We spoke w/ ryansbergara and shanemadej about their new approach to tackling cases in MysteryFiles, how demons could influence a wearewatcher crossover, and so much more.
In a few short days, Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej will debut their brand-new Watcher series Mystery Files, which is the spiritual successor of their fan-favorite series Buzzfeed Unsolved: True Crime. Last year, the duo made waves with the launch of their ghost-hunting series Ghost Files, which went on to be nominated for a Webby.
SHANE MADEJ: Well, I think we were pretty timid about true crime even when we were doing Unsolved: True Crime. It was very early on in that show that Ryan and I got pretty– because I don't know that we, on our own, tend to consume much true crime content, in the way that, I have never watched a single minute of any ghost hunting show [laughs].
You managed to answer my next question, which was going to be, how did you decide which mysteries you wanted to investigate? And it sounds like what you're looking for is the lighthearted, non-gore-filled fun that there is in the mystery world. BERGARA: Oh yeah, I have a couple. The first one that comes to mind is D.B. Cooper, just because he was a funny guy. I think it's really funny to steal a bunch of money, put on sunglasses, and then jump out of an airplane with seemingly no know-how of how to use a parachute. I think that's really funny [laughs]. So, I would love to see that one solved. I really got knee-deep in the research on that one.
MADEJ: Well I think an earnest effort has to be made. But if someone's, you know– Like the Zodiac, that person nailed it, and we owe them that to let them, you know, sort of get away with it. Great job. BERGARA: I can't! Actually, I can. I said I’m pretty sure. I never said “it is.” It's not, like, in fact. [To Madej] It's also fun to discuss this kind of stuff when it appears there's a corpse of the Professor behind you on that shelf.
BERGARA: Oh, there's definitely more research for Mystery Files because Ghost Files is basically just like, “What's the history? Why are these certain rooms said to be haunted by this certain person?” Whereas Mystery Files, I mean, you're, you're covering a larger gamut of information, like the case itself, the actual incident, what led up to that? Who are the people involved? Who are the suspects? Where is it at now? And then, of course, like all the other just general theories.
BERGARA: I gotta say, though, one of the cases from this season, I did end up going down a rabbit hole, and it's one of the – without giving too much away – it's a case about somebody who decided to do something just exceptionally weird. And it was so weird that it just really creeped me out, and it always has creeped me out, and I wish I could figure out who did it [laughs].
MADEJ: Yeah, it is nice because it was fun shooting this season, and all the stories feel like they do have that kernel of nagging mystery where you're like, “What is going on?” It is scratching the same itch, but without the human misery. Exactly. With the supernatural element still being incorporated into the Mystery Files, is there a chance that we'll ever see a crossover between this and Ghost Files, where something you research in Mystery Files prompts you to incorporate it into a future season of Ghost Files?BERGARA: That's a great idea, honestly. I might use that. That sounds really good. It hasn't happened quite yet.
It probably goes without saying, Shane and I have very different presentational styles, and at first that really worried me, but after watching it all play out, I really do think it's gonna be very refreshing to go back and forth between the two. Or we'll get a lot of comments that are just like, “Hey, Ryan, you should hang it up. I think Shane should host all of them from now on.
But that aside, there is another episode in the series that I'm pretty excited for people to see, and it's definitely one of those that people will know immediately, and it's a cryptid. I think that's fine to say, it's a cryptid.
BERGARA: You know, that is something that we’ve really got to give credit to the, to the Watcher staff, particularly, Annie Jeong and Brittney Lee. When we were thinking about the show, I gave a pretty baseline, like, “I'd like this to be in a basement. I'd like it to look like a madman’s den. I want it to look very like ‘70s, ‘80s.” A lot of the content I liked growing up now is very, you know, Stranger Things, Stephen King, that kind of stuff.
MADEJ: Yeah, so an eagle-eyed viewer may see something on the shelf somewhere. It’s a game, you know, it's harmless.BERGARA: [Laughing] I can’t believe you said that. We did a good job of hiding it, man. We covered it.Oh, my gosh.
MADEJ: I do think they're probably, I don't know, they're probably no fun. They're probably no fun! Do you think other, like– I don't even want to know what they're up to. They're not making Coca Cola and smoking cigarettes and making rock ‘n roll!BERGARA: Here's the thing, I hate when people are like, “Aliens are just like–” Obviously, they could be way more intelligent than us. They probably are if they figured out intergalactic travel to come to our places.
MADEJ: I see. Yes, you're right. Oh, so you're implying that I'm like the little Men in Black alien where there's a little tiny alien inside of my head. This is true. I'm picturing the scene in Beetlejuice with the entire football team, like the entire basketball team of like all-stars, like fantasy league right there. I have to say, the Watcher social media team is next level. I am constantly impressed with how on top of things they are with what the fans are talking about, and they seem to be everywhere.
MADEJ: Yeah, we largely don't pay any attention to TikTok, at our own peril, you know. So we're pretty out of the loop on anything that performs well on there. I mean, our social media person, Simone, does pay attention to TikTok, and we love TikTok very much, but Ryan and I really never look at the thing. It's just another whole time loop that you can roll down. It wastes so much time.
BERGARA: It started on postmortems on True Crime. It actually started on postmortems because we were discussing a case that particularly bummed Shane and I out. So to add some sort of levity–BERGARA: No, I don't think so. I think it was a much sadder case, and we were both pretty bummed out, and you were like, “Hey, look, this is a hot dog guy coming by on a skateboard,” and that's how it started. And then it kind of, you know, spiraled out of control from there.
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