History Main / ParanormalEpisode

* Even ''Series/TheGuidingLight'' had one of these, with a character getting superpowers from a freak accident involving Halloween decorations.

* ''Anime/{{Patlabor}}'' is, at its heart, a SliceOfLife, [[CopShow Cop Show]]/[[PoliceProcedural Police Procedural]], with HumongousMecha. But, during the 27th episode of ''Anime/PatlaborTheTVSeries'', the [=SVU2=] encounter ghosts, while holding indoor training execrcises in an abandoned building. It turns out that the ghosts were [[spoiler: the spirits of earthquake victims, who once lived there. Their spirits couldn't rest because of an undiscovered burial site, which contained the remains of slain samurai, directly beneath the building [=SVU2=] was training in]]. The spirits were lain to rest, once it was discovered, and rites were performed on the site.

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'' dives into this from time to time.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}},'' despite mostly being a satirical take on the 90s, had a BizarroEpisode where the title character met "[[AnthropomorphicPersonification holiday spirits]]" who came to town through an interdimensional wormhole. Bonus points go to "[[Recap/DariaS4E03 A Tree Grows in Lawndale]]" and "[[Recap/DariaS4E10 Legends of the Mall]]," both of which have an ending shot hinting at supernatural occurrences.
* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', while not grounded in actual science or realism by any stretch, had one episode dedicated to the unhappy ghost of a deceased goldfish exacting revenge on his former owners. The episode becomes a ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' parody as the characters combat the ghost's efforts to abduct their souls into the great beyond. This is the sole instance of ghosts, souls, or the afterlife being addressed in the show, though supernatural elements such as kaiju and other modern fantasy elements are common.
* Similar to the above - ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' had "Operation: G.H.O.S.T.", with the deceased this time being a hamster.
* ''WesternAnimation/PAWPatrol'': Aside from the main characters being talking dogs, most of the show is pretty mundane: a rescue team solving problems in a small seaside town. If the show wants to deal with a more fantastical plot they tend to take the AllJustADream approach. The episode "Pups Save A Mer-Pup", however, involved real mermaid/dog hybrids.
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'' episode "Let's Play Paranormal Stuff" has the main four hold a séance to contact spirits. [[spoiler: Quack Quack winds up possessed.]]

* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': "Music Box Revue" sees Miss Brooks purchase a magic music box that can only be heard by people in the proper Christmas spirit.
* ''Series/MyThreeSons'': In the episode "Coincidence." After wishing that he'd have had three girls instead of boys, Steve gives a ride to a mysterious hitchhiker visible only to himself. In a unknown neighborhood on the other side of town, Steve's car breaks down and he seeks help at a house with a widow, her mother-in-law and her three daughters - the distaff counterparts of his family, down to being the same age with similar names.
* ''Series/MamasFamily'': In "My Mama, Myself", Mama is haunted by the spirit of ''her'' late mother after she considers selling a family heirloom.
* It happens in ''Series/PetticoatJunction''. "The Curse of Chester W. Farnsworth" sees the ghost of Chester W. Farnsworth haunt the Shady Rest. Many years before, Chester Farnsworth was a dashing young salesman, and a daring towel thief. Having stolen the towel in his room, Farnsworth left on a dark and stormy night never to be seen ''alive'' again. But his spirit has been forced to return the purloined towels before he'll be admitted into heaven. The Shady Rest Hotel is Farnsworth's last stop . . . .

* ''Series/WagonTrain'': "Little Girl Lost". Eight year old Robin Mercy Rossiter was a member of the Donner Party, and passed away on Christmas eve over twenty years previous. She is heard sobbing over several nights. Charlie Wooster and Barney West see her; Charlie tries to find a way to make her realize she has passed away so she can join her mother in heaven. Counts as a Tearjerker, but has a truly crowning moment of heartwarming at the end.
* ''Series/{{Matlock}}'': "The Ghost" sees the ghost of a murder victim ask Matlock to defend his widow from murder charges and find his real killer.
* ''Series/DiagnosisMurder'': [[spoiler: "The Bela Lugosi Blues" has a real female vampire as the murderess behind a string of killings. She's in cahoots with a mortal villain. He gets the money from her crimes. She gets the blood, and help getting a new ID papers (her last passport expired in 1938).]]

