The original In Search of… series was before my time, running from 1977 to 1982 – ending a year before I was born. I have heard a lot about that series, though, as members of the generation before mine seem to have been deeply disturbed by the Leonard Nimoy-hosted show, which was dedicated to exploring "mysterious phenomena".
In Search of… began with a few specials that were hosted by The Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling, with Nimoy taking over when the show went to series after Serling passed away. For nearly 150 episodes, Nimoy hosted explorations into all sorts of mysteries, conspiracies, and reports of supernatural or extraterrestrial events. Explorations that apparently freaked out a whole lot of kids who were tuning in weekly. I have an idea of how they felt – my generation had the show Unsolved Mysteries to terrify us.
In 2002, an attempt was made to revive In Search of… with Mitch Pileggi hosting, but that version of the show only lasted eight episodes.
Now the HISTORY network has greenlit another In Search of… revival, and it has a very interesting host in place: Zachary Quinto, the actor who took over the role of Spock from Nimoy in the recent STAR TREK films. Now Quinto is following in Nimoy's footsteps again for this new In Search of…, which will
explore unexplained phenomena — alien encounters, UFO sightings, time travel, and artificial intelligence — from all around the world.
Each episode will follow Quinto as he investigates these great mysteries and will feature accounts from witnesses and scholars “with a personal connection to the phenomenon” and demonstrations that will hopefully provide context to the episode’s theme.
Quinto had this to say about the revival:
I am so excited to be reimagining In Search Of and exploring new questions and phenomena with all of the advancements in science and technology from which we have benefitted in the past forty years since the original series first aired. In the spirit of my late dear friend Leonard Nimoy, we intend to honor and perpetuate his endless curiosity about the world — and universe — in which we live. Our director Eddie Schmidt and our partners at Propagate, Universal Television Alternative Studio and FremantleMedia International have ignited the process with enthusiasm and intelligence, and HISTORY is the perfect home for this unique and compelling series."
The initial season of this In Search of… is set to be 10 episodes long. The series is being executive produced by Quinto, Eddie Schmidt, Zachary Behr, Ben Silverman, Howard Owens, and Brett-Patrick Jenkins.