Otherworld

This sci-fi series ran for just eight episodes on CBS during the 1984-1985 season. It developed a cult following, with viewers intrigued by the concept of a normal family marooned on a parallel Earth where life is similar but different in many ways.

Replacing Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer

CBS had several mid-season replacements waiting in the wings as the 1984-1985 season got underway, including sitcoms The Lucie Arnaz Show, House Detective and Crazy Like a Fox plus a fantasy drama called Otherworld [1]. Otherworld and House Detective were both officially picked up and given six episode orders [2]. Crazy Like a Fox, however, was the first CBS mid-season replacement to go on the air, premiering on Sunday, December 30th.

Earlier that month, on December 7th, Stacy Keach was sentenced in London to nine months in prison for smuggling cocaine. He starred in Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer on CBS. It ran from 9-10PM on Saturdays. Although 22 episodes had been ordered for the 1984-1985 season, just 14 had been completed. The network announced on December 19th that Airwolf would be shifted from 8PM to 9PM and a new drama series called Otherworld would fill the 8-9PM time slot [3].

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Otherworld, according to CBS, would follow the adventures of the Sterling family who suddenly find themselves “marooned in a strange ‘other world,’ a parallel universe just a few degrees off from our reality. The family becomes fugitives from the authorities in this strange universe and sets out in a quest for Capital, where Masters reside whom they hope will return them to their own world” [4]. The last episode of Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer for the season was broadcast on January 12th, 1985 (it would return in September of 1986). The following week, CBS aired a movie and on January 26th Otherworld premiered.

(House Detective, renamed Detective in the House, premiered on March 15th, 1985; The Lucie Arnaz Show on April 2nd.)

Nielsen Ratings Doom Otherworld

Although the network only initially ordered six one-hour episodes, it had a total of eight to work with. The two-hour pilot was split into two episodes, with the first half acting as the actual pilot and the second half just another episode to be aired at a later date. Otherworld‘s 8-9PM competition consisted of Diff’rent Strokes and Double Trouble on NBC and action T.J. Hooker on ABC. The premiere ranked 47th for the week, out of 65 programs [5].

Reviews of the series were mostly lukewarm, with some critics admitting that the premise had promise while doubting it would catch on due to the simple fact that it was science fiction. One positive review came from Fred Rothenberg of The Associated Press, who wrote that while “science fiction is a very iffy proposition on the small screen […] this fantasy-adventure series has some nice parody and an interesting twist that allows it to rise above straight hardware shows” [6].

Sam Groom and Gretchen Corbett as Hal and June Sterling

Sam Groom and Gretchen Corbett as Hal and June Sterling

The Chicago Tribune‘s Kenneth R. Clark felt the show had a chance at catching on with viewers despite a “rather hokey opening premise,” pointing out that “the scenario, of course, has been done many times in many guises, but like the Swiss family Robinson, the American family Sterling, is spunky and appealing, and if their flight across the desert of a parallel universe keeps the adrenalin pounding for the rest of the season, they yet may find safe haven among the A.C. Nielsen Co. ratings” [7].

Terrence O’Flaherty of the San Francisco Chronicle, on the other hand, wrote that the lack of concrete details in the pilot left viewers puzzled rather than with a sense of mystery, with clothes mysteriously drying and wallets being left behind [8] UPI’s Joan Hanauer compared the series to “a simplified ‘1984’ and a sinister ‘Wizard of Oz'” and, like others, joked that the family would have only “as many adventures as ‘Otherworld’s’ standing in the Nielsens will allow” [9].

