Parallel Universes & Alternate Reality: TV & Films
Everything on top: 49 entries in random order except ongoing series on top.
Second section: 9 entries: Watchlist items.
Third section: 4 entries: Watched: Partial recommendation.
Second section: 9 entries: Watchlist items.
Third section: 4 entries: Watched: Partial recommendation.
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- CreatorDan HarmonJustin RoilandStarsChris ParnellSpencer GrammerSarah ChalkeThe fractured domestic lives of a nihilistic mad scientist and his anxious grandson are further complicated by their inter-dimensional misadventures.7 seasons / 71 episodes: Ongoing Series
This show is crazy... crazy good!
The adventures, the gadgets, the great scripts, the alien lifeforms, the multiverse, Rick, Morty... so much more. All like candy for the brain.
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Related: The Vindicators (2022) - CreatorGreg DanielsStarsRobbie AmellAndy AlloAllegra EdwardsAfter his premature death, a man's consciousness is uploaded into a virtual world. As he gets comfortable with his surroundings, questions about his death arise.3 seasons / 25 episodes: Season 4 Pending
Makes this list because Upload represents a new "reality", running concurrently to this one.
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Update, 08jan2024: Finished watching season 3.
I love this show. I love the way it handles questions about a digital afterlife that we - the viewers - have not even begun to think about.
Questions about ownership of digital memories, the rights of those in the "afterlife", the rights of the poor gaining access to this form of Virtual Reality, lots more...
I also love seeing all the little NextGen Sci-fi tweaks and gadgets. The script is smart, light and funny! I am hoping that Amazon renews this for several more seasons. - CreatorRaphael Bob-WaksbergKate PurdyStarsRosa SalazarAngelique CabralConstance MarieAfter she very narrowly survives a serious car accident, a woman discovers that she has a new relationship with time.2 seasons / 16 episodes: Season 3 Pending
The first two seasons have been remarkable storytelling.
I love that each season seems to end, that there's near closure. And yet... it's not quite finished. That you have an answer. And yet... you have strong doubts. That it's really a powerful drama and yet... genre-warping. That it's empowering and hopeful but potentially... heart-breaking.
I, for one, am certain of nothing but a wonderfully entertaining and immersive experience.
Undone makes this Parallel & Alternate Reality List because, no matter what we believe up until this point, we all (I think) prefer an outcome that warrants being on this list. - CreatorMatt DufferRoss DufferStarsMillie Bobby BrownFinn WolfhardWinona RyderWhen a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces and one strange little girl.4 seasons / 34 episodes: Ongoing Series
Renewed for a fifth and final season.
Coming of age, adult drama, sci-fi, superpowers and extra-dimensional monsters. The first 2 seasons were great stuff. Season 3 (the kid scenes) segued into deus ex machina & goofiness but the adult sections continued to be good TV.
Season 4 was a return to form and found it fully enjoyable. - CreatorBlake CrouchStarsJoel EdgertonJennifer ConnellyJimmi SimpsonA man is abducted into an alternate version of his life. Amid the mind-bending landscape of lives he could've lived, he embarks on a harrowing journey to get back to his true family and save them from a most terrifying foe: himself.1 season / 9 episodes: airing now
I've watched the first 5 episodes, thru 29may2024. I am really enjoying this series and can't wait for future episodes. I usually wait for a season to air all episodes before I start watching. I made a mistake here...
I started watching too soon and now the dreadful waiting. Nice twist on parallel storytelling in terms of how traveling between dimensions is performed. This twist helps keep things interesting. - CreatorJosh BilligChris MartinStarsLiv HewsonSean DulakeJustin ChonWhat would YOU do if you fell into your favorite K-drama?2 seasons / 20 episodes: season 3 pending
I have only seen season 1 which turned out to be one of those fun hidden gems. Highly recommended.
Season 2, which took a very long time to get here, is in the queue. I hope to get to it at some point. - StarsChloë Grace MoretzGary CarrJack ReynorSet in the future when technology has subtly altered society, a woman discovers a secret connection to an alternate reality as well as a dark future of her own.1 season / 8 episodes: Series Complete
update, 23aug2023: Crushing news. This one hurts. I just read that the series was canceled.
