I loved this show. I was in high school at the time, and I can't believe I actually remember that Tony O'Dell was the actor who played the boy. Everytime I see the actor that played Kroll, I remember him with the scar and how evil he was.I remember the Rock and Roll episode, and my dad complained that they went from playing the Beatles to modern rock way to quickly and they should have had the music evolve more slowly and naturally. I remember the dad selling something like Tupperware called like, Burpoware or something like that. It was the episode that auctioned off the son, and the women were the 1950's type men.There was an episode where everyone wore white, but I don't remember much about it (they were maybe in a spa of some sort?)I was so sad when it never returned to the air.

I think "Otherworld" was a mid-season replacement for something else that was quickly replaced in it's turn...Thanks to "tvtome.com" in the last five minutes I found out that the show only ran for 8 episodes, making it the shortest lived SciFi program I know of. Like another IMdB reviewer, I have vague memories of the show; I remember the android town, the episode where the son gets drafted, the woman's town where the son is auctioned off (!) I also have really vague memories of the primitive "Mad Max/The Hills Have Eyes" people they run across, the rock and roll episode, and their retelling of "Beauty and the Beast." The one episode I have the most memories of is the one where their hot air balloon (!) is shot down by some townies and the daughter is mistaken as the town's queen. That episode sticks in my mind due to the long computer effects scene where the girl is brainwashed into thinking she is this ruler, who I think also came from earth. The composer really got to show off his synthesizer work there, as did the Amiga "Video Toaster" guy who did the visual effects. But I'm rambling...What burns me about the show is that the family never leaves the "Otherworld", which is a problem for "quest" shows that are cancelled. Also, every episode was the same thing over and over just in a different setting, as another reviewer pointed out; heck, I misremembered the "primitive people" show and the "Beauty and the Beast" show as parts of one episode! I remember "TV Guide" running a joke article in 1986 featuring memos from the characters of certain shows to their networks; the father of the "Otherworld" clan begged for CBS to continue the show because his family was still stuck in that other dimension! "From nothing to nothing" should be the motto of the producers of this show.

Ah, if only it would have met a similar longevity and cult status as Star Trek or Dr. Who. Yes it was cheesy 80's; yes often the acting was bad. However, I admire the boldness of the producers to do something different in the midst of an era when sci-fi was nearly extinct on prime time TV and sitcoms ruled. I as a child with Asperger's syndrome loved this show so much that it became one of the most influential shows in my life. It later attracted me to the Dr. Who series, which I was highly addicted to in middle school. I was able to get a friend to tape a couple of the episodes replayed on USA network as I lived in the country and he had cable. However, he had an ancient C-band satellite dish with a rotten descrambler.I spent a full nine years of my life looking for the final episode (#8) that I missed as the stupid local fake TV Guide said that it wasn't showing but a Garfield episode instead (I couldn't check b/c my parents had taken away my TV privileges due to my damn abusive 5th grade teacher who I still haven't fully forgiven). Finally, in my very first experience with the modern HTTP internet (not the old FTP and telnet stuff) I browsed the Sci-Fi channel's site and to my surprise found all eight episode's airdates in their series collection. I bought the highest quality standard VHS tapes that I could buy and now have all the episodes to enjoy all over again (unfortunately they edited out some parts, like when Smith Sterling was playing with the air gun (it shot commander Kroll in one of the last scenes- which WAS included)). Now I would like direct film transfer copies to DVD, but have been unable to attain them (I could digitally enhance them someday:)Currently, my favorite show is Stargate-SG1. It is otherworld to the max, but with a 90-2k's twist. As the social part of my brain is finally maturing in my mid 20's, I find some of the roles over-simplified and predictable, but overall, this series continues to improve with time. I get fed-up with its scientific inconsistencies like all the Star-Trek series, but overall it has top priority on my VCR.

As a television show, Otherworld was a train wreck. And like a train wreck, it's hard to keep one's eyes off it. In trying to portray the typical American family, fallen into a different dimension, they take the viewer to a hideously different dimension of bad taste and poor acting.Because of this short glimpse into how people in another universe fail to entertain or be entertained, I myself became an addict. It actually had some interesting stylistic touches in those few moments when it wasn't being completely predictable and offensive.Highly recommended for someone searching for a diversion from British Science Fiction programming.