Netflix's "Unsolved Mysteries" Reboot Has One Major Twist From the Original

From Oprah Magazine

• The Netflix revival of the long-running true-crime show Unsolved Mysteries, which aired from 1987 - 2010, will have one key difference from the original—there's no host.

• Below, find out why the show decided to forego its original format for the reboot.

• The Unsolved Mysteries revival premieres on Wednesday July 1 with the case of Rey Rivera.

If you're a fan of true-crime podcasts, books and shows, you might already be well-acquainted with the long-running, classic cold case show Unsolved Mysteries which was on air (through various iterations) from 1987—2010.

While the original show had several different hosts throughout the years, many fans see the late Robert Stack as the legendary host known for his low-register and evenly-paced voice guiding viewers through interviews, photographs, and videos of past cold cases. So how did the Unsolved Mysteries revival fill those big shoes Stack left behind? Well, viewers who tune into the first episode of the revival featuring the story of Rey Rivera, will notice that the format of the show has changed.

"We talked about that for long time, even about using an unseen narrator, but we decided it was really tough to fill the late Robert Stack’s shoes. He was an iconic host for so many years," the Unsolved Mysteries original co-creator Terry Dunn Meurer told the New York Post in an interview. "The other part of the equation was that we wanted this be in the documentary world, where the people whose mysteries these episodes involve are more present and more of the storytellers."

Meurer added, "In addition to interviewing family members and law enforcement, we go on location to get more of a sense of each case. We don’t try to come down on one point of view and try to create as balanced a story as we can."

Unsolved Mysteries producer Shawn Levy reiterated just how irreplaceable Stack's presence was in the original show. Decider reports that in the press notes provided by Netflix, Levy explained: “In Robert’s absence, we are letting the spirit and the strength of the stories carry the narrative. Above all, our aspiration was to make a new chapter worthy of his memory and of [his] iconic contribution to this iconic series.”

For all those fans who miss the late host, here's the very first episode of Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack—for old time's sake.

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