My On-Again, Off-Again Relationship with Unsolved Mysteries

I was first introduced to Unsolved Mysteries as a young child in the late 80's.  One night a week, my mom would go bowling, leaving my brother, sister, and me home with our father.  Dad would always watch TV, and since we didn't really care for Dad's taste in shows, we usually found other ways to entertain ourselves.  Jimmy, a teenager at the time, was typically out with friends, watching sports in his room, or playing his baseball card/dice game.  My sister and I would play with Barbies or make up dance routines to George Michael songs.

Sometimes we would hang out with Dad in the living room, which first exposed me to Unsolved Mysteries.  As a  five-six-seven year old, I was often frightened by the spooky intro music and the ominous voice of its trench-coated host, Robert Stack.  Stack always seemed to be lurking in some foggy, dark, abandoned street, as he set the stage for each segment.  Some episodes were boring--bank robbers on the run, pilots who had gone missing in the Bermuda Triangle--but others fascinated me, and left me pondering them for days on end.

I was particularly vexed by the alien abduction/UFO segments.  This led to an overpowering, abnormal fear that gave me insomnia, and caused my mom--who probably wouldn't have allowed me to watch such nonsense, had she been home-- to wonder what had caused such a phobia.  For years I imagined being pulled from my bedroom window into a hovering disc, and then experimented on by grey beings with black, almond-shaped eyes.  I even remember watching an episode of Married with Children in which Al Bundy was visited by an alien creature, upon which I buried my face into the couch cushion waiting for it to go to commercial.

photo: sharetv.com

I was also afflicted by the Bigfoot/ghost/Loch Ness/crop circle segments, often hoping the word "UPDATE" would flash on the screen to inform us that the mystery had indeed been solved, and was found to be one big elaborate hoax.

But of course that was never the case.

Now in my late twenties, I still watch the updated re-runs presented by the Lifetime Network.  The footage that once haunted me as a child no longer leads to sleepless nights, and I love seeing the 1980's clips still being used, even though Robert Stack has been replaced.  Of course, many of the criminals once profiled have either been captured or have died, but the "Unexplained" segments are always still open ended.

I suppose I will continue to watch, until someone is able to solve the mystery.

photo: tvrage.com