Editing Mystery! (section)

==Funding trouble: 1996–2007==
In the summer of 1995, Mobil announced that it would stop funding ''Mystery!'' at the end of the season. Its underwritten series ''Masterpiece Theater'' and ''Mystery!'' had been losing audiences for some time.

"Many times, over the years, we've watched our best mini-series debut with a flourish … only to see the audience gently or not so gently erode over the weeks," executive producer [[Rebecca Eaton]] said, citing last year's ''Middlemarch'' as an example.".<ref>{{cite web|title=Release|date=June 30, 2015 |publisher=Cpd.org|url=http://www.cpb.org/pressroom/release.php?prn=163}}</ref>

Although Mobil had been experiencing restructuring, cutting 1,250 employees, the company refused to blame its actions on cost cutting. The company announced that it would stay with ''Masterpiece Theater'' at least through 1999 though it didn’t leave as underwriter until 2004.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.current.org/wp-content/themes/current/archive-site/cm/cm0223mt.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130414131742/http://www.current.org/wp-content/themes/current/archive-site/cm/cm0223mt.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 14, 2013|title=Current.org - ExxonMobil withdraws from "Masterpiece Theatre"|access-date=December 29, 2015}}</ref>  After the ExxonMobil merger in 1999, the company reoriented its philanthropic mission to support public health and environmental causes, dropping its commitment to public television. PBS had avoided adding 30-second advertisements before programming blocks, despite underwriters’ requests for more robust representation on the channel. Mobil swore that the decision had nothing to do with PBS’s hesitancy in implementing 30-second advertising spots for its underwriters.  Since 1980, Mobil had covered the entire cost of acquiring, repackaging and promoting British dramas for PBS, which had typically cost the company around $10 million a year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.current.org/wp-content/themes/current/archive-site/drama/drama0301.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20141208062824/http://www.current.org/wp-content/themes/current/archive-site/drama/drama0301.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 8, 2014|title=Current.org - Dramas seek funders, 2003|access-date=December 29, 2015}}</ref> Without Mobil, ''Masterpiece Theater'' and ''Mystery!'' were left without consistent support until 2011.

As a result of Mobil's initial break from ''Mystery!'', Eaton and her staff began looking for newer, more “relevant” stories to tell in both shows. They also looked to past successes for help. ''Prime Suspect'' had gained a strong following in the US as well as England, so PBS re-ran Series 4 on ''Masterpiece Theater'' during the 1995-1996 season.

PBS shifted ''Mystery!'' in 2002 from its Thursday prime-time slot during the regular American TV season to Sunday nights in the summer. ''Mystery!'' continued as a summer series from 2002 to 2004 with shows like ''[[The Inspector Lynley Mysteries]]'', ''[[Hetty Wainthropp Investigates]]'' and ''[[Foyle's War]]''.