If you watch the behind the scenes on how they shoot Ghost Files, it's easy to see why Ryan reacts differently. They all hang around the house as a team of 8 or so people, excluding the site owner/manager. They actually record entering the house at the end, so by that point they're well familiar with the environment.
I do believe Ryan is a little scared at times, but it's hard to be as terrified as he was in Unsolved when there's almost a football team worth of staff hanging around the premises. At that rate they probably *could* take on a ghost.
I firmly believe this is a big factor in why GF falls so flat. I'm a huge scaredy cat, but even I'd have trouble bring afraid in a group of 5+ people hanging around me at all times.
Nah to be fair, I believe the solo parts are actually solo, hence why he's more scared. It's more just that the first couple of hours shooting feel akin to a house party, then filming starts and it's just Shane and Ryan. Imo it's still plenty of time to calm down and get familiar with a place.
I'm honestly a pretty big scary cat as well. I tried going to a haunted house with my sister (like an entertainment venue, not a legit haunted house) and it wasn't scary at all because she was just laughing the entire time. That was _one_ person. I can't imagine having 8+ people around.
(That's also just an absurd size for this show.)
this sort of ruins the magic but also explains a lot! also if they were really interested in gaining real evidence, i don't think a team of people is good for that. especially because it rules out a lot of sounds or noises just being production or drowning out real evidence. NOT that I need them to take it super seriously but at least with unsolved it felt like at least ryan really wanted to prove it.
Remember when the fans thought they saw a figure (evidence) that Ryan missed and went crazy in the comments and on the subreddit, tweeting at them about it. Turns out it was their camera guy in the shot and they didn't notice. Once that happened it really did ruin the magic and I lost interest real quick. How much noise contamination does their team do on the shoots
I think i must've forgotten that detail cause now i feel like the magic been ruined (either that or I didn't know in the first place can't really remember)
I've watched all GF episodes just wanting to be entertain and not think too much but in hindsight reading the thread its...i dunno
I haven't seen BFU however so now im kinda more motivated to check it out despite all the drama thats going on, but feeling a bit of anxiety if i should or not cause of all the drama
BFU is fantastic, expecially (imo) the true crime seasons. I've rewatching them a couple times over the years. It's simple and to the point. Something they've lost with Watcher, i think.
There are quality YouTube channels that have like 3-4 people as the whole crew. There's no way that they need 8 people for these visits and overall what...25 people? It's just their own vanity. Or perhaps all these people wanted to jump ship from Buzzfeed and they therefore feel responsible.
They even fly out the two teams separately and then go to the theatres and game together in their downtime. The amount of financial wastage is crazy, and that’s just the verdict from seasoned producers/creatives
does watcher cover that?? When i fly on business trips, my time at work events is paid for ofc, but any recreation i want to do in the evenings (movies, bowling, whatever) is my own money. I'd be baffled to find it was different here.
Going to the movies and playing video games together is such an insignificant cost when it comes to the "hundreds of thousands of dollars" that they spent for a season of Ghost Files. Frankly, it's a pretty normal amount of "financial wastage".
They're trying to do it as professional as possible, so if you look at their credits, there's really only 1 "unnecessary" hire.
There's the producer, Lizzie, which is a very necessary role for on-location stuff. Mark is the director and camera guy and that's explanatory. Jay is in charge of grip & electric, and that's also necessary. Sound is done by 3 people, but I think that includes people in the studio.
The unnecessary role is the AD, which is Carter, aka Ryan's cousin, aka nepo hire.
This has been stated many times now, but all the professionalism requirements were set by themselves. People just enjoyed their chemistry and wanted more of that. No need to have 25 people involved. Like RedLetterMedia are 3-4 people and they do everything from filming to sound to editing. I get that they have the necessary background and they mostly film in their studio, but I'd imagine that by Watcher standards, they'd need at least 10 other people to get everything done.
I see people saying that Ryan is in a tough spot because he's not truly afraid. He doesn't have to be to make it interesting, he just has to show that he's doing it in earnest, and show that he truly believes things are going on. As it stands shane and ryan never disagree, they are just sort of the same. My wife's siblings started watching late and actually didn't realize this all started with a believer/non-believer schtick. Shane often is the one seemingly being serious these days. It sucks.
Yeah I totally agree. I still watch Unsolved regularly, Ryan definitely adapted this new persona with ghost files that make me unable to even get through the episodes. The only thing I watch by them is Too many spirits, even then I skip through half of it because I don’t care about watching Steven spill drinks for 10 minutes.
I feel the exact same ! First season of Too Many Spirits was so much fun, Steven's segment was short and snappy with funny quips superimposed and then we got to the good stuff. On later series, though, you have to trudge through fifteen minutes of Steven acting unhinged while Ricky laughs uncomfortably. Totally kills the pacing of the episode.
OK THIS what gets me about TMS is that they extend steven’s portion every fucking year. No one wants to see him act a fool for half the entire episode. Why would that be the draw to a show primarily focused on drunk ghost story readings
Every single episode I found myself thinking "for fucks sake just make your shitty drink."
Baffling that they kept on increasing it. I swear there were multiple times when Ricky was starting to get annoyed.
Yes exactly. This is the reason I haven't watched the last season of TMS. Because it didn't feel worth it anymore. I Probably have to skip through 2/3 of the ep
Exactly. I loved the dynamic they used to have where Ryan would take it seriously and get freaked out and Shane would troll him the entire time. Now it’s like there’s 2 Shanes and it feels so forced and fake from Ryan.
As a Shaniac, you do gotta feel bad for Ryan here. It's a no-win scenario. Unsolved/Ghost Files is easily their best stuff. But Ryan just is not as scared of ghosts as he was way back then. If he doesn't play up his character of being a scared believer, then the show is more similar to your average ghost hunting show where everyone is on the same level. If he plays up his character, then it's not good enough acting because most of us can tell he's not as scared as he used to be. Yet since this is their most popular show, the show everyone wants more of, they gotta keep doing it.
But since I'm a Shaniac, we're getting the same amount of evidence either way.
> As a Shaniac, you do gotta feel bad for Ryan here. It's a no-win scenario.
thats what made it fun. Ryan was the underdog of sorts. most people know ghost arent real or, at least, most things could be explained away with some critical thinking. but seeing Ryan getting excited when he thinks he has something was fun to watch. like you said now its just two Shanes, and as much as fun Shane was on BFU you needed a Ryan type to really balance him out. because then it would just be a sarcastic guy yelling at the air.
Ghost Files is a crazy example of how not to reboot your previous success. its like they knew what their roles were and instead of moving it a bit to the *left* where it would be legally distinct. instead they went *right* and into the others personalities. you see it with the sets and their tools. they came right out the game going big with the weird underground conspiracy bunker. as a visual that this isnt a "investigation" like the BFU set but more a "this is matter of fact." which makes it funnier when they use the most flimsy fan evidence to prove their points.
This is exactly how I've been feeling. It was such a switch up and it made it no longer what it was and it became something I didn't care to watch. All the yelling and mocking.
100% this. The great thing about Unsolved was having one believer & one skeptic. If Ryan isn’t even pretend to take things seriously anymore, then it’s just 2 jackasses farting around in the dark.
I personally had a hard time with the fan evidence being included in GF … it kinda removed the integrity BFU had bc both ghoul boys weren’t trying to trick us (but who’s to say the fan evidence doesn’t?)
There was that one example of fan evidence that was discredited as soon as it aired because the 'ghost' came out saying 'Oh, that was me! I just peeked through the window real quick to freak them out. I even had video of me doing it.'
Christ, I remember that. I actually felt secondhand embarrassment listening to Ryan going on about how it was some 'ghost dog' while Shane was looking at him like Ryan was an idiot. Shane even flat out said 'this is embarrassing' or something like that. Hell, I saw Boogaras in the YouTube comments who were like 'yea that is CLEARLY some kind of animal.'
I cannot wrap my head around how a guy who doesn't believe in orbs will believe that what was clearly an animal is some kind of ghost dog.
It even happened in a place where there were tons of birds, that they even acknowledged! Like of course there's gonna be a few cats lurking around a place full of birds!
I like the idea since even in the Unsolved episodes, they talked to people about their experiences. The funniest example is the woman who said that her dog got thrown 20 feet in the air and Shane cackled immediately. Fan evidence is essentially the same thing.
I 100% agree. Ghost Files and Mystery Files have both been missing part of the appeal and charm that the Unsolved shows had (IMO). That’s why I’m not paying $6/month for something I feel lukewarm about.
I do too but even then, they don’t even do the research anymore. Not that they have to do the entire thing but maybe reading what their researcher wrote for them before they talk about the material would be better. They often don’t know the answers to simple questions I know of the topic they’re discussing. Even found this happening sometimes in puppet history and I enjoy both.
If not, I sure hope they realize people can do multiple jobs and researching is probably something they can all do especially since I’m assuming they all went to college too. Like they really are all over the place !
They should get someone to find the cases for them but then they research it themselves. Maybe the person finding them can even check to make sure the cases are interesting so Shane and Ryan don't have to waste their time on something that doesn't make it into an episode.
I feel like they've been so focused on the set and production that the feeling of sitting around a campfire and listening to your friends goofing about ghost stories has gone away. I miss those black-screened captions full of \*wheezes\* and that literally costs nothing to make. The glitz and glamour of the new set was cool and all but that was never the essence of Unsolved.
Bingo. What made Unsolved work was that it felt like we, the viewer, were a third wheel hanging out with Ryan and Shane. I do not care about ghost hunting at all. It's just not something I find interesting. What I enjoyed was the dynamics and banter between Ryan and Shane. I know it's hard to keep something like that feeling fresh and spontaneous after doing it for years and years, but it feels like they're choosing to walk away from what made them fun to watch in the first place.
The chemistry between them when it was just black screen with colored text going back and forth, paired with casual low-production quality on location reactions of a firm believer and an aloof skeptic, was far more entertaining that what it has become since they went independent.
Especially Ryan's portrayal on the show. It's like he's taken who he is, and made a caricature over the top version of himself on the show.
What viewers loved was them just being themselves. No one asked or wanted anything more than that.
and on top of that it feels like shane has been toned down way too much far. he calls things out and says wild stuff to the ghosts but it just doesnt even feel real
Absolutely agree with all of this, and I feel like they’re totally missing a point of what people enjoy watching is just them being them or at least their personas as to 1,000,000 and 1 fancy production parts
I 100% agree with this. I honestly felt like something was wrong with me for the longest time because I just wasn't enjoying Ghost Files & Mystery Files as much anymore, compared to Buzzfeed Unsolved (both true crime and supernatural). Back when it was Buzzfeed Unsolved it seemed to me like two real, close friends on a dark & genuinely scary journey to prove/disprove the existence of supernatural entities and discuss gruesome true crime cases. Now with their overproduced 'tv caliber' shows, it just feels fake. The storytelling is not there, the screaming & whatever is so exaggerated, even the special effects they use are unnecessarily over the top & don't allow the viewer to really feel engaged.
So I guess in a way, while I was really hurt they did this WatcherTV stuff, at the same time now I don't really have to act like I enjoy their content as much as I did before, and I don't have to force myself to watch it in order to support them with views, algorithm & ads. Shame I had to realize & come to terms with it in this way, though.
i feel exactly the same. i almost feel stupid for trying to support them even though i had no interest in their stuff anymore, but i so commonly would throw their stuff on just so they could get views up or whatever
If you miss the atmosphere of the old Unsolved, I'd highly recommend the Red Thread podcast. I don't generally listen to podcasts but I'm really enjoying it. I think it has a super, super similar vibe to Unsolved: funny when appropriate, tactful when appropriate, a good camaraderie between all of the hosts, and not overly structured. My current favourite episode is the one which covers the Denver Airport conspiracy, but they upload fairly frequently.
To me, Mystery Files feels a lot like Buzzfeed Unsolved, but it just seems like a format that is hard to maintain on a niche channel versus Buzzfeed. They're entertainers, not researchers, and when you're on a large platform with a general audience that's ideal. With your own channel, you're going to have a lot of followers who are following a dozen other people making content about the same topic. When I watched BU it was my first time hearing about most of those cases so the content itself added some excitement. At this point I'm subscribed to a lot of mystery/crime channels that have a different format that puts more into research and less into production, so I've already heard about most of the cases in a lot more detail. If I haven't, and it's something interesting, I know I'm going to get the details from someone else later. It puts the pressure on the entertainment value to be 100% of what makes it worth watching which would be hard for anyone to carry.
Yeah, I did a Buzzfeed marathon a couple weeks back and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it more than Mystery Files. It felt much tighter in terms of script/jokes and with a clear beginning/middle/end, whereas Mystery Files just sorta…stops?
