Beyond Reality - The First Season (2006)

Platform:  DVD MOVIE Publisher:  MILL CREEK ENTERTAINMENT Packaging:  DVD STYLE BOX Beyond Reality chronicles the unique lives of two adventuresome university professors who delve into the mysterious world of the paranormal.Shari Belafonte stars as Laura Wingate a parapsychologist who has traveled the world studying different cultures religions and strange occurrences. As the open-minded witty and outspoken head of a private university's Parapsychology Department Laura devotes her time to teaching but is constantly distracted investigating paranormal events. Carl Marotte plays J.J. Stillman a clinical psychologist who has been trained in the traditional sciences. He is inquisitive responsible and often overly analytical. Together Laura and J.J. apply their combined expertise curiosity and compassion to investigate the fascinating extraordinary but completely plausible world of the paranormal.Specifications:Format: 2 DVD's NTSCRun Time: 8 hours 37 minutes Product Description

Goosebumps For Dolts, I Mean Adults

I've watched three episodes so far, spread out to see if it improved after the first episode. Not really, but the actors are generally decent. The lead actor doesn't give off much charisma. Pretty much everything reminds me of episodes of R.L. Stine's Goosebumps I watched with my nephew, especially the quality of writing and direction. The stories are so thin they barely support their half-hour running time.

I have no memories of this show, and it probably helps to retain a strong sense of nostalgia about it. I suffer from nostalgia more than anyone, so enjoy this all you want if you want to. I mostly wanted to point out that Beyond Reality = Goosebumps. It sells for $8.47, which sounds about right. July 1, 2008

An old favorite of mine, as well as my son's!

My son and I, have loved this show since it first made it's appearance years ago. we would make a game of it and see who guessed more accurately regarding the collection of short stories, with the true or false question that each presented, which of us guessed more with a right answer, be it true or false.
The stories there selves are all interesting and hold your attention whether finding it was a true or false story. It would always seem that the most unbelieveable clips were the true one's..."go figure"
In any event, you will not regret this purchase, it's entertaining with or without the game and just plain fun to watch!

Thanks,
Ron Poplaski May 31, 2008

A Great Series from the Early '90s - Worth Seeing Again

This is a gem, an early '90s series with episodes based on true events. The "true events" are often questionable urban myths, or off the mark representations of non-mainstream religions, but there is no question that this series is worth watching. The acting stands up to the test of time, with writing that fits a complete storyline into each episode. Season one is 22 episodes, which harkens back to a time when no one would call 12 episodes of a show a "season". Shari Belafonte and Carl Marotte do a great job portraying the main characters: Laura Wingate a parapsychologist; and J. J. Stillman, a clinical psychologist; as a university's Parapsychology department. Their characters mesh well, and balance each other while pursuing the validity and cause of each episode's supernatural focus. Nicole deBoer joins the cast later in the season.

Some of the clothing - and a lot of the technology - screams late 80s to the early '90s. Still, the portrayals of everyday folks seeking help in dealing with unusual events in their lives make for interesting viewing. Rather than using a narrator voicing the story in a somber voice, as is often done with more recent shows depicting the paranormal, Beyond Reality used talented actors to convey the eeriness of having day to day life disrupted by a supernatural event. And did a very good job of it. I'm looking forward to the next season of Beyond Belief being released on DVD. May 8, 2008

Spectres, voices from the other side and out-of-body experiences

BEYOND REALITY appeared on the USA cable network for two seasons. Forty-four half-hour episodes aired between 10/1/91 and 3/1/93. The show centered on two university-based parapsychologists, portrayed by Shari Belafonte (as Laura Wingate) and Carl Marotte (as J.J. Stillman) and their explorations of poltergeists, telekinesis and other such eerie phenomena. Also appearing infrequently was Nicole de Boer (as Celia Powell).

MCE's DVD set of BEYOND REALITY contains all 20 Season #1 episodes plus two from the second season. They probably did this to evenly divide this program's catalog into lots of 22, but short of consulting J.J and Laura, we can't know for certain if a Season #2 collection is in the foreseeable future.


THE RAY BRADBURY THEATER - Complete Series consists of 65 episodes-- all based on show host Bradbury's short stories. It's a little-seen and fascinating 1980's anthology of sci-fi and fantasy that featured such fine actors as William Shatner, Jeff Goldblum, Leslie Nielson and Peter O'Toole.


The "Beyond Reality" Season #1 list is sequential by original airdate.
Also included are episode titles and featured guest stars.

Mirror, Mirror (10/4/91) - Lynne Cormack/Nicole de Boer/Peter Dvorsky
The Doppelgänger (10/11/91) - Len Doncheff/Kenneth Walsh
Miracle Worker 10/18/91) - Chris Makepeace/Cedric Smith/Nick Rice
Return Visit (10/25/91) - Cynthia Preston/James B. Douglas/Jill Frappier
Intimate Shadows (11/1/91) - Scott Hylands/Kate Trotter/Steve Whistance-Smith
Echoes of Evil (11/8/91) - Doris Petrie/Richard Sali/Susan Kottman
Range of Motion (11/15/91) - Deborah Duchene/Nicholas Campbell/Susan Hogan
The Cold (11/22/91) - Robert More/Janet Laine-Green/Laura Press
The Bridge (11/29/91) - Nathaniel Moreau/Sandy Quan/David Ferry
Black Magic (12/6/91) - Krista Bridges/Lindsay Merrithew/Anthony Sherwood
Enemy in Our Midst (12/14/91) - Jennifer Dale/Mathew Mackay/Andrew Gillies
Asylum (12/20/91) - Errol Slue/ Denise Fergusson/Roy Lewis
Killer Instinct (12/27/91) - Jennifer Griffin/Lawrence Bayne/Allan Price
Sins of the Father (4/17/92) - Marvin Ishmael/Nigel Bennett/Ashleigh Ann Wood
Nightmare Without End (4/24/92) - Laura Bruneau/Peter Krantz/Vince Marino
Master of Darkness (5/1/92) - Colm Feore/Leah Pinsent/Jeremy Ratchford
Siren Song (5/8/92) - Nancy Anne Sakovich/Larissa Laskin/Sharon Dyer
Justice (5/15/92) - G. Danovan Spence/William Lynn/John Tench
The Fire Within (5/22/92) - Von Flores/Janet Lo/Lawrence Tan/Henry Li
The Color of Mad (5/29/92) - Geordie Johnson/Dixie Seatle/Ron Small March 9, 2008

Okay, but dated

I remember this series when it was being aired and at that time, I found it pretty cool, but ..... when you hold this up to other series that are available, it feels awful dated and seems lacking. Sheri Belafonte's hair style - I don't know what you call it except maybe 'buckethead' makes me think she was once one of the birds in the Flock of Seagulls new wave band, and did this series between takes. The acting is mediocre at it's best and the story lines are so - so. If you're into tales of the supernatural and generally like creepy stuff, check out the WB series Supernatural. Much better story lines, with continuity, and top notch special effects - plus no buckethead hairdoos. February 13, 2008

More reviews at Amazon.com ...