Online Encyclopedia
Otherworld
Otherworld was a short-lived science fiction TV series that aired in 1985 on CBS. It was created by Roderick Taylor as a sort of Lost in Space on Earth. Taylor gave himself a cameo role in each episode.
In the first episode, the Sterling family take a tour of the interior of the Great Pyramid of Giza at the same time as a once-in-ten-thousand-years conjunction of the planets. Inside, they are abandoned by their guide, and as they try to get out, they are mysteriously transported to a parallel universe Earth.
On this Earth, there are no familiar countries or states. The area they are in is divided up into self-contained "Zones," each with a wildly different style of government and way of life.
Each episode had the family dealing with the bizarre ways of life in each "Zone," and at the end of the episode, fleeing one Zone for another, pursued by Zone Commander Nuveen Kroll (Jonathan Banks ).
While most science fiction dealing with alternate universes has a recogizable point of divergence (POD) from Earth history as we know it, Otherworld did not. Aside from everyone conveniently speaking English, there were no references to any known Earth history. However, it was implied that the ancient Egyptians either had the ability to travel between universes, or had contact with a people that did.
Cast
- Father Hal Sterling - Sam Groom
- Mother June Sterling - Gretchen Corbett
- Teen son Trace Sterling - Tony O'Dell
- Teen daughter Gina Sterling - Jonna Lee
- Youngest child Smith Sterling was played by two different actors, Brandon Crane and Chris Hebert
- Nuveen Kroll - Jonathan Banks
Episodes
- "Rules of Attraction" (originally aired Jan. 26, 1985)
- "The Zone Troopers Build Men" (originally aired Feb. 2, 1985)
- "Paradise Lost" (originally aired Feb. 9, 1985)
- "Rock and Roll Suicide" (originally aired Feb. 16, 1985)
- "Village of the Motorpigs" (originally aired Feb. 23, 1985)
- "I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar" (originally aired Mar. 2, 1985)
- "Mansion of the Beast" (originally aired Mar. 9, 1985)
- "Princess Metra" (originally aired Mar. 16, 1985)
The series was also re-shown at least once on the Sci Fi channel.