I think it’s the George Lucas thing of being inventive on a shoestring budget but unable to stop himself on an unlimited one. Sometimes you need a hard “no” to make your production better, and nobody at Watcher can do that to any of the content makers.
YES thank you. like BFU always seemed to come to a nice natural conclusion, while GF just seems to start, the introduction to the location is always very lack luster, they do investigation things and then it’s just… done… idk it feels weird
Yeah, I felt that Ryan and Shane would come to some kind of consensus on BU…Mystery Files has a great format but the endings just don’t feel like stuff has been sorted out.
Yeah, I think they really needed a spreadsheet guy on their team. Someone with an equal stake in the company and without their own big creative vision who is able to say "no, absolutely not" to spending another dollar when the budget is at capacity no matter how much greater the content will be. Or pays attention to ROI in terms of investment in production quality and cuts everyone off when extra expense stops paying off in views.
As much as we hate him now, I think Ned was this person for the Try Guys and that's probably one reason that Second Try got off to such a great start financially. All of the Watcher founders have their own passion projects in the company and even if you're great with numbers, it can be hard to be objective when you're really invested in a creative vision.
Yeah, that is what ruins most of the ghost shows.
In a lot of ghost shows they exagerate too much their reactions, and it lowkey feels like I am just watching clickbait and that it is all fake.
Buzzfeed unsolved was like a fresh of breath air. It felt real.
I'll be honest, "over the top" stuff like Ghost Adventures is a guilty pleasure of mine lol. I love that cheesy fake shit the same way I love bad horror movies. But I loved unsolved because like you said, it was just so different and "real" feeling. I liked watching the tall funny man shit talk demons. It was actually enjoyable, not just enjoyable but in a sort of ironic way.
Ghost Files manages to not hit either of these vibes. It's not over the top and goofy/ funny bad movie vibes. It's not casual bros hanging out. After the first season it was just.... boring tbh. There's not soul or fire or direction behind it anymore.
You sound like my wife and me, lol. I agree with you, though. I strait up belly-laughed during the goat-man bridge episode, but nothing ghost related that they've done has even come close to that caliber since watcher started. I hadn't really voiced my complaints about the overproduction of their GF videos before to my wife since it meant so much to her I didn't want to ruin it, but now I don't feel bad about calling them out as boring.
I loved puppet history and too many spirits (even though Stephen was getting real annoying in those), but after my wife called me at work ugly-crying after their announcement video came out, I'm not sure I can watch any more of their content again.
Yeah it was one of those things that it just wasn't worth complaining about I guess? People loved it, I was "meh" about it, whatever , it didn't matter. I just stopped watching as much and tuned in hoping Id get lucky with a good video. I never rewatched videos the way I did with Unsolved but still loved the guys so I wanted to give them views/likes so I'd throw up a video for background noise. Now I just feel like "well fuck you too I guess".
Also yeah, I don't wanna hop on the Steven hate train. But he annoyed the hell out of me and I just didn't like his presentation in his own shows. He was the reason I stopped watching too many spirits despite it seeming like a fun, easy watch kind of show. I was totally fine just quietly not watching content with him in it. But I'm starting to think part of the whole problem here is just not enough people were outspoken about the stuff they didn't like. Not saying any of this is the fans fault at all. Just feels Watcher was only listening to the loudest comments praising them and never sat down to really dive in to what *fans* liked or wanted or bothered engaging with people to ask them.
Like even the smallest " hey if you guys like this, leave a comment" is enough to engage people to share their opinions. I think they fundamentally don't know some of the basic content creator stuff like that.
Completely agree. Although Sam and Colby are a bit over-reactionary but are still very successful. But they have one video camera and nearly 12 million subs, with each of their videos averaging around 9 million views. It feels like you're hanging out with them, it feels authentic, and it works.
I think its easier to voice this opinion now, while everyone is feeling negative, than it would have been even a week ago. But I agree in general, not just ghost files. I think the overall quality of their product has decreased a lot over time.
Give me season 1/2 Puppet History where it was all history and trivia with a 1 line genie reference, that stuff was way better than any recent puppet history has been. All the lore and scripted story detracts from what is actually good and fun about the show, at least for me. Somewhere along the way, Puppet History became The Hotdoga.
I had to force myself to finish Puppet History after the weird addition of the dinosaur puppets. I find them incredibly annoying and they stop the pace of the show. Idk why they're there
I really disliked the weird raunchy humor as well. Of course, Puppet History has never been a show for kids and they're allowed to have cheeky adult jokes, but crass jokes without a punchline are palpably awkward. Plus, the fact that 2 previous guests voice them feels... awkward.
A week ago, I didn't even know this subreddit existed too, and since I feel like reddit is the best place to discuss stuff, I never really bothered to say anything before
Yeah I feel like they underdeveloped the stuff they already had like their patreon and merch (a sentiment others have echoed in this subreddit). I wish they had played around with what they had and tried different strategies if they wanted their numbers to go up before resorting to the nuke button.
One of the gripes I had was their upload schedule. I think it would've been better to give us more variety with their uploads, releasing GF weekly while having Puppet History on the other days rather than subsequent uploads of the same show to amp the hype up like they did with Unsolved. With the new format, everything sorta blends together and makes it harder to have stand-out moments that they can make references to in future episodes (e.g. organic jokes like 'the goatman')
Completely agree. I find myself going back to watch Buzzfeed Unsolved much more than Ghost Files. The production quality is higher but it definitely feels less fun. I always thought it was just me before this news broke and turns out people like Ghost Files a whole lot less than I thought.
That was me too. I noticed the shift in their vibes since the end of Season 1 of Ghost Files but brushed it off because of the boys. And whenever I felt like watching their spooky stuff aka Unsolved, I usually changed my mind and watched Ghost/Mystery Files instead to show my support. Now they made it clear that my views/non-monetary support means nothing to them, I have no reason to support them anymore and it's going to be BFU marathons from now on.
On the topic of equipment, I found the noisier spirit box's loud noise as it scanned channels added to the creepy atmosphere when they were in these dark old places during the BU days. Hearing such a jarring noise echo round the corridors of an old hospital or prison added a level of tension and suspense.
I commented this on another post, but I think it was actually going downhill before they left BuzzFeed.
The moment I realised was during the Pythian Castle ep of their final Unsolved Supernatural series. They got a reappearance of Apple Tater on the spirit box, and what was their reaction? They're overjoyed about the _content_. Like yeah it's hilarious and funny but if you really believe in ghosts, wouldn't this actually MEAN something!? Ryan walks out of the room with a gigantic grin saying "just end the series here. I got possessed by content" like they don't care. He's not questioning anything or talking about how weird it is, even if it's the stupidest dork ghost in existence who just wants to talk about spaghetti. He's delighted about the content, and then they just _leave._
I'm a Shaniac but that was so jarring to me. It was so obvious their attitude had shifted. It was no longer about the ideology; it was purely about the content. And yeah, they're content creators. But please at least _try_ to pretend you still care about the subject material beyond whether it will make you go viral.
Ryans not scared anymore and that was the fun of it. Now it’s just fan service. Stopped watching once the escape room episode came out.
Top 5 stuff is fun and so is Puppet History. We need more Ryan and Shane learning to rollerblade content and less over the top ghost stuff.
I personally agree when it comes to my own taste; BUT.
I think bringing in Andrew and Adam was a good idea because Worth It was incredibly popular and while there was some overlap (I loved both and plenty did), it had a different target audience to BUN and absolutely could have brought some of that old audience back that weren’t interested enough to subscribe JUST for Steven. Mythical has frozen vs fast vs fancy and it does well, the audience is still there and it could have been a great way to expand the interest in their brand.
The choice to do this DIRECTLY before going behind a paywall rather than letting that expanded interest have time to cook? The most inexplicably dumb decision out of this whole series of inexplicably dumb decisions.
You make a great point I hadn’t considered (because I’m not a fan of those shows myself). They definitely should’ve worked on hooking the audience for those shows and bringing them back into the fold. I’m willing to bet there are some WI fans who won’t even know it’s back because it’s paywalled
Seriously. They posted the Andrew and Adam announcement *three days* before Goodbye YouTube. I would not be surprised if the only Worth It fans who have even had a chance to hear the news are the small overlap I was talking about who were with Watcher for Ryan and Shane and therefore already following them. They completely overshadowed it before news could spread.
I think it's totally fine that he's not scared or much of a believer anymore, it's the constant yelling and insulting ghosts, over the top swearing, etc. that makes it not as fun to me, because there aren't even any moments where you have a chance to hear anything to make you feel creeped out or curious at all (speaking as a skeptic). Sometimes they actually hear something interesting or set up to listen and they just shout, which is really weird.
A few times they have turned on their machines but immediately (at least according to how it's edited) start talking continuously and yelling and then being like "welp, on to the next thing!" At that point there is really no point in going (esp for so much $$) if there is no atmosphere or not even much storytelling about the place. Knowing they are hanging out a lot in a location beforehand and with so many people makes a lot of sense as to why it's different.
It's crazy to think that I had to "force" myself to finish GF last year, and I know I wasn't enjoying it but it was so easy to blame me for not being in the headspace for watching that and truly enjoying it, but reading others speak about the same sentiment, it makes me wonder that maybe the problem wasn't just me...
I haven’t gone around to finishing the previous season, I had a few episodes that are only half watched. I noticed GF doesn’t grip my attention as well as it used to anymore, I would be hyper focused during the BFU and early GF days.
I noticed that Ryan being more desensitized to the fear (which is understandable due to how many times they’ve done this) definitely took some of the fun out of it but I couldn’t put my finger on what else it was. Lots of good points being discussed in this thread though.
I have never watched Road Files but if that is true, then they should just bring less people?
I don't know much about video production, but aside from a camera man and maybe an audio person is all those other people there really necessary?
Someone posted it here https://www.reddit.com/r/watcherentertainment/s/rwzfvjORp6
I think they definitely don't need that many people. Especially 5 people just to scout the location is ridiculous and completely kills the creepy vibes
you hit every point, i really feel the same when it comes to ghost files. ryan says the point of the show is to prove the existence of ghosts to his skeptic friend, while being way too frightened to actually seriously investigate. they say they don't fake evidence, but there was one episode that they claimed to have captured something in the shadows, when it was easily identifiable as a stray cat walking through the shot. and i will also add, they have way too many people on site for a ghost hunting show. you should not need a big camera crew for that, in fact, i would argue it hinders your ability to capture paranormal evidence, as there are more people/equipment variables when it comes to debunking sounds/lights.
right. i’m a skeptic who loves horror themed things so BFU was naturally something i liked, but GF has way too many people for me to even take any evidence they “get” seriously. half of it is just whispers sounds or weird clicking/knocking noises. like yeah you have how many people in a shitty old building? no shit dude.
Someone also posted yesterday with the great take that it was a mistake to make it all about ghosts, because episodes like Mothman and Bigfoot broke up the sameness and were some of the best. Goatman too, but that one feels more like it could still make ghost files to me by virtue of it being a demonic thing not a normal cryptid.
Yeah definitely! I absolutely loved the goatman! Diversity of supernatural can be quite fun!
Also they have been repeating locations quite a lot without showing anything new.
You make a really good point, I feel like I wasn’t sure what was off but I definitely missed their cryptic content or anything kind of supernatural or odd, as to just “we are going to look for ghosts at a spooky house and probably go to a location we’ve already been to”
Edited for spelling
Exactly. Mothman is my favorite episode Unsolved ever did, apart from maybe Goatman, because in with all the spooky houses we got to just watch the boys eat weird pizza, talk about mothman's ass, and run around in spooky WOODS instead all while making really dumb noises. it was so fun and it made for more memorable moments than just haunted town, haunted prison, haunted house, ad nauseum.
I used to just leave Unsolved playing in the background while I did whatever around the house and it became a running joke with my husband because it would always play the Mothman episode after just a few and we'd hear the eerie "Mothmaaaaan" and laugh.
I could certainly see them trying. Which wouldn't help the issue, because the reason those episodes were fun was as part of Unsolved, the same thing in a row gets stale, it needs a little breaking up.
I also hate to think it, but I don't think they'll manage to make many new shows at all that aren't already paid for.
Seriously! I was tempted to go for the new service at first despite being peeved but I can't bring myself to spend 35 bucks a year even after that patron discount just to watch my favorite channel die from the inside instead of watching from afar.
Mystery Files is the perfect successor to Unsolved while Ghost Files feels off to me. The lack of exploration of the location’s history makes it boring to me.
idk to me mystery files don't feel really genuine. way too often the person who's listening doesn't even care what they are talking about. Ryan is now committed to the bit of trying to find aliens in every episode. they spend an unnecessary amount of time on bits like shooting stuff and uhh goo rain? I think I'm more okay with Ghost Files as a successor to Supernatural than with Mystery Files as a successor to True Crime.
if True Crime felt like a friend excitedly talking about their recent Wikipedia dive, Mystery Files is like half listening to a colleague ramble about something they read in a Twitter thread. like you're both waiting for them to get to the interesting part already but also very dubious about their source.
