Parallel Universe (fiction) - Television

Television

The idea of parallel universes have received treatment in a number of television series, usually as a single story or episode in a more general science fiction or fantasy storyline.

One of the earliest television plots to feature parallel time was a 1970 storyline on soap opera Dark Shadows. Vampire Barnabas Collins found a room in Collinwood which served as a portal to parallel time, and he entered the room in order to escape from his current problems. A year later, the show again traveled to parallel time, the setting this time being 1841.

A well known and often imitated example is the original Star Trek episode entitled "Mirror, Mirror". The episode introduced an alternative version of the Star Trek universe where the main characters were barbaric and cruel to the point of being evil. When the parallel universe concept is parodied, the allusion is often to this Star Trek episode. A previous episode for the Trek series first hinted at the potential of differing reality planes (and their occupants) -titled "The Alternative Factor". A mad scientist from "our" universe, named Lazarus B., hunts down the sane Lazarus A.; resident of an antimatter-comprised continuum. His counterpart, in a state of paranoia, claims the double threatens his and the very cosmos' existence. With help from Captain Kirk, A traps B along with him in a "anti"-universe, for eternity, thus bringing balance to both matter oriented realms. A similar plot was used in the Codename: Kids Next Door episode Operation: P.O.O.L..

The mirror universe of Star Trek was further developed by later series in the franchise. In several episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the later evolution of the mirror universe is explored. A two-part episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, entitled "In a Mirror, Darkly", serves as a prequel, introducing the early developments of the Mirror Universe.

Multiple episodes of Red Dwarf use the concept. In "Parallel Universe" the crew meet alternative versions of themselves: the analogues of Lister, Rimmer and Holly are female, while the Cat's alternate is a dog. "Dimension Jump" introduces a heroic alternate Rimmer, a version of whom reappears in "Stoke Me a Clipper". The next episode, "Ouroboros", makes contact with a timeline in which Kochanski, rather than Lister, was the sole survivor of the original disaster; this alternate Kochanski then joins the crew for the remaining episodes.

Another example is "Spookyfish", an episode of South Park, in which the "evil" universe double of Eric Cartman (who is pleasant and agreeable, unlike the home universe's obnoxious Cartman) sports a goatee, like the "mirror" version of Spock.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer experienced a Parallel universe where she was a mental patient in Normal Again and not really "The Slayer" at all. In the end, she has to choose between a universe where her mother and father are together and alive (mother) or one with her friends and sister in it where she has to fight for her life daily. In another episode, Cordelia Chase inadvertently created a dystopian alternate reality in which Buffy had never moved from LA to Sunnydale.

The animated series, Futurama, had an episode where the characters travel between "Universe 1" and "Universe A" via boxes containing each universe; and one of the major jokes is an extended argument between the two sets of characters over which set were the "evil" ones.

Doctor Who often features parallel universes as the basis of a plotline. In the episode "Inferno", from Doctor Who the Doctor accidentally travels to a parallel universe where Great Britain is a republic under a fascist leader. In "Rise of the Cybermen", the TARDIS falls out of the Time-Space Continuum, and dies, with the Doctor and his companions inside it. The Doctor believes them to be in the Void, the infinite empty-space between the universes, where no time, space or energy exists. It turns out, however, they fell into another universe; a much more desirable option. In this universe, Britain is a lot more technically advanced, with blimps almost replacing cars. They find a way to revive the TARDIS and travel back to their own universe. According to the Doctor in "Doomsday", a new parallel universe is created by every decision made.

The OC had an episode where two main characters fell into a coma, and into an alternate/parallel universe.

Friends had an episode in which the characters wonder how different their lives would be with different choices.

Parallel universes/alternate futures are also featured in Heroes.

The idea of a parallel universe and the concept of deja vu was a major plot line of the first season finale of Fringe, guest-starring Leonard Nimoy of Star Trek. The show has gone on to feature the parallel universe prominently.

In the 2010 season of Lost, the result of characters traveling back in time to prevent the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 apparently creates a parallel reality in which the Flight never crashed, rather than resetting time itself in the characters' original timeline. The show continued to show two "sets" of the characters following different destinies, until it was revealed in the series finale that there was really only one reality created by the characters themselves to assist themselves in leaving behind the physical world and passing on to an afterlife after their respective deaths.

The anime Turn A Gundam attempted to combine all the parallel Gundam universes (other incarnations of the series, with similar themes but differing stories and characters, that had played out at different times since the debut of the concept in the 1970s) of the metaseries in to one single reality.

The anime and manga series Katekyo Hitman Reborn! by Akira Amano features this idea in its third main arc, known as Future arc.

The anime Neon Genesis Evangelion features a parallel world in one of the final episodes. This parallel world is a sharp contrast to the harsh, dark "reality" of the show and presents a world where all the characters enjoy a much happier life. This parallel world would become the basis for the new Evangelion manga series Angelic Days.

The anime Bakugan series in season 2 & 3 features another unverses where Dan and his team saves the day. They goes to another dimension or universe through a path way . Another universe has also other life forms and other types of technology.

In another anime series, Digimon, there is parallel universe called "digital world". The show's child protagonists meet digital monsters, or digimon, from this world and becomes partners and friends.

In the anime series Umineko no Naku Koro ni The rounds of the battle between Battler and Beatrice take place in different dimensions, in order to show all kinds of possibilities (much to Battler's dismay) also the character Bernkastel is known for her ability to travel into different worlds by the usage of "fragments".

In the animated Disney series Darkwing Duck, the title character's archenemy, Negaduck, comes from a parallel dimension called the Negaverse (not to be confused with the similarly named dimension in the Sailor Moon series).

In the Family Guy episode, "Road to the Multiverse", Brian and Stewie get a look at life in other universes that are at the same time and place as Quahog, but under different conditions.

In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Parallels", Lt. Worf traveled to several parallel universes when his shuttlecraft went through a time space fissure.

The movie for Phineas and Ferb involves Phineas, Ferb, and Perry going to an alternate dimension of the Tri-state area.

In the episode "Adventure time" had a gender swapped universe episode.

In the cartoon series Teen Titans (TV series), episode 24 "Fractured", Nosyarg Kcid (Dick Grayson, spelled backwards) appears. He claims to be Robin's extra dimensional counterpart, from Dimension 4 and 9/8ths.

In Season 03, episode 4 of "Community (TV series)" called "Remedial Chaos Theory", different realities are the center of the plot, even with a reference to Spock's goatee.