Edited episodes

[bhayleyz]

Hello,

Some of these Robert Stack-hosted episodes on YouTube seem different than when I watched them years ago.

2 examples:

Amelia Earhart - I remember one witness saying “I swear on my Purple Heart that it was her”
John Branion: at the end of the segment, Mr. Stack said something like “by dying, John Branion was now a free man” with a slight grin on his face.

These 2 examples do not appear in the episodes on YouTube. Any idea why not?

[omegadoom]

Originally Posted by bhayleyz

Hello,

Some of these Robert Stack-hosted episodes on YouTube seem different than when I watched them years ago.

2 examples:

Amelia Earhart - I remember one witness saying “I swear on my Purple Heart that it was her”
John Branion: at the end of the segment, Mr. Stack said something like “by dying, John Branion was now a free man” with a slight grin on his face.

These 2 examples do not appear in the episodes on YouTube. Any idea why not?

I think you may be misremembering the John Branion quote because Branion was still alive when his segment originally aired on 12/20/89.

I know the 'Attacker of Debbie' segment was edited to remove something Stack said when he was introducing it but I don't remember exactly what it was.

[1990 UM fan]

Originally Posted by omegadoom

I know the 'Attacker of Debbie' segment was edited to remove something Stack said when he was introducing it but I don't remember exactly what it was.

It was something along the lines of people thinking differently of the attack due to a black man attacking a white woman. I don't remember the exact words.

[dynoguy88]

This reminds me of the thread a few years back where we talked about all of the endless Lifetime cuts.

Lifetime edited about 70% of the segments, many times cutting out minutes of footage, in order to make room for more commercials. When the episodes were uploaded by filmrise, we finally got to watch them as they were presented originally on NBC.

[WishfulDreamer]

Originally Posted by dynoguy88

This reminds me of the thread a few years back where we talked about all of the endless Lifetime cuts.

Lifetime edited about 70% of the segments, many times cutting out minutes of footage, in order to make room for more commercials. When the episodes were uploaded by filmrise, we finally got to watch them as they were presented originally on NBC.

It's interesting, because while FilmRise restored a ton of these scenes, they also excluded some for seemingly no reason.

For example, in the Mac MacDonald segment, the reenactment of Mary Helen's mother reacting to her daughter being on the motorcycle with Mac is cut. In the segment about Heck family, a scene of them sweeping grain out of boxcars because they were so desperate is cut (I found that one particularly poignant because the men guarding the train felt so bad for them that they would look the other way).

There are other moments that definitely make sense to cut or you could guess why (such as mentioning the statute of limitations expires in a month, etc.). Sue Billig's sad speech about putting her daughter to rest next to her father if found dead was cut, likely because the preceding scene mentioned that Mr. Billig had died "last year" (though I think they should have kept this to show the impact on her family).

[TheCars1986]

For reasons unknown, they removed the Tony Miller full segment (Farina version) as well as the updates for it on the Stack versions.

[MediaHoarder]

As part of my long term project to try and build a definitive restored series I am working on a database of UM segments, etc.

One thing I am tracking for this database is Film rise episodes with suspected cuts. Although I don't have the originals to compare to, my rough guess is that over 50% of segments featured have been edited.

Unfortunately, people are being told that these episodes are the "original Robert Stack Unsolved Mysteries" when that is patently false. Many segments are missing, and many more still are edited from the originals.

Probably the most obvious edit I have seen is the removal of information about suspects that were later captured as this seems to have been a consistent practice while captured fugitives typically have such information included. However it goes without saying that the original broadcasts are needed to make a definite comparison and to provide restoration sources.

[infinityluxe]

Two of my favorite segments I remember watching as a kid with my grandparents have been removed from the series.

The one about the UHaul owner's daughter-in-law being murdered and the one about the guy on the motorcycle who was run down on the freeway. He rolled into a ditch and pretended to play dead. Two truck drivers stopped and threw his bike in the ditch to try and cover up the crime. He was fearful they would have killed him if they found him. I always thought that was such a good segment I cold almost feel his fear. Isn't it something how you can sense you are in harm even during a traumatic event. He said something just told him to not let them find him because they would kill him.