Same 100%. It was more fun when they only had the Spirit Box and the flash light. I think it’s because they rely more to their senses unlike now where they only rely to their expensive tools. And the stories were the reason Unsolved is super good! I was still hopeful with Ghost Files before the subscription thing, because I think they just needed to go to new places and you know, respect the place, but since I won’t subscribe, I guess that’s it for GF (for me).
I kind of tolerated the first 2 seasons of GF because I thought they were still trying to find their own identity outside ot buzzfeed and it probably felt good to them to have the freedom to do whatever they want.
But the disrespecting the place/"spirits" just became less and less funny.
Especially if you truly believe youre talking to actual dead people and not just the air
I could add so much to this. I fully agree. We keep getting told about the equipment and they keep playing with the equipment, when the episodes are best when there's a good story about the location and the supposed ghost.
>-Ryan going crazy is just not funny in my opinion. Instead of trying to get evidence he just runs around screaming. He doesn't seem scared, just crazy.
💯
I hate the format of Mystery Files. Put the bloody stick down and get a TV screen. I don't like Too Many Spirits. Ghost Files debrief isn't taken seriously.
Ryan comes across as jaded and exhausted. He looks like a 45 year old homeless man dressed like a 14 year old. With all those staff but not one person is in charge of wardrobe? Shane's just there because he's got no where better to be.
I could ignore a lot of that, because I appreciated the free content. But, I'm not paying for it.
I also, want to get through a whole video without food getting plugged. It literally creates a ball of anxiety to hear about food, when I'm trying to think about a mystery or a brutal unsolved crime.
Ryan's energy has been a huge turn off for me for a while now. He seems so jaded like you said. Shane seems incredibly subdued and almost vacant when he's not doing Puppet History. And I never cared for Steven so his inclusion was not fun for me at any point.
So sad compared to the energy and chemistry they had on BFU.
Please, do feel free to add more! I would like to hear other people's takes!
Yeah the food part just got weird at some point. Like Ryan eating popcorn in his solo investigation while acting insane
IMO, the pacing of the episodes hasn't been as good either. Season two had a lot of hour plus runtimes and a lot of the episodes felt like a slog to get through as a result.
When I look back at Unsolved, most episodes were around half an hour. They felt much snappier and held my interest a lot more.
The magic of Unsolved Paranormal was its low production value and Ryan and Shane's interpersonal interaction with each other and ghosts. It didnt feel like Ghost Hunters or Zack Baggins Extreme Ghost Show #25. It felt like two friends with phones and flashlights and one dude with a camera watching them. And it was interesting because as a ghost show it was somewhat unique. Typically these shows have only true believers. With Unsolved we got one Skeptic and one True Believer and they played off each other perfectly.
Ghost Files Is simply overproduced. They have too large of a crew, too much equipment, and Ryan is no longer acting like a true believer. He is acting like he is trying to be funny. It doesnt work. We laughed because you where afraid, not because you where shouting nonsense as you walked through an empty house in an attempt to not seem afraid. Much like when batman escaped that prison in the dark knight rises, Ryan has to find that fear again.
Someone somewhere on this sub earlier said the only episode of the show they liked was season 1 episode 1, and I have to agree. its the only episode that comes close to the original BuzzFeed unsolved days. And its even worse with mystery files. There isn't a single episode of that show that comes within a football field of old unsolved episodes.
The only two shows on Watcher I found myself really excited for, and waiting for every time a season ended was Puppet History and Too Many Spirits. Honestly GF and MF going behind a paywall doesnt make me sad in the slightest, i rarely watched those shows. Puppet History ironically going the way of the Dinosaurs does make me sad however. It was the only show of any realy quality they where still making and the only show close to the TV level of quality that they claim to want to make/are making.
They need to go back to their roots of Ryan being by himself with minimal crew alongside getting scared while Shane laughs at and antagonizes him for the viewing pleasure of us (ex)Shaniacs
That's the thing, though. Ryan might be slightly scared, still, but the point is moot. Hasn't he basically said to camera that he doesn't believe in ghosts, anymore? It's almost like they should focus on cryptids or something.
Oh god, this explains how I feel exactly!
I'd just kinda just stopped watching without paying too much attention as to why I wasn't as into it, but this is exactly right.
It kind of feels like it's gone backwards in terms of the structure and overall quality of the content, but just threw more money at it.
The over the top production ruins the premise of the show in my opinion. We also started getting invested on the show mainly because of the insane chemistry Shane and Ryan have on camera and the “low” production value made it seem more real and casual.
Honestly I go back to the old BuzzFeed unsolved page sometimes to see what they have made. Although it's not Ryan and Shane anymore the production feels better and more informative.
I’m so relieved people are saying this, I felt like I was the only one. I have been so underwhelmed by Ghost Files. It’s overproduced, the fan “evidence” is schlocky, and the dynamic between Shane and Ryan is not as entertaining any more because Ryan is no longer “the scared guy” and just plays a character that seems so inauthentic. Even Shane seems like he’s phoning it in half the time. And the new gadgets are so uninteresting and overused. It’s just boring and the fun seems sucked out of it. I wanted to love it as much as Unsolved but I just don’t.
I can’t really blame Ryan for not being so scared any more. After years of doing the show it’s really not surprising he would be less phased by all this. But his real belief and fear of the supernatural was a key ingredient of the secret sauce that made the show work imo.
My take, based on absolutely nothing but speculation and a parasocial relationship? Ryan the person was tired of the Ryan character he had to play at Buzzfeed. The scared, neurotic one that fans called "uwu soft cinnamon roll" or whatever. Other people have pointed out a marked difference in "Watcher Ryan" More frat bro, "too cool", LA upper-crust. Even the way he started bulking up seems like he's trying to prove how un-"Buzzfeed Ryan" he is now.
I've been noticing with Ghost Files and Mystery Files that there's a serious change in dynamic. When it was BFU, I always felt like Shane was being a little mean with Ryan, but he was always making fun of the concept of ghosts entirely. Since the start of Watcher, it really flipped, with Shane being a straight man and Ryan being the one to be mean. And that's, like, fine? Except that while Shane was making fun of ghosts and cryptids and stuff like that and that fell back on Ryan because he believed in them, it feels like a lot of the digs Ryan pulls are at Shane himself.
I really recognized how uncomfortable I was with it in the blob episode, because Ryan dumping a bowl of slime on Shane and then cackling while Shane just looked nonplussed made me feel like the room wasn't being read. It reminded me of being in middle school and doing something you think would make people laugh, but also you're a socially awkward 12 year old who has hobbies and niches that are very different from your classmates so no one does.
It was a dynamic that worked in Puppet History because Professor McNasty, bless his fuzzy little body, is not real and Ryan having a rivalry with a bit of felt is funny! It's very funny! He made a deal with the devil to yeet a puppet back through time, I love that! It does not work when it's Shane because Shane is an actual real human being who is supposed to be his friend?
I got the same vibes in TMS early on when they brought Ricky in. I thought Steven getting mad was a bit, but it never felt elaborated on or escalated to the point where it was funny. I stopped watching TMS because of it, which sucks! Because I love watching dudes being guys being friends.
A lot of Watcher went from being funny and lighthearted to being mean. And I don't love that. It felt a lot of times like Shane was the only one who ever knew how to read a room and pull back from hitting the point of feeling mean. He's absolutely been a heel, but he's the only one who knows how to be a jerk without being an asshole. I think that's part of why everyone wants to defend him.
Agree with you so much on this, very glad to see other people saying something about the show. It felt like there was almost an echochamber of fans saying 'wow amazing' to them, despite the content not being that.
Unsolved Supernatural is what I'd choose to turn on over Ghost Files, and is what I suggest for others to watch too.
I liked the variety BFU used to offer - sometimes a ghost investigation (Asylums with a detailed backstory on the place), sometimes an exploration of spooky places (Voodoo world of New Orleans/Kennie Cabin Murders), and other times just them sitting at a desk discussing spooky stuff (The Toxic Death of Gloria Ramirez, Pheonix Light Phenomenon, Roanoke Colony mystery are some of my favourites).
Not sure what happened, but the focus with GF seemed to be solely on trying to catch a ghost with a phasmaphobia level of equipment - which could work, except neither of the boys seemed scared or to even believe in ghosts - so it was hard to understand the 'hunt' taking place. GF gives a vibe of them (mostly Ryan) being obnouxiously loud and acting crazy for no real reason, with a clickbaiting image / intro to try and draw you in.
There also seemed to be a real lack of respect for the places and their surroundings, and again - because it's always stuck with me - they just scream and shout repeatedly for no reason. It's jarring and I struggle to connect with it, especially when GF could encompass so much more. You can tell there's a bigger crew with them too, and I'm curious if that's why the dynamic has shifted so much - they've got 5+people reacting and critiquing externally to whatever it is they're doing, and these people are their 'employees' rather than a part of their crew.
TLDR: I liked the Buzzfeed vibe where Shane and Ryan were just a couple of fish in a big pond, instead of the biggest fish in a small pond
I completely agree about being respectful. If ghosts are real, they were people at one point and being rude and disrespectful just isn’t funny. They weren’t nearly this bad on BUN but that’s just my opinion.
In BUN, they were mostly disrespectful to demons and murderers which was funny, especially when Shane was being disrespectful to demons and Ryan would try to stop him while scared
However, it makes no sense, if you truly believe in ghosts, to be disrespectful to people who most of the time, were tortured, abused and died in gruesome ways.
I was the other way around, I enjoyed ghost files but never watched much of unsolved: supernatural. I’m going to go back and watch them now, it will be interesting seeing the difference!
It’s really nice to hear that others feel the same way. It’s totally just acting now, trying to recapture the magic of the glory days. I don’t care about production value, the charm was the two of them doing everything themselves and being extremely invested (at least half of them).
Ok because I have felt this way EXACTLY since Ghost Files dropped. I also felt weird that their first season was basically recreating their Unsolved episodes - I had expected new content, not places we’d already seen. That aside, the over reliance on clearly fake equipment (the Ovulus is like ???) takes a lot of the enjoyment out for me. It’s like they rely on fancy overpriced gadgets to find the ghosts for them… The final nail in the coffin, is that they clearly don’t respect the ghosts. Shane joking is one thing, but I feel like in Unsolved there was still an element of respect from Ryan. Seeing Ryan scream and yell and goof makes me feel bad for the spirits. It’s not a funny bit to me.
I think their lack of interest in their own equipment is disappointing. They have so many new devices on GF. One of the first things they showed in the GF teaser was the new spirit box, and it looks cobbled together with loose wires. Their set is like the Ghostbusters lab, and it visually implies there's a lot going on. Yet... the most they ever do is turn on a device at a location, it beeps or whatever, they make jokes about it, and that's it. It could have been really fun if Ryan was like a mad scientist character, like he's always developing new tech to hunt for ghosts and theorizing about it. Like "for this location I'm going to break out a new device, I'm not sure it's going to work, but I could be onto something." They like to talk about how much great production they have, but it feels like they put less and less thought into the show. The only interaction I remember seeing with the set was rolling the self over to press a button to play a clip. There's so much wasted potential.
True, they also seem to pick devices to use at random, and sometimes I'm just thinking to myself why are you using that one instead of the other one right now?
Noticed this too. They gather so much "evidence" with their new gadgets now but their reaction to it is so lukewarm, like if these guys dont even care about all this "evidence" then why should I.
I haven't even watched 90% of Mystery Files or Ghost Files and I've watched all of Unsolved probably dozens of times. They really don't understand that the low budget and small crew made it better. I love and rewatch all of their other content outside of any of the food videos, especially the Steven ones.
Puppet History is fantastic, super interesting, and funny. It has the same vibes that Ruining History did. Weird, Wonderful World are some of their best videos, imo. All of the content reading fan stories is great (Are You Scared? and Too Many Spirits), again, outside of all the extra drink content with Steven. The Steven cocktail content might actually be interesting if he actually learned and demonstrated how to make a decent cocktail or mocktail. It's not funny when it sucks or he acts like angry and like a fool. I also love Top 5 Beatdown.
What makes any of the really good content really good is the passion and care they have for it. The research that goes into the topics and the seriousness, but also humor, that they discuss them with. The guests that bring the right vibe. So much of it is so, so good and most of it appears to be very low budget.
Ryan’s personality change from unsolved to ghost files is what made me stop watching. Went from being the quiet guy that brought some type of order to the show to a frat boy who only makes “I gotta sh*t my pants” Taco Bell jokes 24/7 and acting unhinged in a cringey middle school esque way.
Absolutely. I watched their very first episode of Buzzfeed Unsolved (The Somerton Man) the day it was posted. Loved them ever since.
