When Unsolved Mysteries aired primarily on NBC from the late '80s into the '90s, it scratched a certain cold case itch that wasn't being fully scratched in the marketplace.
Episodes tracked the inexplicable and the unresolved with a heavy reliance on re-enactments, all held together by the wooden-yet-nosy sternness of host Robert Stack.
More than 30 years later, the format hasn't just been duplicated elsewhere; it has split off into a legion of variations that dominate TV.
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