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The first season was bingeable good!
A great TV series with stellar acting by a terrific cast, an immersive plot and lots of great Sci-fi elements on display.
Among the Sci-fi elements presented here are new earth dimensions - and the reason this series is on this list. How they come to being, I will not say - even with the spoiler tag. I do like the new twist. - CreatorTracy TorméRobert K. WeissStarsJerry O'ConnellSabrina LloydJohn Rhys-DaviesA boy genius and his comrades travel to different parallel universes, trying to find their way back home.5 seasons / 88 episodes: Series Complete
This show took the concept of the multiverse, taming it and making it a viable new sub-genre. They did so with a pleasant cast, acceptable storytelling and a connection to the characters that made it one of the best things on TV.
The strength of this series was always the original cast. Together they were greater than their individual characters. They managed to not only make each episode's plot better by their mere interactions but they made each other better.
That chemistry was shattered about 2/3rds into season 3 with the loss of Arturo. Whatever magic remained within the group was obliterated when Wade Wells did not return for season 4.
Despite this, I was able to rewatch the entire series recently (Oct/2022) and was very surprised that I enjoyed both seasons 4 and 5 (when I disliked them both in the late-90s). This only works if you are willing to embrace the character changes - something I was unable to do decades earlier.
What seasons 4 and 5 lacked was chemistry. The new groups simply did not have the same "magic" as the original complete cast.
Even with over 25 years of prep time, learning to embrace changes, knowing what was coming... I still found the loss of both Maximilian Arturo and Wade Wells to be palpable. I never stopped feeling their absence. I still grieve for them both when I think about this series.
This probably, at some level, may have effected my acceptance of the new groups.
With Remmy's (Rembrandt's) final jump in the series finale, it is entirely possible that the entire original crew was... (too sad to contemplate). - DirectorPeter WernerStarsGeorge NewbernAnne Le GuernecRobert KnepperCat, a fugitive from a parallel Earth ruled by aliens, lands on "our" Earth in the middle of a freeway, causing an accident. She is slightly injured, and wakes up in the emergency room of a hospital, where Thomas, a doctor, takes care of her. The following day, Thomas goes back to the hospital and finds Cat's room vacant and all records wiped out. He discovers that the FBI is investigating Cat's origin, because she has brought a couple of strange artifacts. Thomas is trying to talk to her when she decides to escape. Thomas is forced by the events to follow and help her, all the while trying to understand her motives. It turns out that Cat is fleeing a group of servants of the Dark Lord. They hitch-hike to the nearest Doorway to another parallel world, but while they're waiting for the door to open, they're caught successively by FBI agents and Dark Lord goons. They barely escape through the door to an Earth where petrol has disappeared. Their adventures continue as they are still chased by the villains. At last, they stumble through another door and land on top of Mt Rushmore. But the four faces that are sculpted on it show that Thomas is clearly not back home yet.I saw this on 17nov2022. Rated it an easy (and nostalgic) 8. If not for the 'Sliders' connection (to be honest), I would have rated it a much lower 5.
The basic concept of Doorways/Sliding was in development some time before this was released. It spawned this TV Pilot and the TV series Sliders.
Recommended watch for any Sliders fan. This is where the enjoyment comes from. That is, watching this pilot while thinking about the backroom discussions that led to 'Doorways', that led to 'Sliders'.
Having watched both now... I found the 'Sliders' implementation to be very much better.
It's interesting to think about "what might have been" if this was greenlit instead of 'Sliders'. That is, how the entire genre would have been effected because I believe that 'Sliders' pushed parallel universe story-telling forward.
It's fun to imagine this particular execution running alongside 'Sliders'. How they might have influenced each other.
Perhaps these things did happen... in parallel universes. - DirectorJohn McTiernanStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerF. Murray AbrahamArt CarneyWith the help of a magic ticket, a young movie fan is transported into the fictional world of his favorite action movie character.This is one of the most engaging & fun action films (and parodies) ever done - as it expertly has fun with the genre in a fantastic alternate reality setup.
