Media Log | Secrets of the Unknown: Bigfoot & Witches

Secrets & Mysteries was an American television series that syndicated from 1987 to 1989. It was a paranormal magazine show, often compared to In Search Of... which ended it's run five years before Secrets & Mysteries premiered.

Although the topics were similar in nature to In Search Of..., and Secrets & Mysteries certainly released around the same time, it appears great lengths were taken to separate the two shows. Secrets & Mysteries incorporates bumpers hosted by Edward Mulhare, which show him using all sorts of gadgets and pseudo-futuristic technology to help display information throughout each episode.

I'm not certain what TV stations aired Secrets & Mysteries during it's syndicated run, but the show appeared to make its money on video. Tapes were sold in different formats from the late-80s all the way to the early-2000s. Each episode was released individually, there were several sets that had four episodes to a tape, and there were even two Blockbuster Presents editions, each with two episodes on each tape (one of which I'm highlighting here). The show was never released on any other format, nor is it available on streaming.

During its video run, it seems the title of the series was changed to Secrets of the Unknown. This isn't entirely consistent, though. For instance, on the Blockbuster Presents: Secrets of the Unknown: Bigfoot & Witches tape, the "Bigfoot" episode is presented as Secrets & Mysteries on the intro and outro, however the "Witches" episode uses the Secrets of the Unknown title for the intro (which interestingly runs at a different speed than the Secrets & Mysteries introduction) but then uses the Secrets & Mysteries title in the outro. Having watched a few different episodes of this show on tape, there seem to be all sorts of inconsistencies with how the episodes are presented.

You can find out more information about the series on Wikipedia.org.

You can find video clips of the intro and outro segments on my video archival channel, VHYesterdayS.

I've also uploaded the full videos for both the "Bigfoot" and "Witches" episodes on the Internet Archive for archival purposes.

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Here come the chips! I've got Cool Ranch and Barbecue! Ow!

The first post I made on this new site was - not shockingly - about potato chips (a personal passion of mine) and since it's been just about a full revolution around the sun since then, I figured it was time for more.

So, I hope you like reading way too many words about junk food, because I'm back on my bullshit. Let's talk about the Lay's Canada Flavour Icons summer promo for 2024!

I'm not going to lie to you, this year's promotion isn't a complete knock out. One of the flavours is recycled from last year, Miss Vickie's Spicy Dill Pickle, and the other two offerings, although new to Canada, are frequently flyers in the US: Cool Ranch Doritos and Cheetos Lay's.

Out of last year's offerings, I really enjoyed the Spicy Dill Pickle. As I mentioned in my previous post, I don't really dig it on the actual Miss Vickie's chips, but it somehow jives better with the classic Lay's potato chip.

As for the Cool Ranch Doritos flavour? Something just isn't clicking. I think there's something to say about texture when it comes to eating Doritos and maybe I've just had my brain wired to expect a corn chip, but whatever it is, I didn't dig Cool Ranch on a Lay's potato chip. Nothing wrong with it, just not for me!

And then finally the Cheetos Lay's; I really liked these. Last year, I loved the Nacho Cheese Doritos Lay's and this year the cheese flavour takes the cake again. In 2022, Lay's did Flavour Mashups in Canada and they had Cheetos Puffs + Lay's Ketchup chips that I really didn't like, but it must've been the combination of the two, because Cheetos dust tastes delicioso on a standard chip.

So, overall I'd give this year's Flavour Icons a big meh. It's just okay!

I've decided to practice brevity on this post, even though I did what most sane people would consider far too much research about the Lay's summer promos of yesteryear, but I will save you all that.

What I will say, is that this year's promo being recycled kinda tracks with PepsiCo (owner of Lay's) this year. Usually, Pepsi would have multiple pop offerings in the spring and leading into early summer. Although it has been somewhat spotty, we've pretty much had Pepsi Throwback (a.k.a. Pepsi Real Sugar) every summer for a long while, and then also periodically there's been Crystal Pepsi and even Pepsi Blue!

This year, however, there's really nothing I'd call a standout promo. They are pushing the zero sugar varieties of Wild Cherry and Lime pretty vigourously, but they're always on the menu. In the US they at least have full sugar varieties of Pepsi Lime and Pepsi Peach! Not here, though.

I keep hoping for Lay's Canada to reach deep into their back catalog and come out with a Hostess potato chip summer promo. I've even written to them - yes, I am that lame. And here we are again, no dice.

Here's hoping for next year! And I'm still holding out hope that Pepsi Throwback graces our shelves in the next few weeks. You folks in the US who have access to Pepsi Real Sugar on the regular don't know how good you have it!

Anyway, keep on crunchin' and cheers to summer!

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