''The UnXplained'' is a television series on

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

that claims to "explore subjects that have mystified mankind for centuries". The show is hosted and executive produced by

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...

. It premiered on July 19, 2019, and has aired for four seasons on the History network. The show has not yet been renewed for a fifth season.

Background

On March 27, 2019,

greenlit ''The UnXplained'' hosted and executive produced by

and ordered an initial six episodes. The show is produced by

Prometheus Entertainment Prometheus Entertainment is an American production company, specializing in documentary, reality, and non-fiction television programming and specials. History Prometheus Entertainment was formed in March 1999 by Kevin Burns. It was housed at F ...

Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary film, documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle United States, American History of the United States, history and Culture of the ...

and Susan Leventhal also executive produced the first season. History later increased the episode order to an eight episode first season. It premiered July 19, 2019. After the first season History ordered another 20 episodes. The show interviews scientists, historians, engineers, witnesses, and researchers about various "mysterious" topics. Season one appeared on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

in June 2022. Netflix is rumored to be considering ordering season five of ''The UnXplained''.

Episodes

''Sources for the episode lists below can be found here.''

Season 1 (2019–20)

Season 2 (2020–21)

Season 3 (2021–22)

Season 4 (2022)

Critical reception

Writing in ''Irish Film Critic'', Thomas Tunstall reported that the show's "subject matter runs all over the board, as if designed for an audience with attention deficit disorder. Though Shatner enthusiastically poses many questions, he provides far fewer satisfactory answers – perhaps by design in order to retain the sense of mystery." Professor

Sarah Parcak Sarah Helen Parcak is an American archaeologist and Egyptologist, who has used satellite imagery to identify potential archaeological sites in Egypt, Rome and elsewhere in the former Roman Empire. She is a professor of Anthropology and director o ...

criticized the shows presentation of archaeology, writing "as it turns out, 'A great archaeological mystery' is a code phrase for 'We are too lazy to read or even Google and honestly, racism is far easier than admitting non white people were/are brilliant innovators.'"

Effects on real world

The season one episode ''Evil Places'' included a segment on Lake Shawnee Amusement Park. After the episode's release on Netflix, the amusement park saw a substantial increase in visitors and tourists.

References

External links

* *
''The UnXplained''
on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Unxplained William Shatner History (American TV channel) original programming Earth mysteries Unexplained phenomena Mythological monsters Paranormal 2019 American television series debuts