Great episodes

[isotope]

Back again after a long break - getting back into my UM mojo, remind me what are some great episodes (not just segments) that I can kick back and watch for 42 mins without wanting to hit the fast forward?

Criteria:
1. Crime focused - ufo/paranormal segments are ok, but should not be majority of episode
2. No Lost Loves and preferably no Lost Treasure
3. No profiles of psychics
4. No egregiously stupid nonsense like magic stones or the power of chocolate (Legendary stuff like Resurrection Mary or the hilarious Florida haunting segment are fine)

Help me out people!

Thanks guys

[Gelatinous Goo]

Ugh...I know exactly what you mean! I would love to find more of those. They're very scant. I think you'd be best served with the old bootleg copies of full episodes if you have them, and definitely nothing after season 4.

I'm on my third or fourth complete FilmRise go-round (on season 9 right now). Might have to throw in the towel. I really don't care for their mangling of the original episodes. Wish they would have just released them as they originally aired. I switched back to my mish-mash bootleg segments for better content. It would be nice if somebody put these in as much order as possible, but that's too huge an undertaking to expect anyone to do.

I don't mind most of the Lost Loves and loved nearly all of the treasure segments. Lost Heirs have always been my comfort segments. Why couldn't there have been a ton more of those? You can keep all the stupid UFO/paranormal/miracle garbage. If anything symbolized the era in which the show aired, it would have to be those. Such a disservice to the quality of the rest of the program. Why is it that when you mention your love of the show to someone who isn't a fan, they always snicker while citing the paranormal angle?

[isotope]

Nothing after season 4?

I don't know, from recollection, I think there was more of a focus on crime in the last few seasons (at least compared to the mid 90s episodes, which went fully into the world of woo-woo) - although it's a bit depressing to see the obvious drop in budget once ratings started to decline.

[Gelatinous Goo]

I can't honestly think of a single episode that meets your specifications. There's always something to fast forward through.

Perhaps one of the pre-Stack specials might fit the bill. Those were great.

[TheCars1986]

Season 6, Episode 23

Skip the first segment about Bigfoot, and you've got:

-Craig Williamson
-David Vierra
-The Wackers
-The Jordan Family Arson Murders

Skip the angel segment next, and then:

-Dyann Hahnlein (Lost Loves, but IMO, a good one because she was looking for her long-lost sister with the hopes of getting a bone marrow transplant; she found her sister but died one year later because her sister was not a match)
-Charlie Anderson
-Brenda Abbey (another Lost Loves, but this was a "rare" one, and it's interesting how she went about finding her birth family)

Even if you want to skip the Bigfoot and Lost Loves, that's still about 45 minutes of quality segments in that episode.

[isotope]

Thanks - I've seen Bigfoot, I don't mind that segment!

[justins5256]

I always liked the Diabolical Minds episode. You get a segment on serial killers and demented world leaders, the Marie Hilley story which is pretty bizarre, a segment on G. Daniel Walker (his interview is one of the great moments on UM if you just want to watch a killer talk and tell their side of the story) and the story about Oba Chandler.

No clue if it's on Prime though.

[WishfulDreamer]

Originally Posted by justins5256

No clue if it's on Prime though.

It's there and on YouTube if you don't have prime. Season 4 Episode 23.

[omegadoom]

Originally Posted by isotope

Back again after a long break - getting back into my UM mojo, remind me what are some great episodes (not just segments) that I can kick back and watch for 42 mins without wanting to hit the fast forward?

Criteria:
1. Crime focused - ufo/paranormal segments are ok, but should not be majority of episode
2. No Lost Loves and preferably no Lost Treasure
3. No profiles of psychics
4. No egregiously stupid nonsense like magic stones or the power of chocolate (Legendary stuff like Resurrection Mary or the hilarious Florida haunting segment are fine)

Help me out people!

Thanks guys

Well, if I was going with the original broadcast episodes I would recommend season 2, episode 5 (10/25/89). In this one you've got Dale Kerstetter, Jay Cook and Tanya Van Cuylenborg, Marfa Lights, Bonnie Wilder, the Missing Persons Roll Call, and then finally a brief update on Children of the Orphan Train, which I don't really care for but it's very short so I can tolerate it.

Another good episode would be season 3, episode 27 (5/1/91). This one has the Pizza Parlor Killer, The Countess, Bobbie Oberhaltzer and Annette Schnee, and an update on the KROQ On-Air Murder Confession. There are a couple lesser segments in this episode like The Sisters of Jackie Dragon and a brief update on Gregory Barker, but overall two pretty strong episodes.

[isotope]

Thanks everyone - some good suggestions there.

I realise "No Lost Loves" is prob not realistic...are there any LLs that are particularly interesting?

[Gelatinous Goo]

Originally Posted by isotope

Thanks everyone - some good suggestions there.

I realise "No Lost Loves" is prob not realistic...are there any LLs that are particularly interesting?

There are several (of course they're not coming to me at the moment!).

--The Fritz Vincken WWII Christmas story is definitely up there.

--I remember finding the Sharon Stevens (I believe that was her name) story very sad as a kid.

Lost Loves take a lot of flak on this site. I used to love them when the show originally aired. Of course, we didn't have the internet at the time, so these people's searches took a lot longer and the reunions seemed to mean even more.

[Chichester Crowe]

Originally Posted by omegadoom

Well, if I was going with the original broadcast episodes I would recommend season 2, episode 5 (10/25/89). In this one you've got Dale Kerstetter, Jay Cook and Tanya Van Cuylenborg, Marfa Lights, Bonnie Wilder, the Missing Persons Roll Call, and then finally a brief update on Children of the Orphan Train, which I don't really care for but it's very short so I can tolerate it.

Another good episode would be season 3, episode 27 (5/1/91). This one has the Pizza Parlor Killer, The Countess, Bobbie Oberhaltzer and Annette Schnee, and an update on the KROQ On-Air Murder Confession. There are a couple lesser segments in this episode like The Sisters of Jackie Dragon and a brief update on Gregory Barker, but overall two pretty strong episodes.

It's like you knew exactly which episodes I was going to recommend. Or we just have the same taste in UM.

[Nats2019Champs]

Originally Posted by justins5256

I always liked the Diabolical Minds episode. You get a segment on serial killers and demented world leaders, the Marie Hilley story which is pretty bizarre, a segment on G. Daniel Walker (his interview is one of the great moments on UM if you just want to watch a killer talk and tell their side of the story) and the story about Oba Chandler.

No clue if it's on Prime though.

That was a good one. My first time watching the Marie Hilley case was during the Farina-era of the show, despite watching a lot of the Stack-era reruns on Lifetime along with a few of the CBS episodes, but Marie's case specifically has always been one to stick out to me in my memory, along with Paul Stamper, Randall Utterback, Jim Burnside, and Don Smith.

[DALLASTEXAN!!]

Season 6 episode 20 is filled with violent crime. Hard to watch sometimes.

Dutch Shultz...treasure episode so you might be inclined to skip, but there is a criminal element to it.

Lauren Jackson abduction...to my knowledge still unsolved?

Tom Johnson...still unsolved and always a tough segment to watch.

Roxanne and Christopher Jeeves