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Unsub

  • TV Series
  • 1989
  • 1h
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
179
YOUR RATING
M. Emmet Walsh and David Soul in Unsub (1989)
MysteryThriller

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.

  • Creators
    • David J. Burke
    • Stephen J. Cannell
    • Stephen Kronish
  • Stars
    • David Soul
    • Jennifer Hetrick
    • Joe Maruzzo
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    8.0/10
    179
    YOUR RATING
    • Creators
      • David J. Burke
      • Stephen J. Cannell
      • Stephen Kronish
    • Stars
      • David Soul
      • Jennifer Hetrick
      • Joe Maruzzo
    • 15User reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy
      • 1 nomination total

    Episodes8

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    TopTop-rated1 season1989

    Photos30

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    Top cast81

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    David Soul
    David Soul
    • John Westley "Westy" Grayson…
    • 1989
    Jennifer Hetrick
    Jennifer Hetrick
    • Ann Madison
    • 1989
    Joe Maruzzo
    Joe Maruzzo
    • Tony D'Agostino
    • 1989
    Richard Kind
    Richard Kind
    • Jimmy Bello
    • 1989
    Kent McCord
    Kent McCord
    • Alan McWhirter
    • 1989
    Andrea Mann
    Andrea Mann
    • Norma McWhirter
    • 1989
    M. Emmet Walsh
    M. Emmet Walsh
    • Ned Platt
    • 1989
    Jason Bernard
    Jason Bernard
    • Bishop Grace
    • 1989
    Virginia Capers
    Virginia Capers
    • Glenona
    • 1989
    Andi Chapman
    Andi Chapman
    • D.A.
    • 1989
    Freda Perry
    • Hooker
    • 1989
    Dee Jay Jackson
    • Uriah
    • 1989
    Mitchell Kosterman
    Mitchell Kosterman
    • Sheriff
    • 1989
    Kevin Spacey
    Kevin Spacey
    • Benton
    • 1989
    Paul Guilfoyle
    Paul Guilfoyle
    • Joe
    • 1989
    Patricia Charbonneau
    Patricia Charbonneau
    • Lucille
    • 1989
    Sherman Howard
    Sherman Howard
    • Dr. Radford
    • 1989
    Anthony Luke Lucero
    Anthony Luke Lucero
    • Richard
    • 1989
    • Creators
      • David J. Burke
      • Stephen J. Cannell
      • Stephen Kronish
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews15

    8.0179
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    Featured reviews

    10KSchmo7177

    Unsub

    This television series of eight episodes was so far ahead of its time I am not surprised that it did not last more than a few episodes. I do not feel that it was the inspiration for the Crime Scene Investigation shows. I feel that the new series Criminal Minds might have been a clone - right down to the team plane. The one similarity to Crime Scene Investigation is the lab connection. Criminal Minds doesn't appear to show a lot of lab time. Unsub was a very dark show but excellent television. I got to watch old old taped copies and wish the series would come out on disk. David Soul had visibly matured from his Starsky & Hutch persona and was very believable as head of a country wide forensic team. Many parts of the show were much more realistic than Crime Scene Investigation (no blonde women with flowing locks gathering evidence at the scene of a crime) these people went in with booties and head coverings. Their cases were also much more grisly than the Crime Scene Investigation shows...comparable with Criminal Minds...not quite up to Bones. It was also made at a time when most television shows were still more eye candy than realism. David Soul showed his chops as an actor in this series.
    Ted_Parkinson

    great show

    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".
    9scrapbuddy2-1

    UNSUB was federal CSI before CSI

    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
    8SnoopyStyle

    before Criminal Minds

    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.
    moviegirl74

    Years Ahead

    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.

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    Related interests

    Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway in Chinatown (1974)
    Mystery
    Cho Yeo-jeong in Parasite (2019)
    Thriller

    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      Kent McCord, whose real last name is McWhirter, plays a scientist named Alan McWhirter.

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    FAQ18

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 3, 1989 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Der Bischof des Teufels
    • Filming locations
      • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    • Production company
      • Stephen J. Cannell Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h(60 min)
    • Color
      • Color

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