History of Opening Theme

[SomeofShane]

I don't want to be one of those annoying new posters, so if there is a resource for this info that would prevent my having to start a new thread, by all means direct me to it!

I am just curious as to the history of the UM opening theme. Was it just the first five seasons that included the full on, heart attack inducing scary music? When did the show change to the sort of watered down, slightly less scary and dramatic theme? Was it at the same time that the opening title screens for the segments changed from the multi colored ones to the more reserved blue background? And when did the change in segment titles occur? I know they still used titles like Wanted and UFOs after the initial change in theme music, but later on they started using more specific titles like Whistle Blower and Backyard Bones. Don't ask me why I care about this stuff LOL; I just do!

Also: was the segment title Vanished only used in the first season, and was it changed to Missing Persons, or did it carry on for a while?

Thanks for any and all help!

[dynoguy88]

You've got it pretty much nailed. The first 5 seasons were the classic, chilling, best version of the theme song. When it came back from commercial breaks, the title screen shot out at the viewer. Everything about this version of theme song was so deliciously creepy. Loved it.



In 1993, the theme song was updated to the watered down less scary version. It was common for TV shows in the 80's and 90's to update their theme songs after a few seasons and Unsolved Mysteries was no different. But the creepiness factor was downgraded because of this. And unfortunately, this version of the theme song was used for the 'Now that's what I call Television theme song CD. When the show returned from commercial break, the type of case scrolled by at an angle instead of being shot at the viewer but surprisingly, the older better version of the theme was used for these cutbacks from commercials.



When the show moved from NBC on Wednesdays to CBS on Fridays in 1997, a completely new theme was featured (if you can call it that) with the blue title screen. It was lame. It sounded like something you'd hear in a 60's ghost movie. You know, the kind that's not scary at all.



Lifetime's 2002 version brought back the theme song as another updated version. Not completely awful but still not half as good as the original.



Spike's current version? As we all know, it's very 2012ish...which is why it sucks.

[unsolved1981]

I actually liked the one used on the DVDs. Maybe not as memorable as the first one, but faithful to it. The new one is just garbage.

[justins5256]

Originally Posted by SomeofShane

Also: was the segment title Vanished only used in the first season, and was it changed to Missing Persons, or did it carry on for a while?

Refer to Dynoguy's post for the differences.

Also, so far as I know, there never was a "vanished" category. I think one of the later seasons (probably post 1994) had a "Forbidden" category that was flashed briefly during the opening theme. I always thought this was strange as there never was such a category on the history of the show - on that note, what kind of stories would "Forbidden" entail anyway?

Missing from Dynoguy's list is the CBS era opening from 1997-1998ish. It was similar to the NBC opening used during the last couple of seasons with some minor differences. I think Lifetime's 2002 incarnation shared some similarities as well and was probably based on the CBS theme. I always thought they looked similar anyway.

[ernmerica]

If you want a good kick, look up "Three Six Mafia - Stomp"

Its a rap song blatantly stealing the theme.

[1990 UM fan]

The eeriest one was the CBS one. I think that's when they had the ending credits with the light beaming out and smoke all around it.

[kamy]

Is there anywhere to see these different openings?