Mixes in serious interpersonal drama helping you connect with the characters and the story.
Along with Galaxy Quest (1999), one of the two best drama-parody films of all-time (as opposed to comedy-SpoofParodies such as Naked Gun, Airplane, etc). - CreatorJ.J. AbramsAlex KurtzmanRoberto OrciStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonJohn NobleAn F.B.I. agent is forced to work with an institutionalized scientist and his son in order to rationalize a brewing storm of unexplained phenomena.5 seasons / 100 episodes: Series Complete
Once you accept & embrace the premise, this series becomes one of the outstanding Sci-fi series of all-time.
I'll admit, it took me several tries over the years to accept the premise. I'd watch a couple of episodes and quit each time. Finally, I accepted the mad/brilliant scientist scenario and it clicked. I binged on some of the best storytelling and Sci-fi drama for any series ever produced.
This series was consistently great during its entire 5-year run. - CreatorBaran bo OdarJantje FrieseStarsLouis HofmannKaroline EichhornLisa VicariA family saga with a supernatural twist, set in a German town where the disappearance of two young children exposes the relationships among four families.3 seasons / 26 episodes: Series Complete
German with English DUB available
Time paradoxes, closed time loops (over an extended time period), alternate reality via time line changes, large cast, the past and present interconnected... There's a lot going on. - StarsRoark CritchlowAndrew AblesonTara Platt1 season / 13 (23min) episodes or 130 (3min) episodes : Series Complete
Was an animated episodic web series and one of the best things I've ever seen. A riveting apocalyptic Sci-fi mystery and a masterpiece in story-telling. - DirectorLana WachowskiLilly WachowskiStarsKeanu ReevesLaurence FishburneCarrie-Anne MossWhen a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.If we ever get to this level of technical sophistication, there is no doubt this kind of altered reality would be embraced by many.
We already live within a kind of altered reality that is modern society. An improved living layer, laid on top of nature. Living is enhanced (made easier) in most areas because the natural world is a challenge -- from predators to weather issues to food and even... ourselves.
We've even created value out of intrinsically valueless stuff... like money (paper, digital) because of the altered reality we live in.
So 'The Matrix' would simply become another - viable - option for many. Certainly a sought after solution if it can dramatically enhance living and/or our experiences.
The Matrix has already established that real people are living within the altered environment and interacting with other (mostly) real people in a kind of (pseudo) real time. - CreatorKyle KillenStarsJason IsaacsLaura AllenSteve HarrisAfter a car accident takes the life of a family member, a police detective lives two alternating parallel lives, one with his wife and one with his son. Is one of his "realities" merely a dream?1 season / 13 episodes: Series Complete
Great concept, well implemented. It is Schrodinger's Cat Paradox where two outcomes come to pass for the lead character. Both of them bittersweet.
It can also be treated as a miniseries, since there is complete closure (in a strongly Sc-fi way) at the end. I personally loved the ending. - DirectorShawn LevyStarsRyan ReynoldsJodie ComerTaika WaititiWhen Guy, a bank teller, learns that he is a non-player character in a bloodthirsty, open-world video game, he goes on to become the hero of the story and takes the responsibility of saving the world.Hmm... What is the alternate reality in this film?
1. Blue shirt guy's evolving digital world (as seen from the perspective of real life players)
2. The real world (as seen from the point of view of blue shirt guy)
In any case... a fun, light and thought-provoking film. - CreatorEric KripkeShawn RyanStarsAbigail SpencerMatt LanterMalcolm BarrettAn unlikely trio travels through time to battle unknown criminals and protect history as we know it.2 seasons / 28 episodes: Series Complete
Alternate reality via timeline changes through time travel. Great series, good depictions of historical figures & events, daring enough to actually alter the timeline throughout the series.
I found myself pausing episodes to look up historical events & figures while often digging deeper into history itself. It added an additional (informative) viewing element to this series.