I’m glad I found your website. A TV show memory from the 80s has haunted me for some time and I’ve tried more than once to try to Google away my answer. I’ve only met one other person besides my father who has a vague memory of the show I’m going to ask you about. And it absolutely drives me crazy not to know. I was born in 1977 so I guesstimate the show was on between 1983 – 1987. It was my favorite and if I recall correctly, it was on at 8pm on Saturday night. It was about a family who went on vacation in Egypt and while on a tour of a pyramid somehow went thru a space dimension and entered into another world. In fact, I think the title of the show was “another world” but I also know there was some lame Cosby spin off with that title. Anyway, I think the show was only on for a year. In the few episodes I can recall, the “other” dimension they found themselves in was dominated by governed by women. I remember one episode where the teenage son takes his shirt off to wash the car and is arrested and as punishment, auctioned off as a slave. A neighbor’s family helps the parents buy back their son. In another episode the teenager meets some girl and she takes him below the streets to show him where their “souls” are kept in little lock boxes.

Clearly, these memories of this show stay with me to this day. I’d love your help on clarifying my memories on what the was called and when it airs. I’d like to know that I’m not crazy! Thanks for your help.
Mircalla

Following the already low-rated premiere, Otherworld soon sank to the bottom of the Nielsen charts. The February 16th episode ranked 63rd out of 67 programs while the March 2nd episode tied for 61st out of 65 programs [10, 11]. CBS cancelled Otherworld during the second week of March, replacing it with E/R and Charles in Charge, both shifted from Wednesdays [12].

The eighth and final episode, broadcast on March 16th, ranked dead last in the Nielsens, 68th out of 68 programs [13]. For the season as a whole (ignoring programs that ran less than six episodes), Otherworld ranked 70th out of 75 programs with a 10.4 Nielsen rating, above only Silver Spoon, Glitter, Berrenger’s, Hot Pursuit and People Do the Craziest Things [14].

All About This Otherworld

The Sterling family hailed from California. Sam Groom and Gretchen Corbett starred as parents Hal and June Sterling. The three Sterling children — Trace, Gina and Smith — were played by Tony O’Dell, Jonna Lee and Chris Hebert, respectively (Brandon Crane played Smith in the two-hour pilot; because it was split into two hour-long episodes, Crane appeared in the first and fifth episodes, respectively). At the beginning of the first episode the family is in Egypt where Hal is finishing up a job. Trace is ready to get back to California where he can breathe smog, watch MTV and listen to rock ‘n’ roll. But first they have to visit the Great Pyramid.

Once inside, their tour guide gets greedy and asks for additional money. When Hal refuses, the tour guide disappears with his torch, leaving the family in the dark. Gina has a lighter, which helps a little, but before they can even get their bearings the entire pyramid begins shaking. A vortex appears out of nowhere and the Sterlings are swallowed up into it. They’re deposited in a lake and when they swim to the surface they find the light of two unfamiliar moons shining towards them. A strange beam of light flashes as they swim to shore.

How were they transported to this other world? An alignment of six planets that hadn’t taken place in 10,000 years had something to do with it, apparently, nut the Sterlings don’t have much time to worry about how they came to be wherever they are, because they soon meet Commander Kroll (played by Jonathan Banks). According to The Washington Post‘s John Carmody, likely working from CBS press material, Kroll is Zone Commander of the Imperial Forces of Imar’s 13th Phantom Security Division [15].

Jonathan Banks as Commander Kroll

Jonathan Banks as Commander Kroll

Kroll accosts the family when they can’t show the proper identity papers but they manage to escape during a scuffle along with Kroll’s access crystal, which lets them open any door they come across. The Sterlings soon learn that Thel (the planet they’re on) is made up of provinces, each surrounded by a “forbidden zone” that is patrolled by Zone Troopers. Each of these provinces has its own customs and laws but all are ruled by the capital, called Imar.

The Sterlings aren’t the first strangers to find themselves on Thel. Legend has it that people from other worlds have occasionally popped up. Following stone monuments, they had made their way to Imar in the hopes of finding a way home. So, the Sterlings decide to do the same thing, traveling from province to province towards Imar and the promise of Earth. Each episode saw the family in a new province. In one episode, for example, they take up residence in a province where men are subjugated by women. In another, they live for a time in a province where rock and roll music — after being introduced by Trace and Gina — is considered rebellious.

