True Crime Factor Interviews UM Co-creator and Producer John Cosgrove

[TJ]

The true crime-based website True Crime Factor recently interviewed Unsolved Mysteries Co-creator and Producer John Cosgrove. It provides some interesting behind-the-scenes details.

Read it here:
https://truecrimefactor.com/2017/02/...john-cosgrove/

They have several interviews with other people related to UM cases.
https://truecrimefactor.com/?s=unsolved+mysteries

[TheCars1986]

Interesting read.

I like how he tried to say they attempted to appeal to a "younger" audience with the Spike revamp. Which literally makes no sense. Most of the people who grew up with the show were little kids when it originally aired, who would then be "young" adults when the revamp hit the airwaves.

[freakbook]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

Interesting read.

I like how he tried to say they attempted to appeal to a "younger" audience with the Spike revamp. Which literally makes no sense. Most of the people who grew up with the show were little kids when it originally aired, who would then be "young" adults when the revamp hit the airwaves.

Maybe he mean't they tried to make it X-TREEMMMEMEEERAAAAD for the younger viewers who've never seen the show before.

Shooting for a new audience (younger crowd) then to grandma's watching Golden Girls. I feel like watching T&A on The Man Show, then showing cold case files to teenagers was weird though.

[RobinW]

I also disagree with this quote from Cosgrove...

We cherry-picked the best stories to put in the DVD collection and the sales were okay, but not great. So, we sort of shelved the plan to do the entire seasons.

Well, they did cover their bases on the ghosts, UFOs and mysterious legends sets, but they certainly did not cherry-pick the best stories for their bizarre murders collection. And they did not even release a missing persons collection at all, but of course, made sure junk like the fertility statues segment made it to DVD. This is probably why their DVD sets didn't sell as well as they hoped.

[Todd Mueller]

Originally Posted by RobinW

I also disagree with this quote from Cosgrove...



Well, they did cover their bases on the ghosts, UFOs and mysterious legends sets, but they certainly did not cherry-pick the best stories for their bizarre murders collection. And they did not even release a missing persons collection at all, but of course, made sure junk like the fertility statues segment made it to DVD. This is probably why their DVD sets didn't sell as well as they hoped.

I couldn't agree more, RobinW.

I appreciate the interview, but Cosgrove is either running a Trump-like spin machine or he really doesn't know his audience. They could have done several editions of Bizarre Murders/Unexplained Deaths and Missing Persons. This board alone is a good barometer of the "popular" cases. While I liked many of the Bizarre Murders cases on the DVDs, they were far from the most bizarre or most popular.

I totally agree that for whatever reason, they pushed the goofy stuff (UFOs, etc.) while ignoring what made this show great -- murders and missing people. And if he thinks that the Farina reboot would attract a younger audience, then he didn't know his audience. The Farina episodes had cheesy graphics and sound effects and did nothing to give the stories feeling.

As TheCars1986 said, most of us started watching us as kids or young adults. While I totally appreciate them bringing these cases back, Cosgrove is way off base on what he is saying.

[Kane]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

Interesting read.

I like how he tried to say they attempted to appeal to a "younger" audience with the Spike revamp. Which literally makes no sense. Most of the people who grew up with the show were little kids when it originally aired, who would then be "young" adults when the revamp hit the airwaves.

Agreed. It goes without saying that they were so fixated on attracting a younger audience that they were willing to do so at the show's expense - and at the risk of alienating its longtime viewers.

[QuenSolen]

I also don't believe they were "constantly working on ways to try and get it back on the air" with new cases & stories.

If they were serious about it they would've taken a step back after the negative reviews Spike got, taken some time to fix the issues in formatting and possibly replaced Farina (Though I think if the format was better he would've done a good job) then shopped it around again. That process shouldn't have taken more then a year or so.

[Kane]

Originally Posted by QuenSolen

I also don't believe they were "constantly working on ways to try and get it back on the air" with new cases & stories.

