True crime documentaries today have so much footage of both the perpetrator and the victim, thanks to social media. It’s wild to compare that to the 80s and 90’s, when it was mostly a voiceover with the same four photos on repeat.

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divinecmdy@reddit

Update: We still have no fucking clue where this guy is

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tehSchultz@reddit

He could be hanging by his neck in his fucking closet

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divinecmdy@reddit

SCENARIO 1: he’s hanging by his neck in his fucking closet

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goat_penis_souffle@reddit

That Unsolved Mysteries call center must have been a fun job.

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HuckleberryHappy6524@reddit

1-800-876-5353. That number will be forever burned into my brain. I couldn’t wait for Wednesdays to roll around. I used to watch this show with my dad every week.

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CarmenxXxWaldo@reddit

80% - that kinda looks like the person I hate

19% - Aliens

.5% - legit lead

.5% - the actual killer giving red herrings

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Ok_Story_7924@reddit

I wonder how many times they phoned in when they saw the actor who played the perp in the reinactment on the show.

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My family liked to watch 'A current Affair.' another 80s unsolved mystery show. When it started it showed a traingle logo along with this little intro jingle. Well, my parakeet was in the tv room and he mastered that little intro jingle and that little mf would do it none stop. All day every day. Over and over.

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_NoleFan6@reddit

Scary ass theme music lol

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LousyRaider@reddit

What’s fun is watching old re-runs of Unsolved Mysteries and they sometimes cover stories that have since had major documentaries made about them.

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throwawayfromPA1701@reddit

My favorite thing is checking to see if it got solved.

Show is so old some of the crimes were solved back then and the perps are out of prison now.

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cybah@reddit

or not.. my fav is watching them on filmrise b/c they have been updated. So you'll get an update of an update. I did a rewatch last year and it was interesting to see how many stories had been updated two or even three times. I looked up many cases/suspects while I watched.. some have died. But with some, so much time has passed that they have served their sentence and got out. 😨

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Acrobatic_Border_192@reddit

I don't know if it was done to meet some sort of YouTube standards or whatever, but the filmrise versions have been edited to hell and back. New updates are nice, but there are so many scenes cut.

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Acrobatic_Border_192@reddit

I wish I could find the originals. You can even watch it free on YouTube, but there are some fairly major edits. I think there's a DVD set from the 2000s or so but you'd have to track it down. B

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LineImpossible3958@reddit

This program is about unsolved mysteries.

Whenever possible, the actual family members and

police officials have participated in re-creating the events.

What you are about to see is not a news broadcast.

(Scary music)

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goat_penis_souffle@reddit

As an adult, you come to realize that “what you are about to see is not a news broadcast” really means “some of this shit might be made up”

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catschimeras@reddit

dramatic musical sting

UPDATE!!

Istg even now I have a pavlovian reaction to the "update" chime.

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LineImpossible3958@reddit

I can hear the music! I watch reruns on Pluto and I always hope for an UPDATE. Sometimes the updates are 30 years old. Sometimes they are more recent.

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catschimeras@reddit

My nervous system will kick off in excitement even if its a case that was solved years ago and that i already know the outcome of! The grip Robert Stack has on my adrenal response is so silly!

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LineImpossible3958@reddit

I hear his voice every time to go the dark basement late at night. I’m with you

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ThePerfectSnare@reddit

He makes me feel like I'm in trouble for something I didn't do. How do you explain what happened to Jamie Shamo?

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jbp84@reddit

The “Small Rural Farm Town Trifecta” in the early 90s was getting featured on Unsolved Mysteries, Rescue 911, and America’s Most Wanted.

My hometown only got on Unsolved Mysteries and America’s Most Wanted, when a guy snapped and killed his ex-wife’s divorce lawyer in a back alley with a shotgun.

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throwawaytoday9q@reddit

That sounds like a solved mystery to me.

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jbp84@reddit

The 3 month nationwide manhunt after the murder was the mystery

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TheSwissdictator@reddit

My town was featured on unsolved mysteries, but for something more pleasant at least. Mira me the white buffalo

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Didujustcallmejobin@reddit

And the most terrifying intro song ever. Still gets me.

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call-lee-free@reddit

1-800-876-5353

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midwesternmayhem@reddit

Does anybody remember when they tried to reboot Unsolved Mysteries in the early 2000s? The new host was Dennis Farina, and it was VERY disappointing.

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Lulu_42@reddit

Have any of you had the conversation with your loved ones where you discuss whether you would be okay with them talking about your murder to one of these shows? My wife's answer: No. She would hate being used for entertainment. My answer: I don't care what you do, if it makes you feel better or you get a few bucks, do it. Try to make me seem a little more interesting and mysterious, though. Maybe invent a shadowy history or a weird hobby.

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midwesternmayhem@reddit

No, because there is no way I would be okay on going on any of those shows to talk about my murdered friend or family member.

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andy_nony_mouse@reddit

Or dubious reenactments.

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LuisMataPop@reddit

I loved the exit theme it gives the sense of a real unsolved mystery that perhaps will remain unsolved forever

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miss_murder0@reddit

My aunt was on that show in the 80s. Her husband was a sheriff at the time and was pressing a suspect. The suspect shot him! He held on long enough to tell the first responders a description of the suspect and vehicle. He died of his injuries but the suspect was caught and brought to justice. My aunt said everyone she met doing the show was very respectful and kind to her.

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epidemicsaints@reddit

So many separated twins too. Put them on TV, everyone who knows your lost twin recognizes you immediately.

Forensic Files is the one for me. It's fascinating seeing how they had to find people. Now you just look at these morons' phones and see them buying murder supplies on their Kroger discount card linked to their phone number, on camera at the self check out.

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SwitchbackHiker@reddit

It's great that can be used to solve crimes but I really hate living in our current dystopia.

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epidemicsaints@reddit

Mass surveillance horror show really. People aren't just supporting it, they are shouting for it. Buying it hook line and sinker. It makes me think about the opening scene of Brazil.

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bassbeatsbanging@reddit

Internet cults are super interesting for this reason.

You can see how it starts as a group meditation or alternative medicine seminar and it very slowly becomes sinister.

5 years later and the leader is now a polygamous with supernatural powers and a paramilitary force on an isolated compound.

It's so interesting seeing the frog get slowly boiled.

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trustme1maDR@reddit

Fair point, but none of the new breed can claim:

"Whenever possible, the actual family members and police officials have participated in recreating the events. What you're about to see is not a news broadcast."

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cybah@reddit

it wasn't just the four photos.. what made Unsolved Mysteries great were the re-enactments. Its why we watched.. some a bit cheesy or overdramatic, but they really enhanced the story. It made the show feel less news-y.

PS - fun trivia: One of Matthew McConaughey's earliest bit parts was in an Unsolved Mysteries re-enactment (see here)

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Specialist-Fill24@reddit

"Thanks to social media", imo, should only ever be used as a negative connotation.

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LasagnahogXRP@reddit

B-roll bonanza

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Rustmutt@reddit

Reenactment actors getting social media’d out of a job by the real people. I always loved seeing who they got to play the real folks and how well they matched

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