Editing Unsolved Mysteries (section)

==Overview==
[[File:Robert Stack on the red carpet at the 60th Annual Academy Awards.jpg|alt=|thumb|Host Robert Stack (left, waving) defined the tone of ''Unsolved Mysteries''.]]
''Unsolved Mysteries'' used a documentary format to profile real-life mysteries<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unsolved.com/about.html |title=Unsolved Mysteries |publisher=Unsolved.com |access-date=2012-11-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103070744/http://www.unsolved.com/about.html |archive-date=November 3, 2012 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> and featured re-enactments of unsolved crimes, missing persons cases, conspiracy theories and unexplained paranormal phenomena ([[alien abduction]]s, ghosts, [[UFO]]s, and "secret history" theories).

The concept was created in a series of three specials produced by John Cosgrove and Terry-Dunn Meurer, which were pitched to [[NBC]] in 1985 and shown in 1986 with the title, "Missing... Have You Seen This Person?" The success of the specials led Cosgrove and Meurer to broaden the series to include mysteries of all kinds.

The pilot of what eventually became ''Unsolved Mysteries'' was a special that aired on NBC on January 20, 1987, with [[Raymond Burr]] as host/narrator. Throughout the 1987–88 television season, six more specials aired, the first two hosted by [[Karl Malden]] and the final four by [[Robert Stack]]. Because of the incorporation of paranormal mysteries, [[NBC News]] disowned the series when it aired on the network and required that a disclaimer air before each show to clarify that it was "not a news broadcast."

In 1988, the show debuted as a weekly program on [[NBC]]. Ratings steadily dropped after the 1993–94 season. Until 2002, it was hosted by Stack. In its second season on CBS in 1999, Stack was joined by co-host [[Virginia Madsen]]. Episodes released between 1995 and 1997 featured journalist [[Keely Shaye Smith]] and television host Lu Hanessian as correspondents in the show's "phone center", where they provided updates on previous stories as information for "special bulletin" segments. A March 14, 1997, episode featured journalist [[Cathy Scott]] in the reenactment of rapper [[Tupac Shakur]]'s 1996 unsolved murder.<ref>{{cite web|author=Cathy Scott |url=http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/1997/mar/14/behind-the-scenes-of-unsolved-shakur-mystery/ |title=Behind the scenes of 'Unsolved' Shakur mystery – Las Vegas Sun News |date=March 14, 1997 |publisher=Lasvegassun.com |access-date=2013-04-08}}</ref> This broadcast was one week after the murder of [[Biggie Smalls]]. In 2002, the series was canceled by Lifetime. In 2008, television network [[Spike (TV channel)|Spike]] revived the series with [[Dennis Farina]] as its host; the Spike revival ended in 2010.

The show was known for its eerie [[theme song]] composed by Michael Boyd and Gary Remal Malkin, and for Stack's grim presence and ominous narration. The theme music was changed seven times, in 1993, 1995,<ref>{{YouTube|tQ5gn3Y11ZQ|Commercials}} aired during [[1995 World Series]], including an ''Unsolved Mysteries'' promo featuring a revamped theme song</ref><ref>http://www.televisiontunes.com/Unsolved_Mysteries_-_Update.html ''Unsolved Mysteries'' theme song from 1995</ref> 1997, 1999, 2001, 2008, and 2020. The 2020 version of the theme was arranged, performed, and recorded by [[West Dylan Thordson]].