Over the course of 35 years (through hundreds of episodes and thousands of stories) Unsolved Mysteries has explored everything from mysterious vanishings and historical events to UFO sightings and grisly murder cases. Series co-creator Terry Dunn Meurer has seen those installments play out and, for her, and it would be hard to pick out a favorite from that long list. Nevertheless, the veteran TV producer does have a favorite type of story, as revealed our chat with her. Additionally, she also divulged the kinds of tales she doesn't want to tackle on the show.
CinemaBlend sat down with Terry Dunn Meurer ahead of the release of Unsolved Mysteries: Behind the Legacy. The new FilmRise documentary focuses on the classic true crime series and its impact on TV and American pop culture during the past few decades. Meurer discussed a number of different topics with us, including a “powerful” moment from early in the show’s run. Amid the chat, she explained the stories she has a preference for, and her answer makes a lot of sense:
I like the cases that were solved before they even aired, and that happened a few different times. There was one of this guy, we really wanted to get this guy, he was a serial child molester, and the promo came out and somebody, some astute viewer, recognized his photo and he was captured like two hours before the broadcast.
In addition to the cases that were solved, the EP also said she has a fondness for those that allowed the crew to go to small towns and tell people’s stories. While making her point, she explained how some of those revelations could've fallen through the cracks had she and her team not covered them:
One thing that the series did was go into small towns and profile cases that no one’s ever heard about. … And I just wanted to serve the people who had small little stories that nobody’s ever heard of that needed help. We would consider ourselves the court of last resort where people would come to use after law enforcement had exhausted every lead and they needed leads. We would come in and generate leads and on the smaller cases.
It's hard to disagree with those sentiments, as the long-running show has indeed shed light on some serious situations that may not have received attention otherwise. One of those cases, which fits both into the "small town" and "solved" categories, is the story of Patricia Stallings. Some may remember that Stallings was a mother wrongfully convicted of murdering her young son, and she was later exonerated after it was discovered that he suffered from a rare genetic disorder. Terry Dunn Meurer called the case, and the overturning of Stallings’ conviction, “very emotional.”
While Unsolved Mysteries has covered thousands of truly bizarre cases over the years, there have been times in which the producers decided to not pursue a certain story for one reason or another. The co-creator went on to tell us about the rationale that comes into play during those instances:
You know, so if anyone ever asked us not to do it. We would never do it without the family's involvement.
Terry Dunn Meurer recalled one story in particular, in which a man was killed when his van mysteriously exploded. The producers were looking into the case when Meurer received a call from his widow, who asked if they would consider passing on it. After the plea, she decided to not pursue the case. However, the producer revealed that if a suspect in a case ever contacted her team and asked them not to pursue it, the EPs would probably be more inclined to look into it. All in all, Meurer and her colleagues have certainly built a strong legacy and, by picking the stories that they have, they've kept viewers both informed and engaged.
Unsolved Mysteries: Behind the Legacy is currently streaming on Pluto TV, and it'll expand to various other free platforms like Freevee, Tubi, the Roku Channel, and the FilmRise app starting on Thursday, October 19, 2023. And while we don’t yet know when the next season of the true-crime show itself will become available for Netflix subscribers, there are still plenty of promising shows on the 2023 TV schedule worth checking out in the meantime.