[dynoguy88]

Originally Posted by infinityluxe

the one about the guy on the motorcycle who was run down on the freeway. He rolled into a ditch and pretended to play dead. Two truck drivers stopped and threw his bike in the ditch to try and cover up the crime. He was fearful they would have killed him if they found him. I always thought that was such a good segment I cold almost feel his fear. Isn't it something how you can sense you are in harm even during a traumatic event. He said something just told him to not let them find him because they would kill him.

Jay Durham. I....still struggle big time with this segment. It's probably pointless to torture yourself wondering about the specifics but I desperately want to know WHY the trucker did this. And I'd like a little something more than he was just plain evil and decided to try to kill a person. It's a very frustrating segment to watch, especially knowing the driver was never caught...

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Jay_Durham

[infinityluxe]

Originally Posted by dynoguy88

Jay Durham. I....still struggle big time with this segment. It's probably pointless to torture yourself wondering about the specifics but I desperately want to know WHY the trucker did this. And I'd like a little something more than he was just plain evil and decided to try to kill a person. It's a very frustrating segment to watch, especially knowing the driver was never caught...

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Jay_Durham

A lot of truck drivers use different drugs to keep them alert for long periods of times. An accident like that would have caused them to be drug tested perhaps it was that. I always felt that was more to that segment.

[MediaHoarder]

Originally Posted by rusty spike

Perhaps the Jay Durham segment was omitted because LE felt his claim of events was false. Maybe there was strong suspicion that Jay's version of the accident didn't match up

Additionally, railroad people could have complained about children wandering around an active train yard- not promoting safety and taking anything without consent is considered theft.

There's a couple of Forensic Files (or Medical Detectives) episodes that are not part of the Film Rise package. One involves a teacher who attempts to frame another teacher- Sealed with a kiss. Very bizarre case that makes schools, the police and the court system look foolish. I think this particular case is excluded because the institutions have requested it no longer be readily shown.

I find it disturbing that the pleas/threats of institutional actors can keep material like this out of the hands of the public even when it was previously broadcast on national television. At best it is a clear illustration of chilling effects on free speech. In effect, an iron triangle forms between the rights holders, the institutions, and congress who collectively discourage or prevent people from seeing the material in question. Its particularly bad in this instance since the material is of a documentary nature and should be available for research.

[1990 UM fan]

I thought the Jay Durham segment was omitted because he's now deceased?

[spectre]

Originally Posted by MediaHoarder

I find it disturbing that the pleas/threats of institutional actors can keep material like this out of the hands of the public even when it was previously broadcast on national television. At best it is a clear illustration of chilling effects on free speech. In effect, an iron triangle forms between the rights holders, the institutions, and congress who collectively discourage or prevent people from seeing the material in question. Its particularly bad in this instance since the material is of a documentary nature and should be available for research.

See this is what irks me so much - and I know I'm not alone - since these were originally broadcast on free to air TV wherein anyone could freely record the episodes - even the FBI were encouraged to do so! And ever since it ended fans were forced to hunt down to trade or buy original episodes that had previously aired on TV. Now FilmRise releases a stash of Robert Stack hosted segments and has them arranged into "episodes" - all under the guise of being "original episodes." So fans are misled into assuming they're as originally aired on TV when in truth they're not! They've been heavily redacted with many entire cases or parts of a segment omitted, and with "new" updates appended to them not unlike the Dennis Farina series (which were basically the original Stack hosted segments redubbed by Farina and with the latest "new" updates appended). What do fans have to do to be heard and get what we've always really wanted?! - aside from stealing and murder of course!😂 Idk it's just all so disingenuous to me~

Originally Posted by 1990 UM fan

I thought the Jay Durham segment was omitted because he's now deceased?

All the more reason then for such cases to remain unredacted IMHO kinda like a book whose author dies and after a length of time it becomes public domain. It doesn't all of a sudden disappear never to see the light of day again🤔🤷

[comicbookwriter]

Wasn't there a longer version of the Cindy James segment?

[omegadoom]

Originally Posted by comicbookwriter

Wasn't there a longer version of the Cindy James segment?

No. The original broadcast and the Filmrise segment have the same runtime, almost 16 minutes. I'm sure the Farina version likely chopped it up and made it shorter.