# Shows that break reality/introduce supernatural elements but **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [April 12, 2020, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-break-reality-introduce-supernatural-elements-but/851639 "2020-04-12T17:20:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-break-reality-introduce-supernatural-elements-but/851639/121 "2022-02-07T14:22:28Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > _Law & Order_ (the original - I wouldn’t put it past _SVU_ ). I wouldn’t put it past SVU, either, but I’m not aware of any time they’ve actually done it. I do remember one episode in the Orderverse where a psychic offered to help solve a crime, but he turned out to be a fake. > [@TCMF-2L](#): > > Since this is the **Straight Dope** I’ll be pedantic here. > > **Donald P Bellisario** (creator of **Magnum PI, Airwolf, Quantum Leap, JAG** and **NCIS** ) retired in 2007 after clashing with actor **Mark Harmon** (who starred in **NCIS** as **Gibbs** ). **Bellisario** retains a producer credit from continuing shows, spin offs and remakes meaning he gets money but he has had no scripting or creative input for about a decade and a half. I didn’t know that. Kinda surprised that the producer would leave after clashing with an actor; it’s usually the other way around. Still, Bellisario could always start another show with a hyper-competent man leading a quasi-military team; it’s what he does. ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-break-reality-introduce-supernatural-elements-but/851639/122 "2022-02-07T17:31:04Z")
**Donald P Bellisario** is 86 years old, rich enough to endow a university with $30 million (and has made other donations) and since **NCIS** still airs and with a **Magnum** reboot out there the money must still be rolling in. Guess once he clashed with **Harmon** (when he would have already been over 70 years old) he decided it was a good time to retire. Maybe - this is sheer speculation - like **John Deacon** of rock group **Queen**. Had enough. Walks away for good. TCMF-2L ( **Deacon** quit after **Freddie Mercury** died so different circumstances but still a complete withdrawal from show business.) ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-break-reality-introduce-supernatural-elements-but/851639/123 "2022-02-07T21:40:56Z")
Star Trek if we take out Native American stuff? Yes yes ‘aliens’…come on. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-break-reality-introduce-supernatural-elements-but/851639/124 "2022-02-07T22:14:51Z")
That was my favorite scene of the whole movie - loved it ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-break-reality-introduce-supernatural-elements-but/851639/125 "2022-02-07T22:27:13Z")
_Reache_r. The coincidence that brings him into that podunk town is breathtaking, and it occurs again in other titles. Reacher also has exhibited an absolute time sense that is supernatural (to the minute, that is- some people can tell roughly what time it is without checking). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-break-reality-introduce-supernatural-elements-but/851639/126 "2022-02-07T22:36:01Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > What’s the longest running show that NEVER had a supernatural or alien episode, or at least where they 100% confirm there was never ever any actual supernatural thing at work and not give a last minute OR IS IT!?!? _Scooby-Doo_ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-break-reality-introduce-supernatural-elements-but/851639/127 "2022-02-07T22:44:46Z")
Where a person can become translucent just by throwing a sheet over their head. Oh, and also where a Great Dane talks. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-break-reality-introduce-supernatural-elements-but/851639/128 "2022-02-07T22:47:01Z")
The original run of _Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!_ didn’t have any overtly supernatural elements - other than the talking dog with the prehensile tail - but that only lasted two seasons. And a lot of the “technology” used to fake hauntings was pretty much Clarke’s Law magic tech. The follow-on series, _The New Scooby-Doo Movies_, used the same formula of fake hauntings, but some episodes featured overtly supernatural “guest stars”, like the Addams Family. I have a vague memory of genuine supernatural events in the follow-on series _Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo_, but I’m not at all sure about that. But 1985’s follow-on series, _The Thirteen Ghosts of Scooby-Doo_, had the titular thirteen genuine, supernatural ghosts as the central plot element. Most if not all of the reboots from the 1990s onward have had genuine supernatural occurrences. And a couple have had aliens. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-break-reality-introduce-supernatural-elements-but/851639/129 "2022-02-07T23:01:22Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > One can go back 400 years and find great examples in Shakespeare of just what the OP is asking about; for example, the ghost of Hamlet’s father in _Hamlet_ , or the three witches in _Macbeth_ . As noted by a couple other comments, both of these are too significant to the plot to be considered “not really part of the show”. In _Hamlet_, much of the plot is driven by in-universe ambiguity about _what kind_ of supernatural manifestation is occurring: the actual spirit of the elder Hamlet urging his son to avenge him, or a demon attempting to trick him into unprovoked regicide and damnation? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-break-reality-introduce-supernatural-elements-but/851639/130 "2022-02-07T23:02:55Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > Most if not all of the reboots from the 1990s onward have had genuine supernatural occurrences. And a couple have had aliens. The conjunction of supernatural occurrences and aliens reminds me of [this cartoon](https://samdraws.tumblr.com/post/20006903130/now-with-colour-doctor-who-is-sort-of-the). ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-break-reality-introduce-supernatural-elements-but/851639/131 "2022-02-08T01:30:07Z")
I was interested in the new Nancy Drew reboot, but it looks like every episode has a supernatural basis. No, no, no! Nancy is FACT-based, logical, and meticulous. She’s Sherlock, not Buffy. . And another thing… > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > South Park: Kenny is resurrected from the dead every new episode. Ummm, SPOILER ALERT?!? I blurred the quote. Would it have been so hard for you to do that… what, two years ago? . . . just kidding . . . ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-break-reality-introduce-supernatural-elements-but/851639/132 "2022-02-08T02:16:14Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I was interested in the new Nancy Drew reboot, but it looks like every episode has a supernatural basis. Well, not _every_ episode. Early on, the series tried for some ambiguity about whether the spooky happenings were supernatural. But they gave that up after a few episodes, and leaned _hard_ into the ghosts and monsters. There was one later Scooby-Doo episode, where Nancy figures out the local “haunted” inn is faking the haunting to attract ghost tourists, but other than that, yeah, it’s just, like, _all_ the ghosts. > [@digs](#): > > No, no, no! Nancy is FACT-based, logical, and meticulous. She’s Sherlock, not Buffy. Well, she actually _is_ fact-based, logical, and meticulous in the show. It’s just that she lives in a world where the supernatural is real. She’s definitely _not_ Buffy - she out-thinks the ghosts and ghoulies, she doesn’t slay them. So, maybe Solar Pons or Carnacki. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-break-reality-introduce-supernatural-elements-but/851639/133 "2022-02-08T06:02:17Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > _Law & Order_ (the original - I wouldn’t put it past _SVU_ ). I am fan of the Law & Order franchise and can NOT think of one example where any of the series had anything remotely resembling paranormal/supernatural elements. They had a few shows where supposed “psychics” show up but they were proven false. And there were supposed “faith healers” as well that were exposed as frauds. But nothing that shows took seriously as actual events. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-break-reality-introduce-supernatural-elements-but/851639/134 "2022-02-08T06:43:33Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > I was just watching _Life of Brian_ with my son last night (great Easter movie!) and I had completely forgotten that at one point, in a totally pythonesque way, a random alien spaceship zooms by and accidentally saves Brian from falling off a tall building, before spending five minutes zooming through space in a wacky space gunfight > > (actually, maybe that wasn’t even left in the original theatrical release? I don’t know! It sure was weird though) > [@Johanna](#): > > I saw that in the original theatrical release. The fact that no one ever mentioned it I attributed to people’s internal mind censors editing out the memory of it because it was just too incongruous with the whole rest of the movie. Heh, Monty Python was making fun of an era and place where supernatural elements were talked about a lot. One thing to remember is that centuries later, [some “ancient aliens” proponents did reach for the even more breaking reality idea that Jesus was also an extraterrestrial.](https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/jesus-was-an-alien) [Rius in Latin America pointed at the idea in the 70s](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/2073295.Cristo_de_carne_y_hueso) (that came from others), that is how I became aware of it, and what I think is that the Pythons did make fun of the idea in the most pythonesque way: with a non sequitur scene that ended with what amounted to a “Nothing to see here folks! Move along!” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-break-reality-introduce-supernatural-elements-but/851639/135 "2022-02-08T07:15:42Z")