* ''Series/MysteryDiners'' normally investigates fraud and dishonesty in the restaurant trade. There is an episode[[note]]S5/10 Mazi's Taverna, Seattle[[/note]] where the employees are exploiting the fact their building is allegedly haunted, in order to run unofficial and profitable after-hours ghost tours (and also to take advantage of their employer being superstitious and believing it. He's too terrified to investigate properly, which allows them even more scope for taking the piss.). Inevitably, a TV show which investigates fraud and dishonesty among restaurant staff turns up more "hard evidence" for the building being haunted, than an entire series run of those haunted house shows shot in murky green light.[[note]]The caveat is that of course the viewer has to take it on trust that what they see hasn't been manipulated and edited to make a better story[[/note]] They even have a far more plausible and telegenic medium on MD's own staff, which is convenient.
* ''Series/{{Numb3rs}}'' gave us a couple of examples with Simon Kraft, a supposed psychic and former CIA spook who assisted the team while butting heads with everyone because how he is CreepyGood. His initial appearance had him butt heads with the skeptical Charlie and to test his skill, undergo a card test to guess the suit of cards of a playing deck. Simon gets every single one of the fifty two cards wrong... which Charlie quickly realizes that it's the same probablity of getting them all right. He initially leaves the case in frustration, but Simon's lingering words have him come back since the case is more important than their debacle. His predictions are all pretty damn correct.
** Simon Kraft returns in a Chinatown centric episode, where he finds the Eppes family home and predicts a murder with his drawings. He teams up with the FBI after being let go. His drawings remain accurate in finding bodies and he also discovers another corpse. However, he ultimately died in filming a kidnapping (due to trying to pitch a show idea called "Simon Says") and getting run over by the vehicle belonging to the criminal.
* ''Series/MagnumPI'':
** The episode "Rapture". Magnum sees the ghost of a young boy, leading him to investigate the boy's death.
** Another had Thomas in an extended NearDeathExperience after he got shot and seriously wounded. This almost was the SeriesFinale until the series got renewed at the last minute.

