Series synopsis
Unsolved Mysteries is an American mystery drama crime television series that premiered on Spike on October 5, 1988. It ended on April 27, 2010. It was created by John Cosgrove, Terry Dunn Meurer. It stars Robert Stack, Dennis Farina, Tammy Lynn Leppert and Stephnie Weir.
Combines four to five segments of dramatic re-enactments, interviews and updates of real human and paranormal mysteries. An audience interactive call-to-action request allowed viewers to call in with tips to help solve the cases.
Premise
Combines four to five segments of dramatic re-enactments, interviews and updates of real human and paranormal mysteries. An audience interactive call-to-action request allowed viewers to call in with tips to help solve the cases.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Robert Stack as Host
- Dennis Farina as Host
- Tammy Lynn Leppert as archive footage
- Stephnie Weir
- Michael Rosen as Neil Markowitz
- John E. Mack as Self - Psychiatrist; Author, Abduction
- Bob Lazar as Self
- Cynthia Windham as Female Bank Robber
Supporting cast
- Holly Lorge as Dorothy Johnson's Sister
- Chris Fry as Lynch Mob Leader
- Joe Rodriguez as FBI Agent
- Chris Tashima as Stunt Coordinator (segment "Brandon Lee")
- Red Mitchell as Killer
- John Strand as Police Negotiator
- Joe James as Doctor
- Lee Dawson as Michael
Guest cast
- Stephnie Weir
- Michael Rosen as Neil Markowitz
- John E. Mack as Self - Psychiatrist; Author, Abduction
- Bob Lazar as Self
- Cynthia Windham as Female Bank Robber
- Holly Lorge as Dorothy Johnson's Sister
- Chris Fry as Lynch Mob Leader
- Joe Rodriguez as FBI Agent
- Chris Tashima as Stunt Coordinator (segment "Brandon Lee")
- Red Mitchell as Killer
- John Strand as Police Negotiator
- Joe James as Doctor
Episodes
This series spans 15 seasons with 777 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 0 | 41 | January 20, 1987 | November 29, 1987 |
| Season 1 | 38 | October 5, 1988 | September 13, 1989 |
| Season 2 | 52 | September 20, 1989 | September 16, 1990 |
| Season 3 | 56 | September 19, 1990 | September 11, 1991 |
| Season 4 | 54 | September 18, 1991 | September 9, 1992 |
| Season 5 | 55 | September 16, 1992 | September 15, 1993 |
| Season 6 | 52 | September 22, 1993 | September 18, 1994 |
| Season 7 | 40 | September 25, 1994 | August 30, 1995 |
| Season 8 | 41 | October 20, 1995 | September 13, 1996 |
| Season 9 | 43 | September 20, 1996 | March 21, 1998 |
| Season 10 | 11 | November 13, 1997 | August 21, 1998 |
| Season 11 | 13 | April 2, 1999 | July 30, 1999 |
| Season 12 | 55 | July 2, 2001 | November 26, 2001 |
| Season 13 | 51 | June 10, 2002 | September 20, 2002 |
| Season 14 | 175 | October 13, 2008 | April 27, 2010 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Special: Episode 1 • No Category: Donald Kemp • No Category: Roger Wheeler; Brian Halloran; John Callahan • No Category: The Family of Pat Mealbach • No Category with Update: Terry Lee Conner and Joseph Dougherty • FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List: Leo Koury; Donald Eugene Webb; Victor Gerena; Claude Dallas; James Dyess; Danny Weeks; Thomas Harrelson; Robert Litchfield |
January 20, 1987 |
| 2 |
UFO's, Vol. 2 This is a collection of some of the best UFO stories that have appeared on Unsolved Mysteries over the years. This volume contains the following six stories: Roswell; Roswell/Area 51 Connection; Hudson Valley UFO; Belgian UFO; Falcon Lake UFO; UFO Healing. |
|
| 3 |
UFO's, Vol. 3 This is a collection of some of the best UFO stories that have appeared on Unsolved Mysteries over the years. This volume contains the following six stories: Australian UFO; Missing Time; Socorro Close Encounter; Kecksburg UFO; Texas UFO; Face On Mars. |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Episode #1 • Wanted: Dave Davis • Updates: "Lost Heirs: George Marsh" • Unexplained Death: Aileen Conway • Mysterious Legends: Glen & Bessie Hyde • Missing Persons: Dottie Caylor |
October 5, 1988 |
| 2 |
Episode #2 • Wanted: Jerry Strickland & Missy Munday • Final Appeal: Michael Martin • Unexplained Death: Kurt McFall • Lost Loves: Undelivered WWII Letters |
