Mystery Hunters
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| Mystery Hunters | |
|---|---|
| Format | Documentary |
| Starring | Christina Broccolini Araya Mengesha David Acer |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| No. of episodes | 63 (as of season 3) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Discovery Kids |
| Original run | 2002 – present |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
Mystery Hunters is a Discovery Kids program. It is also seen on YTV in Canada.
Teenaged hosts Araya and Christina investigate real-life reports of mysteries such as ghosts, monsters, vampires and UFOs. They use scientific rigour to try to find plausible explanations for the sightings and eye-witness accounts that trigger their investigations. In another section of the show, Doubting Dave, a scientist played by David Acer, attempts to explain mysterious personal experiences that have been emailed in by viewers, in a feature called "V-Files".
Produced by Apartment 11 Productions, three seasons and 65 episodes of the series have been made, and it has garnered awards and accolades from around the world, including eight Gemini Award nominations, a 2006 Parents' Choice Award, and a 2007 Japan Prize (sponsored by the Japanese television network NHK) for the "Stonehenge" episode, awarded the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Prize in the Early Education category.
Contents |
[edit] Sequence
The program begins with a teaser that introduces the two investigations of the week, leading into the opening title sequence. Then follows part one of each of the two stories with Araya and Christina each featured in one. Then the "V-File"; Doubting Dave answers a viewers' question about some mysterious occurrence. Then, part two of each adventure.
Next comes the "Mystery Lab" segment featuring "Doubting Dave" doing some kind of experiment or laboratory demonstration to illustrate a point that is most often related to that week's theme. Finally, Araya and Christina conclude their stories.
At the conclusion of each program the hosts appear together in a comedic wrap-up link, usually closing out with the Mystery Hunters signature tag-line: "Remember, things aren't always what they seem!"
[edit] Episodes
- See Also Mystery Hunters episodes
[edit] Season 1
- Skunk Ape / Bigfoot
- The Prison Inn / Seeing-Ghost Bugs
- Ogopogo Lake Monster / Mummy Case
- New England Vampires / Aurora Borealis
- Hypnosis / Pet Psychics
- Ice Mummy / Cryonics
- Brown Mountain Lights / Spoon Bending
- Nazca Lines / Trophy Heads
- Bermuda Triangle / Cave Ghost
- Mexican Mummies / Secret Animal Talk
- Ghettsyburg Ghosts / Voodoo
- MacBeth / Salem
- Dragons / Sewer Gators
- Desert Mummies / Remote Viewing
- Loch Ness / Whooper
- Ambrose Small / Missing Princess
- Werewolves / Dracula
- Area 51 / Roswell
- Bell Witch / Anne Boleyn
- Giant Squid / Cannibals
- Pirates / Castle Ghosts
- Dinos / Imhotep
- Alien Encounter / Crop Cirles
- King Tut Curse / King Tut Murder
- Giant Sloth
- Best of MH Investigators
[edit] Season 2
- Alcatraz / Cemetery Poltergeist
- Banshee / Moth Man
- Alamo Ghost / Hampton Court Ghost Video
- Amazon / Thunderbird
- Ghost Planes / Cursed Ship
- Irish Castle Ghost / Jesse James
- Shag Harbour UFO / Ilkley Moor Alien Photo
- Ghost Ships / Underground Vaults
- Grand Canyon / Bog Body
- Beast of Exmoor / Cadborosaurus
- Shadow People / Frankenstein
- Sliders / Timeslip
- Ghost Dog / Swamp Monster
- Great Lakes / Spooklight
- River Dino / Ghost Town
- Mystery Disc / Tikal
- Cursed Island / Mayan Water Graves
- Ice Mummy / Tom Thomson
- Princess Anastasia
- Haunted lighthouse / Mexican UFO
- Hidden Treasure Fort / Lost City of Atlantis
- Face Scratchers / Cyclops
- Oracle of Delphi / Cursed Fort
- NASA UFO / Montreal UFO
- Taj Mahal / Labyrinth
- Best of Mystery Hunters
[edit] Season 3
- Giant Shark
- Underwater UFOS
- King's Close and Winchester House
- Chupacabra
- Stonehenge
- Cave City and Underwater City
- Screaming Skull and Pele
- King Midas and Blood Cave.
- Alien Contact
- Cowboy Mummy and Giants
- Fence Post Ghost and Warrior Ghosts
- Lusca and Lake Iliamna Monster
- Behind the Scenes Special
[edit] Characters
Doubting Dave - Araya and Christina
Doubting Dave, played by David Acer, typifies the "sceptical scientist" (Rational Sceptic). Where as the Araya and Christina characters are rather more open minded, Doubting Dave is a hard-edged hater of the irrational who revels in debunking dubious claims. Christina, is the girl point of viewer in the horror series. She tries to be more of a skeptic.
[edit] Music
Claude Castonguay, Christian Clermont and Marc Ouellette compose the musical score for "Mystery Hunters". It is a mixture of pop, techno and orchestral styles. The composers were nominated for a Gemini Award (Canada's Emmys) in 2005 in the category "Best Original Music Score for a Documentary Program or Series".
[edit] DVD releases
In September of 2007, the first-ever Mystery Hunters DVD was released in Canada, a three-episode collection timed for Halloween called Mystery Hunters: Beastly Beings and Monstrous Mysteries, and in the Fall of 2008, a Mystery Hunters/Doubting Dave guide to paranormal tricks and hoaxes called Gotcha! 18 Amazing Ways to Freak Out Your Friends will be published by Kids Can Press.
Another DVD was released early December 2007, titled Mystery Hunters: Alien Encounters, featuring three episodes from the series about the said topic. Extras include interviews with the cast and a behind the scenes featurette with Araya.