During the course of their travels the Sterlings learn more about the connection between Thel and Earth. A man shows Hal and June a dollar bill that belonged to his grandfather. He tells them that his grandfather came to Thel from another world through a dimensional passageway that may have been built or controlled by Zone Troopers. It was sealed by a great pyramid to keep people from coming through. In another episode, Gina is mistaken for the great Princess Metra, who was actually a woman from Earth named Kelly Bradford.

Kelly came from the United States in 1964, only two decades before the Sterlings, but it has been two centuries on Thel. She left a message for any other people from Earth, telling them that the secret to the way back home lies somewhere in Imar.

Genesis of Otherworld

Otherworld was cancelled before the Sterlings found Imar or a way to return to Earth. The series was created by Roderick Taylor, who came up with the concept after reading a book about parallel universes. “This was a way of having continuing characters and still having the anthological advantage of going into a whole different environment and dealing with a whole different big moral issue every week. It’s like ‘Star Trek’: They could go from planet to planet; we can go from province to province. Anything they can do we can do” [16].

I remember watching on TV show when I was in the 5th grade (1984-1985 year). If I recall correctly (I was 9-10), it involved a family who traveled from alternate realities or times. I *think* they were trying to get back to their own time or reality, and had gotten “stuck” jumping around while on vacation, visiting a pyramid in Egypt. Or perhaps the Egypt thing was just one of the episodes. Do you know what show I’m talking about? Thanks,
Kate

For the network, however, there was quite a bit Otherworld couldn’t do. The network turned down 12 of the initial 13 story ideas he pitched because they were either too dark or not family friendly [17]. CBS executives were “much more interested in exploiting the family action-adventure aspect of the show” while Taylor was “more interested in putting a typical American family into really extraordinary circumstances and just giving that an incredible twist. And I want it to be intense. I want them to confront their worst fears and fight for their lives” [18].

Some of these themes were covered by the series but viewers simply weren’t interested. Was CBS to blame for forcing Taylor to tone down the series? Or, as critic Terrence O’Flaherty suggested, was Otherworld filled with too many plot holes? The series was syndicated on cable by both USA Network and SCI FI (now Syfy) Channel and to this day has its fans. Rumors of an additional five episodes never aired in the United States, however, are simply untrue. There were just eight: the two-hour pilot split into two one-hour episodes plus six additional one-hour episodes. One other episode, titled “Seeing Double,” was scripted, but it was turned down by CBS.

Tony O'Dell and Jonna Lee as Trace and Gina Sterling

Tony O’Dell and Jonna Lee as Trace and Gina Sterling

Taylor wrote the episode with his son, Bruce, and it saw the Sterlings pitted against evil duplicates. Said Taylor, “the replicants have to destroy the paradigm that they’ve been modeled after and cannibalize its psychic energy, but they don’t do it simply by killing them. They do it by destroying the person from within, confronting them with their worst fears” [19]. Had “Seeing Double” or any of the other ideas turned down by CBS been produced, would Otherworld have survived? It’s impossible to say.