Perhaps, the best time travel TV series I've ever watched. - DirectorJeff WamesterStarsMatt BomerJensen AcklesDarren CrissThe Anti-Monitor, the Monitor's evil counterpart, is released into the DC Multiverse and begins to destroy the different Earths that compose it. The Monitor attempts to recruit heroes from across the Multiverse to fight back.13feb2024: Finished watching this today. This was great! Lots of super-powered everyone, lots of earths, several different storylines and a compelling ending. Nicely done.
I had no idea that this film was even a thing until recently. Now I can't wait for Part Two.
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update: 03jun2024: I have Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths - Part Two (2024) ready to watch soon and Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Three (2024) is scheduled for 16jul2024. - CreatorJustin MarksStarsJ.K. SimmonsOlivia WilliamsHarry LloydA hapless UN employee discovers that the agency he works for is hiding a gateway to a parallel dimension that's in a cold war with our own, and where his other self is a top spy. The war slowly heats up thanks to spies from both sides.2 seasons / 20 episodes: Series Complete
J.K. Simmons & Olivia Williams lead many exceptional performances in this sci-fi drama. Loved the fact that this series had a proper ending - a good, complete closure to the series. - CreatorRoderick TaylorStarsSam GroomGretchen CorbettTony O'DellThrown into another dimension, a family must keep ahead of a tyrannical state's hunters while searching for a way home.1 season / 8 episodes: Series Complete
Watched this July/2021. Had a really great time soaking this in. It was such a great series, it quickly became a favorite of mine.
Serious but in a light (family-friendly) way. It's the serious, dramatic presentation that makes this series modern viewer friendly. - CreatorChris RolandRobert WertheimerStarsJeffrey PierceMichael FilipowichMichele BurgersA missing persons detective finds himself caught between three parallel universes.1 season / 20 episodes: Series Complete
Watched entire series (miniseries) during Feb/2022 for the first time.
Excellent. Real-world delivery of story (so it moves at slower pace). Great use of flashbacks to fill in background and to remind viewers what happened X episodes back. Terrific character depth and development.
A TV series with complete series-ending closure and can be classified as a (lengthy) miniseries.
I felt the first 8 episodes moved a little too slowly but the characters and story line were interesting enough that I kept coming back. It picked up dramatically at episode 9 - so the last 12 episodes were engaging and made the entire series a great watch.
Alphaverse represents a dark, gloomy, class-structured, dystopian world run by megacorps - lots of advanced tech, lots of surveillance. Betaverse represents our world. Gammaverse is an idyllic world that's close to nature. - DirectorBob PersichettiPeter RamseyRodney RothmanStarsShameik MooreJake JohnsonHailee SteinfeldTeen Miles Morales becomes the Spider-Man of his universe and must join with five spider-powered individuals from other dimensions to stop a threat for all realities.One spider-man is pretty good. Five of them? Outstanding. They made the concept work in this dimension-spanning adventure.
- DirectorFrank DarabontStarsThomas JaneMarcia Gay HardenLaurie HoldenA freak storm unleashes a species of bloodthirsty creatures on a small town, where a small band of citizens hole up in a supermarket and fight for their lives.A horror-style alternate world wrapped within an excellent dramatic presentation. Great acting, great effects, great ending.
- StarsPaul KayeSharon RooneyJames BuckleyJames Buckley is transported to a parallel world featuring "psychopathic Fairies, Shell Men, seductive Demi-Fins and vicious Throcks".3 seasons / 15 episodes: Series Complete
This is an alternate dimension world that's fun, full of fantasy elements, magic and all kinds of engaging and interesting characters. Great comedy/drama, great cast, so easy to lose yourself in this series in a relaxing way. - CreatorMichael SchurStarsKristen BellWilliam Jackson HarperJameela JamilFour people and their otherworldly frienemy struggle in the afterlife to define what it means to be good.4 season / 53 episodes: Series Complete
This is one of those shows that just puts you in a "good place" afterwards. Super likable cast, fun, engaging and bingeable.