Unsub

It's the Behavioral Analysis Unit in the FBI led by John Westley "Westy" Grayson (David Soul). M. Emmet Walsh, Jennifer Hetrick, and Richard Kind play three of his subordinates.

I love the forensics coveralls when they go into a crime scene. They even put on booties over their shoes. This is a 1989 TV show from 80's TV impresario Stephen J. Cannell. The forensics work is much more realistic than the flashier modern shows like CSI which would come a decade later. Quite frankly, this is much closer to Criminal Minds including the private plane flying the group to their investigations. I would look to do less with empathic profiling. It comes off as hokey on screen. The pilot is a bit of a mess but that does happen sometimes. It's filmed in Vancouver when those productions are still a step behind Hollywood. Overall, this show is well ahead of its time. David Soul is great but the star of this show has to be M. Emmet Walsh.

I am just getting into Criminal Minds now, but if you enjoy crime dramas that push the envelope, you'll enjoy Unsub. Criminal Minds took a lot from Unsub, the terminology, the private jet, the criminal profilers, and it worked. I think at the time, Unsub was a little too raw, sadistic killers, child murderers, etc. and I wish it would have last longer, but if you find it on DVD, its worth your time. It was a dynamic cast of varied actors, each who brought something different to the show, the married couple who were both CSIs, a primadonna profiler who could adopt their mindset as easily as putting on a pair of shoes; an ex-cop from the old school; a timid yet caring investigator who always tried to help and a determined, self-sacrificing leader.

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.

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.

Talk about a show YEARS ahead of it's time...I caught this show one night when I was a freshman in high school and fell in love with it! It was so original and mysterious. Unfortunately, it was the only episode I ever got to see. It was sadly cancelled.