Works Cited:
1 Stevens, Gus. “Scouting the Radio-TV Dial.” The Tribune (San Diego). 28 Nov. 1984: D.4.
2 Carmody, John. “The TV Column.” Washington Post. 13 Dec. 1984: C17.
3 “CBS Replaced ‘Mike Hammer’ with ‘Otherworld,’ a Sci-Fi Series.” Associated Press. 19 Dec. 1984: AM Cycle.
4 Carmody, John. “The TV Column.” Washington Post. 20 Dec. 1984: B14.
5 Rothenberg, Fred. “CBS Wins Prime-Time Ratings in Closest 3-Way Competition in 7 Years.” Associated Press. 30 Jan. 1985: PM Cycle.
6 Rothenberg, Fred. “NBC’s ‘Sara’ Tonight; CBS’ ‘Otherworld’ Saturday.” Associated Press. 23 Jan. 1985: PM Cycle.
7 Clark, Kenneth R. “‘Otherworld’ a Familiar, But Good, Shot at Series.” Chicago Tribune. 26 Jan. 1985: 13.
8 O’Flaherty, Terrence. “Never Be Stingy Inside a Pyramid.” San Francisco Chronicle. 25 Jan. 1985: 66.
9 Hanauer, Joan. “TV World – ‘Otherworld:’ A Sinister Oz.” United Press International. 25 Jan. 1985: BC Cycle.
10 “List of Nielsen Ratings for Week of Feb. 11-17.” Associated Press. 19 Feb. 1985: AM Cycle.
11 [No Title]. Associated Press. 5 Mar. 1985: AM Cycle.
12 “Renick Slips in Ratings.” Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale). 13 Mar. 1985: 8.E.
13 [No Title]. Associated Press. 19 Mar. 1985: BC Cycle.
14 [No Title]. Associated Press. 24 Apr. 1985: PM Cycle.
15 Carmody, John. “The TV Column.” Washington Post. 20 Dec. 1984: B14.
16 Gendel, Morgan. “‘Way-Out’-A Style CBS Can’t Refuse.” Los Angeles Times. 23 Jan. 1985: 1.
17 Ibid.
18 Rea, Steven. “A Man of Many Worlds.” Philadelphia Inquirer. 2 Feb. 1985: D.1.
19 Ibid.

Originally September 10th, 2009
Last Updated May 6th, 2018


35 Replies to “Otherworld”

  1. Why don’t they redo Otherworld today. Those of us who loved the show would watch it and in this day and age, Sci-Fi is VERY Popular. I think it would be a hit. Not to mention, the royalties on the original show (if this one is a hit) would be tremendous. They should redo it.

  2. ‘Otherworld’ was good solid science fiction, but it struggled finding an audience on Saturday nights, and was a poor third place vs ‘T.J. Hooker’ on ABC and ‘Diff’rent Strokes’/’Double Trouble’ on NBC. It also provided a poor lead-in to ‘Airwolf’, which was competitive with ‘The Love Boat’ and second or third in its timeslot.

    It’s ratings dropped off, then stabilized, but not high enough for CBS. The eight episodes got HH ratings as follows: 14.4, 11.9, 10.8, 9.1, 10.1, 10.0, 8.2, 8.5, averaging 10.4HH for the season, and CBS never encored the series.

  3. have fond memories of this show – it did air here in the uk back in the 80’s always wondered if anyone else recalled it

    has taylor ever produced anything else?

    1. Yes I remember it very well …read somewhere that there was a few unaired episodes that were made but never got broadcast … Cannot understand why all of the series in its entirety haven’t been released on dvd

      1. I have poor copies of the series I got off TV, on VHS tape. Which I may have transferred to DVD+R. Got internet only a month or so ago. Thought of Other World, as I was about to brave my cold attic to record my radio broadcast, and keyed it up. Like you I await it’s release on DVD.

  4. My family luckily recorded every episode of Otherworld except episode #7 on VHS when it aired in 1985 which I remember even though I was only 6 and we watched them over and over again growing up! We were also very disappointed it was cancelled and hoped it would continue sometime! I loved the story line, all of the actors and actresses were VERY good – real and believable, the music all throughout the show was SO good, it makes you feel and think, and to see the significant influence they were making on the people there everywhere they went, and the ideas of each province was so intriguing, fun, and funny even! You can buy the series from people online (which I have done recently) but since it hasn’t been officially released for sale yet you can only buy versions that have been recorded off of TV and transferred to DVD – so they’re low quality and sometimes missing small pieces here and there. But I have REALLY been enjoying watching them again!! :) Just wish it included a conclusion of the Sterling family finding their way back to Earth!

