BuzzFeed Unsolved

BuzzFeed Unsolved (also known as simply Unsolved) is an American documentary entertainment web series created and produced by Ryan Bergara. It first aired on YouTube on February 4, 2016, and has run for eleven seasons.[2][3] The show previously aired on BuzzFeed Multiplayer but now airs on the BuzzFeed Unsolved Network.

BuzzFeed Unsolved
Also known as	Unsolved
Genre	Factual television
Created by	Ryan Bergara
Written by	Ryan Bergara Shane Madej
Starring	Ryan Bergara Shane Madej Brent Bennett Zack Evans
Theme music composer	Audio Network Warner Chappell Music AudioBlocks
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	True Crime: 6 Supernatural: 6
No. of episodes	True Crime: 54 Supernatural: 49
Production
Executive producer(s)	Katie LeBlanc Ryan Bergara
Producer(s)	Ryan Bergara Shane Madej
Editor(s)	Anthony Frederick Steven Castro Mike Reilly Grant Henderson Devlin McClusky[1]
Production company(s)	BuzzFeed BuzzFeed Multiplayer
Release
Original network	YouTube BuzzFeed
Original release	February 4, 2016 (2016-02-04) – present (present)

BuzzFeed Unsolved follows Ryan Bergara and co-host Shane Madej, who discuss unsolved crimes, haunted places, alleged demonic possessions, and historical occurrences. While the topics of discussion are often morbid, most episodes are presented in some form of a comedic manner.[4] The show is filmed primarily in Los Angeles with some episodes having parts filmed across the U.S and even some in other countries such as the United Kingdom and Mexico.

The show has also become a rating hit for BuzzFeed, regularly featuring as one of the network's most-watched shows. Prior to the premiere of the eighth season, BuzzFeed renewed the show for a ninth season, which aired in late 2018. A tenth season premiered in March 2019, and an eleventh season premiered in September 2019.[5] Ryan and Shane started their own digital production company Watcher Entertainment with Worth It's Steven Lim in late 2019. However, the two are still employed at BuzzFeed as freelance producers and continued the series with a twelfth season in March 2020.[6][7]

Format

Synopsis

The Buzzfeed Unsolved: True Crime and Supernatural shows are currently co-hosted by Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej. Madej took over from the original co-host, Brent Bennett, in late 2016.[4][8] The greatest difference between Bennett and Madej lay in their responses to Bergara's theories: unlike Bennett, who would humor Bergara, Madej stands firm as a skeptic; this stark dichotomy proved the missing piece of the puzzle for the show.[9]

The contrast between Bergara's belief in conspiracies and the paranormal versus Madej's skepticism provides the majority of the dialogue.[10][8] Bergara strongly believes in otherworldly spirits like ghosts or poltergeists, and frequently defends the existence of these throughout the series. However, Bergara shows reluctance towards things such as Bigfoot and sometimes aliens. Madej is a true skeptic of all that is non-scientific and constantly provides comedic relief toward spiritual encounters; however, he sometimes regards Bigfoot and aliens as somewhat realistic or grounded in reality. Those in support of Bergara have been called the "Boogaras" and those supporting Madej's skepticism have been labeled the "Shaniacs".

The similarities and contrasts between the Shaniacs and the Boogaras can be clearly seen in the questions submitted to the Buzzfeed Unsolved Network (BUN) and the ones read by Ryan and Shane during their Postmortem episodes where they answer the most pressing questions on the most recent episodes of BuzzFeed Unsolved.

Other important members of the main Unsolved crew include: TJ Marchbank, 1st AD, Devon Joralmon, line producer, and cameraman Mark Celestino. Due to the show's growth in popularity, Bergara works with a number of individuals to propose cases and if the show is capable of covering them, while Madej is kept out of the process to give a more fresh perspective.[11]

Style

The episodes are normally filmed as the two hosts at a desk, with Bergara presenting Madej and the audience with either a True Crime case or a Supernatural case with the use of stock photos and other visuals. In some cases the two hosts and other crew members travel to investigate the locations, although this method is primarily used for the Supernatural episodes.[12] Often, the paranormal investigations seek to answer the question "Are Ghosts Real?" and collect evidence using video and audio devices. Other Buzzfeed Unsolved: Supernatural episodes investigate other supernatural entities/phenomenas such as Mothman, Bigfoot and the existence of aliens. The two aim to create an "everyman approach" in discussing the cases with the use of humor in an effort to balance the tone between dark and goofy.[11]

