Best Paranormal TV Shows

Fifty years ago, The Twilight Zone introduced television viewers to science fiction for the general audience. Throughout the history of television programming, shows such as Bewitched or Fantasy Island delivered entertainment set in a world that included extraordinary elements, to either comedic or dramatic effect.

Series such as Battlestar Galactica and the various Star Trek incarnations have kept science fiction fans watching television, but what about shows that aren't entirely science fiction? Viewers also tune in repeatedly to programming that explores wide-ranging paranormal myths, legends, and ideas.

Paranormal shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The X-Files, and Dead Zone have enjoyed high ratings, continuing the demand for paranormal programming. Even certain shows set in the everyday world incorporate paranormal elements: e.g., conversations between the dead and the living in Six Feet Under, or the existence of angels in Touched by an Angel.

Current television includes a number of paranormal shows, such as these popular series:

Lost, ABC

A series about the survivors of a plane crash on a mysterious island, Lost is satisfying paranormal entertainment--for some viewers. The number of unexplained mysteries in the series frustrates a majority of general viewers, while at the same time endearing a legion of fans not only willing but eager to follow and analyze the series' mythology. Those especially interested in theories of time travel will find Lost to be satisfying paranormal entertainment.

Supernatural, CW

Two brothers, Dean and Sam Winchester, lost their mother to a strange paranormal event when Dean was four-years-old and Sam only six months. Devastated, their father dedicated the rest of his life to tracking down the forces that took the boys' mother and teaching his two sons how to fight against those forces. After their father disappears, the brothers must search for him, leading them to places across the country where paranormal activity has occurred. Appearing on the CW, Supernatural is a paranormal show targeted at teenage and young adult viewers.

Fringe, FOX

The first season of this new series began slowly, but the finale rewarded loyal fans. Like Lost (and, in fact, produced by one of the creators of Lost, J.J. Abrams), Fringe begins with a plane crash. As the show progresses, though, viewers realize that the deaths on the plane are only the beginning of the strange mysteries taking place. Of course, it doesn't hurt that Leonard Nimoy (that's Mr. Spock, to you) makes an appearance.

True Blood, HBO

This show, based on the paranormal-romance series of novels by Charlaine Harris, takes place in New Orleans, in the "dirty South," in a world in which vampires have recently spoken publicly about their existence--"come out of the coffin," as they say. But as the series progresses, viewers learn that this world includes not only vampires and telepathy, but shape shifters, demons, and all sorts of paranormal phenomena.

Although the majority of people watching these shows is most likely open-minded when it comes to the existence of paranormal activity, whether or not you believe in the paranormal is irrelevant. Strange occurrences, legends and myths, the inexplicable: these are all matters which have caught mankind's interest since the beginning of time. And it makes for good entertainment while we're here in the real world.

If you have a favorite paranormal or science fiction television show, I'd love to hear about it in the comments.