Netflix Jokingly Pitches 'Tiger King's Carole Baskin for 'Unsolved Mysteries' and Twitter Goes Wild

Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries reboot has been another hit for the streaming service, and they might [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries reboot has been another hit for the streaming service, and they might have an idea for another episode. In a hilarious tweet on Sunday, Netflix jokingly pitched an installment centering on Carole Baskin, one of the subjects in its hit documentary series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness. An entire episode of Tiger King was devoted to Joseph Maldonado-Passage's theory that Baskin, his chief rival, killed her second husband, Don Lewis, who has been missing since 1997.

"Is this where we pitch ideas for Unsolved Mysteries?" Netflix asked on its Twitter page. The responses from followers were swift, with most either finding the joke hilarious or using the tweet as a venue to demand more seasons of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Hannibal and Anne With An E. Another person joked, "Man that joke was so low you can hear it from the septic tank."

As Tiger King fans know, Maldonado-Passage, better known as Joe Exotic, believes Baskin had something to do with Lewis' disappearance and presumed death. He believed Lewis was killed and Baskin fed his body to tigers at her Big Cat Rescue zoo. Lewis went missing in 1997 and was declared legally dead in 2002. No evidence of Lewis being killed has ever been found, and Baskin has not been named a suspect by investigators. However, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office in Florida used Tiger King's popularity to ask the public for further information in the case, which is still open.

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One part of the theory that Baskin was involved in Lewis' death involves the will Lewis left behind. In June, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said he believed Baskin forged the will, which cut out Lewis' family from his previous marriage. It is believed that Lewis' estate was worth $10 million. In Tiger King, Lewis' ex-wife and his daughters all expressed concern that Baskin was involved. His daughter Donna Pettis is reportedly considering hiring a lawyer to look at what their legal options are.

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As for Baskin, she has made it clear she was not happy with the Tiger King series. In an interview with the Tampa Bay Times in April, Baskin said she felt betrayed by filmmakers Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin. She thought they were making a Blackfish-type film about illegally owned big cats, but it wound up focusing on the tabloid aspects of Baskin and Maldonado-Passage's rivalry. It even inspired people to demand Maldonado-Passage, who was convicted of hiring a hitman to kill Baskin and violations of the Endangered Species Act, to be pardoned.

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Netflix released the new season of Unsolved Mysteries on July 1. The series original version of the series ran from 1987 to 1999 and 2001 to 2002, with the late actor Robert Stack as host. An iteration aired on Spike from 2007 to 2008 with the late Dennis Farina hosting. The new Netflix version does not have a host and each episode focuses on a single mystery.

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