Guests

In BuzzFeed Unsolved: Supernatural Season 4 Ancient Aliens contributor Giorgio Tsoukalos was featured in the discussion about a potential UFO sighting.[13] A recurring guest on the show, in person and by mentions is a "Vatican approved exorcist" Father Gary Thomas, who discusses his belief in demons and the supernatural. During Postmortem episodes, guest co-hosts are occasionally brought in.

Hosts

True Crime Presenters	Ryan Bergara (2016–present) Shane Madej (2016–present) Brent Bennett (2016)
Supernatural Presenters	Ryan Bergara (2016–present) Shane Madej (2016–present) Brent Bennett (2016)
Sports Conspiracies Presenters	Ryan Bergara (2018) Zack Evans (2018)
Buzzfeed Unsolved - Postmortem Presenters	Ryan Bergara (2017–present) Shane Madej (2017–present)

Episodes

BuzzFeed Unsolved – True Crime

Season 1

#	Episode	Published
1	The Mysterious Death of the Somerton Man	February 4, 2016
2	The Horrifying Unsolved Slaughter at Hinterkaifeck Farm	February 20, 2016
3	The Bizarre Death of Elisa Lam	March 18, 2016
4	The Chilling Mystery of the Black Dahlia	April 1, 2016
5	The Strange Deaths of the 9 Hikers of Dyatlov Pass	April 15, 2016
6	The Mysterious Death of Tupac Shakur - Part 1	May 20, 2016
7	The Mysterious Death of Biggie Smalls - Part 2	May 27, 2016
8	The Horrifying Murders of the Zodiac Killer	June 24, 2016
9	The Mysterious Disappearance of the Sodder Children	December 23, 2016
10	The Odd Death of Michelle Von Emster	January 27, 2017
11	The Shocking Case of O. J. Simpson	March 4, 2017
12	The Strange Disappearance of D. B. Cooper	March 10, 2017

Season 2

#	Episode	Published
1	The Terrifying Axeman of New Orleans	July 28, 2017
2	The Mysterious Death of the Boy in the Box	August 4, 2017
3	The Bizarre Road Trip of a Missing Family	August 11, 2017
4	The Tragic Murder of JonBenét Ramsey	August 18, 2017
5	The Odd Vanishing of Amelia Earhart	August 25, 2017
6	The Creepy Murder in Room 1046	September 1, 2017
7	The Strange Drowning of Natalie Wood	September 8, 2017
8	The Mysterious Poisoned Pill Murders	September 15, 2017
9	The Disturbing Murders at Keddie Cabin	September 22, 2017
10	The Suspicious Assassination of JFK	September 29, 2017

Season 3

#	Episode	Published	Postmortem Q+A Episode
1	The Grisly Murders of Jack the Ripper	January 26, 2018	January 31, 2018
2	The Thrilling Gardner Museum Heist	February 2, 2018	February 7, 2018
3	The Ghastly Cleveland Torso Murders	February 9, 2018	February 15, 2018
4	The Enigmatic Death of the Isdal Woman	February 16, 2018	February 22, 2018
5	The Strange Killing of Ken Rex McElroy	February 23, 2018	February 28, 2018
6	The Scandalous Murder of William Desmond Taylor	March 2, 2018	March 7, 2018
7	The Historic Disappearance of Louis Le Prince	March 9, 2018	March 14, 2018
8	The Disturbing Mystery of the Jamison Family	March 16, 2018	March 21, 2018