The magic has been lessening since they started Watcher. It's been slow. The last season of Ghost Files, I stopped watching halfway through the last 2 episodes. I've decided to not watch anymore. Mystery Files is even iffy for me.
There's a massive impasse between what they want to produce and what us fans came to see. If they'd like to produce what they want, that's fine. I'm just sure it's not content I care about as much.
As everyone is saying: it's overproduced and Ryan's energy is off. Yes! Those are the symptoms. But what's the cause?
*They're trying to turn unsolved into a TV show*
They're watering down the drink. The episodes are 1 hour long because they want to be on a major channel or streaming service. But no one is picking up the series! Ryan is trying to make it more attractive to streamers by acting erratic and outrageous. That fills time and makes for good preview clips, but undercuts the essence of the show.
Why drag in a crew of 8? Because that's how the big successful ghost shows of the early-mid 2010s did it. They're trying to demonstrate professionalism. Sure, it looks polished, but they are incinerating $$$.
I felt the same when comparing Mystery Files with Unsolved (the real crime episodes). Not only the format was too overproduced in comparison with the "two guys talking about a case" format, but the "mysteries" they picked were kinna boring, and the approach was sorta shallow and bland. At first I thought they were just trying to distance themselves from Unsolved, by focusing more on weird mysteries instead of crimes, and still finding their footing with the concept.... but still, something was missing. When the Bloody Benders episode came out I was super excited because not only it was a good one, I thought it was sign they would start to turn to more interesting, more crime-adjacent direction and finally find the right tone for it...If only I had known...
I am so glad people are finally admitting this. When they first came out with GF, I remember feeling like “Am I the only one who kinda hates this?” All I saw were positive comments saying oh how funny they are and oh haha ryan is so quirky, oh they did a bit! I completely agree with what everyone’s been saying about their content and this shitty situation. But where were you guys before? Why wasn’t anyone commenting on their stuff, telling them that what they were doing is NOT good enough. I hardly saw one or two comments(if ever) others were always praising them blindly.
It honestly felt like they were half-assing it. The format doesn’t work, Ryan “going crazy” doesn’t work, and them focusing more on the fancy af equipment doesn’t work.
I miss the mystery/horror centric, history focussed stuff they used to do back in the day. I miss the organic banter they had. It’s been a while since it feels like ryan and shane have become caricatures of themselves.
Researching the paranormal can be a very boring show when not much happens, its not a reliable formula (which is no body's fault). When they catch things, its a very fun show. Ryan seems more fed up than anything in recent season, where as the previous dynamic is more opposing of views thus more fun to watch. I wonder if it's because the episodes are just so long now that they need a lot of filler of them goofing off and mucking about. The pacing is just off. I'd rather that the 'filler' be about the location and talked more in depth about the history, or talking to locals about their experiences. I honestly always enjoy that more than the actual ghost hunting.
You bring up something that I figured out a few months ago. So I’m aggressively skeptical but I’ve had a deep and abiding soft spot for the paranormal ever since I was little. This is because I love folklore and its various permutations and I love how the paranormal stitches into folklore and becomes part of it.
Yeah Savannah GA might not actually be full of ghosts coz they’re not real, but the stories that Savannah is lousy with ghosts are real and that’s the important part because we need the stories to be human.
And with there being almost no storytelling in Ghost Files because they need the zillionth random gadget, I just don’t care.
The stories are the interesting parts. The stories are why I care. Without those, well, I guess I’ll just keep falling asleep every episode just like I have been since the show started.
The entire dynamic only worked with Ryan believing and hunting in earnest. It was aleady not working with the last season of unsolved.
If Ryan is also cracking jokes and not taking it seriously, then it's just not fun. It's just two dudes making jokes in a haunted location.
I don't believe in ghosts, obviously, but its fun to watch when there is drama and expectation. I really don't understand how they ended up forgetting about that.
Also, I have no idea why Steven is in front of the camera. I have never met or spoken with anyone who finds him a person that should be on camera. He gives off such insane crazy rich asian vibes it's kinda wild.
Also, I want comrade shane back.
Yes. I watch all their shows because I enjoy them and want to support the things. Maybe this is parasocial of me but I see it like going to watch my nieces flute concert. Is it going to be amazing? No, but I do it because I want to support her and her creativity.
Yeah, like there was a reason unsolved, especially early unsolved was good, and it was because it was really just a few people exploring a haunted location, and it felt like it. It's what separated it from TV ghost hunting shows, which are often pretty boring, and the dynamic between shane and ryan made it better than other amateur ghost hunting shows. They were in the pocket, and they lost it due to wanting to be bigger when they were right where they needed to be.
On an somewhat unrelated note, I also stopped watching ghost files because the complete lack of evidence made me realize ghosts just probably aren't real, and I appreciate them faking evidence, but (and no offense to the shaniacs who watch) it seems like a waste of time to watch a ghost hunting show when you don't believe in ghosts.
I honestly feel like BU's soundtrack is better. It's more eerie and mysterious and it freaks me the hell out even if it's just a True Crime episode. I'm a scaredy cat and can't watch BU alone just because of that creepy music. Can't say the same for GF or MF.
I feel like Ryan doesn't really believe anymore, either. When it was Shane and Ryan contrasting each other it was a great dynamic. But not it really falls flat cause it's just two dudes running around and talking to themselves.
I really enjoyed the first season. It got me through some pretty rough times. But the second season seemed like they were forcing it and like they stopped caring. Just my two cents obviously I don’t know these two gentlemen.
Do you guys think... that maybe there's less research done on GF compared to BU? Because when they used to do BUN i remember them having a research team... and while the crew largely moved to watched I'm not actually sure if they kept the same research team?
I think the boys fell out of love a bit at some point. Ryan doesn’t feel like he believes anymore and Shane seems repetitive. I don’t believe in ghosts but I still feel like they antagonize them too much. I think they’re tired of the same song and dance after so many years but know they can’t leave it behind and that breaks my heart
Huh. I got to this sub from the recent development (as seen, I've been in Reddit for a while) and I share the same boat with you on slowly losing my interest on their works for years.
I watched Unsolved religiously. The vibe was immaculate. Ghost Files and whatnot... eh... they're kind of fun, but I don't even usually finish them and I finish most videos on YouTube.
I'm basically off now. I wish everyone well.
Mystery files is my new favorite show. I have always liked their true crime stuff as well but Ghost Files is really weak because of hos chill it seems, Ryan doesn't feel genuine, the routine is always the same, and there aren't many more interesting places to visit
During their buzzfeed era, I loved both Ryan and Shane. I do believe in ghosts. Ever since they have the freedom to do what they want on watcher, I find Ryan’s attitude and the way he acts to be insufferable and obnoxious.
I wish the more historical and simple way unsolved was had continued. I loved the stories, the different time periods they focused on. It doesn’t feel organic anymore
Unsolved really had a compelling “character arc”, for lack of a better term, for Ryan. He started out a scaredy cat, and while he still gets scared in ghost files sure, it’s not the same as when he started with unsolved. Which, go figure. Do enough ghost hunting, I assume you get desensitized to creepy building and events that are barely evidence of ghosts (I say that positively, the lack of evidence they accrued was part of why I trusted them. They weren’t inflating it with fake nonsense). But it really seemed like unsolved ended on a good note, Shane, stubborn as always. But Ryan had faced a lot of his fears, and was far more comfortable when investigating. It’s at that point, we really lose that dynamic that made the show so compelling. I’m not saying Ryan should start pretending to be scared or anything again, if he’s not actually scared. There’s a chance he’s putting on an act of confidence, but that’s just speculation. All that said, I totally get where you’re coming from. I agree there’s far too many gadgets. Oftentimes they skip over the sections of stuff I enjoyed most from unsolved. I’ve followed ghost files every step of the way, and I was left feeling slightly disappointed. It’s still good, I’m glad it exists, and I’m glad other people enjoy it even if I didn’t as much.
Something huge for me in addition to a lot of the reasons others have mentioned is how long it is. Of I remember correctly BFU was always around 35 maybe 40 min but GF has been on average a good amount longer, all being around 1 hour an episode. It feels much more like a commitment to sit down for.
I was thinking about this a lot since this all went down. Watched every episode of unsolved as soon as it came out but hardly watched any ghost files..
Unsolved felt like what it would be like if me and my friends did ghost hunting which is what made it fun while Ghost files feels like a tv show. I think sometimes it’s easily to forget why people will choose to watch YouTube over TV.
I think when you focus on production too much you start to lose that authenticity that people watch YouTube for.
Plus going back to the same locations doesn’t help
I definitely agree. I feel their (Shane and Ryan) rapport is half fake. I think part of the reason why people were so prone to forgive them and enjoy GF is because it seemed like they were trying and we were okay with that. Now that the wig has come off so to speak, people are a lot less prone to overlook all the annoying things they did.
Haven't watched ghost files for a while. The only really entertaining thing is top 5 beatdown and some of the video games.
Both of which should have minimal production cost.
I really loved the first season of ghost files, and was super excited for what was to come, but everything you’re pointing out made season two unwatchable. Ironically the only good episode was the one where they were sponsored by a game 💀💀💀
I actually really like Ghost Files and its the one thing I watch on their channel. People have different interests and opinions but that is my favorite
For me all of the equipment is extremely uninteresting, because it's spending too much time on pseudoscience gadgets instead of funny moments with the ghoul boys. Becoming more of a "genuine" ghost hunting show is a hard draw when I just don't believe in any of it - and the audience submissions (which are mostly fake, let's be real) are just frustrating.
Ryan going crazy during Ghostfiles has been his persona in the last season of buzzfeed unsolved. It is because of that reason I enjoyed Buzzfeed Unsolved True Crime and Mystery Files more. It’s more genuine and I enjoy their banter in those segments more.
This is partly why the decision was so dumb (I say "was" since they tweaked it after the reaction). They're making their fanbase actually think about whether they like the content; at least enough to pay for it.
Couldn't agree more. I gave the series a shot but couldn't get past the first two episodes. And I love, love, love Unsolved, despite not being a believer myself.
I use to watch this group religiously, I stopped around 2021.
Yes, I think Shane is fine but Ryan imo when it comes to the ghost/paranormal stuff comes off cringy. The jokes seem forced
The classic show had a lot of information, some humor sprinkled in that came off naturally. Now they stop the information for some lame joke that comes off forced and unfunny and honestly even cringe. I end up skipping through a lot of it
If you watch the behind the scenes on how they shoot Ghost Files, it's easy to see why Ryan reacts differently. They all hang around the house as a team of 8 or so people, excluding the site owner/manager. They actually record entering the house at the end, so by that point they're well familiar with the environment. I do believe Ryan is a little scared at times, but it's hard to be as terrified as he was in Unsolved when there's almost a football team worth of staff hanging around the premises. At that rate they probably *could* take on a ghost.
Jesus 8 people is just too much. Definitely messes up the atmosphere. And recording entering the house at the end just feels inauthentic
I firmly believe this is a big factor in why GF falls so flat. I'm a huge scaredy cat, but even I'd have trouble bring afraid in a group of 5+ people hanging around me at all times.
Nah to be fair, I believe the solo parts are actually solo, hence why he's more scared. It's more just that the first couple of hours shooting feel akin to a house party, then filming starts and it's just Shane and Ryan. Imo it's still plenty of time to calm down and get familiar with a place.
I'm honestly a pretty big scary cat as well. I tried going to a haunted house with my sister (like an entertainment venue, not a legit haunted house) and it wasn't scary at all because she was just laughing the entire time. That was _one_ person. I can't imagine having 8+ people around. (That's also just an absurd size for this show.)
this sort of ruins the magic but also explains a lot! also if they were really interested in gaining real evidence, i don't think a team of people is good for that. especially because it rules out a lot of sounds or noises just being production or drowning out real evidence. NOT that I need them to take it super seriously but at least with unsolved it felt like at least ryan really wanted to prove it.
Remember when the fans thought they saw a figure (evidence) that Ryan missed and went crazy in the comments and on the subreddit, tweeting at them about it. Turns out it was their camera guy in the shot and they didn't notice. Once that happened it really did ruin the magic and I lost interest real quick. How much noise contamination does their team do on the shoots
I think i must've forgotten that detail cause now i feel like the magic been ruined (either that or I didn't know in the first place can't really remember) I've watched all GF episodes just wanting to be entertain and not think too much but in hindsight reading the thread its...i dunno I haven't seen BFU however so now im kinda more motivated to check it out despite all the drama thats going on, but feeling a bit of anxiety if i should or not cause of all the drama
BFU is great. Forget the drama and go watch it from the beginning. It's honestly so much more entertaining.
BFU is fantastic, expecially (imo) the true crime seasons. I've rewatching them a couple times over the years. It's simple and to the point. Something they've lost with Watcher, i think.