October 12, 1988 |
| 3 |
Episode #3 • Amnesia: Doreen Picard • Fraud: Louis Carlucci • Wanted: Diane Brodbeck & Jon Yount • Treasure: Beale's Treasure |
October 26, 1988 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Episode #39 A report on the alleged cover-up of a reported UFO crash landing opens the second season. Also: the story of a Vietnam veteran's 20-year search for a nurse who helped him rebuild his body and mind; and the hunt for the kidnappers of a boy and girl in New Mexico. |
September 20, 1989 |
| 2 |
Episode #40 Segments on the murder of a Michigan real estate agent; the Florida search for a man believed to have swindled occupants of a nudist camp; and a statue of Jesus in Pennsylvania that is said to have moved. |
September 27, 1989 |
| 3 |
Episode #41 Segments on the suspicious death of a Virginia woman; the search for five Hawaiian fisherman who reportedly vanished in the South Pacific; and the death threats received by a Missouri woman who cares for stray dogs. |
October 11, 1989 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Episode #91 The series' third season opens with a report on sightings of a bright orange fireball that crashed in Pennsylvania and was reportedly removed under military supervision; a woman's first meeting with her biological father; an arsonist's home movies. |
September 19, 1990 |
| 2 |
Episode #92 Segments: a murder attempt on a former Florida mayor; an Arkansas family's search for a long-lost brother; a five-plane Navy patrol's 1945 disappearance over the Bermuda Triangle; an antidrug activist's shooting. |
September 26, 1990 |
| 3 |
Episode #93 Reports on the search for a Bakersfield, Cal., physician; the FBI hunt for a robbery gang suspected in armored-car holdups in Minnesota and Baltimore; and the disappearance of a Spokane electrician |
October 3, 1990 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Episode #147 Beginning a fourth season: U.S. military officers discuss a 1980 sighting of an unidentified flying craft near a U.S. air base in England. Also: the murders of two Texas teens reportedly involved with a cult; a Nashville, Tenn., woman's discovery about her parentage. |
September 18, 1991 |
| 2 |
Episode #148 New theories in the death of Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth; the disappearance of a 65-year-old man with no past; and the search for a convicted child abuser. |
September 25, 1991 |
| 3 |
Episode #149 Reports: an amnesiac found unconscious in the Las Vegas desert; the grisly murder of a Virginia woman; the controversy surrounding the Shroud Of Turin. |
October 2, 1991 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Episode #201 The fifth season begins with a UFO story involving a 1983 incident in the skies over New York and Connecticut. Also: reports on the disappearance of an 18-year-old woman last seen with an acquaintance; the death of an unidentified man at the Paducah, Ky., airport. |
September 16, 1992 |
| 2 |
Episode #202 Reports on the killing of an Indiana man who was involved in a love triangle; an amnesiac who showed up at a San Diego homeless shelter; a two-day-old baby stolen from her mother's Berkeley, Cal., hospital room. |
September 23, 1992 |
| 3 |
Episode #203 Unanswered questions in the 1935 shooting of Louisiana senator Huey Long; the search by Cincinnati and Nashville detectives for a suspected serial killer; and a California woman's search for her brother, who was put up for adoption. |
September 30, 1992 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Episode #256 The series' sixth season opens with a report on a Glendora, Cal., man's recollections of a ""past life"", a viewer tip leading authorities to an alleged cult leader and his followers in the San Angelo, Texas, area; the search for a suspect in a hit-and-run accident that claimed the life of an 11-year-old boy. |
September 22, 1993 |
| 2 |
Episode #257 The FBI probe into the identity of a convicted bank robber who won't reveal his name; viewer tips leading to a man's reunion with his family; a pilot's strange disappearance after reporting a UFO hovering near his plane as he flew between Australia and Tasmania. |