Season 4

#	Episode	Published	Postmortem Q+A Episode
1	The Sinister Disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa	July 13, 2018	July 18, 2018
2	The Bizarre Collar Bomb Bank Robbery	July 20, 2018	July 25, 2018
3	The Mysterious Death of the Eight Day Bride	July 27, 2018	August 1, 2018
4	The Incredible Alcatraz Prison Break	August 3, 2018	August 8, 2018
5	The Covert Poisoning of an Ex-Russian Spy	August 10, 2018	August 15, 2018
6	The Odd Death of Charles C. Morgan	August 17, 2018	August 22, 2018
7	The Bizarre Disappearance of Bobby Dunbar	August 24, 2018	August 29, 2018
8	The Treacherous Treasure Hunt of Forrest Fenn	September 7, 2018	September 12, 2018
9	The Chilling Black Dahlia Murder Revisited	January 11, 2019	January 14, 2019

Season 5

#	Episode	Published	Postmortem Q+A Episode
1	The Eerie Case of the Watcher	March 22, 2019	April 2, 2019
2	The Unusual Australian Shark Arm Murders	March 29, 2019	April 3, 2019
3	The Suspicious Case of the Reykjavik Confessions	April 5, 2019	April 10, 2019
4	The Unexplained Murder of Bugsy Siegel	April 12, 2019	April 17, 2019
5	The Horrifying Texarkana Phantom Killer	April 19, 2019	April 24, 2019
6	The Shocking Florida Machete Murder	April 26, 2019	May 1, 2019
7	The Puzzling Disappearance of Walter Collins	May 3, 2019	May 8, 2019
8	The Curious Death of Vincent Van Gogh	May 10, 2019	May 15, 2019
9	The Impossible Disappearance of Dorothy Arnold	September 26, 2019	-

Season 6

#	Episode	Published	Postmortem Q+A Episode
1	The Macabre Death of Edgar Allan Poe	March 13, 2020	March 18, 2020
2	The Missing Identity of the Lady of the Dunes	March 20, 2020	March 25, 2020
3	The Tinseltown Murder of Thelma Todd	March 27, 2020	April 1, 2020
4	The Creepy Quandary of Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm	April 3, 2020	April 8, 2020
5	The Puzzling Case of Marilyn and Sam Sheppard	April 10, 2020	April 15, 2020
6	The Mysterious Death of The Somerton Man Revisited	April 17, 2020	April 22, 2020

BuzzFeed Unsolved – Supernatural

Season 1

#	Episode	Published
1	The Creepy Real-Life "Men In Black"	April 29, 2016
2	The Secret Society of the Illuminati	July 29, 2016
3	3 Horrifying Cases of Ghosts and Demons	October 26, 2016
4	The Chilling Exorcism of Anneliese Michel	November 12, 2016
5	The Bizarre Toxic Death of Gloria Ramirez	December 3, 2016
6	The Spirits of the Whaley House	January 13, 2017
7	The Haunted Decks of the Queen Mary	February 17, 2017

Season 2

#	Episode	Published	Postmortem Q+A Episode
1	The Ghosts And Demons of Bobby Mackey's	April 7, 2017	-
2	The Harrowing Hunt for Bigfoot	April 14, 2017	-
3	3 Real-Life Creepy Cases of Ancient Aliens	April 21, 2017	-
4	The Haunted Halls of Waverly Hills Hospital	April 28, 2017	May 10, 2017
5	The Strangest Disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle	May 5, 2017	May 10, 2017
6	The Murders That Haunt the Lizzie Borden House	May 12, 2017	May 17, 2017
7	The Spontaneous Human Combustion of Mary Reeser	May 19, 2017	May 24, 2017
8	The Haunting of the Salem Witch Trials	May 26, 2017	May 31, 2017
9	The Haunted Quarters of the Dauphine Orleans Hotel	June 2, 2017	June 7, 2017
10	The Bizarre Voodoo World of New Orleans	June 9, 2017	June 14, 2017

Season 3

#	Episode	Published	Postmortem Q+A Episode
1	The Ghost Town at Vulture Mine	October 13, 2017	October 18, 2017
2	Three Bizarre Cases of Alien Abductions	October 20, 2017	October 25, 2017
3	The Captive Spirits of Eastern State Penitentiary	October 27, 2017	November 1, 2017
4	The Demonic Goatman's Bridge	November 3, 2017	November 8, 2017
5	The Horrors of Pennhurst Asylum	November 10, 2017	November 15, 2017
6	Roswell's Bizarre UFO Crash	November 17, 2017	November 22, 2017
7	The Mysterious Disappearance of the Roanoke Colony	November 24, 2017	November 29, 2017
8	London's Haunted Viaduct Tavern	December 1, 2017	December 6, 2017
9	The Chilling Chambers of Colchester Castle	December 8, 2017	December 13, 2017
10	The Subterranean Terrors of the London Tombs	December 15, 2017	December 20, 2017