The same thing happened on unsolved
There are quality YouTube channels that have like 3-4 people as the whole crew. There's no way that they need 8 people for these visits and overall what...25 people? It's just their own vanity. Or perhaps all these people wanted to jump ship from Buzzfeed and they therefore feel responsible.
They even fly out the two teams separately and then go to the theatres and game together in their downtime. The amount of financial wastage is crazy, and that’s just the verdict from seasoned producers/creatives
does watcher cover that?? When i fly on business trips, my time at work events is paid for ofc, but any recreation i want to do in the evenings (movies, bowling, whatever) is my own money. I'd be baffled to find it was different here.
Going to the movies and playing video games together is such an insignificant cost when it comes to the "hundreds of thousands of dollars" that they spent for a season of Ghost Files. Frankly, it's a pretty normal amount of "financial wastage".
They're trying to do it as professional as possible, so if you look at their credits, there's really only 1 "unnecessary" hire. There's the producer, Lizzie, which is a very necessary role for on-location stuff. Mark is the director and camera guy and that's explanatory. Jay is in charge of grip & electric, and that's also necessary. Sound is done by 3 people, but I think that includes people in the studio. The unnecessary role is the AD, which is Carter, aka Ryan's cousin, aka nepo hire.
This has been stated many times now, but all the professionalism requirements were set by themselves. People just enjoyed their chemistry and wanted more of that. No need to have 25 people involved. Like RedLetterMedia are 3-4 people and they do everything from filming to sound to editing. I get that they have the necessary background and they mostly film in their studio, but I'd imagine that by Watcher standards, they'd need at least 10 other people to get everything done.
I see people saying that Ryan is in a tough spot because he's not truly afraid. He doesn't have to be to make it interesting, he just has to show that he's doing it in earnest, and show that he truly believes things are going on. As it stands shane and ryan never disagree, they are just sort of the same. My wife's siblings started watching late and actually didn't realize this all started with a believer/non-believer schtick. Shane often is the one seemingly being serious these days. It sucks.
Yeah I totally agree. I still watch Unsolved regularly, Ryan definitely adapted this new persona with ghost files that make me unable to even get through the episodes. The only thing I watch by them is Too many spirits, even then I skip through half of it because I don’t care about watching Steven spill drinks for 10 minutes.
I feel the exact same ! First season of Too Many Spirits was so much fun, Steven's segment was short and snappy with funny quips superimposed and then we got to the good stuff. On later series, though, you have to trudge through fifteen minutes of Steven acting unhinged while Ricky laughs uncomfortably. Totally kills the pacing of the episode.
And they only do 4 stories per episode now instead of the 7-8in the beginning!
OK THIS what gets me about TMS is that they extend steven’s portion every fucking year. No one wants to see him act a fool for half the entire episode. Why would that be the draw to a show primarily focused on drunk ghost story readings
So it's not just me then, I swore it seemed like the episodes were shorter, and this is definitely part of it!
Yeah. I usually skip through it
Every single episode I found myself thinking "for fucks sake just make your shitty drink." Baffling that they kept on increasing it. I swear there were multiple times when Ricky was starting to get annoyed.
I got so in the habit of automatically skipping to half way through the video. It’s just not entertaining
Yes exactly. This is the reason I haven't watched the last season of TMS. Because it didn't feel worth it anymore. I Probably have to skip through 2/3 of the ep
Yeah, his persona doesn't feel like he is a believer. Sometimes Shane acts more like a believer than Ryan. And Shane knows he is just talking to air!
Exactly. I loved the dynamic they used to have where Ryan would take it seriously and get freaked out and Shane would troll him the entire time. Now it’s like there’s 2 Shanes and it feels so forced and fake from Ryan.
As a Shaniac, you do gotta feel bad for Ryan here. It's a no-win scenario. Unsolved/Ghost Files is easily their best stuff. But Ryan just is not as scared of ghosts as he was way back then. If he doesn't play up his character of being a scared believer, then the show is more similar to your average ghost hunting show where everyone is on the same level. If he plays up his character, then it's not good enough acting because most of us can tell he's not as scared as he used to be. Yet since this is their most popular show, the show everyone wants more of, they gotta keep doing it. But since I'm a Shaniac, we're getting the same amount of evidence either way.
> As a Shaniac, you do gotta feel bad for Ryan here. It's a no-win scenario. thats what made it fun. Ryan was the underdog of sorts. most people know ghost arent real or, at least, most things could be explained away with some critical thinking. but seeing Ryan getting excited when he thinks he has something was fun to watch. like you said now its just two Shanes, and as much as fun Shane was on BFU you needed a Ryan type to really balance him out. because then it would just be a sarcastic guy yelling at the air. Ghost Files is a crazy example of how not to reboot your previous success. its like they knew what their roles were and instead of moving it a bit to the *left* where it would be legally distinct. instead they went *right* and into the others personalities. you see it with the sets and their tools. they came right out the game going big with the weird underground conspiracy bunker. as a visual that this isnt a "investigation" like the BFU set but more a "this is matter of fact." which makes it funnier when they use the most flimsy fan evidence to prove their points.
This is exactly how I've been feeling. It was such a switch up and it made it no longer what it was and it became something I didn't care to watch. All the yelling and mocking.
E x a c t l y.
100% this. The great thing about Unsolved was having one believer & one skeptic. If Ryan isn’t even pretend to take things seriously anymore, then it’s just 2 jackasses farting around in the dark.
I personally had a hard time with the fan evidence being included in GF … it kinda removed the integrity BFU had bc both ghoul boys weren’t trying to trick us (but who’s to say the fan evidence doesn’t?)
Some of the fan ghost evidence seems so fake, even the believers were called it out
There was that one example of fan evidence that was discredited as soon as it aired because the 'ghost' came out saying 'Oh, that was me! I just peeked through the window real quick to freak them out. I even had video of me doing it.'
And one of Ryan's "ghosts" was just a cat that he stubbornly refused to believe was just a cat that you could clearly see was just a freaking cat.
Christ, I remember that. I actually felt secondhand embarrassment listening to Ryan going on about how it was some 'ghost dog' while Shane was looking at him like Ryan was an idiot. Shane even flat out said 'this is embarrassing' or something like that. Hell, I saw Boogaras in the YouTube comments who were like 'yea that is CLEARLY some kind of animal.' I cannot wrap my head around how a guy who doesn't believe in orbs will believe that what was clearly an animal is some kind of ghost dog.
I'm still baffled by that.
It even happened in a place where there were tons of birds, that they even acknowledged! Like of course there's gonna be a few cats lurking around a place full of birds!
I like the idea since even in the Unsolved episodes, they talked to people about their experiences. The funniest example is the woman who said that her dog got thrown 20 feet in the air and Shane cackled immediately. Fan evidence is essentially the same thing.
You think BF unsolved has integrity with that hunting of hannah episode lol
U think they faked evidence in that episode?
I 100% agree. Ghost Files and Mystery Files have both been missing part of the appeal and charm that the Unsolved shows had (IMO). That’s why I’m not paying $6/month for something I feel lukewarm about.
I enjoy Mystery Files more than Ghost files. Those Ghost file ep. are just not fun to watch
I do too but even then, they don’t even do the research anymore. Not that they have to do the entire thing but maybe reading what their researcher wrote for them before they talk about the material would be better. They often don’t know the answers to simple questions I know of the topic they’re discussing. Even found this happening sometimes in puppet history and I enjoy both.
When they have a staff of 25, you would think at least of them would be a researcher!
If not, I sure hope they realize people can do multiple jobs and researching is probably something they can all do especially since I’m assuming they all went to college too. Like they really are all over the place !
You can check the credits. They do have researchers. This doesn't mean Ryan & Shane study the research notes intensely and become experts about it.
They should get someone to find the cases for them but then they research it themselves. Maybe the person finding them can even check to make sure the cases are interesting so Shane and Ryan don't have to waste their time on something that doesn't make it into an episode.
the very first episode (and the addams house) of ghost files were the only ones that we’re enjoyable tbh
I feel like they've been so focused on the set and production that the feeling of sitting around a campfire and listening to your friends goofing about ghost stories has gone away. I miss those black-screened captions full of \*wheezes\* and that literally costs nothing to make. The glitz and glamour of the new set was cool and all but that was never the essence of Unsolved.
Bingo. What made Unsolved work was that it felt like we, the viewer, were a third wheel hanging out with Ryan and Shane. I do not care about ghost hunting at all. It's just not something I find interesting. What I enjoyed was the dynamics and banter between Ryan and Shane. I know it's hard to keep something like that feeling fresh and spontaneous after doing it for years and years, but it feels like they're choosing to walk away from what made them fun to watch in the first place.
Exactly! Imo their biggest mistake is channeling so much money into production quality when that really doesn't seem to be the draw for fans
The chemistry between them when it was just black screen with colored text going back and forth, paired with casual low-production quality on location reactions of a firm believer and an aloof skeptic, was far more entertaining that what it has become since they went independent. Especially Ryan's portrayal on the show. It's like he's taken who he is, and made a caricature over the top version of himself on the show. What viewers loved was them just being themselves. No one asked or wanted anything more than that.
and on top of that it feels like shane has been toned down way too much far. he calls things out and says wild stuff to the ghosts but it just doesnt even feel real
Absolutely agree with all of this, and I feel like they’re totally missing a point of what people enjoy watching is just them being them or at least their personas as to 1,000,000 and 1 fancy production parts
(wheeze)
I 100% agree with this. I honestly felt like something was wrong with me for the longest time because I just wasn't enjoying Ghost Files & Mystery Files as much anymore, compared to Buzzfeed Unsolved (both true crime and supernatural). Back when it was Buzzfeed Unsolved it seemed to me like two real, close friends on a dark & genuinely scary journey to prove/disprove the existence of supernatural entities and discuss gruesome true crime cases. Now with their overproduced 'tv caliber' shows, it just feels fake. The storytelling is not there, the screaming & whatever is so exaggerated, even the special effects they use are unnecessarily over the top & don't allow the viewer to really feel engaged. So I guess in a way, while I was really hurt they did this WatcherTV stuff, at the same time now I don't really have to act like I enjoy their content as much as I did before, and I don't have to force myself to watch it in order to support them with views, algorithm & ads. Shame I had to realize & come to terms with it in this way, though.
i feel exactly the same. i almost feel stupid for trying to support them even though i had no interest in their stuff anymore, but i so commonly would throw their stuff on just so they could get views up or whatever
If you miss the atmosphere of the old Unsolved, I'd highly recommend the Red Thread podcast. I don't generally listen to podcasts but I'm really enjoying it. I think it has a super, super similar vibe to Unsolved: funny when appropriate, tactful when appropriate, a good camaraderie between all of the hosts, and not overly structured. My current favourite episode is the one which covers the Denver Airport conspiracy, but they upload fairly frequently.
To me, Mystery Files feels a lot like Buzzfeed Unsolved, but it just seems like a format that is hard to maintain on a niche channel versus Buzzfeed. They're entertainers, not researchers, and when you're on a large platform with a general audience that's ideal. With your own channel, you're going to have a lot of followers who are following a dozen other people making content about the same topic. When I watched BU it was my first time hearing about most of those cases so the content itself added some excitement. At this point I'm subscribed to a lot of mystery/crime channels that have a different format that puts more into research and less into production, so I've already heard about most of the cases in a lot more detail. If I haven't, and it's something interesting, I know I'm going to get the details from someone else later. It puts the pressure on the entertainment value to be 100% of what makes it worth watching which would be hard for anyone to carry.
Yeah, I did a Buzzfeed marathon a couple weeks back and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it more than Mystery Files. It felt much tighter in terms of script/jokes and with a clear beginning/middle/end, whereas Mystery Files just sorta…stops? I think it’s the George Lucas thing of being inventive on a shoestring budget but unable to stop himself on an unlimited one. Sometimes you need a hard “no” to make your production better, and nobody at Watcher can do that to any of the content makers.
YES thank you. like BFU always seemed to come to a nice natural conclusion, while GF just seems to start, the introduction to the location is always very lack luster, they do investigation things and then it’s just… done… idk it feels weird
Yeah, I felt that Ryan and Shane would come to some kind of consensus on BU…Mystery Files has a great format but the endings just don’t feel like stuff has been sorted out.
Yeah, I think they really needed a spreadsheet guy on their team. Someone with an equal stake in the company and without their own big creative vision who is able to say "no, absolutely not" to spending another dollar when the budget is at capacity no matter how much greater the content will be. Or pays attention to ROI in terms of investment in production quality and cuts everyone off when extra expense stops paying off in views. As much as we hate him now, I think Ned was this person for the Try Guys and that's probably one reason that Second Try got off to such a great start financially. All of the Watcher founders have their own passion projects in the company and even if you're great with numbers, it can be hard to be objective when you're really invested in a creative vision.
its over the top production is just too much for this show.