* In an episode of ''Series/NightCourt'' Harry used his magic hobby to convince another character that he was exorcising some evil spirits, at one point using a book gimmicked to shoot flames when you open it. After it's all over, Art (the janitor) comes in saying "sorry I'm late" and gives Harry the prop burning book. So... what was up with that other book?
* ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'' had a "ghost" episode involving a supposedly haunted room. Zack ends up trapped in the room after his friends are all "taken" by the ghost. He backs up against a picture of a woman, which suddenly comes to life. Of course, it's a trick, pulled off with some Rube Goldberg-like gadgets. Curiously, no one mentions the picture when explaining how they did it all. At the conclusion of the episode, a woman who looks just like the one in the picture speaks to Zack... then walks back into the frame and disappears.
* ''Series/{{Bones}}'':
** The Gravedigger trapped Booth in an old submarine and he saw his late friend, Parker. Booth was later revealed to have been suffering brain-tumor caused hallucinations during that time, but Brennan seemed to see him too at one point.
** “The Ghost in the Machine” had what was implied to be a victim watching the case from inside the body’s skull. Everyone kept denying it was real but still talked to him a lot
** “The Shot in the Dark” had Brennan seeing her dead mother and insisting she was hallucinating.
** “The Psychic in the Soup” probably counts. Angela’s psychic friend Avalon was convinced she was communicating with Sweets. The clue of “drive thumb” was realized to be a thumb drive in his car, on which his book was stored before he died. There’s also Christine and her imaginary friend Buddy and the hints it may or may not have actually been Sweets and not so imaginary at all.
* In one of the strangest examples of all time, ''Series/BodyOfProof'' introduced us to one of those stridently religious families that only exist in screenwriters' imaginations. Two of the girls evidently were demon possessed. One died of self-inflicted wounds while another began experiencing the same symptoms, including the use of similar special effects as those used in demon-possession movies, like impossible, inhuman facial and neck movements. Each one was given a BS "scientific" explanation, except one. In one scene, while in the throes of "possession", the second girl, who has never met medical examiner Megan Hunt and is significantly younger than she, looks at her and says something her father used to say when Hunt was a child. Near the end of the episode, after supposedly being cured, the same girl says another of Hunt's father's phrases in a deeper voice.
* ''Series/{{Castle}}'' dives into this from time to time.
** One episode had them investigate the death of a ghost hunter in a supposed haunted house. Another episode presented the possibility of aliens, including what might have been an abduction. Castle is the Mulder while Beckett is the Scully, and usually all of the elements are explained by the end. However, one element will be left hanging with the hint that it just might have been RealAfterAll.
** Another episode featured a guy claiming to be a time traveler who was heavily implied to be real. Yet another one had Castle go to an AlternateUniverse where he never met Beckett.
* An episode of ''Series/RookieBlue'' had a man claiming to be a psychic help the cops find a kidnapped witness. In the end the cops conclude that it was just a clever scheme to provide them with evidence against a mob boss. Since the cops are not gonna call the 'psychic' as a witness in court, the mob boss will not find out where the evidence really came from. However, the man made quite a few predictions that come true including one that is fulfilled a couple episodes later in a very unexpected and tragic way. [[spoiler: A wedding is called off not because the bride has cold feet but because the groom is killed.]]
* ''Series/QuantumLeap'' is generally fairly grounded once you accept the Time Travel premise. Except for when it isn't, like:
** "The Boogieman". [[http://quantumleap.wikia.com/wiki/The_Boogieman_%28episode%29 The episode]] apparently has Sam going up against the Devil himself. However, it might have been AllJustADream.
** "The Curse of Ptah-Hotep". [[https://quantumleap.fandom.com/wiki/The_Curse_of_Ptah-Hotep_%28episode%29 The episode]] where a mummy rises from its grave (off camera but witnessed by Al) and murders the villain of the episode
** "Star Light, Star Bright". [[http://quantumleap.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Light,_Star_Bright_%28episode%29 The episode]] where the man Sam is helping goes off with Aliens in a real UFO at the end.
** "A Portrait for Torian". Sam struggles to stop a young widow drowning herself in order to rejoin her dead husband who perished in the same lake, thinking she hears his voice calling to her. He is obstructed in his quest by her stern and enigmatic housekeeper and when the husband's body is eventually recovered from the water it is found alongside two other corpses, one of them the housekeeper whom we now see fade away as she had been DeadAllAlong.
* ''Series/{{JAG}}'':
** In "Ghost Ship", Harm and Mac are saved from a fire [[spoiler:by a real ghost.]]
** "Psychic Warrior" deals with psychic phenomena.
* ''Series/TheWildWildWest'' episode "The Night of the Man-Eating House". Jim and Artie must deal with a haunted house. Again, the end makes it possible that it was AllJustADream... [[TheEndOrIsIt or was it?]]

* Of all shows, ''Series/TheWaltons'' had an episode about one of the kids being haunted by a poltergeist. It was the seventies, after all.

* On ''Series/PerfectStrangers'' there was an episode where Larry and Balki discover a ghost in their new house. There was also an episode where Balki turned out to be an alien, but in that case it was AllJustADream.
* ''Series/TheXFiles'':
** Inverted in the episode "[[Recap/TheXFilesS02E13Irresistible Irresistible]]". In a show where every other episode revolves around paranormal weirdness, this is the gritty realistic one with zero fantastic elements -- and one of the creepiest episodes overall.
** Played with in the episode "X-Cops", in which an InUniverse episode of ''Series/Cops1989'' showcases a chaotic night [[LowerDeckEpisode in the life of various LAPD officers]] who run into Mulder and Scully investigating an entity that kills by manifesting your mortal fears.

