The Original 'Unsolved Mysteries' Was Narrated by Robert Stack — Who Narrates the Reboot?

When people think of Unsolved Mysteries, two things come to mind. The first is a truly creepy theme song that is more than just an ear worm. (It digs a hole and buries itself in your soul.) The next is the voice of its original host, Robert Stack. From 1987 to 2002, Robert asked fans to put aside their skepticism and open their minds to the impossible. He also wanted to shed light on stories that needed to be seen, such as mystifying murders and unexplained activities.

The series ended after Robert was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2002. Sadly he died of heart failure less than a year later. The show went into syndication until 2010 and is currently available to stream on Prime. In 2020, Netflix announced it was rebooting the popular series, and the question on everyone's minds was, how could they do it without Robert Stack? Who is the new Unsolved Mysteries narrator? We have answers.

Ahead of the show's much-anticipated return, Terry Dunn Meurer, one of the series' original creators, spoke with the New York Post about what to expect. The creators ultimately decided to leave out a narrator altogether. They understood that Robert Stack is a tough act to follow, so don't bother trying. Terry also wanted this iteration to feel more like a documentary. "We don’t try to come down on one point of view and try to create as balanced a story as we can," he explained.

When the show started in 1987, the paranormal and true-crime genres weren't the behemoths they are today, so cornering the market was a bit easier. Nowadays you can't throw a rock without hitting a sad story of a lady being murdered by her rage-filled partner. That meant the Unsolved Mysteries team had to dig deep, and occasionally go international.

When asked about finding stories outside of the United States, Terry said, "We have a team of researchers who target different countries." Two episodes from the first season were shot internationally. They also tried to give fans a real charcuterie board in terms of types of stories. He referenced the original series which had a nice mix of scientific mysteries, treasure mysteries, and a strangely large amount of mysteries that involved people not claiming large sums of money.

Although the show is called Unsolved Mysteries, Terry doesn't intend for all the stories to necessarily be resolved. "We’re probably not going to find the buried treasure or the UFO," he said, "but the premise of Unsolved Mysteries is that someone, somewhere knows the truth." As one show that was undoubtedly inspired by Unsolved Mysteries put it, "The truth is out there."

The Netflix version of Unsolved Mysteries couldn't ignore Robert Stack's contribution entirely. That would be like spitting on his grave. In order to honor their fallen trench coat–clad hero, the creators wisely chose to slip Robert into the opening credits.

This is one of the few times we suggest not skipping the intro because if you do, you'll miss the ghostly silhouette of Robert Stack. It's brief but spooky, which is exactly how it should be. It's almost as if Robert is now part of a show he loved so dearly. In March 2021, Terry spoke with Fox News about Robert's passion for the series. "He cared so much about these stories and the people who were involved," recalled Terry. It's good that he can still be there, watching over things.