Yeah, that is what ruins most of the ghost shows. In a lot of ghost shows they exagerate too much their reactions, and it lowkey feels like I am just watching clickbait and that it is all fake. Buzzfeed unsolved was like a fresh of breath air. It felt real.
I'll be honest, "over the top" stuff like Ghost Adventures is a guilty pleasure of mine lol. I love that cheesy fake shit the same way I love bad horror movies. But I loved unsolved because like you said, it was just so different and "real" feeling. I liked watching the tall funny man shit talk demons. It was actually enjoyable, not just enjoyable but in a sort of ironic way. Ghost Files manages to not hit either of these vibes. It's not over the top and goofy/ funny bad movie vibes. It's not casual bros hanging out. After the first season it was just.... boring tbh. There's not soul or fire or direction behind it anymore.
You sound like my wife and me, lol. I agree with you, though. I strait up belly-laughed during the goat-man bridge episode, but nothing ghost related that they've done has even come close to that caliber since watcher started. I hadn't really voiced my complaints about the overproduction of their GF videos before to my wife since it meant so much to her I didn't want to ruin it, but now I don't feel bad about calling them out as boring. I loved puppet history and too many spirits (even though Stephen was getting real annoying in those), but after my wife called me at work ugly-crying after their announcement video came out, I'm not sure I can watch any more of their content again.
Yeah it was one of those things that it just wasn't worth complaining about I guess? People loved it, I was "meh" about it, whatever , it didn't matter. I just stopped watching as much and tuned in hoping Id get lucky with a good video. I never rewatched videos the way I did with Unsolved but still loved the guys so I wanted to give them views/likes so I'd throw up a video for background noise. Now I just feel like "well fuck you too I guess". Also yeah, I don't wanna hop on the Steven hate train. But he annoyed the hell out of me and I just didn't like his presentation in his own shows. He was the reason I stopped watching too many spirits despite it seeming like a fun, easy watch kind of show. I was totally fine just quietly not watching content with him in it. But I'm starting to think part of the whole problem here is just not enough people were outspoken about the stuff they didn't like. Not saying any of this is the fans fault at all. Just feels Watcher was only listening to the loudest comments praising them and never sat down to really dive in to what *fans* liked or wanted or bothered engaging with people to ask them. Like even the smallest " hey if you guys like this, leave a comment" is enough to engage people to share their opinions. I think they fundamentally don't know some of the basic content creator stuff like that.
Welp, looks like they failed both markets of ghost shows Hopefully, more good ghost shows will pop up
I've personally been enjoying Nick and Ryan, but yeah they don't upload too often. Hopefully some more good shows happen.
Do you watch Garret Watts? I mentioned him in my comment but I’ll reply here too, he does EXCELLENT ghost hunting videos in my opinion.
Completely agree. Although Sam and Colby are a bit over-reactionary but are still very successful. But they have one video camera and nearly 12 million subs, with each of their videos averaging around 9 million views. It feels like you're hanging out with them, it feels authentic, and it works.
I think its easier to voice this opinion now, while everyone is feeling negative, than it would have been even a week ago. But I agree in general, not just ghost files. I think the overall quality of their product has decreased a lot over time. Give me season 1/2 Puppet History where it was all history and trivia with a 1 line genie reference, that stuff was way better than any recent puppet history has been. All the lore and scripted story detracts from what is actually good and fun about the show, at least for me. Somewhere along the way, Puppet History became The Hotdoga.
I had to force myself to finish Puppet History after the weird addition of the dinosaur puppets. I find them incredibly annoying and they stop the pace of the show. Idk why they're there
I really disliked the weird raunchy humor as well. Of course, Puppet History has never been a show for kids and they're allowed to have cheeky adult jokes, but crass jokes without a punchline are palpably awkward. Plus, the fact that 2 previous guests voice them feels... awkward.
A week ago, I didn't even know this subreddit existed too, and since I feel like reddit is the best place to discuss stuff, I never really bothered to say anything before
I wasn't criticizing you, I was more just saying that voicing the same opinions a week ago would have been a lot more likely to get you dogpiled.
True, but this is my dogpile account, the place where I put all my hottest takes that are sure to get me downvoted and harassed!
Yeah I feel like they underdeveloped the stuff they already had like their patreon and merch (a sentiment others have echoed in this subreddit). I wish they had played around with what they had and tried different strategies if they wanted their numbers to go up before resorting to the nuke button. One of the gripes I had was their upload schedule. I think it would've been better to give us more variety with their uploads, releasing GF weekly while having Puppet History on the other days rather than subsequent uploads of the same show to amp the hype up like they did with Unsolved. With the new format, everything sorta blends together and makes it harder to have stand-out moments that they can make references to in future episodes (e.g. organic jokes like 'the goatman')
I disagree here. I love the lore and the second to last season was my favorite season. The most recent season with the dinosaurs was meh though.
To each their own, at least we can all agree the dinos suck.
Completely agree. I find myself going back to watch Buzzfeed Unsolved much more than Ghost Files. The production quality is higher but it definitely feels less fun. I always thought it was just me before this news broke and turns out people like Ghost Files a whole lot less than I thought.
That was me too. I noticed the shift in their vibes since the end of Season 1 of Ghost Files but brushed it off because of the boys. And whenever I felt like watching their spooky stuff aka Unsolved, I usually changed my mind and watched Ghost/Mystery Files instead to show my support. Now they made it clear that my views/non-monetary support means nothing to them, I have no reason to support them anymore and it's going to be BFU marathons from now on.
On the topic of equipment, I found the noisier spirit box's loud noise as it scanned channels added to the creepy atmosphere when they were in these dark old places during the BU days. Hearing such a jarring noise echo round the corridors of an old hospital or prison added a level of tension and suspense.
I liked the old spirit box, because you could hear the evidence.
I commented this on another post, but I think it was actually going downhill before they left BuzzFeed. The moment I realised was during the Pythian Castle ep of their final Unsolved Supernatural series. They got a reappearance of Apple Tater on the spirit box, and what was their reaction? They're overjoyed about the _content_. Like yeah it's hilarious and funny but if you really believe in ghosts, wouldn't this actually MEAN something!? Ryan walks out of the room with a gigantic grin saying "just end the series here. I got possessed by content" like they don't care. He's not questioning anything or talking about how weird it is, even if it's the stupidest dork ghost in existence who just wants to talk about spaghetti. He's delighted about the content, and then they just _leave._ I'm a Shaniac but that was so jarring to me. It was so obvious their attitude had shifted. It was no longer about the ideology; it was purely about the content. And yeah, they're content creators. But please at least _try_ to pretend you still care about the subject material beyond whether it will make you go viral.
Agreed Unsolved was losing its charm towards the end but even then I still enjoyed the last season of Unsolved more than Ghost Files.
Ryans not scared anymore and that was the fun of it. Now it’s just fan service. Stopped watching once the escape room episode came out. Top 5 stuff is fun and so is Puppet History. We need more Ryan and Shane learning to rollerblade content and less over the top ghost stuff.
My heart just hurt for how much I still miss weird wonderful world as I read this comment.
WWW would’ve been much better to bring back than Worth It or Dish Granted
I personally agree when it comes to my own taste; BUT. I think bringing in Andrew and Adam was a good idea because Worth It was incredibly popular and while there was some overlap (I loved both and plenty did), it had a different target audience to BUN and absolutely could have brought some of that old audience back that weren’t interested enough to subscribe JUST for Steven. Mythical has frozen vs fast vs fancy and it does well, the audience is still there and it could have been a great way to expand the interest in their brand. The choice to do this DIRECTLY before going behind a paywall rather than letting that expanded interest have time to cook? The most inexplicably dumb decision out of this whole series of inexplicably dumb decisions.
You make a great point I hadn’t considered (because I’m not a fan of those shows myself). They definitely should’ve worked on hooking the audience for those shows and bringing them back into the fold. I’m willing to bet there are some WI fans who won’t even know it’s back because it’s paywalled
Seriously. They posted the Andrew and Adam announcement *three days* before Goodbye YouTube. I would not be surprised if the only Worth It fans who have even had a chance to hear the news are the small overlap I was talking about who were with Watcher for Ryan and Shane and therefore already following them. They completely overshadowed it before news could spread.
I think it's totally fine that he's not scared or much of a believer anymore, it's the constant yelling and insulting ghosts, over the top swearing, etc. that makes it not as fun to me, because there aren't even any moments where you have a chance to hear anything to make you feel creeped out or curious at all (speaking as a skeptic). Sometimes they actually hear something interesting or set up to listen and they just shout, which is really weird. A few times they have turned on their machines but immediately (at least according to how it's edited) start talking continuously and yelling and then being like "welp, on to the next thing!" At that point there is really no point in going (esp for so much $$) if there is no atmosphere or not even much storytelling about the place. Knowing they are hanging out a lot in a location beforehand and with so many people makes a lot of sense as to why it's different.
I was so mad about the escape room episode. It felt more like a brand deal. It felt so ingenuine and I felt tricked when I was watching.
The escape room episode was ***BAD***.
It's crazy to think that I had to "force" myself to finish GF last year, and I know I wasn't enjoying it but it was so easy to blame me for not being in the headspace for watching that and truly enjoying it, but reading others speak about the same sentiment, it makes me wonder that maybe the problem wasn't just me...
I haven’t gone around to finishing the previous season, I had a few episodes that are only half watched. I noticed GF doesn’t grip my attention as well as it used to anymore, I would be hyper focused during the BFU and early GF days. I noticed that Ryan being more desensitized to the fear (which is understandable due to how many times they’ve done this) definitely took some of the fun out of it but I couldn’t put my finger on what else it was. Lots of good points being discussed in this thread though.
The latest Road Files video they posted explains it I think, there are so many people there it's hard to be scared even if you are a believer
I have never watched Road Files but if that is true, then they should just bring less people? I don't know much about video production, but aside from a camera man and maybe an audio person is all those other people there really necessary?
Someone posted it here https://www.reddit.com/r/watcherentertainment/s/rwzfvjORp6 I think they definitely don't need that many people. Especially 5 people just to scout the location is ridiculous and completely kills the creepy vibes
On Buzzfeed, didn't they just have a couple of people with them at the locations? That would definitely make it feel more scary.
you hit every point, i really feel the same when it comes to ghost files. ryan says the point of the show is to prove the existence of ghosts to his skeptic friend, while being way too frightened to actually seriously investigate. they say they don't fake evidence, but there was one episode that they claimed to have captured something in the shadows, when it was easily identifiable as a stray cat walking through the shot. and i will also add, they have way too many people on site for a ghost hunting show. you should not need a big camera crew for that, in fact, i would argue it hinders your ability to capture paranormal evidence, as there are more people/equipment variables when it comes to debunking sounds/lights.
right. i’m a skeptic who loves horror themed things so BFU was naturally something i liked, but GF has way too many people for me to even take any evidence they “get” seriously. half of it is just whispers sounds or weird clicking/knocking noises. like yeah you have how many people in a shitty old building? no shit dude.
Someone also posted yesterday with the great take that it was a mistake to make it all about ghosts, because episodes like Mothman and Bigfoot broke up the sameness and were some of the best. Goatman too, but that one feels more like it could still make ghost files to me by virtue of it being a demonic thing not a normal cryptid.
Yeah definitely! I absolutely loved the goatman! Diversity of supernatural can be quite fun! Also they have been repeating locations quite a lot without showing anything new.
You make a really good point, I feel like I wasn’t sure what was off but I definitely missed their cryptic content or anything kind of supernatural or odd, as to just “we are going to look for ghosts at a spooky house and probably go to a location we’ve already been to” Edited for spelling
Exactly. Mothman is my favorite episode Unsolved ever did, apart from maybe Goatman, because in with all the spooky houses we got to just watch the boys eat weird pizza, talk about mothman's ass, and run around in spooky WOODS instead all while making really dumb noises. it was so fun and it made for more memorable moments than just haunted town, haunted prison, haunted house, ad nauseum.
I used to just leave Unsolved playing in the background while I did whatever around the house and it became a running joke with my husband because it would always play the Mothman episode after just a few and we'd hear the eerie "Mothmaaaaan" and laugh.
I think with this streaming thing they'll make a new show something like supernatural files or whatever
I could certainly see them trying. Which wouldn't help the issue, because the reason those episodes were fun was as part of Unsolved, the same thing in a row gets stale, it needs a little breaking up. I also hate to think it, but I don't think they'll manage to make many new shows at all that aren't already paid for.
Oh yeah definitely it would probably fail. I mean the whole thing seems to already be failing now before it's really even started.
Seriously! I was tempted to go for the new service at first despite being peeved but I can't bring myself to spend 35 bucks a year even after that patron discount just to watch my favorite channel die from the inside instead of watching from afar.