September 29, 1993 |
| 3 |
Episode #258 A russian archaeological study and DNA tests are used to determine whether Russian Grand Duchess Anastasia really died when the royal family was executed in 1917. |
October 6, 1993 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Episode #308 A seventh season opens with reports on the origins of the bizarre Ice Man creature, once exhibited at the 1968 Chicago Stock Fair; coincidences linking adoptees with their birth families; the probe into a biochemist's mysterious death in 1953. |
September 25, 1994 |
| 2 |
Episode #309 Segments include a real-life team of ghostbusters who track paranormal evidence in top-secret cases of hauntings; information suggesting that an alleged international drug kingpin may have faked his own death; treasure hunters who claim that a Southern California park may be a burial ground for treasures. |
October 2, 1994 |
| 3 |
Episode #310 Reports include efforts calling for the beatification of an ordained priest (born in 1904) who, some say, performed miraculous cures prior to his death in 1957. Also: evidence suggesting that Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth was not shot by Union soldiers, but instead lived under aliases until 1903. |
October 9, 1994 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Episode #348 The eighth season opens with reports on new theories concerning the mysterious deaths of actors Bruce Lee and his son Brandon. Other segments focus on the abduction of an infant girl; the arrests of two fugitives in Oregon and the California manhunt for another. Parental Abduction - Wanted: Dorothy Lee Barnett Wanted: Antonio Magana Castro |
October 20, 1995 |
| 2 |
Episode #349 Reports include the search for a suspect in the July 1995 murder of a bailiff who worked in Judge Lance Ito's courtroom. Also: a family who was terrorized on a Memorial Day outing in Glenrose, Texas; reports of religious visions in Kentucky. Wanted: Ronald Earl Cains Wanted: Unidentified Subjects Wanted: Richard Relf |
October 27, 1995 |
| 3 |
Episode #350 Included: mysterious patient deaths; efforts to revive a newborn at a hospital; a viewer's tip leading to an arrest in a case of mail fraud; theories about the 1995 disappearance of a rock musician. |
November 3, 1995 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Episode #389 A ninth season of stories begins as amateur researchers find similarities in the cases of the Zodiac killer and the Unabomber; and a bizarre West Virginia case involves multiple identities--and murder. Also: two Macon, Ariz., college students are brutally murdered. Wanted: Andre Gerald Wilson Wanted: William Jordan Missing: April Gregory & Kristin Smart Update: Wanted - Carl & Mary Dennie |
September 20, 1996 |
| 2 |
Episode #390 Reports include the suicide of actress Margaux Hemingway, granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway; a Los Angeles man's search for his biological mother; the hunt for the killers of two Mercer College students. Lost Love: Sean Moore Wanted: Jonathan Kern Update: Wanted - Albert Leon Fletcher |
October 27, 1996 |
| 3 |
Episode #391 Included: the 1966 death of rock star Bobby Fuller, who some believe was murdered; and an update on a bizarre West Virginia murder case from 1994. Also: people who have been robbed in their homes form a coalition. Wanted: David Coleman Update: Wanted - William Cooper |
October 18, 1996 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Episode #423 The investigative series hosted by Robert Stack returns with segments on Elvis Presley's alleged suicide; and claims by Michael Landon's stepdaughter that the late actor has contacted her from beyond; murder of two young prostitutes; anonymous tip leads to buried bones. Unexplained Death: Monika Rizzo Unexplained Death: Gloria Ross & Candy Belt |
November 13, 1997 |
| 2 |
Episode #433 The reality based series hosted by Robert Stack returns with stories about a woman who believes her baby may have been stolen in the delivery room; family members who believe their daughter's death was not an accident; authorities search for a gang member suspected of attacking a U.S. marine at an off-base party near San Diego. |
