Who was the original NBC disclaimer guy?

[TJ]

Who was the original NBC disclaimer guy? I know he did the intro for the 'V' mini-series and a lot of other promos and commercials. Has Lifetime ever shown a disclaimer with his voice or have they always used a woman's voice?

Speaking of Lifetime, when did they first get the show? The first episode I have on tape from Lifetime is from October 5, 1992. Was that the first day or did they premiere earlier?

[This message has been edited by TJ (edited 11-27-2001).]

[Kane]

Speaking of Lifetime, when did they first get the show? The first episode I have on tape from Lifetime is from October 5, 1992. Was that the first day or did they premiere earlier?

[This message has been edited by TJ (edited 11-27-2001).][/B][/QUOTE]


Lifetime began airing reruns of Unsolved Mysteries in the fall of 1992 (four years after it debuted as a regular weekly series on NBC).

As for the voiceover, I'm not sure of his name, but I'm sure I've heard his voice elsewhere.

[UMfan0682]

The original voiceover for the disclaimer/phone number information was done by Danny Dark. He has passed away. He did voiceovers for many NBC stations across the country including WNBC-TV in New York, NY.


You can hear his voice in this clip from WNBC circa 1993:

http://www.tvark-international.co.uk/international/video_us_nbc/wnbc-n4ny-90sv2.rm

[crystaldawn]

Hi! Thanks for the name of the guy who did the disclaimer. He just passed away last month it said. If anyone's interested in seeing a picture of Danny Dark, the guy who did the famous disclaimer here's a picture:

www.tvtome.com/tvtome/Servlet/PersonDetail/personid-120250

[crystaldawn]

If that page won't load up, you can probably just go to tvtome.com and type in Danny Dark.

[UMfan0682]

Glad to help you guys out. I am new here, and you guys have sure helped me remember lots of cases on UM.

[Kemistry]

I've always wondered as to why Lifetime edited out his the original disclaimers voice and redubbed with the woman's instead. Was there a reason behind that?

[Kane]

I've always wondered as to why Lifetime edited out his the original disclaimers voice and redubbed with the woman's instead. Was there a reason behind that?

I speculate that there were contractual issues involved. Maybe his contract with NBC prevented his recorded voice-over work from being recycled outside the network.

[U.M. Fanatic]

I speculate that there were contractual issues involved. Maybe his contract with NBC prevented his recorded voice-over work from being recycled outside the network.


I thought it could be that Lifetime wanted a woman's voice, because the show aired on a network for women. Didn't somebody mention that Lifetime had slipped up before and aired an episode of Unsolved Mysteries with Danny Dark's voice at the beginning? Hearing his voice before watching an episode of the show always put a chill through me. omg:

[compulsive dvd]

I've always wondered as to why Lifetime edited out his the original disclaimers voice and redubbed with the woman's instead. Was there a reason behind that?


This would be a SAG/AFTRA issue. They would have probably had to pay him more residuals than they could afford. Especially if they were showing the shows daily. The woman they have probably has a flat rate deal with Lifetime and they can use her as much as they need. Most voice over people get angry if they make less than $3,000 for reading a couple lines. This could also be one of the reasons Lifetime changed the bumper graphics from the NBC airings on the old shows. The graphics creator would probably have had to be paid everytime their graphic aired. This is why often for home video releases they have to change various music. Especially if it's a popular song. The composer/publisher has to be paid a lot of money even if it's used for a few seconds. They can edit in generic music and keep more of the profits.

[Brent88]

I thought it could be that Lifetime wanted a woman's voice, because the show aired on a network for women. Didn't somebody mention that Lifetime had slipped up before and aired an episode of Unsolved Mysteries with Danny Dark's voice at the beginning? Hearing his voice before watching an episode of the show always put a chill through me. omg:

There are a couple of episodes with his voice that they have aired. I've seen them before and yes, it's creepy.

[Pirate-Todd]

Does anyone have a link or sound byte of Danny actually doing the Unsolved Mysteries intro?

I havent heard that in years!

[U.M. Fanatic]

Does anyone have a link or sound byte of Danny actually doing the Unsolved Mysteries intro?

I havent heard that in years!


They just aired it!

Its been a long time since I had heard his voice.

[Kemistry]

I believe they just started an episode that had his voice. I haven't heard his voice for many years but pretty sure that was him.

Edit: You beat me to it U.M. Fanatic, lol!

[Pirate-Todd]

Talk about BIZARRE. Less than 10 minutes after posting that I havent heard his voice in years, Lifetime starts off an episode with it. Wow...it is so much better and creepy with his voice!

[Kemistry]

Bizarre is the word. We were talking about it this week-end and all of a sudden they air an episode with his voice. Perhaps Lifetime execs read this messageboard? Hey perhaps you guys can continue showing the older eps.. :)

[U.M. Fanatic]

Whats going on here? Two episodes back to back with Danny's voice?

I know, Echoes Of Fear, it was bizarre. I'm just glad they let me hear it again. :D


Edit: Did anyone else notice that the disclaimer was different also? The middle part usually says, whenever possible the actual family members and police officials have participated in recreating the events, or some such? Today it says, The re-creations and special effects are based on actual eyewitness accounts. Is it because both shows were devoted to one theme (psychics and the afterlife)?

[Kemistry]

I noticed that as well. It's great! These are both things about the show I haven't seen for many years and I'm glad they aired them.

[U.M. Fanatic]

It appears I was right. Heres the link to when these two shows were last aired and talked about on the boards. It appears Lifetime just didnt get around to recording the womans voice on these two.


http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=95990

[Kemistry]

Ah well, atleast we still got those 2 specials with his voice. Now I wonder if they have to pay him royalties for using his voice in the disclaimer?

[crystaldawn]

Actually he died last year at the age of 65. It said in his bio that he did voice overs for a lot of well known products and was the voice of Superman. Here's a link to a bio on him.

http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/PersonDetail/personid-120250

[kamy]

Do you know where I can hear Danny Dark do the UM disclaimer? That's been years and I cannot even remember it!

[mozartpc27]

I can't believe it was Danny Dark who did that UM disclaimer. When I was a little kid, I watched a lot of Super Friends, and, as crystaldawn has already mentioned, he was the voice of Superman! That's so cool!

kamy, it's definitely on crystaldawn's DVD volume 1, so maybe talk to her about acquiring a copy via PM.

[boechsner]

Two episodes that Lifetime has aired, where his voice is intact is the Mysteries of the Psychic Mind episode from 2/3/95 and Mysteries of the Afterlife episode from 10/21/94.