If they were serious about it they would've taken a step back after the negative reviews Spike got, taken some time to fix the issues in formatting and possibly replaced Farina (Though I think if the format was better he would've done a good job) then shopped it around again. That process shouldn't have taken more then a year or so.

With Dennis Farina now deceased, they would have to replace him. Anyway, I agree that they have to take a step back in the wake of negative reception of the Spike version.

I know why their claim of trying to get the show back on the air doesn't sound believable: They have not, to the best of my knowledge, admitted that they had made a mistake. A lot of viewers detest the Spike reboot, and by not acknowledging that it was a mistake, the studio has obviously not been forgiven for that. They can be forgiven for the mistake if (and only if) they admit it was a mistake, learn from the mistake, and avoid repeating the mistake. If they do all those things, it could help restore their credibility with UM viewers, especially those who were alienated by the Spike reboot - and possibly lead to a successful revival of the series.

[JannTosh]

wow, this guy really is dumb. He doesn't seem to get his audience at all


There were some good cases on the DVD but far from all the best ones. If that is the reason they didn't release the rest of the series on DVD I don't know what to say.


and his whole idea for revamping the series is just idiotic. Spit on the old fans to try to appeal to some "younger" viewers by taking the old episodes and MTV izing them?

[JannTosh]

Originally Posted by QuenSolen

I also don't believe they were "constantly working on ways to try and get it back on the air" with new cases & stories.

If they were serious about it they would've taken a step back after the negative reviews Spike got, taken some time to fix the issues in formatting and possibly replaced Farina (Though I think if the format was better he would've done a good job) then shopped it around again. That process shouldn't have taken more then a year or so.

'

I don't believe it either. There is a whole channel devoted to shows like this these days. (Investigation Discovery). Forensic Files and Cold Case Files run constantly in reruns. There is an audience for it

[mtaylor72]

I think for a revival to work, they would need to get it on one of the major player networks like NBC, CBS, ABC or even FOX. Putting it on a channel like Spike or even Lifetime is limiting the audience. By having a revived series on one of the big four, they would increase their viewership and that would help solve more cases. It's all about exposure.

[DazzlerSparkler]

Patty Stallings is his favorite case. But it is also the most tragic.

Patty got released
Patty sues the police
David Sr and Patty got divorced
Patty suffers nervous breakdown among other things
David Jr goes in and out of the mental hospital, family is not there for him
David Jr dies after being in and out of the mental hospital

[wonderwall]

Not sure if they has been posted elsewhere, but the Unresolved Mysteries subreddit is doing an "Ask Me Anything" with Meurer and Cosgrove on April 3rd at 3:00 PM Eastern. So, it will be the time for everyone to ask M&C all the questions you ever wanted to know about Unsolved Mysteries!!

[tarheelslim]

Originally Posted by RobinW

Well, they did cover their bases on the ghosts, UFOs and mysterious legends sets, but they certainly did not cherry-pick the best stories for their bizarre murders collection. And they did not even release a missing persons collection at all, but of course, made sure junk like the fertility statues segment made it to DVD. This is probably why their DVD sets didn't sell as well as they hoped.

I don't think switching out some of the segments would have made the sets sell tons more - if the numbers weren't even close to what they were expecting, there was just not the audience for them (the marketing/price point could have contributed as well). As far as I know the Stack episodes were still in reruns when the sets were originally released so the demand probably just wasn't there.

It could be that if they had done individual season releases that they would have performed better...

[tarheelslim]

Originally Posted by JannTosh

I don't believe it either. There is a whole channel devoted to shows like this these days. (Investigation Discovery). Forensic Files and Cold Case Files run constantly in reruns. There is an audience for it

I'm assuming CM thought the UM brand had value (and, as has now been proven, they were right). The networks are probably cranking out these shows for next to nothing. I am not at all surprised that CM could not get what they thought their show was worth to go back in to production. Just because he's always working on ways to bring it back does not mean that there are never offers on the table.

Think about how high the production values on the original series were... that was an expensive show to make (I'm assuming). That was part of why it's great.

There is way more competition now than there was when UM was the biggest true crime show, and probably a lot less money involved too.