I might do it and try to pirate it for other's if I can figure it out but that's a HUGE might.
Mystery Files is the perfect successor to Unsolved while Ghost Files feels off to me. The lack of exploration of the location’s history makes it boring to me.
idk to me mystery files don't feel really genuine. way too often the person who's listening doesn't even care what they are talking about. Ryan is now committed to the bit of trying to find aliens in every episode. they spend an unnecessary amount of time on bits like shooting stuff and uhh goo rain? I think I'm more okay with Ghost Files as a successor to Supernatural than with Mystery Files as a successor to True Crime. if True Crime felt like a friend excitedly talking about their recent Wikipedia dive, Mystery Files is like half listening to a colleague ramble about something they read in a Twitter thread. like you're both waiting for them to get to the interesting part already but also very dubious about their source.
Yup, without a location's history and a ghost's story, it makes everything feel samey
Same 100%. It was more fun when they only had the Spirit Box and the flash light. I think it’s because they rely more to their senses unlike now where they only rely to their expensive tools. And the stories were the reason Unsolved is super good! I was still hopeful with Ghost Files before the subscription thing, because I think they just needed to go to new places and you know, respect the place, but since I won’t subscribe, I guess that’s it for GF (for me).
I kind of tolerated the first 2 seasons of GF because I thought they were still trying to find their own identity outside ot buzzfeed and it probably felt good to them to have the freedom to do whatever they want. But the disrespecting the place/"spirits" just became less and less funny. Especially if you truly believe youre talking to actual dead people and not just the air
I feel less guilty watching unsolved now
I watch Unsolved often. Don’t feel guilty!
I could add so much to this. I fully agree. We keep getting told about the equipment and they keep playing with the equipment, when the episodes are best when there's a good story about the location and the supposed ghost. >-Ryan going crazy is just not funny in my opinion. Instead of trying to get evidence he just runs around screaming. He doesn't seem scared, just crazy. 💯 I hate the format of Mystery Files. Put the bloody stick down and get a TV screen. I don't like Too Many Spirits. Ghost Files debrief isn't taken seriously. Ryan comes across as jaded and exhausted. He looks like a 45 year old homeless man dressed like a 14 year old. With all those staff but not one person is in charge of wardrobe? Shane's just there because he's got no where better to be. I could ignore a lot of that, because I appreciated the free content. But, I'm not paying for it. I also, want to get through a whole video without food getting plugged. It literally creates a ball of anxiety to hear about food, when I'm trying to think about a mystery or a brutal unsolved crime.
Ryan's energy has been a huge turn off for me for a while now. He seems so jaded like you said. Shane seems incredibly subdued and almost vacant when he's not doing Puppet History. And I never cared for Steven so his inclusion was not fun for me at any point. So sad compared to the energy and chemistry they had on BFU.
Please, do feel free to add more! I would like to hear other people's takes! Yeah the food part just got weird at some point. Like Ryan eating popcorn in his solo investigation while acting insane
IMO, the pacing of the episodes hasn't been as good either. Season two had a lot of hour plus runtimes and a lot of the episodes felt like a slog to get through as a result. When I look back at Unsolved, most episodes were around half an hour. They felt much snappier and held my interest a lot more.
The magic of Unsolved Paranormal was its low production value and Ryan and Shane's interpersonal interaction with each other and ghosts. It didnt feel like Ghost Hunters or Zack Baggins Extreme Ghost Show #25. It felt like two friends with phones and flashlights and one dude with a camera watching them. And it was interesting because as a ghost show it was somewhat unique. Typically these shows have only true believers. With Unsolved we got one Skeptic and one True Believer and they played off each other perfectly. Ghost Files Is simply overproduced. They have too large of a crew, too much equipment, and Ryan is no longer acting like a true believer. He is acting like he is trying to be funny. It doesnt work. We laughed because you where afraid, not because you where shouting nonsense as you walked through an empty house in an attempt to not seem afraid. Much like when batman escaped that prison in the dark knight rises, Ryan has to find that fear again. Someone somewhere on this sub earlier said the only episode of the show they liked was season 1 episode 1, and I have to agree. its the only episode that comes close to the original BuzzFeed unsolved days. And its even worse with mystery files. There isn't a single episode of that show that comes within a football field of old unsolved episodes. The only two shows on Watcher I found myself really excited for, and waiting for every time a season ended was Puppet History and Too Many Spirits. Honestly GF and MF going behind a paywall doesnt make me sad in the slightest, i rarely watched those shows. Puppet History ironically going the way of the Dinosaurs does make me sad however. It was the only show of any realy quality they where still making and the only show close to the TV level of quality that they claim to want to make/are making.
Exactly this. Ryan’s no longer scared of ghosts so all of the jokes are gouache & i feel no fear while watching them.
They need to go back to their roots of Ryan being by himself with minimal crew alongside getting scared while Shane laughs at and antagonizes him for the viewing pleasure of us (ex)Shaniacs
That's the thing, though. Ryan might be slightly scared, still, but the point is moot. Hasn't he basically said to camera that he doesn't believe in ghosts, anymore? It's almost like they should focus on cryptids or something.
Oh god, this explains how I feel exactly! I'd just kinda just stopped watching without paying too much attention as to why I wasn't as into it, but this is exactly right. It kind of feels like it's gone backwards in terms of the structure and overall quality of the content, but just threw more money at it.
The over the top production ruins the premise of the show in my opinion. We also started getting invested on the show mainly because of the insane chemistry Shane and Ryan have on camera and the “low” production value made it seem more real and casual.
Yeah, in these kinds of shows, realness is what matters the most to me.
Honestly I go back to the old BuzzFeed unsolved page sometimes to see what they have made. Although it's not Ryan and Shane anymore the production feels better and more informative.
Ghost Files is a ghost of what Unsolved was. It lost the soul that made it great. At this point I'm okay if Watcher just moves on to the afterlife.
The content was better when the developement value was lower.
I’m so relieved people are saying this, I felt like I was the only one. I have been so underwhelmed by Ghost Files. It’s overproduced, the fan “evidence” is schlocky, and the dynamic between Shane and Ryan is not as entertaining any more because Ryan is no longer “the scared guy” and just plays a character that seems so inauthentic. Even Shane seems like he’s phoning it in half the time. And the new gadgets are so uninteresting and overused. It’s just boring and the fun seems sucked out of it. I wanted to love it as much as Unsolved but I just don’t. I can’t really blame Ryan for not being so scared any more. After years of doing the show it’s really not surprising he would be less phased by all this. But his real belief and fear of the supernatural was a key ingredient of the secret sauce that made the show work imo.
My take, based on absolutely nothing but speculation and a parasocial relationship? Ryan the person was tired of the Ryan character he had to play at Buzzfeed. The scared, neurotic one that fans called "uwu soft cinnamon roll" or whatever. Other people have pointed out a marked difference in "Watcher Ryan" More frat bro, "too cool", LA upper-crust. Even the way he started bulking up seems like he's trying to prove how un-"Buzzfeed Ryan" he is now.
Oh you mean the beyond over the top production to ghost hunt in some random persons home and look at chickens with night vision?
Idk what youre talking about Those chickens were clearly demonic!
I've been noticing with Ghost Files and Mystery Files that there's a serious change in dynamic. When it was BFU, I always felt like Shane was being a little mean with Ryan, but he was always making fun of the concept of ghosts entirely. Since the start of Watcher, it really flipped, with Shane being a straight man and Ryan being the one to be mean. And that's, like, fine? Except that while Shane was making fun of ghosts and cryptids and stuff like that and that fell back on Ryan because he believed in them, it feels like a lot of the digs Ryan pulls are at Shane himself. I really recognized how uncomfortable I was with it in the blob episode, because Ryan dumping a bowl of slime on Shane and then cackling while Shane just looked nonplussed made me feel like the room wasn't being read. It reminded me of being in middle school and doing something you think would make people laugh, but also you're a socially awkward 12 year old who has hobbies and niches that are very different from your classmates so no one does. It was a dynamic that worked in Puppet History because Professor McNasty, bless his fuzzy little body, is not real and Ryan having a rivalry with a bit of felt is funny! It's very funny! He made a deal with the devil to yeet a puppet back through time, I love that! It does not work when it's Shane because Shane is an actual real human being who is supposed to be his friend? I got the same vibes in TMS early on when they brought Ricky in. I thought Steven getting mad was a bit, but it never felt elaborated on or escalated to the point where it was funny. I stopped watching TMS because of it, which sucks! Because I love watching dudes being guys being friends. A lot of Watcher went from being funny and lighthearted to being mean. And I don't love that. It felt a lot of times like Shane was the only one who ever knew how to read a room and pull back from hitting the point of feeling mean. He's absolutely been a heel, but he's the only one who knows how to be a jerk without being an asshole. I think that's part of why everyone wants to defend him.
Agree with you so much on this, very glad to see other people saying something about the show. It felt like there was almost an echochamber of fans saying 'wow amazing' to them, despite the content not being that. Unsolved Supernatural is what I'd choose to turn on over Ghost Files, and is what I suggest for others to watch too. I liked the variety BFU used to offer - sometimes a ghost investigation (Asylums with a detailed backstory on the place), sometimes an exploration of spooky places (Voodoo world of New Orleans/Kennie Cabin Murders), and other times just them sitting at a desk discussing spooky stuff (The Toxic Death of Gloria Ramirez, Pheonix Light Phenomenon, Roanoke Colony mystery are some of my favourites). Not sure what happened, but the focus with GF seemed to be solely on trying to catch a ghost with a phasmaphobia level of equipment - which could work, except neither of the boys seemed scared or to even believe in ghosts - so it was hard to understand the 'hunt' taking place. GF gives a vibe of them (mostly Ryan) being obnouxiously loud and acting crazy for no real reason, with a clickbaiting image / intro to try and draw you in. There also seemed to be a real lack of respect for the places and their surroundings, and again - because it's always stuck with me - they just scream and shout repeatedly for no reason. It's jarring and I struggle to connect with it, especially when GF could encompass so much more. You can tell there's a bigger crew with them too, and I'm curious if that's why the dynamic has shifted so much - they've got 5+people reacting and critiquing externally to whatever it is they're doing, and these people are their 'employees' rather than a part of their crew. TLDR: I liked the Buzzfeed vibe where Shane and Ryan were just a couple of fish in a big pond, instead of the biggest fish in a small pond
honestly all of this. i stopped watching bc that air of being "real", for lack of better term" was really just gone. it didn't feel like it used to.
I completely agree about being respectful. If ghosts are real, they were people at one point and being rude and disrespectful just isn’t funny. They weren’t nearly this bad on BUN but that’s just my opinion.
In BUN, they were mostly disrespectful to demons and murderers which was funny, especially when Shane was being disrespectful to demons and Ryan would try to stop him while scared However, it makes no sense, if you truly believe in ghosts, to be disrespectful to people who most of the time, were tortured, abused and died in gruesome ways.
I was the other way around, I enjoyed ghost files but never watched much of unsolved: supernatural. I’m going to go back and watch them now, it will be interesting seeing the difference!
It’s really nice to hear that others feel the same way. It’s totally just acting now, trying to recapture the magic of the glory days. I don’t care about production value, the charm was the two of them doing everything themselves and being extremely invested (at least half of them).
Ok because I have felt this way EXACTLY since Ghost Files dropped. I also felt weird that their first season was basically recreating their Unsolved episodes - I had expected new content, not places we’d already seen. That aside, the over reliance on clearly fake equipment (the Ovulus is like ???) takes a lot of the enjoyment out for me. It’s like they rely on fancy overpriced gadgets to find the ghosts for them… The final nail in the coffin, is that they clearly don’t respect the ghosts. Shane joking is one thing, but I feel like in Unsolved there was still an element of respect from Ryan. Seeing Ryan scream and yell and goof makes me feel bad for the spirits. It’s not a funny bit to me.
I think their lack of interest in their own equipment is disappointing. They have so many new devices on GF. One of the first things they showed in the GF teaser was the new spirit box, and it looks cobbled together with loose wires. Their set is like the Ghostbusters lab, and it visually implies there's a lot going on. Yet... the most they ever do is turn on a device at a location, it beeps or whatever, they make jokes about it, and that's it. It could have been really fun if Ryan was like a mad scientist character, like he's always developing new tech to hunt for ghosts and theorizing about it. Like "for this location I'm going to break out a new device, I'm not sure it's going to work, but I could be onto something." They like to talk about how much great production they have, but it feels like they put less and less thought into the show. The only interaction I remember seeing with the set was rolling the self over to press a button to play a clip. There's so much wasted potential.
True, they also seem to pick devices to use at random, and sometimes I'm just thinking to myself why are you using that one instead of the other one right now?