* ''Series/HoneyIShrunkTheKids'' had a number of them. This was around the same time that shows centering on the supernatural were popular, so it's likely that ExecutiveMeddling was involved.
* Even ''Series/TheGuidingLight'' had one of these, with a character getting superpowers from a freak accident involving Halloween decorations.
* ''Series/Zoey101'' has the episode [[Recap/Zoey101S3E43TheCurseOfPCA "The Curse of PCA"]] in which Zoey and her friends end up disturbing the spirit of a former PCA student due to [[JerkAss Logan]] stealing a necklace that used to belong to said student. It should be noted that there's no ScoobyDooHoax for this example, noteworthy considering the show is set firmly in reality.
* ''Series/TheHardyBoysNancyDrewMysteries'' has two such episodes: ''The House On Possessed Hill'' dealing with a young psychic hunted by her neighbors, and ''Voodoo Doll'', which presents stage magic as evidence of the BigBad's [[HollywoodVoodoo real supernatural powers.]] A third episode, ''The Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew Meet Dracula'', may count as well, though the supernatural aspect is met with skepticism, is suspected of being only due to the BigBad's delusions, and when shown to be real at the very end, [[RealAfterAll is only seen by Joe Hardy.]]
* In the ''Series/KnotsLanding'' Season Three episode "The Three Sisters", the women of Seaview Circle visit a supposedly haunted house.
* ''Series/FullHouse'': In "Our First Christmas Special", the only rational explanation is that Stephanie really met Santa Claus at the end.
* ''Series/LogansRun'': In "Night Visitors", Logan, Jessica and Rem discovered a house haunted by three ghosts, Gavin, Marianne and Barton, who worship Main/{{Satan}}.
* ''Series/CriminalMinds'':
** Several episodes include characters interacting with the dead while undergoing their own near-death experiences.
** In the Season 4 episode "Cold Comfort," a psychic hired by the victim's mother appears to demonstrate genuine psychic abilities.
* ''Series/BirdsOfAFeather'' had an episode where the girls must deal with a [=VHS=] player inhabited by the spirit of an elderly woman.
* ''{{Series/Kaamelott}}'' is set in 5th century Europe where magic exists but not widespread. One or two episodes deal with aliens or space travel (including one time where Perceval ends up on Tatooine and takes Obi-Wan's lightsaber, but Arthur sends it back as he doesn't think it's necessary to have ''two'' Excaliburs).

* The alien invasion variation is apparently the plot point of the ''WesternAnimation/MrBogus'' episode "[[Recap/MrBogusS3E9TheBogusInvasion The Bogus Invasion]]".
* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'' episode "Up, Up, and Away", notable for being the only episode featuring unicorn ponies - who were otherwise absent from the show as this iteration had removed most fantastic elements.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' had a handful of such episodes, such as the time they traveled to the present day on the world's first TimeMachine, or when aliens cloned Fred as part of an invasion plot. Then in the sixth season they introduced the GreatGazoo, and every episode became this.

* ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'' has no fantasy aspects at all, except for the 2nd Gig episode "Kusanagi's Labyrinth - AFFECTION". Major Kusunagi finds herself cut off from outside contact and seemingly alone in an empty city. She finds TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday: a store that somehow has stored memories and cyberbodies from her own past. The owner who tells her a story very similar to what happened to her when she was a child. [[spoiler:{{Subverted|Trope}} thoroughly -- the shop is perfectly normal, and the cyborg bodies are those she and Kuze had as children.]]
* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' lacks explicitly supernatural elements except for the episode "[[Recap/CowboyBebopSession20PierrotLeFou Pierrot le Fou]]", when Spike finds himself facing off against a PsychopathicManchild assassin with psychic abilities including flying and a force field that makes him immune to bullets.

Supertrope to CryptidEpisode. Contrast {{Mundanger}}, which is when a normally the characters in a fantasy or sci-fi series are faced with a more "realistic" threat.

* ''Anime/{{Patlabor}}'' is, at its heart, a SliceOfLife, [[CopShow Cop Show]]/[[PoliceProcedural Police Procedural]], with HumongousMecha. But, during the 27th episode of the TV series, the [=SVU2=] encounter ghosts, while holding indoor training execrcises in an abandoned building. It turns out that the ghosts were [[spoiler: the spirits of earthquake victims, who once lived there. Their spirits couldn't rest because of an undiscovered burial site, which contained the remains of slain samurai, directly beneath the building [=SVU2=] was training in]]. The spirits were lain to rest, once it was discovered, and rites were performed on the site.