Season 4

#	Episode	Published	Postmortem Q+A Episode
1	The Search for the Mysterious Mothman	April 20, 2018	April 25, 2018
2	The Shadowy Spirits of Rolling Hills Asylum	April 27, 2018	May 2, 2018
3	The Demonic Bellaire House	May 4, 2018	May 9, 2018
4	The Phantom Prisoners of Ohio State Penitentiary	May 11, 2018	May 16, 2018
5	The Unexplained Phoenix Lights Phenomenon	May 18, 2018	May 23, 2018
6	The Spirits of Moon River Brewing	May 25, 2018	May 30, 2018
7	The Horrifying Sorrel-Weed Haunted Mansion	June 1, 2018	June 6, 2018
8	The Mystical Villa Montezuma Mansion	June 8, 2018	June 13, 2018

Season 5

#	Episode	Published	Postmortem Q+A Episode
1	Return to the Horrifying Winchester Mansion	October 19, 2018	October 24, 2018
2	The Demon Priest of Mission Solano	October 26, 2018	October 31, 2018
3	The Terrors of Yuma Territorial Prison	November 2, 2018	November 8, 2018
4	3 Videos from the Pentagon's Secret UFO Program	November 9, 2018	November 14, 2018
5	The Haunted Town of Tombstone	November 16, 2018	November 21, 2018
6	The Haunting of Hannah Williams	November 23, 2018	November 29, 2018
7	The Hunt for La Llorona - The Weeping Woman	April 4, 2019	-
8	The Demonic Curse of Annabelle the Doll	June 28, 2019	-

Season 6

#	Episode	Published
1	The Hidden Secrets of Area 51	September 20, 2019
2	The Haunting Shadows of the St. Augustine Lighthouse	September 27, 2019
3	The Lost Souls of the USS Yorktown	October 4, 2019
4	The Hollywood Ghosts of the Legendary Viper Room	October 11, 2019
5	The Haunting of Loey Lane	October 18, 2019
6	The Unbelievable Horrors of the Old City Jail	October 25, 2019

Buzzfeed Unsolved - Sports Conspiracies

Season 1

#	Episode	Published
1	The Mysterious Retirement of Michael Jordan	December 14, 2017
2	Patrick Ewing and the Frozen Envelope	December 21, 2017
3	The Strange Case of Deflategate	December 28, 2017
4	Muhammad Ali and the Phantom Punch	January 4, 2018
5	The Notorious Game 6 of Lakers vs. Kings	January 11, 2018

Spin-offs and Specials

Holiday Specials

#	Episode	Published
1	The Legend of Krampus	December 17, 2017
2	Hey There Demons, It's a Spooky Yule Log	December 17, 2018

Retrospectives

#	Episode	Published
1	Unsolved Almost 70th Episode Retrospective	July 15, 2018

Crossovers

#	Episode	Published
1	The Try Guys Sleep in a Fan's Haunted Bedroom • The Try Vlog (feat. BuzzFeed Unsolved)	September 30, 2017
2	Ryan and Shane Eat Everything Boysenberry at Knott's Berry Farm	April 13, 2018
3	Ryan and Shane Make Each Other in The Sims 4	June 9, 2018
4	Ryan & Shane Choose a Fan's Haunted House • The Sims 4	June 26, 2018
5	Shane Controls His Friend's Life in The Sims 4 • Ryan	August 4, 2018
6	Ryan and Shane Try To Make Apple Taters	August 5, 2018
7	We Styled Ryan & Shane • Ladylike	August 8, 2018
8	Ryan Control's His Friend's Life in The Sims 4 • Shane	August 11, 2018
9	Ryan & Shane Seduce a Ghost in The Sims 4	August 18, 2018
10	Shane and Ryan Try To Kill The Try Guys in The Sims 4	August 25, 2018
11	Ryan and Shane from BuzzFeed Unsolved visit Knott's Scary Farm 2018	October 17, 2018
12	Worth It Meets Unsolved in The Sims 4	November 17, 2018

