Netflix rebooted the classic series Unsolved Mysteries with a couple of changes, among those that this new version has no host – here’s why. Unsolved Mysteries is a documentary TV show created by John Cosgrove and Terry Dunn Meurer, which focused on cold cases and paranormal phenomena, and stood out for asking the audience for help to solve the cases. The show began as a series of seven specials with different hosts – Raymond Burr, Karl Malden, and Robert Stack – and made its proper debut as a series in October 1988, with Stack as host.
Unsolved Mysteries had been rebooted before to not much success before being picked up by Netflix. The first season (15th in the show’s overall continuity) was released on July 1, 2020, and was well-received by the audience, though critics found it to be lacking the “spookiness” of the original series and many missed the recreations of the cases, which was one of the biggest changes the reboot made. Another big difference with the original series is the host, as Netflix’s version isn’t led by anyone, instead fully relying on the story and interviews to guide the audience.
As mentioned above, the first run of the series was hosted by Robert Stack, who passed away in 2003, and each reboot had its own host, but Netflix took a different path. In a press release, producer Shawn Levy explained the reason to go for a hostless format was to honor Robert Stack’s “singular and irreplaceable presence”, adding that their “aspiration was to make a new chapter worthy of his memory and iconic contribution” to the series, and so this new version would let “the spirit and strength” of each case carry the narrative. The team behind Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries isn’t planning to change their hostless plans for season 2 (if it is to happen, of course), with Meurer explaining that they want to audience to spend “more time with the people in the stories developing them as characters”, which is something they weren’t able to do in the original version.
Unsolved Mysteries was canceled at the end of its 1996-1997 season but was picked up by CBS for a (shorter) tenth season. For the 11th one, Stack was joined by Virginia Madsen as cohost with the purpose of boosting the show’s female audience, but it didn’t work out as expected and the series was canceled. Lifetime later revived it with a combination of new and old cases, but production ceased when Stack fell ill. Years later, a reboot aired on Spike in 2008, now with Dennis Farina as host, but it was heavily criticized for not producing new content, instead showing edited segments of past cases as well as updates for those that were already solved.
Netflix’s take on Unsolved Mysteries leans more towards a proper documentary format rather than a TV show, and the only thing they had to do was have no host. Still, this version didn’t forget about Robert Stack, as he can be seen in the title sequence for each episode, as a homage to his legacy on the show. While it might be weird for some to watch Unsolved Mysteries without a host, it does help the stories flow better, with the audience fully focusing on the case and those involved without the “distraction” of a host.
