A special team of FBI forensics experts investigates serial murderers and other unsolved violent crimes.A special team of FBI forensics experts investigates serial murderers and other unsolved violent crimes.A special team of FBI forensics experts investigates serial murderers and other unsolved violent crimes.
- Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy
- 1 nomination total
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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 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.
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.
This was one of my favorite TV series of the past 20 years. It was, perhaps unfortunately, too dark and too realistic for its time and did not run sufficiently long to gain a dedicated following. Some of the scenes showing crime victims were disturbing for that day, although they pale in comparison to what is shown on current crime dramas. The cast was great, Walsh and Soul were perfectly cast for their parts. Kent McKord and Richard Kind were also in the cast. Great music by Mike Post and definite Stephen Cannell-style directing touches. Excellent subplots and good character development. As I recall, most of the episodes dealt with serial killers and one of the best was a 2-part episode involving a clergyman. UNSUB certainly prepared the way for series such as CSI and Criminal Minds. There was nothing like it until CSI came out in its first incarnation (Las Vegas) in 2000.
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".
My wife and I really like CSI now, which is a very good show, but it's basically "Unsub-lite".
My husband and I still remember watching every one of the few episodes this series had which were very cerebral but fascinating.
Years later we have still to find one that is as focused as this. CSI has a lot of the forensics (which is much more advanced these days)
Criminal minds has a lot of the victimology they used, but I never understood why this didn't take off.
Guess TV series had to wait for people's fascination with technology to spark the craze.
I would like to see this show again, maybe will come to Amazon Prime someday, I think it will look like the original Star Trek does now-- very limited in up to date usage of computers, labs, the use of the internet and ability to track things on a more national level with national databases
Years later we have still to find one that is as focused as this. CSI has a lot of the forensics (which is much more advanced these days)
Criminal minds has a lot of the victimology they used, but I never understood why this didn't take off.
Guess TV series had to wait for people's fascination with technology to spark the craze.
I would like to see this show again, maybe will come to Amazon Prime someday, I think it will look like the original Star Trek does now-- very limited in up to date usage of computers, labs, the use of the internet and ability to track things on a more national level with national databases
Did you know
- TriviaKent McCord, whose real last name is McWhirter, plays a scientist named Alan McWhirter.
- How many seasons does Unsub have?Powered by Alexa
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- Runtime
- 1h(60 min)
- Color
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