What you are about to see is a news broadcast (sorta): Netflix is making new Unsolved Mysteries episodes with the bygone nightmare factory’s original creators. It’s a shock it didn’t happen sooner, to be honest, what with the resurrection of cold cases being this generation’s pastime.
Stranger Things executive producer Shawn Levy will oversee the revival, which will consist of 12 episodes, each dedicated to a single mystery. That may sound like a retread in the Investigation Discovery era, but Unsolved Mysteries always distinguished itself by reaching beyond cold murders and disappearances. Its chilly, poker-faced tone was also applied to tales of hauntings, sea creatures, alien abductions, and just about every other facet of the paranormal.
It appears that breadth will continue to apply to the revival, which Deadline says will “profile real-life mysteries and unsolved crimes, lost love, cases involving missing persons and unexplained paranormal events.” Original creator John Cosgrove will serve as an executive producer, while his cohort Terry Dunn Meurer will join Robert Wise as a co-showrunner.
The challenge? Finding the right host. Robert Stack’s wry iciness and Deep Throat coat were a perfect pairing with the original run’s mysteries, and a similar sense of self-seriousness will be key to summoning the show’s distinct sense of unease. In other words, don’t hire Chris Hardwick.
Now, let us all celebrate by revisiting its wonderful, terrifying opening theme.