Of all the network shows to premiere in the mid to late 90s, none of them have the bizarre build-up and forgotten legacy of “Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction.” Trying to encapsulate the odd history and cult status of this anthology series is hard to do, but trust us, if you know of the program, you know what we’re talking about. It has been over two decades since the program has had a new episode on American shores, but there may be something on the horizon. Maybe; after all this is a show that played fast and loose with trickery, but former host, Jonathan Frakes seems to be teasing something.
“Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction” premiered in 1997 and was originally hosted by actor and father of Thanos, James Brolin. With all respect to Brolin though, no one cares about his season; it doesn’t feature the major draw to the series, the aforementioned Jonathan Frakes. See, “Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction” doesn’t seem like anything special on face value. All the show is, is a series of short stories that all have unusual, supernatural, or mysterious events. The production level is… interesting and the acting is… uh… also interesting, which adds to the charm. At the end of the story, you have to decide whether it was fact or fiction, the results of which are revealed to you at the end of the episode.
So yeah, doesn’t sound like much, but Frakes… oh dear God Jonathan Frakes. In what has become wonderful meme status today, he almost always introduces the shorts with some kind of inane question. Incidentally, the questions become much funnier when you slow the video down and imagine them being asked by a drunken Frakes trying to get your attention at a bar.
If that weren’t enough, after the stories, Frakes would be forced to deliver some sort of horrible pun that is derived from the events of the tale. For example, with a story about haunted drain pipes or something, he has asks the audience, “Is this the story of plumbing with a mind of its own, or is it just another pipe dream? Then he would crack this smirk that would just look like he’s saying, “That’s right, I just said that. And I have no shame at all.”
So why are we telling you all this? Because Frakes is teasing that maybe something is happening. It’s not the first time he’s done this either. In July of 2021, he tweeted the following:
The “where” is very clearly the set of “Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction.” It’s probably not the original set from 20 years ago, but the lighting is a dead giveaway. Ultimately this could’ve been a tease for a German exclusive episode of the series that ended up airing in Halloween of 2021. Apparently this show is hugely popular there, which is odd but endearing in a way only this show could be. Now though, Frakes is doing it again with another Tweet:
What is this man planning? Could it be another German episode for Halloween 2022? Is “Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction” stating a full scale comeback? Or to put it another way, is this Tweet from Jonathan Frakes suggesting that his beloved show is returning, or is this image nothing more than a teaser?
