Unsolved Mysteries was slammed by critics who just didn't get it. Sure, it featured stories involving ghosts and UFOs, but it served a greater and more valuable purpose: asking for help from viewers in unsolved cases, including: wanted fugitives, missing persons, lost loved ones, and unsolved homicides.
Thanks to this show, more than 280 cases have been solved, and the number just keeps growing (which is now probably past 300). In particular, the show was extremely effective in helping people get reunited with lost loved ones. Unsolved Mysteries helped people, especially when no one else could (or would). Therefore, it is a real shame that the primetime powers-that-be pulled the plug on the series in 1999. I miss this show a lot, and hold on to the hope that it will someday be revived so that it could resume helping the public in finding closure.