"Unsolved Mysteries created scary TV without even meaning to"

[nohwheregirl]

UM has some fans over at the A.V. Club. This isn't the first time they've written about the show. Here they talk about how it influenced the TV shows we watch today. It's a nice piece:

It probably never occurred to Stack that he would come to be as strongly associated with his work on the show as he was with Eliot Ness, yet he would host Unsolved Mysteries for over a decade, playing the part of a trench-coated figure lurking in some mundane place and making it seem scarier by his presence. He was a sort of Rod Serling for a new age and a new type of show. Going back to him at the end of a segment always felt safe, but not really.

Read the rest here.

[zack007attack]

Awesome story. Nothing ever comes close to UM but for me, the best substitute show is 48 Hours Mystery. Seriously, if UM were to ever be revived with the old style themes and eerieness, Maureen Maher should be the host.

[PrettyinPink55]

Great article!!! Thanks so much for sharing!!! I liked watching the clips they provided too!!!

I agree about 48 Hours Mystery. I also enjoy Dateline, especially when Keith Morrison narrates.

However, Unsolved Mysteries will always be my favorite!!!

[UMFaninMD]

I'm a true crime junkie. My TV is tuned into Investigation Discovery everyday (when there are no hurricanes pounding us). No other show will come close to the complete frightfest that UM could be, but others do fill the void, like Dateline, 48 Hours Mystery, Snapped, Unusual Suspects and Nightmare Next Door.

[PrettyinPink55]

I love Investigation Discovery!!
ABC recently had a unique show called Final Witness that I thought was pretty good too!!

[asmitty]

Great article. I'm 99% sure I went to college with the author. I wish I'd known then that he was into UM.

[PrettyinPink55]

I'm surprised they didn't mention America's Most Wanted in the article. Though it comes nowhere near Unsolved Mysteries in my book, didn't AMW come after Unsolved Mysteries?

[Kane]

Originally Posted by PrettyinPink55

I'm surprised they didn't mention America's Most Wanted in the article. Though it comes nowhere near Unsolved Mysteries in my book, didn't AMW come after Unsolved Mysteries?

Yes, although AMW debuted before UM became a regular weekly series. The first UM special aired on January 20, 1987. AMW debuted a year later, in early 1988, and UM became a regular weekly series that fall.

[KeshiHead]

Originally Posted by UMFaninMD

I'm a true crime junkie. My TV is tuned into Investigation Discovery everyday (when there are no hurricanes pounding us). No other show will come close to the complete frightfest that UM could be, but others do fill the void, like Dateline, 48 Hours Mystery, Snapped, Unusual Suspects and Nightmare Next Door.

I'm a junkie too. I like to watch the weekend shows on HLN and whatever I can find of Cold Case Files these days. They used to play CCF reruns on another channel a while back, but I don't remember which station.

I used to love American Justice and City Confidential. The First 48 is another good one, when I'm able to catch it.

I almost went nuts trying to Google info about one case from Mystery Detectives, and I found out later that they had changed the name of the victim.

[PrettyinPink55]

Originally Posted by Kane

Yes, although AMW debuted before UM became a regular weekly series. The first UM special aired on January 20, 1987. AMW debuted a year later, in early 1988, and UM became a regular weekly series that fall.

Thanks Kane!!

I wish UM was the show still standing!!!

[KeshiHead]

Originally Posted by PrettyinPink55

Thanks Kane!!

I wish UM was the show still standing!!!

Same here. I've only been able to catch one re-run on Spike, and I don't have the Lifetime network, since there's really nothing redeemable about it other than AMW and UM.