April 3, 1998 |
| 3 |
Episode #434 Probing the mysteries of the ancient Nanteos Cup, believed by some to be the Holy Grail. The vessel s reputed to hold the power to heal those who drink from it. |
April 10, 1998 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Episode #443 The reality based investigative series, hosted by Robert Stack, returns with segments on miracles attributed to a 14-year old girl who lies in a coma; the brutal murder of a college journalist who threatened to implicate a fraternity in a campus rape. Unexplained Death: Bugsy Siegel Unexplained Death: Brook Baker Missing: Sabrina Aisenberg |
April 2, 1999 |
| 2 |
Episode #444 Segments on the murder of three police officers during a Colorado shooting spree; reports of a Bigfoot-like creature in the Florida Everglades; the death of a newlywed in a tragic fall; a child's seemingly miraculous recovery, attributed to a psychic healer from Russia; and tales of a matchmaker ghost. Link: TV show sends crew to solve mystery of the skunk ape Unexplained Death: Michelle Witherell The Unexplained: Mary Greene The Unexplained: Skunk Ape |
April 9, 1999 |
| 3 |
Episode #445 Segments include the disappearance of a runner whose husband is said to be fascinated with death; a claim that Tijuana police murdered a college student; two drivers alleged to have ESP after individual brushes with death; haunted cottage in England. Unexplained Death: Jayson Artis Missing: Amy Wroe Bechtel The Unexplained: Psychics The Unexplained: Haunted Cottage Wanted: Unidentified Subject |
April 16, 1999 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Episode #449 Linda Sherman (Unexplained Death) |
July 2, 2001 |
| 2 |
Episode #450 Danny & Kathy Freeman (Unexplained Deaths) |
July 3, 2001 |
| 3 |
Episode #451 Bryan Nisenfeld (Unexplained Death) |
July 4, 2001 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Episode #503 The Other Intern - Chandra Levy's tragic disappearance and murder has riveted a nation, but she was not the first government intern to disappear. Two years earlier Joyce Chiang vanished from the same neighborhood in Washington D.C. Some believe that the similarities in their cases may be far more than a coincidence. Could a serial killer be on the loose in our nation's capitol? Joyce Chiang (Unexplained Death) |
June 10, 2002 |
| 2 |
Episode #504 Ground Zero - Among the thousands of flyers plastered around New York's Ground Zero is one that features a beautiful 31-year-old female physician. Surrounded by so many missing person photos, it's easy to miss the detail that differentiates hers from the others. The flyer of Sneha Philip reads ""Missing since Monday, September 10th."" |
June 11, 2002 |
| 3 |
Episode #505 Olympic Park Bomber - Millions of people around the world were shaken by the Olympic park bombing in Atlanta on the night of July 27, 1996. Yet many are unaware that the person responsible for planting what the FBI called ""one of the largest pipe bombs in U.S. history"" has yet to be caught. Can you help authorities track down Eric Rudolph and bring him to justice? |
June 12, 2002 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Season 14, Episode 1 Mystery: Kurt Cobain Murder: Candy Belt and Gloria Ross Update: Wanted: Andy Cook Wanted: Jesse James Hollywood Mystery: HOPE Lost: Devon Williams |
October 13, 2008 |
| 2 |
Season 14, Episode 2 Mystery: Elvis Presley Legend: Kecksburg UFO Update: Murder: Ted Binion Murder: Joseph Cole Wanted: Chief Greg Webb |
October 14, 2008 |
| 3 |
Season 14, Episode 3 Murder: Sam Wheeler Wanted: Richard Bare/Murder: Sherry Hart Wanted: Ira Einhorn Update: Wanted: Chief Greg Webb Legend: Gettysburg National Military Park Wanted: Randall Utterback |
October 15, 2008 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | Spike |
|---|---|
| First aired | October 5, 1988 |
| Last aired | April 27, 2010 |
| Runtime | 60 minutes |
| Status | ended |
| Schedule | Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday |