Kicker_of_Elves

I watched this when i was a kid and some of those episodes scared the crap out of me.

Gizmo

Oh man!!!! Tomorrow!!!!

-TRANCE-

Just a few more hours, I can't wait!

DJariya

2 hours a day 5 days a week is great. This is a Unsolved Mysteries gold mine. However, depending on how fast I can watch them, I may have to pick and choose which eps I watch in addition the other stuff on my Tivo as well.

Gizmo

DJ, looks like they replaying many of them on Sunday as well during the day.

Tracer Bullet

What the shit is up with windowboxing a 4:3 image? This is annoying the fuck out of me.

Farina is no Stack, that's for damn sure.

Gizmo

Seriously, WTF?

Overall...eh. I recognized several of the cases since I own all the DVD sets, but nice to see some new ones. I'll keep DVRing it because I love UM and hopefully it will grow on me.

BTW, Anyone notice the played the original shows theme song during the opening credit (where they describe all the cases coming up on the show)?

Tracer Bullet

I noticed that. The only good thing about this new incarnation.

I don't know. They reedited the reenactments into 10 second cuts to remove all the tension and creepiness and replaced it with crappy sound effects and Google Maps. I don't get it.

DJariya

I watched the 1st episode last night and was a little disappointed with it.

As mentioned by Tracer Bullet, the 4X3 window box drove me crazy. There was absolutely no reason for it. It was especially annoying since Farina's standups were all shot in letterbox. I know the original footage for all these cases was shot in fullscreen, so they should have just transitioned to that instead of creating the window box.

Farina is definitely no Robert Stack. Part of the appeal of the original show was Stack's creepy narration on all the cases. I just didn't think Farina's voice on the narrations worked. They would have been better off having Farina doing his standups and hiring Marlene Sanders, who does the narrations on the HBO Autopsy series.

The annoying sound effects on the graphics were annoying along with the Google Maps. It drove me crazy on the Kurt Cobain case when they had a sound effect for each inconsistency with Cobain's suicide.

The only thing keeping me watching is the name and seeing some updates on older cases. If this was a brand new show, I would probably drop it. It's a disappointment considering this is from the original creative team of Unsolved Mysteries.

DJariya

Also, what is the point of having Farina do his standups in a dressed up busy "update" center? It looked like everyone was really busy, moving around and taking calls which doesn't make sense for this type of show. They would have been better off shooting him outside in the early morning late evening as the previous version did with Stack.

Norm de Plume

Yet another step in the watering down of the magnificent original. Sad. I like the Google Maps addition, but the new music and Farina just don't cut it, and then there's the fact these episodes are all reruns. Why bother? I'll probably still watch, at least for the time being, but it's hardly recognizable as the show I used to love.

DJariya

I finished the 1st 2 episodes and my sentiments from my 1st statement still stand. I think I will pick and choose which episodes to watch since I already have alot of other things to watch already.

During the winter break of the TV season, I may jump back in for more.

Norm de Plume

Anyone else notice that any mention of dates has been removed from the narration? So instead of "On August 13th, 1984, Joe Smith broke into Mary Jones's house and raped and killed her...", we get some crap like "It was a rainy Wednesday night when Joe Smith..."
What's the point of that? I suspect it's to disguise the fact these are all ancient cases, but I like my True Crime to include as much specificity as possible, and things like dates and names are the most fundamental of details. It's unacceptable and might be the deal-breaker for me in the long run, as so much of the original show's appeal has been compromised in other ways as well.

My Other Self

That's awful! I haven't watched it yet, but even without Robert Stack, man, I can't be too interested.

Zen Peckinpah

Tonight...

on Unsolved Mysteries...

find out...

who gives a SHIT...

about BIGFOOT!

First thing I thought of seeing this thread.

Anyway, about the previous comments about people being scared by these episodes: a friend of mine was so disturbed by an episode about spontaneous combustion that his nose started bleeding. Don't ask.

DJariya

I briefly caught an episode a few weeks ago and noticed the window boxes are now gone. All the re-enactment segments are back to being normal 4X3 fullscreen.

After I get caught up on some massive TV backlog, I may try watching these again.

SuperBatMan

The updated version is a disappointment. The old one with the creepy music and host had me creeped the fuck out everytime as a kid, and still somewhat today.

Have they even showed a ghost story yet?

lordwow

I watched it for the first time today.

I love how they didn't update the ghetto 80s video, but replaced the vo by stack...
I also love how they use Google Earth, which looks like a trial version or something, and then they don't even show where the crime took place. New York City? Oh thanks, I didn't know where that was. Maybe show where in the city it took place?
Farnia is merely all-right. I prefer the Forensic Files guy for my creep-factor now.

Today's episode was the son of sam conspiracy (that other people were involved). They showed a video of this guy who was investigating it, and it was from circa-1988. They couldn't find that guy for an update or anything? Really?

TheMovieman

That would cost money to do that. All of that budget is going to Farina's salary and those high-tech graphics and sets.

lordwow

I wonder how much they're paying the extras to pretend like they're answering the phones behind him.

Gizmo

Still have 15 of these on the DVR....Oh man I miss the original show.