      1. That is the only episode of “Otherworld” that I recall. One of the sons joins a military academy that flies armed ultralights called “Vampires.” The one-handed commandant was played by Mark Leonard, better known as Spock’s father on Star Trek.

  5. I remember my brother and I watching what was I think the pilot episode. The family is still trying to figure out what happened and the wife goes to the market and finds all the cans marked “Good Food”. When she asks a clerk what it is in the cans he simply says matter-of-factly “It’s ‘Good Food'”, as if that completly answered her question.
    After that for the longest time whenever someone asked what a given dish was my brother would pipe up matter-of-factly, “It’s ‘Good Food'”.

    1. Thanks to your comment, I was finally able to find what show “Good Food” was from. I have remembered the cans of Good Food all my life and have used it as an answer to “What’s for dinner?” many times, but could not remember what show it was from.

  6. Hi my name is lance. I watched otherworld with total anticipation when i was 11 years old. I absolutely loved that show and was completly let down when it said it would no longer air. Now i find out that there were 13 episodes made. I would love to see the final five episodes. Is there a place i can buy all 13 episodes. I would love to get them.

      1. That’s not what several people involved in the production say. There were 13 produced, and five probably sit to this day in CBS’s vault.

  7. It’s likely that there were 13 SCRIPTS produced but only 8 episodes actually filmed.

    I recall this rumor going around back around the time the show ended. What happened is that when the show was cancelled after 3 episodes, it was said that there were 5 episodes remaining, which was true. However, after the show ended some mistakenly took the quote out-of-context and thought there were five MORE unaired episodes.

    And remember this show was cancelled after 3 episodes. While they likely had a couple finished and a few in production, they would not then produce five more episodes knowing they likely wouldn’t air.

    This sort of rumor has happened with a few shows. It comes from fans wanting there to be more shows, but usually they just don’t exist. Sometimes “lost” episodes will appear in re-airings of the series and on foreign broadcasts, such as happened with the last three episodes of The Jim Henson Hour which appeared in Canada but not in the initial airing in the US. It has also happened with many older shows that were re-aired during the 90s on cable channels.

    But there only 8 episodes of Otherworld exist. It is possible to find TV recordings of all the episodes but no DVD seems to exist.

    The concept isn’t that new either. A similar failed show called Fantastic Journey about what was initially a family trying to get home aired about a decade earlier. And the premise of traveling from one story to another can be found in many shows such as Star Trek and Route 66.

    1. Unfortunately, I think there are people who won’t believe there are only eight episodes until a DVD set is released with only those eight episodes. And even then, who knows…

    1. Woww….its unbelivable…. theres still fans of this tv series…. I still remember the Theme music of this tv series… It reminds me of watching Halleys comet back in 1986 with the theme music playing in my head… It was aired in SE Asia in 1985….

  8. My name is Chris Clubb , I am dying to buy a copy of the TV Series of ,
    Otherworld , I watched when it originally aired on CBS , it came on at
    8:00 at night , and I also watched the series again when the Sci-fi Channel picked it up , for their day to day programming of the week .

    During the 1990’s , and I would watch it until , later the Sci-fi channel
    would repeat it again , and over again , during the next few years .

    I had meet Tony O’ Dell many years ago with a friend of mind .
    Tony O” Dell was with his girlfriend , she was the black actress on the show they were both on , the show was “head of the class”, and I was a fan of that series too .

    Tony and her were at a play , that I went too .
    And the Play was all about “The Salem Witch Trials , and it was fun to see , and I really did recognize Tony right away , and I told him , I know everything about you .

    He was very cool with me , and if you are out there , tony if you
    should please give me a call , my phone # , is in the comments
    section .

    Here is my phone # , its (1818) 243-6335 , or if there
    is anybody who is a fan of the show , please call me right
    away and , lets do a petition together , so we can have
    commentary to every episode
    and the making of it too , lets all do this together .

