Unsub
Unsub
| 03 February 1989 (USA)
SEASON & EPISODES
  • 1
  • Reviews
    BabsbytheBeach

    I remember watching all 8 episodes of this brilliant show. David Soul did a stellar job not only heading up the cast, but his portrayal of John Grayson was a terrific follow up to Starsky and Hutch. As the other reviewers have noted, this show predates all the great crime TV shows: CSI, Criminal Minds, L&O, etc., and that was also the reason for its downfall. During the Reagan-Bush era, the late 1980s when the show was on, Bible- thumping groups of Americans felt it was their God given right to ruin the fun for everyone else. They launched a campaign against Unsub and subsequently the sponsors pulled out. Thank Dog they didn't succeed with their narrow-minded attempt to also remove the Simpsons, unfortunately, Unsub could not sustain their wrath. My hope is that the shows are re-released on DVD.

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    mmarcuswarren

    UNSUB (Unknown Subject). This was one of the best of the Stephen J.Cannell Productions that ran in the 80's on NBC. David Soul's John Grayson was a far cry from his "Hutch" of years before and as the leader of the Justice Department Behavioral Science Lab, he and his crew used all the latest methods of scientific and intuitive discovery in order to hunt down the "unknown subjects" that performed the current week's gruesome crime. Just like other Cannell shows of the time (like "Stingray" and the first season of "Hunter" among others) it sported a stylish soundtrack of songs written and performed by composer Mike Post. The short lived series also featured fine performances by Kent McCord (formerly of "Adam-12"), M. Emmett Walsh, Richard Kind (later to co-star on "Mad About You" and "Spin City") as well as Jennifer Hetrick (who would later co-star as Captain Picard's love interest "Vash" on Star Trek: the Next Generation"). The similarities between this show and today's major hit "CSI" are astounding and really make me wonder if the creators of "CSI" may have been inspired by this short lived series which ran only 8 episodes. Another astounding fact is that the villain of the very first episode was played by none other than Paul Guilfoyle (a frequent Cannell villain back then) who would later co-star on "CSI" as Captain Jim Brass. IF you ever get the chance, this show is one that's worth catching, especially the 2 part episode (#6 & #7) which features Jason Bernard as a charismatic Bishop who proves to be just as evil as the Devil himself. Another quality show that was never allowed time to build an audience and just may have been 10 years or more ahead of its time. Just thankful, that like "Stingray" and "J.J. Starbuck", I was smart enough to get this one on tape during its original airing. Shows like this are few and far between and getting more scarce all the time, I just really wish it had ran a lot longer.

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    Ted_Parkinson

    My wife and I really loved this show when it was on, but it was cancelled far too soon. Only 8 episodes ran. It was too intelligent, too "ahead of its time," and too spooky. It basically turned Mann's "Manhunter" into a tv series. Now we get "special victims unit" which deals with similar crimes, but with less atmosphere.My wife and I really like CSI now, which is a very good show, but it's basically "Unsub-lite".

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    Jonah Falcon

    This was an excellent show from CBS's adult night time series. This show predates "The X Files" and "Silence of the Lambs" as a specialized FBI investigative forensic team that deals with serial murders, rapists, and other dark characters. The show is both wonderfully intelligent and creepily dark. If this ever re-airs, watch it. It's one of the best, most-overlooked crime drama in the history of film and TV.

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