Fraser could also do inexplicable things like reappear on a moving train several minutes after he’d been thrown off in the middle of nowhere. When asked “How did you…?” he’d reply “That’s not important,” and carry on dealing with that episode’s bad guys. ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyEcks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnnyecks/32/18197_2.png) [@JohnnyEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyEcks)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-break-reality-introduce-supernatural-elements-but/851639/136 "2022-02-08T14:11:00Z")
On the Life of Brian tangent, I have read that the scene originally had Brian falling from the roof and being saved by an elaborate, slapstick Rube Goldberg contrivance, bouncing, swinging, and falling all over the scaffolding until landing battered but alive at the bottom. The sheer amount of stunt work made it too expensive, and the spaceship scene was created as a cheaper alternative. I suspect that the producers really wanted the space footage for the commercials, as Star Wars was still huge. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-break-reality-introduce-supernatural-elements-but/851639/137 "2022-02-08T15:37:54Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I saw that in the original theatrical release. The fact that no one ever mentioned it I attributed to people’s internal mind censors editing out the memory of it because it was just too incongruous with the whole rest of the movie. They were probably too busy counting the number of times the basketball was being passed. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-break-reality-introduce-supernatural-elements-but/851639/138 "2022-02-08T15:48:19Z")
I’ve never even seen the original show, but I did read that Baywatch had a spinoff called Baywatch Nights that took the setting and dropped the supernatural into it. Slo-mo buxom running during the day, chasing vampires around the Santa Monica Pier at night. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-break-reality-introduce-supernatural-elements-but/851639/139 "2022-02-08T16:43:23Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I saw that in the original theatrical release. The fact that no one ever mentioned it I attributed to people’s internal mind censors editing out the memory of it because it was just too incongruous with the whole rest of the movie. I don’t know about “no one ever mentioned it.” I mean, the scene was [on the movie poster](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZGM0MzE0NGMtODlmYS00YzgxLTlhZGItMDJlZTFjODQ5M2NkXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyODc0OTEyNDU@._V1_.jpg). And, of course, “random shit happening with no explanation” was kind of the Python’s stock-in-trade. I can’t see an audience that handled vorpal rabbits in _Holy Grail_ being thrown by a random space ship showing up in a Biblical epic. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-break-reality-introduce-supernatural-elements-but/851639/140 "2022-02-08T17:04:04Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > My argument is ultimately that the three witches are just a brilliant MacGuffin You might have been on somewhat sold ground if you’d said this about the ghost in _Hamlet_, but the witches in Macbeth are absolutely not MacGuffins. The plot requires that Macbeth encounter something at the beginning of the play that has genuine supernatural abilities to divine the future. That’s a significant attribute that fundamentally shapes - and continues shaping - Macbeth’s actions throughout the rest of the play. Contrast with, say, the “nuclear secrets” in North-by-Northwest, whose only plot relevant detail is that they be small enough to be easily carried and hidden, or the contents of the briefcase in _Pulp Fiction_, which are so unimportant to the plot that they never tell us what they are. Anyway, the main point here is that neither of these plays are “realistic stories that suddenly introduce the supernatural.” They both literally start with a supernatural encounter that sets the tone for the rest of the story. Even if you could, in theory, rewrite the plays to remove the supernatural elements, that doesn’t change the fact that, as written, they are both supernatural stories from the very first scene, and aren’t remotely relevant to the topic of this thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-break-reality-introduce-supernatural-elements-but/851639.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-break-reality-introduce-supernatural-elements-but/851639.md?page=8)