    Speak up and call me please , thanks a lot Chris Clubb

      1. Why no to bootleg DVDs? The show is abandonware, there is no official product to compete with. And I’m reasonably certain most fans would happily pay again to get an official release. In the meantime, fan-produced copies wouldn’t be taking any money from the IP owners.

  9. Hopefully I have found this series and I watch it with thus much interest.
    I wasn’t even born those years it was air-played but when I heard of it I rushed to watching it …
    Unfortunately, because it wasn’t this popular there are no subtitles in my language! But, I still watch it in english with only few details to escape me.
    I would definitely recommended to someone who likes Sci-Fi and fantasy stories!!!…

  10. I was 16 when this aired (and had the biggest crush on Jonna Lee). It was very weird and different from other shows at the time, it still is. It managed to be scary/spooky and dorky/hokey all at the same time. It had a way of grabbing me and giving me this “say whaaaat?” kind of feeling. “Where are they going with this oddball thing?” was foremost in my mind. Then they just cancel out of the blue, no warning, no nothing. With no real ending, it stayed with me. Watching the only 8 episodes on line helped clear up some mental cobwebs left behind. I give it the special GOOD FOOD! award for daring to be original.

  11. I’m another “Otherworld” fan! It had great and cute actors, cool music, good stories! My fave story was “Princess Metra”! One of the best sci-fi series I have ever seen! Every time I see an “All-Seeing Eye” symbol, I remember “Otherworld”!
    I do wish it could come back and continue the story.

  12. Well, someone posted the entire series on Youtube…not high quality mind you. The series did have its ups and downs…notably the “feminist” episode, which is very funny, but the one with the motorpigs…meh (anything with Marjoe Gortner is bound to suck). The last episode “Princess Metra” had an extended hallucinatory sequence that lead to absolutely nowhere other than to pad the time. It would be interesting to revisit this concept with a modern twist.

  13. I was a teenager when Otherworld was aired here in Venezuela. Being a heavy metal fan in the ’80s was like being a felon around here, so I really enjoyed the antics of the “Rock n Roll Suicide” episode. In fact I’m still trying to get that weird-shaped Roland guitar!

    And of course I (and my brother) had the biggest crush on Gina Sterling. Who wouldn’t? Too bad its kind of science fiction was not being taken seriously back then.

    The premise of people travelling to parallel universes on TV was shown again in the “Sliders” series, which had a little more refined format, but with the solid appeal of the young but already veteran Jerry O’Connell and great actor John Rhys-Davies.

    The entire series can be seen in youtube in low quality, of course:
    https://youtu.be/9g1s3HFjl2U
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqepZMzXWvE

  14. All chapters are available on P2P networks (ed2k, BitTorrent, etc.) in not so good quality but enough to watch and remember them.

  15. Just watch it for the first time on YouTube. Pretty hokey but I was impressed by it’s use of parody for each episode. The Rock and Roll episode was a Donnie and Marie Osmond meets America Hot Wax with their own Alan Freed character though this Mr. Freed character fairs a lot better. I also enjoyed how the evil Commander Kroll kept getting his humiliating and sometime comedic comeuppance. Overall I give this show 3 out of 5 rating and a smiley face to boot.

  16. I really love reading everyone’s comments , we should all try and
    getogther , and have our own convention , or a shindig , I am willing
    to leave my phone # its area Code is (1818) 243-6335 , and I live in
    Glendale CA , so please , if there are fans out there , I am dying to
    make more friends , and I don’t text at all , so if anyone wants to
    at all talk to me , it would be a blast form the past . Please take a
    chance in life , and reach out , we aren’t going to live forever right ?

  17. OTHERWORLD soundtrack and questions!

    Have never seen the song listing for our favorite episode number 4, here it is!

    I want to hold your hand
    COMPOSERS
    Paul McCartney and John Lennon

    Jumpin’ jack flash
    COMPOSERS
    Keith Richards and Mick Jagger

    Modern love
    COMPOSER David Bowie

    Surrender
    COMPOSER Rick Nielsen

    Rock ‘n’ roll fantasy
    COMPOSER Paul Rodgers

    Rock city
    COMPOSER Roderick Taylor

    Bop girl
    COMPOSER Ross Wilson

    ? (Lonely Nights?)
    COMPOSER ?

