2003 explaining all events that happened in the production of the show.

A section about the original UM specials (before the show started) including the cases and hosts featured.

This one may be a bit hard, but apparently, Lifetime edits some of the cases if they are too long. Tell which cases have been edited or not.

Finally, a petiton to show UM at a decent time for everyone on a decent channel, if Lametime isn't going to show it. ;)


I'm sure other people have great ideas, but this is what I have came up with and, IMO, that would make a great book.

Oooh, for the front cover, put a lot of scary sketches and stuff to scare us away! :p

Originally posted by Mr. Roboto
A section about the original UM specials (before the show started) including the cases and hosts featured.


Great idea :) When I saw that suggestion, I thought of another idea similar to that one: cases and show information on the short-lived spinoff "Final Appeal: From the Files of Unsolved Mysteries"

Some info on "Final Appeal" can be found at http://us.imdb.com/Title?0103412

-Makoto_4

Thank you both for the wonderful ideas!

I know some people who produce books like this can take a year or more to author them. I am hoping that isn't the case here. I drafted a letter this morning to the UM PO Box. I'll be sending it out first thing in the morning. I am hoping that someone can provide me with the information I need, even if I have to pay for it. Again, thanks for the suggestions. Anything to make this idea a success is great!

Another idea I have is somewhat no longer possible but it would have been something: an introduction of sorts written by Robert Stack.

The intro can still be included though, possibly with a quote or two from Stack on his experiences of hosting the show or any quote on UM and what impact the show has had since its debut in 1987.

Best of luck :)
Makoto_4

If UM producers, etc. don't want to cooperate with you, have you thought about just writing a book about (some if not all of) the cases themselves? You can make your book into a true crime/paranormal one instead of a television show reference guide. I don't think it'll be too difficult tracking down the cops/victim's families/offenders with the help of a private investigator (if you feel a need to get more information on the cases). It might be more interesting to read about just the segments themselves instead of reading names of the production crew and re-enacment actors and what the producers may say. Not that I'm telling you how you should write your book, I'm an aspiring writer myself and know how irritating that is. This is just an option if the people you've written to won't respond or turn you down. By focusing predominantly on the cases, you could work independently, not having to rely on busy or uppity people. All you would probably need is copyright permissions (if you would still want your book to be about the series overall.)

It WOULD take her a very long time to compose a book if she was to do it independently. But even if she gets assistance from UM producers, research will get very pricey. There's the expense of long-distant phone calls and travel fare if she wants to conduct interviews. And there's postage costs when people send her photos of locations, people, and documents (not everyone has access to computers, the internet). This is a huge undertaking, and so very admirable. If an editor has already accepted your book proposal, Allerain, then the publishing company will pay for all these expenses. Good luck.

Originally posted by Starbright726
It WOULD take her a very long time to compose a book if she was to do it independently. But even if she gets assistance from UM producers, research will get very pricey. There's the expense of long-distant phone calls and travel fare if she wants to conduct interviews. And there's postage costs when people send her photos of locations, people, and documents (not everyone has access to computers, the internet). This is a huge undertaking, and so very admirable. If an editor has already accepted your book proposal, Allerain, then the publishing company will pay for all these expenses. Good luck.

Hey Starbright, I like all your suggestions. I don't believe I even need permission from the company to compose a book, with all the unauthorized biographies out there and all. But I might. I sent my letter to UM and after awhile, if I have not received a reply, I am going to look into the copyright matters and go from there. Who knows, I might have to do this all on my own, but I am willing to do it. If not UM, CBS might be a source since they aired most of the episodes. I will have to try Lifetime again, only this time I bypass the stupid website feedback thing and go right to the source. They, too, must have records of the new episodes they put together and what they were about. If all else fails, I start building it myself. Unfortunately this is going to be a time-comsuming process that requires patience....and patience doesn't run in my blood. :P

Great idea! If you were to write this book I'd buy it! Good Luck!

Thank you so much for all the support you all have given. As soon as I know anything, this will be the first place I post.

How about an online collaboration for this website? I know I've asked for help with the episode guide in the past and received a few responses and followed up with those people only to never hear from them again.

I feel if we had 10-15 people each writing about segments, the episode guide could be 'completed' much quicker.

I have always envisoned the episode guide as having a good (but short) summary of every segment, related links, and update if there is one to the case.

I want the episode guide to be complete, but I really don't have the time to do all the work myself.

Hello. I just came across this post yesterday while seacrhing for something else. Did anything ever come of this? I would be more than willing to right about these cases in my spare time. This is one of my favorite hobbies and I think an in-depth case log would be very interesting and could get some of the older cases more exposure. Crystaldawn sent me a case list that I have been researching. Someone respond if they think this is an idea worth time, or someone let me know if this ever got under way. My opinion is that we should stick to the murder and missing persons cases since they seem to be the ones that society most often calls out for answers. Any opinions?

Hey! Yes, I too think it would be a great idea. The current episode guides are ok and certainly better than nothing, but extremely vague with hardly any names mentioned. I would be willing to help with a more detailed episode guide list also as I remember many of the names are details but don't really know where to start. Any ideas?

ANother way to find out info would be to look at the DVD's special commentarys. They have people who were involved in the production of segments. YOu might be able to find out where they are via internet and contact them.

How about an online collaboration for this website? I know I've asked for help with the episode guide in the past and received a few responses and followed up with those people only to never hear from them again.

I feel if we had 10-15 people each writing about segments, the episode guide could be 'completed' much quicker.

I have always envisoned the episode guide as having a good (but short) summary of every segment, related links, and update if there is one to the case.

I want the episode guide to be complete, but I really don't have the time to do all the work myself.

TJ - I would be more then happy to help you. Just let us know what, when, how...etc..

I'd also be happy to help with an episode guide update project. I'm so glad to have found other fans of UM who love the show as much as I do!

Yeah theres alot of those unauthorised books these days if you don't get too much help from CMP themsevles. I hope you do though. Official would be so much better. I say yes to put updates on all the cases that have been solved. Even if the show wasn't directly involved with the update. Its the case themselves that need to have an update of any sort due to out of date, etc. That "Guardian UFO" needs to be said it was a hoax. Stuff like this.
I'd love to get an update about the Skunk ape hair samples. I wrote to UM's site back in the late '90's and they gave me an address for the lab that was doing the tests. Sadly I didn't write it down.