Karl Malden/Raymond Burr

[zack007attack]

Does anybody know if FilmRise is planning on posting the 'specials' that were hosted by Burr and Malden?

[drew4824]

Originally Posted by zack007attack

Does anybody know if FilmRise is planning on posting the 'specials' that were hosted by Burr and Malden?

They said that they have no plans to at this time.

[tlc38tlc38]

I've never seen these episodes and would like to just out of curiosity but to he honest as far as I'm concerned, Robert Stack is the only host of this show.

[drew4824]

Originally Posted by tlc38tlc38

I've never seen these episodes and would like to just out of curiosity but to he honest as far as I'm concerned, Robert Stack is the only host of this show.

They are all good episodes. The Burr one is my favorite because of the Don Kemp story.

[Hops3098]

Originally Posted by tlc38tlc38

as far as I'm concerned, Robert Stack is the only host of this show.

In my opinion, Burr and Malden (and I'll throw in Keely Shaye Smith) were ok, but entirely lacking the presence that RS brought to the role. I'd say that Burr was probably the closest, but I have read that he wanted far too much money for the role. On the flip side, I've come to believe that RS viewed his participation in more of a public service light- sticking with the show for relatively small sums of money because he was very enthusiastic about the good that UM served.

That being said, the Burr and Malden specials contain some of THE BEST segments of the entire series if you ask me.

Don Kemp
Roger Wheeler
Wanda Jean Mays
John Burns
Robert Weeks
Glen Consagra

[Todd Mueller]

Since those have never been in syndication (Lifetime or Spike), I have to imagine there are some trademark/copyright issues. I'm sure when the rights to rebroadcast UM were sold, that doesn't cover Burr and Malden.

I agree some of the segments were fantastic. I think Raymond Burr did a very nice job in narration, but Robert Stack was the best.

It would be neat to see those episodes cleaned up and updated but I'm not holding my breath.

[Hops3098]

Originally Posted by Todd Mueller

Since those have never been in syndication (Lifetime or Spike), I have to imagine there are some trademark/copyright issues. I'm sure when the rights to rebroadcast UM were sold, that doesn't cover Burr and Malden.

I think it has always been about the royalties that would need to be paid to the Burr and Malden estates. The fact that we've gotten segments from the Stack-hosted Specials is all the proof I need.

[tlc38tlc38]

Was Don Kemp ever on a Stack version? I could've swore I saw it but to my knowledge I've never seen the Burr episode.

[JannTosh]

doesn't look like we'll be getting them


however, some of those segments were redone in the Farina version which is on Youtube so you can find a version of them there

[justins5256]

Originally Posted by tlc38tlc38

Was Don Kemp ever on a Stack version? I could've swore I saw it but to my knowledge I've never seen the Burr episode.

No, I don't believe so. The only segments Stack ever re-narrated or re-shot for Lifetime, to my knowledge, were the segments co-hosted by Virginia Madsen on CBS. When those segments were shown on Lifetime, any reference to Virginia Madsen was removed and the narration she read originally was overdubbed with the same narration re-read by Stack.

I believe that this reshooting and editing by Lifetime to remove Virginia Madsen was likely due to royalty issues and probably speaks to the same problem that continually holds up the Burr and Malden episodes even all these years later.

The logical question might be why didn't Stack re-narrate or re-shoot those (Burr/Malden) episodes. I think the answer is the timing. Lifetime started showing UM reruns in 1992. At that point, they only acquired the first four or five seasons and obviously had no idea how successful the show would be. Under that circumstance, I think the path of least resistance was to just not purchase the Burr and Malden segments. Paying Stack to redo them at that time would have been seen as too costly and probably unnecessary.

In the later years (early 2000s), Lifetime conceivably could have hired Stack to redo the episodes like he did with the Virginia Madsen segments. However, it could be that the episodes were just so old at that point that they didn't want to bother (or didn't think to) and the work required might have been viewed as still too exorbitant. Re-shooting three entire episodes versus a few segments might have been seen as a tall order.

The only connections I have found between the Lifetime RS airings and the pre-Stack specials are mentions of the capture of Jon Burns (I believe this was part of the 50th case solved report) and updates on the arrest of Ted K. as the Unabomber, plus some of that same footage was used in the Unabomer/Zodiac episode. Moreover, UM reused a lot of stock footage, so many of the shots from the PSS ended up in later episodes that were shown on Lifetime. Aside from those instances, I am not aware of any connection.

Of course, the producers DID include many of the Burr/Malden segments in the Farina version of the series. However, since the entire series was re-shot, re-narrated, and so on, it was an easier undertaking.

Probably a much longer answer than you anticipated. But yeah...

[tlc38tlc38]

^Thanks for the long explanation.

Was Don Kemp on the Farina version?

[justins5256]

Originally Posted by tlc38tlc38

^Thanks for the long explanation.

Was Don Kemp on the Farina version?

Yes, it was.

[JannTosh]

Originally Posted by tlc38tlc38

^Thanks for the long explanation.

Was Don Kemp on the Farina version?

yes, type Unsolved Mysteries Don Kemp on Youtube and you will find it

[WishfulDreamer]

The Kyra Cook and Robert Weeks segments (hosted by Karl Malden) are also excellent. Some of the most mysterious and compelling segments the show ever did.

[Kane]

Originally Posted by justins5256

No, I don't believe so. The only segments Stack ever re-narrated or re-shot for Lifetime, to my knowledge, were the segments co-hosted by Virginia Madsen on CBS. When those segments were shown on Lifetime, any reference to Virginia Madsen was removed and the narration she read originally was overdubbed with the same narration re-read by Stack.

I believe that this reshooting and editing by Lifetime to remove Virginia Madsen was likely due to royalty issues and probably speaks to the same problem that continually holds up the Burr and Malden episodes even all these years later.

Although the motive could have been royalty issues, I have always speculated that it was due, at least in part, to Virginia Madsen not clicking with audiences. In a recent interview with True Crime Factor, John Cosgrove stated that Virginia Madsen was hired to co-host UM in an attempt to get a wider audience and more female audiences. But it goes without saying that people didn't tune in to the show in very large numbers, so the response was less than enthusiastic. But if the failure to boost the show's ratings with Virginia Madsen on board wasn't the main reason for her omission from the reruns, then it was at least a contributing factor.