    Also played during two dream sequences are

    Rock and Roll will never die
    COMPOSER Roderick Taylor

    Only so much time
    COMPOSER Roderick Taylor (Rod Falconer)

    Now the questions:

    1: The two dream sequences are from Rod’s albums:

    1980 Roderick Taylor – Straight
    1984 Rod Falconer – Rules of Attraction

    Anybody know where these can be downloaded?

    2: What is the song after Bop Girl?

    3: What is the bass player’s name?

  18. I remember this show. It wasn’t very good but it was a way to pass the time as a youngster watching TV.

    Managed to find it again on Youtube. I believe all the episodes are there and it’s just as bad as I remember it being. The low quality of the transfer doesn’t help matters. It’s an interesting oddity especially seeing Johnathan Banks in his younger days still playing a heavy of sorts.

  19. I watched Otherworld when it aired on CBS in 1985. In August of 2021, I watched the series again on YouTube, and I found the show just as fascinating the second time as the first. In fact, I made a few more passes through the series. Some interesting thoughts came to mind.

    One, Otherworld promotes freedom and values against the backdrop of a controlled society. The title anchors itself in “The Zone Troopers Build Men” when Hal Sterling (Sam Groom) tells June (Gretchen Corbett) after their son was conscripted by the Zone Troopers: “This is not the United States. They don’t look at things the way we do.” This implies that Otherworld refers to a very different mindset in a very different world. I wonder how Otherworld would fare on TV in China.

    A philosophical scene occurred in “Rules of Attraction” when Hal told Nova (Amanda Wyss) after he ordered the computer to delete the memory files, “Your thoughts are your own.” This smacks of Rene Decartes,

    I won’t forget the scene in “Rock and Roll Suicide” where Trace (Tony O’Dell) exclaimed, “We didn’t do anything” after he and Gina (Jonna Lee) were expelled from school. “Sure we did Trace,” Gina responded. “We resisted the pressure to become mediocre.” Kudos here.

    Two, I figured out that the pyramids and the related triangles chain link the episodes together. I didn’t catch this at first. I gave it no thought to the Great Pyramids in the beginning of “Rules” until I saw that pyramid lamp at the Sterling’s new home in Sarlax. After that, I started to look for more pyramids. Then I deduce that the pyramids and the related triangles represent that path to freedom and home. The anchor occurred in the episode, “Village of the Motorpigs” when Pango (Vincent Schiavelli) pointed at the backside of a US Dollar bill. Rod Stewart would be the first person to spot the related triangles in “I am Woman, Hear Me Roar.” The pyramid carried Princess Metra to Imar.

    Three, I found some clues that imply that Otherworld was meant to be a miniseries, and if I recall correctly, TV Guide stated Otherworld as such in an intro. Each episode is very different; this I find as one clue. Another clue is Centrex, the city where Trace and Gina introduced rock and roll in this fourth episode of eight. I interpreted Centrex as central or center, an indication that the series is half over. At the end of “Mansion of the Beast,” Virago (Alan Feinstein) told Hal to look for the Valley of the Vision, where the slain are not slain with swords. “In the darkest shadow of the light, there you will find the door.” I sensed closure when the Sterlings lifted away from Metraplex in “Princess Metra,” the last show of the series as TV Guide stated. Hal said, “We had come from the clouds and now that is where we were going, in search of our own freedom…and home.” The next stop would be Imar–and then home.

    I for one find that Otherworld is well written and thought provoking regardless what critics say. The actors played their parts well. Sure there are flaws, as there are in many if not all shows. Rather than look for those flaws, I prefer to immerse myself in the story and follow the characters to relate the story and its characters to our world.

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