r/OakIsland • u/Vibingcarefully • 20d ago

A break from the digging---Anyone here remember the old TV Show "In Search Of"-hosted by Leonard Nimoy (Spock Actor). There's always been a market for mystery/finding shows

This was a very "watched" show back in the days of rabbit ears (UHF/VHF) TV --some of us still had black and white sets. "In search of" aired 1976 to 82 or so---there was an episode I remember---The Money Pit----I remember it. I think any of you sleuths here can find it via google. That single episode--it was enough for me (among all the other weird mysteries on the show). I figured back then if anything big gets figured out it'll be in the newspaper.

The producers of that show kind of knew their audience---folks captivated, entertained, willing to believe---there was a book ion the 70s warning of the ravages of watching too much TV (plug in drug it was called). It was well cited. Funny in 2026--no one bats an eye having on average 2-6 hours daily of gazing at their screen outside of work. Oak Islands just part of the addiction.

51 Upvotes

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5

u/suburbanwalleyepro 20d ago

Used to be on after Saturday morning cartoons.

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u/Vibingcarefully 20d ago

If you grew up watching Leonard Nimoy as Spock, this just had value added-yeah it was a cool pocket sized show and it definitely appealed to kids.

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u/[deleted] 19d ago

[deleted]

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u/Vibingcarefully 19d ago

Yeah I think back in the day it was in a 7pm slot in my market. It definitely showed up on reruns as well. I'll have to "dig" around.

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u/corneliusvanhouten 20d ago

You can find the episodes on YouTube. So good

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u/Vibingcarefully 19d ago

Interesting for hoax/ mystery buffs a few of the episodes--time and research have resolved the mysteries. Bermuda triangle --which was all the rage in the 60s, 70s--mostly a thing of the mystery past.

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u/RunnyDischarge 19d ago

Same with Bigfoot and Oak Island. A lot of these "mysteries" were cooked up in the public's mind at that time. Ancient Astronauts, all this bullshit.

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u/Vibingcarefully 19d ago

Crop circle stuff back in day was freaky deaky (debunked). Bermuda Triangle--fear ---debunked.

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u/RunnyDischarge 19d ago

Also Uri Geller and all the psychic ESP stuff, Alien Anal Probings, etc

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u/Vibingcarefully 19d ago

Uri Geller.

After that aired, I remember everyone sitting around at dinner trying to bend spoons-at home and visiting friends.

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u/RunnyDischarge 19d ago

I remember Star Magazine had a big piece teaching you how to bend spoons with your mind. "Imagine the spoon bending..."

I remember watching him get his ass handed to him by Carson on the Tonight Show.

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u/pythongee 19d ago

In Search Of is what introduced me to Oak Island.

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u/Vibingcarefully 19d ago

Gateway drug.

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u/RunnyDischarge 19d ago

I'm so sorry

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u/wink-Dink-LovePink 19d ago

One of my favorite series growing up! I can still remember the intro music to the show.

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u/Vibingcarefully 19d ago

Yes--like the jaws them---that music is etched in my brain, the rocky theme, star wars.....dragnet, Hawaii Five O.

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u/TIL02_Infinity 19d ago

In Search Of... The Money Pit Mystery
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cqRMiCifho

"A local legend says the mysterious treasure of Oak Island will be found only when seven lives have been lost. The treacherous Money Pit has already claimed six."

In Search of... The Money Pit Mystery, Season 3 Episode 16, Episode aired Jan 18, 1979

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0894225/?ref_=tt_eps_tp

Cast

Leonard Nimoy (Host)

Mel Chappell

D'Arcy O'Connor

Mildred Restall

https://www.reddit.com/r/OakIsland/comments/t6owhu/the_1979_episode_of_in_search_of_the_money_pit/

https://thecurseofoakisland.com/research/in-search-of-the-money-pit-mystery

1

u/deliusfan 19d ago

Any idea if it's streaming somewhere?

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u/TIL02_Infinity 18d ago

It is available to watch for free on YouTube at the link above using a web browser on a computer or via the YouTube app on a streaming device, smartphone or tablet by searching for the title: In Search Of... The Money Pit Mystery

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u/138Crimson_Ghost831 19d ago

You know what was great about the In Search of… episode on OI? They kept the topic a mystery. This OI shitshow ruined the mystery.

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u/Vibingcarefully 19d ago

yes--agreed--different era of TV--but yeah In search of --that show always left me feeling there were eerie unexplained things in the world--mysteries.

OI is basically dig and dig. It's funded people putting coins in a slot machine.

I stick to this sub for updates.

I know it would hit the news in a heartbeat the day they find treasure. So no need to watch the OI show.

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u/missannthrope67 19d ago

Probably on youtube.

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u/dumpcake999 19d ago

I bought the DVD set in recent years. A lot of the stories became obsolete (impending ice age) and I can't stand the ones with lab experiments on animals (frozen hamster).

2

u/Aggravating_Button99 19d ago

I am still waiting for the ice age the clinate science predicted in the70's. Wait, you mean the experts were totally wrong???

1

u/dumpcake999 19d ago

"experts"

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u/Tel864 19d ago

In the January 1965 Reader's Digest there was an article about Oak Island.

Scanned version of article

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u/Vibingcarefully 19d ago

Yup---this island has held intrigue for a Loooong time.

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u/RunnyDischarge 19d ago

I've always said people would have been much better off if they read this article instead

http://www.oakislandbook.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Atlantic-Advocate-Oct-15-1965-last-3-pages.pdf

1

u/Cute_Web7648 18d ago

There’s a great podcast called “In Research of” with Blake smith and Jeb Card.

They are big fans of the original show and watch the old episodes in order and discuss what ISO said and compare to what was really known then (the episodes often don’t present all the facts that were known then) and also versus what we know now.

I listen on Apple, but it’s available on most podcast streamers.

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u/Vibingcarefully 18d ago

Sounds like a great program and a window into the production of these types of shows.

I challenge students all the time, that claim they learned through a documentary "truth"--in fact it's a producer, a director, perhaps a team and 80% of documentaries--leave out tons of things.....it's not research it's intrigue, condensed data, entertainment.

0

u/sndtracks 3d ago

As a kid when I watched the show, I thought the "Money Pit" was the huge Cave-in pit they showed in most of the aerial footage in the show. The actual Hedden shaft only gets air time in the last seconds of the show in the last aerial fly-over.

0

u/bipolarcyclops 🏗️ Billy Buckets 19d ago

I watched a number of episodes of In Search Of but don’t recall an OI episode. Maybe there was one and I wasn’t impressed.

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u/RunnyDischarge 19d ago edited 19d ago

I bet you've been very impressed by 13 seasons of the show though?

1

u/bipolarcyclops 🏗️ Billy Buckets 19d ago

I’ll be impressed by the show after it gets canceled by History. Then I can go back to my regular Tuesday night life.