The Hot Daga

The "Hot Daga" is an animated mini show series shown at the end of Postmortem episodes, created, written, and narrated by host Shane Madej. The first episode of the Hot Daga Saga began at the end of the Postmortem episode "The Boy in the Box - Q+A".[14] Although at the beginning of episodes, Madej jokes that the show is commissioned by his co-host Ryan Bergara, Bergara is infamously not a fan of the series. However, Bergara listens to the show as it is narrated to the audience, though he does not fail to admonish it at any given opportunity. He once wore a T-shirt with a caption stating 'I hate the Hot Daga', although many have claimed this to be untrue.

Notable characters include Pam, the evil hotdog witch, Gene, the french fries, Maizie, a holographic lesbian corn icon, and the Plupples (fruits that are like peaches, but sexier and blue). Another character, Dr. Ernesto Gordon Goondis, is voiced by Bergara through Madej's splicing of many of his dialogues from Unsolved and connecting them to create the voice of the character.

The series originated when Madej jokingly wanted a skateboarding hot dog at the end of a Q + A episode, and it has grown to multiple mini-episodes and musical numbers which are sung by Madej himself. Since Season 5 of True Crime, the end of some Postmortem episodes have included a "Roast Mortem" section where the hosts go through commenters' roasts on the hosts in the episode in question. The segment later changed to "Toast Mortem" during the COVID-19 pandemic to spread positivity during quarantine. This segment has replaced the Hot Daga episodes.

The last installment of The Hot Daga took place in September 2018. In April 2020, the Soundcloud account for the Risky Fixins' published a new version of the musical number "Believe Me, Maizey" with morse code at the end of it. This morse code translates to "SPACE AND THYME AND SPACE AND THYME" repeated. Fans speculate as to whether or not this may indicate the Hot Doga's return in 2020.

References

1. BuzzfeedBlue (October 4, 2017). JFK - Q+A (Special Announcement). YouTube. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
2. Klein, Jessica (October 6, 2017). "Watch Season 3 Trailer of BuzzFeed Unsolved Supernatural". TubeFilter. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
3. North, Caroline (November 9, 2017). "Denton Urban Legend Put to the Test on Buzzfeed Web Series". Dallas Observer. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
4. Gorsek, Stephanie (September 4, 2017). "BuzzFeed's One Redeeming Quality Is This Series". The Odyssey. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
5. "Buzzfeed Unsolved TV Show - Season 11 Episodes List - Next Episode". next-episode.net. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
6. Todd Spangler (December 9, 2019). "Ex-BuzzFeed Video Staffers Launch Watcher Entertainment Digital Studio (EXCLUSIVE)". Retrieved December 27, 2019.
7. Geoff Weiss (December 9, 2019). "BuzzFeed Loses 3 More Creators, Who Have Exited To Launch Indie Studio 'Watcher'". Retrieved December 13, 2019.
8. Entwistle, Lauren (September 21, 2017). ""Hey Demons, it's me… ya boi" – how Buzzfeed Unsolved is bringing out the pseudo-sleuths in all of us". Medium. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
9. "The Internet's Funniest Ghost Hunters Aren't Going to Solve Anything". Retrieved September 11, 2018.
10. Pellock, Megan (October 25, 2017). ""BuzzFeed Unsolved" Is A Great Show To Watch This Halloween Season". The Odyssey. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
11. Francisco, Eric. "How Choosing New Crimes Changed 'BuzzFeed Unsolved'". Inverse. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
12. Anantharaman, Maitreyi (February 5, 2019). "'Buzzfeed: Unsolved' a spooky salve for a lonely generation". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
13. "Ryan Bergara on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
14. BuzzFeed Multiplayer. "The Boy In The Box - Q+A" – via YouTube.

External links

• Buzzfeed Unsolved Network's channel on YouTube
• Buzzfeed Unsolved: True Crime on IMDb
• Buzzfeed Unsolved: Supernatural on IMDb