vargina madeson

[thajayzone]

does anybody recall the episodes with vargina madeson ?
did they ever air on lifetime?
what were they like?

[howierules86]

Her name's actually Virginia Madsen, and she co-hosted the Spring 1999 season with Robert Stack. I don't know if that season was rerun anywhere, though.

[Kane]

I saw the segments with Virginia Madsen. It was kind of odd for the show to have a co-host, since one host is usually plenty. At the time, the show was airing on CBS, and it was during a time period when the network was making an effort to attract younger audiences. I suspect that was (at least part of) the reason why Virginia Madsen was added to the show.

In each broadcast for the abbreviated 1998-99 season, there would be usually five segments and they would alternate between Robert Stack and Virginia Madsen. Typically, it went like this: Stack hosted/narrated segments #1, 3, and 5, while Virginia Madsen hosted/narrated segments #2 and 4.

The segments she narrated included: the murder of Jessica Keen; the matchmaker ghost; and, the search for then-fugitive Richard Vallee (who was wanted for the 1993 murder of an informant). I know she also narrated a few "lost loves" segments, but I can't remember which ones.

Her segments were eventually shown on Lifetime, but she was nowhere to be seen or heard. Instead, the segments were re-edited so that they would be narrated and hosted by Robert Stack. While I don't think this was necessarily done as a rebuke to Virginia Madsen, I am convinced that the folks at UM felt that adding a co-host was a mistake since that strategy was obviously met with a lot of viewer apathy.

For this obvious reason, when UM was revived as a first-run cable series in 2001, the show went back to basics by having Robert Stack as the sole host.

[UnsolvedMystFan]

For this obvious reason, when UM was revived as a first-run cable series in 2001, the show went back to basics by having Robert Stack as the sole host.

The way Unsolved Mysteries was born to be, imo. :)

Although I do remember the 1999 season on CBS. For some reason I don't remember it the way you described it, I only seem to remember V. Madsen doing the updates and the cases that needed immediate attention (i.e. "Authorities are looking for this man who just escaped from prison..."). And they would show her in the call center trying to look important.

[UnsolvedMystFan]

Ok...just came back from perusing other threads.....

Maybe it was Keely Shay Smith that I remember doing the updates. If that's the case I've forgotten Virginia Madsen entirely. Guess she wasn't memorable.

[Kane]

Ok...just came back from perusing other threads.....

Maybe it was Keely Shay Smith that I remember doing the updates. If that's the case I've forgotten Virginia Madsen entirely. Guess she wasn't memorable.

Keely Shaye Smith was the one doing the updates, but only from 1995 to 1997 (the last two years of the show's NBC run). She was a correspondent, not a co-host.

It was Virginia Madsen who was the co-host. She was only on that show for the abbreviated 1998-99 season.

[justins5256]

I just watched a couple of these on an old VHS tape last week. Kane's description is on the money, she only narrated two segments per show. They also opened the show with a "joke". Pretty lame. I actually dug the opening theme. It was spooky and dare I say on par with the original '87-'93 NBC theme in terms of coolness.

[UnsolvedMystFan]

They opened UM with a joke? Oh dear. That sounds rather jumpy-the-sharky-ish......