** Played with in the episode "X-Cops", in which an InUniverse episode of ''Series/{{COPS}}'' showcases a chaotic night [[LowerDeckEpisode in the life of various LAPD officers]] who run into Mulder and Scully investigating an entity that kills by manifesting your mortal fears.

** Played with in the episode "X-Cops", in which an InUniverse episode of ''Series/{{COPS}}'' showcases a chaotic night [[LowerDecksEpisode in the life of various LAPD officers]] who run into Mulder and Scully investigating an entity that kills by manifesting your mortal fears.

* ''Series/TheXFiles'': Inverted in the episode "[[Recap/TheXFilesS02E13Irresistible Irresistible]]". In a show where every other episode revolves around paranormal weirdness, this is the gritty realistic one with zero fantastic elements -- and one of the creepiest episodes overall.

* Inverted in ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode "Irresistible". In a show where every other episode revolves around paranormal weirdness, this is the gritty realistic one with zero fantastic elements--and one of the creepiest episodes overall.

[[folder:Anime And Manga]]

* ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'' has no fantasy aspects at all, except for the 2nd Gig episode "Kusanagi's Labyrinth - AFFECTION". Major Kusunagi finds herself cut off from outside contact and seemingly alone in an empty city. She finds TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday: a store that somehow has stored memories and cyberbodies from her own past. The owner who tells her a story very similar to what happened to her when she was a child.[[spoiler: Subverted thoroughly - the shop is perfectly normal, and the cyborg bodies are those she and Kuze had as children.]]
* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' lacks explicitly supernatural elements except for the episode ''[[Recap/CowboyBebopSession20PierrotLeFou Pierrot le Fou]]'', when Spike finds himself facing off against a PsychopathicManchild assassin with psychic abilities including flying and a force field that makes him immune to bullets.
* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' is technically a fantasy series, but normally lacks any supernatural aspects other than the Pokemon themselves. However, the episode "The Ghost of Maiden's Peak" featured a real ghost--not a Ghost-type Pokemon, the actual spirit of a dead person. The episode "Hocus Pokemon" likewise featured a real witch, as opposed to a person with powers related to Psychic Pokemon (i.e. Sabrina).

* ''Series/{{Baywatch}}'': In "Coronado del Soul" Summer is possessed (and perhaps more in a case very QuestionableConsent?) by a ghost at a haunted hotel, establishing the supernatural in the Baywatch universe for the first time. The spinoff series 'Baywatch Nights' would take this to a whole new level.

* ''Series/Baywatch'': In "Coronado del Soul" Summer is possessed (and perhaps more in a case very QuestionableConsent?) by a ghost at a haunted hotel, establishing the supernatural in the Baywatch universe for the first time. The spinoff series 'Baywatch Nights' would take this to a whole new level.

** "A Portrait for Torian". Sam struggles to stop a young widow drowning herself in order to rejoin her dead husband who perished in the same lake, thinking she hears his voice calling to her. He is obstructed in his quest by her stern and enigmatic housekeeper and when the husband's body is eventually recovered from the water it is found alongside two other corpses, one of them the housekeeper whom we now witness fading away as she had been DeadAllAlong.

** "A Portrait for Torian". Sam struggles to stop a young widow drowning herself in order to rejoin her dead husband who perished in the same lake, thinking she hears his voice calling to her. He is obstructed in his quest by her stern and enigmatic housekeeper and when the husband's body is eventually recovered from the water it is found with another pair of corpses, one of them the housekeeper whom we now witness fading away as she had been DeadAllAlong.

** "A Portrait of Torian". Sam struggles to stop a young widow drowning herself in order to rejoin her dead husband who perished in the same lake, thinking she hears his voice calling to her. He is obstructed in his quest by her stern and enigmatic housekeeper who was a favourite of her husband's and when his body is eventually recovered from the water it is found entangled with her corpse, the housekeeper disappearing as she had been DeadAllAlong.

** "A Portrait of Torian". Sam struggles to stop a young widow drowning herself in order to rejoin her dead husband who perished in the same lake, thinking she hears his voice calling to her. He is obstructed in his quest by her stern and enigmatic housekeeper who was a favourite of her husband's and when his body is eventually recovered from the water it is accompanied by her corpse, the housekeeper disappearing as she had been DeadAllAlong.