Something Is Out There

Something Is Out There is the title of a 1988 American science fiction television miniseries that aired on NBC, and a short-lived weekly series that followed in the fall of 1988.

The miniseries stars Joseph Cortese as Jack Breslin, a police officer investigating brutal murders in which organs have been removed from the victims. He learns that the crimes are being committed by a monstrous alien insectoid prisoner known as a xenomorph, possessing shape-shifting and physical possession abilities, who has escaped from an alien prison starship passing by the solar system, and he teams up with a beautiful medical officer from that ship, Ta'Ra (Maryam d'Abo), to track the villain down. Ta'Ra has assorted superhuman abilities, including telepathy and superhuman agility, which come in handy during the mission.

The miniseries drew very high ratings for NBC and critics noted the chemistry between Jack and Ta'Ra as one of its high points. One week after its ratings success, Brandon Tartikoff announced it would become a weekly series. 13 episodes were ordered. Something Is Out There fared poorly opposite the very successful Dallas and the show was later moved to compete with Beauty and the Beast where ratings only worsened. The series was canceled after only six one-hour episodes were broadcast, with two additional episodes produced but not broadcast at the time.

Due to its short run, the series is not often found in syndication, but the Sci-Fi Channel did include it as part of a rotation of short-lived series, including broadcasting the previously unaired episodes. An edited down version of the miniseries has aired as a syndicated television movie.