Unsolved Mysteries (1987–2010)

Excellent television series that went on for a decade on NBC, found a home for less than half a season on CBS (only completing six episodes for the network) and still living in syndication on the Lifetime Network. The series finally hit a brick wall for all intensive purposes by 2002 as nothing new was really being added to old episodes and new mysteries were only given a quick glimpse. The series is an intense study in crime, history, religion, the super-natural and seemingly everything in between. The show started slowly in the late-1980s with Karl Malden and Raymond Burr starting out as hosts (never hosting at the same time). It was not until Robert Stack took over very early in the series' run that the program found a permanent audience. His golden voice spooked and intrigued for over a decade. As the years passed the program struggled in spite of the fact that many bad people were caught and innumerable mysteries were solved. Gimmicks followed with co-hosts like Virginia Madsen and Keely Shaye Smith, but by that time "Unsolved Mysteries" had sadly become a Nielsen Ratings dog. All shot in a documentary style, the series was always endearing to me. However its purpose was never really to entertain and the sometimes dark and disturbing subject matter turned many in the viewing public away. Even in syndication it is fun to look back to a part of television history that will stand the test of time. 5 stars out of 5.