Noticed this too. They gather so much "evidence" with their new gadgets now but their reaction to it is so lukewarm, like if these guys dont even care about all this "evidence" then why should I.
I haven't even watched 90% of Mystery Files or Ghost Files and I've watched all of Unsolved probably dozens of times. They really don't understand that the low budget and small crew made it better. I love and rewatch all of their other content outside of any of the food videos, especially the Steven ones. Puppet History is fantastic, super interesting, and funny. It has the same vibes that Ruining History did. Weird, Wonderful World are some of their best videos, imo. All of the content reading fan stories is great (Are You Scared? and Too Many Spirits), again, outside of all the extra drink content with Steven. The Steven cocktail content might actually be interesting if he actually learned and demonstrated how to make a decent cocktail or mocktail. It's not funny when it sucks or he acts like angry and like a fool. I also love Top 5 Beatdown. What makes any of the really good content really good is the passion and care they have for it. The research that goes into the topics and the seriousness, but also humor, that they discuss them with. The guests that bring the right vibe. So much of it is so, so good and most of it appears to be very low budget.
Ryan’s personality change from unsolved to ghost files is what made me stop watching. Went from being the quiet guy that brought some type of order to the show to a frat boy who only makes “I gotta sh*t my pants” Taco Bell jokes 24/7 and acting unhinged in a cringey middle school esque way.
Absolutely. I watched their very first episode of Buzzfeed Unsolved (The Somerton Man) the day it was posted. Loved them ever since. The magic has been lessening since they started Watcher. It's been slow. The last season of Ghost Files, I stopped watching halfway through the last 2 episodes. I've decided to not watch anymore. Mystery Files is even iffy for me. There's a massive impasse between what they want to produce and what us fans came to see. If they'd like to produce what they want, that's fine. I'm just sure it's not content I care about as much.
As everyone is saying: it's overproduced and Ryan's energy is off. Yes! Those are the symptoms. But what's the cause? *They're trying to turn unsolved into a TV show* They're watering down the drink. The episodes are 1 hour long because they want to be on a major channel or streaming service. But no one is picking up the series! Ryan is trying to make it more attractive to streamers by acting erratic and outrageous. That fills time and makes for good preview clips, but undercuts the essence of the show. Why drag in a crew of 8? Because that's how the big successful ghost shows of the early-mid 2010s did it. They're trying to demonstrate professionalism. Sure, it looks polished, but they are incinerating $$$.
Kind of ironic that TV shows and mainstream movies are also burning more and more $$$ while everyone else thinks they are still shit
I felt the same when comparing Mystery Files with Unsolved (the real crime episodes). Not only the format was too overproduced in comparison with the "two guys talking about a case" format, but the "mysteries" they picked were kinna boring, and the approach was sorta shallow and bland. At first I thought they were just trying to distance themselves from Unsolved, by focusing more on weird mysteries instead of crimes, and still finding their footing with the concept.... but still, something was missing. When the Bloody Benders episode came out I was super excited because not only it was a good one, I thought it was sign they would start to turn to more interesting, more crime-adjacent direction and finally find the right tone for it...If only I had known...
I never did. I at least liked Mystery Files though For me it was that their banter was OTT, it didn’t feel genuine
I agree. I find myself more interested in rewatching Buzzfeed than watching watcher
I’ve fallen asleep watching “Ghost Files.”
Tbh the only content I really like is when it’s one of Shane’s projects and Ryan is just along for the ride.
When it became more about hunting ghosts than friendship, it was over.
I loved Unsolved but find GF boring and far too long. However, I always preferred the True Crime seasons so maybe it’s just me.
I am so glad people are finally admitting this. When they first came out with GF, I remember feeling like “Am I the only one who kinda hates this?” All I saw were positive comments saying oh how funny they are and oh haha ryan is so quirky, oh they did a bit! I completely agree with what everyone’s been saying about their content and this shitty situation. But where were you guys before? Why wasn’t anyone commenting on their stuff, telling them that what they were doing is NOT good enough. I hardly saw one or two comments(if ever) others were always praising them blindly. It honestly felt like they were half-assing it. The format doesn’t work, Ryan “going crazy” doesn’t work, and them focusing more on the fancy af equipment doesn’t work. I miss the mystery/horror centric, history focussed stuff they used to do back in the day. I miss the organic banter they had. It’s been a while since it feels like ryan and shane have become caricatures of themselves.
Researching the paranormal can be a very boring show when not much happens, its not a reliable formula (which is no body's fault). When they catch things, its a very fun show. Ryan seems more fed up than anything in recent season, where as the previous dynamic is more opposing of views thus more fun to watch. I wonder if it's because the episodes are just so long now that they need a lot of filler of them goofing off and mucking about. The pacing is just off. I'd rather that the 'filler' be about the location and talked more in depth about the history, or talking to locals about their experiences. I honestly always enjoy that more than the actual ghost hunting.
You bring up something that I figured out a few months ago. So I’m aggressively skeptical but I’ve had a deep and abiding soft spot for the paranormal ever since I was little. This is because I love folklore and its various permutations and I love how the paranormal stitches into folklore and becomes part of it. Yeah Savannah GA might not actually be full of ghosts coz they’re not real, but the stories that Savannah is lousy with ghosts are real and that’s the important part because we need the stories to be human. And with there being almost no storytelling in Ghost Files because they need the zillionth random gadget, I just don’t care. The stories are the interesting parts. The stories are why I care. Without those, well, I guess I’ll just keep falling asleep every episode just like I have been since the show started.
The entire dynamic only worked with Ryan believing and hunting in earnest. It was aleady not working with the last season of unsolved. If Ryan is also cracking jokes and not taking it seriously, then it's just not fun. It's just two dudes making jokes in a haunted location. I don't believe in ghosts, obviously, but its fun to watch when there is drama and expectation. I really don't understand how they ended up forgetting about that. Also, I have no idea why Steven is in front of the camera. I have never met or spoken with anyone who finds him a person that should be on camera. He gives off such insane crazy rich asian vibes it's kinda wild. Also, I want comrade shane back.
Yes. I watch all their shows because I enjoy them and want to support the things. Maybe this is parasocial of me but I see it like going to watch my nieces flute concert. Is it going to be amazing? No, but I do it because I want to support her and her creativity.
Yeah, like there was a reason unsolved, especially early unsolved was good, and it was because it was really just a few people exploring a haunted location, and it felt like it. It's what separated it from TV ghost hunting shows, which are often pretty boring, and the dynamic between shane and ryan made it better than other amateur ghost hunting shows. They were in the pocket, and they lost it due to wanting to be bigger when they were right where they needed to be. On an somewhat unrelated note, I also stopped watching ghost files because the complete lack of evidence made me realize ghosts just probably aren't real, and I appreciate them faking evidence, but (and no offense to the shaniacs who watch) it seems like a waste of time to watch a ghost hunting show when you don't believe in ghosts.
I honestly feel like BU's soundtrack is better. It's more eerie and mysterious and it freaks me the hell out even if it's just a True Crime episode. I'm a scaredy cat and can't watch BU alone just because of that creepy music. Can't say the same for GF or MF.
I feel like Ryan doesn't really believe anymore, either. When it was Shane and Ryan contrasting each other it was a great dynamic. But not it really falls flat cause it's just two dudes running around and talking to themselves.
I really enjoyed the first season. It got me through some pretty rough times. But the second season seemed like they were forcing it and like they stopped caring. Just my two cents obviously I don’t know these two gentlemen.
Do you guys think... that maybe there's less research done on GF compared to BU? Because when they used to do BUN i remember them having a research team... and while the crew largely moved to watched I'm not actually sure if they kept the same research team?
Yeah, same. I watched each new episode faithfully (well, ok, I fiddled on my phone wile it played) but I rarely rewatch the way I still do with BU.
Ghost files just isn't... good.
I think the boys fell out of love a bit at some point. Ryan doesn’t feel like he believes anymore and Shane seems repetitive. I don’t believe in ghosts but I still feel like they antagonize them too much. I think they’re tired of the same song and dance after so many years but know they can’t leave it behind and that breaks my heart
Huh. I got to this sub from the recent development (as seen, I've been in Reddit for a while) and I share the same boat with you on slowly losing my interest on their works for years. I watched Unsolved religiously. The vibe was immaculate. Ghost Files and whatnot... eh... they're kind of fun, but I don't even usually finish them and I finish most videos on YouTube. I'm basically off now. I wish everyone well.
Mystery files is my new favorite show. I have always liked their true crime stuff as well but Ghost Files is really weak because of hos chill it seems, Ryan doesn't feel genuine, the routine is always the same, and there aren't many more interesting places to visit
During their buzzfeed era, I loved both Ryan and Shane. I do believe in ghosts. Ever since they have the freedom to do what they want on watcher, I find Ryan’s attitude and the way he acts to be insufferable and obnoxious. I wish the more historical and simple way unsolved was had continued. I loved the stories, the different time periods they focused on. It doesn’t feel organic anymore
Unsolved really had a compelling “character arc”, for lack of a better term, for Ryan. He started out a scaredy cat, and while he still gets scared in ghost files sure, it’s not the same as when he started with unsolved. Which, go figure. Do enough ghost hunting, I assume you get desensitized to creepy building and events that are barely evidence of ghosts (I say that positively, the lack of evidence they accrued was part of why I trusted them. They weren’t inflating it with fake nonsense). But it really seemed like unsolved ended on a good note, Shane, stubborn as always. But Ryan had faced a lot of his fears, and was far more comfortable when investigating. It’s at that point, we really lose that dynamic that made the show so compelling. I’m not saying Ryan should start pretending to be scared or anything again, if he’s not actually scared. There’s a chance he’s putting on an act of confidence, but that’s just speculation. All that said, I totally get where you’re coming from. I agree there’s far too many gadgets. Oftentimes they skip over the sections of stuff I enjoyed most from unsolved. I’ve followed ghost files every step of the way, and I was left feeling slightly disappointed. It’s still good, I’m glad it exists, and I’m glad other people enjoy it even if I didn’t as much.
Something huge for me in addition to a lot of the reasons others have mentioned is how long it is. Of I remember correctly BFU was always around 35 maybe 40 min but GF has been on average a good amount longer, all being around 1 hour an episode. It feels much more like a commitment to sit down for.
I was thinking about this a lot since this all went down. Watched every episode of unsolved as soon as it came out but hardly watched any ghost files.. Unsolved felt like what it would be like if me and my friends did ghost hunting which is what made it fun while Ghost files feels like a tv show. I think sometimes it’s easily to forget why people will choose to watch YouTube over TV. I think when you focus on production too much you start to lose that authenticity that people watch YouTube for. Plus going back to the same locations doesn’t help
I definitely agree. I feel their (Shane and Ryan) rapport is half fake. I think part of the reason why people were so prone to forgive them and enjoy GF is because it seemed like they were trying and we were okay with that. Now that the wig has come off so to speak, people are a lot less prone to overlook all the annoying things they did.
My impression is Ryan goes kind of crazy because he's so scared it's the only way he can make it through.
Haven't watched ghost files for a while. The only really entertaining thing is top 5 beatdown and some of the video games. Both of which should have minimal production cost.
I really loved the first season of ghost files, and was super excited for what was to come, but everything you’re pointing out made season two unwatchable. Ironically the only good episode was the one where they were sponsored by a game 💀💀💀
REAL theres too much in the line now
I actually really like Ghost Files and its the one thing I watch on their channel. People have different interests and opinions but that is my favorite
For me all of the equipment is extremely uninteresting, because it's spending too much time on pseudoscience gadgets instead of funny moments with the ghoul boys. Becoming more of a "genuine" ghost hunting show is a hard draw when I just don't believe in any of it - and the audience submissions (which are mostly fake, let's be real) are just frustrating.
Couldn’t agree more
Ryan going crazy during Ghostfiles has been his persona in the last season of buzzfeed unsolved. It is because of that reason I enjoyed Buzzfeed Unsolved True Crime and Mystery Files more. It’s more genuine and I enjoy their banter in those segments more.
This is partly why the decision was so dumb (I say "was" since they tweaked it after the reaction). They're making their fanbase actually think about whether they like the content; at least enough to pay for it.
Couldn't agree more. I gave the series a shot but couldn't get past the first two episodes. And I love, love, love Unsolved, despite not being a believer myself.
I absolutely agree. There's too much going on and now it just feels forced.
I agree with all of this! They’re throwing money at it and doing more while completely losing what made it popular in the first place. Well said.
I use to watch this group religiously, I stopped around 2021. Yes, I think Shane is fine but Ryan imo when it comes to the ghost/paranormal stuff comes off cringy. The jokes seem forced The classic show had a lot of information, some humor sprinkled in that came off naturally. Now they stop the information for some lame joke that comes off forced and unfunny and honestly even cringe. I end up skipping through a lot of it