Unsub

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.