The Best Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction Segments I Watched in 2023
I often lament the fact that most TV doesn’t realize it’s trash, and it would be better served understanding this.
In a post-prestige TV world, everything thinks its prestige, but is still just regular old TV all dolled up. I’m not saying I don’t appreciate aspirational evolution in the medium, I’m just saying it’s not for every show. It’s not even for that many shows, really. Like 5 shows at any given time can be good, the rest of TV should at least understand it’s trash, if not revel in it.
Which is why I have to frequently go back to a show that ran from 1997 to 2002, Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction. If you’re unfamiliar with it, you’re at least aware of its meme footprint, a supercut of host Jonathan Frakes gleefully admitting the story they just showed was bullshit. But Frakes as our charming guide for seasons 2, 3 and 4 (James Brolin hosts season 1) is only part of the show and if that’s your only exposure to it, I can confidently say you’re missing out. On a lot.
The rest of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction is a series of “reenactment” segments. I put quotes on it because half the time the stories are fiction, and the other half they’re called fact but actually also fictional. In the entire run of the show I’m not sure if there’s even five stories that are provably factual.
But that’s the fun, and the show knows it. So if you’re game for some campy trash, fire up Tubi and skip around to these segments to get a brief hits package. While I’ll give you some of my faves, I hope they’re a gateway to the more nuanced appreciation you’ll get from watching stories that aimlessly go on too long, or Jonathan Frakes presenting optical illusions, or the bumper voice over that says things like, “Stay tuned for a story about a man that loved TV.” Because the true best of BB:FoF is when it takes you by surprise.
So I’m just going to spoil the premise of this one: it’s about a chalkboard that, when you write on it, makes a haunted ghost noise. Which is supposed to sound scary, but in reality it sounds like a man cumming the kind of cum he thinks no one will ever hear. A very private cum. I watched this with friends late at night after drinking a THC soda that I didn’t quite understand the dosage of, so that may have colored my opinion, but then I watched it again the next day to double check, and yes, it’s still the funniest thing I saw in 2023.
If you like cake, the mafia, or Fox-in-the-90s-quality special effects, have I got the thing for you. Of course I’m talking about “The Cake”, the segment that’s about baking a cake for the mafia, and also it’s about the devil I think.
“The Mirror of Truth” (S03E13)
I’m going to have to recommend just watching this whole episode because honestly this segment isn’t anything special, but it’s worthwhile being lulled into comfort only to be hit with the reveal in the mirror at the end of this story.
Another relatively unremarkable segment that is fully made by the twist ending reveal.
For me, this one is about two actors going as hard as possible with the insane material they’ve been given: An unscrupulous carny and his rival, an incredibly old master of ring toss. Let the games begin!
Hard to pin down what makes this one special. There’s some pretty rough child acting, production that feels Canadian, the story itself really sucks, but I guess I’d have to say it’s the incredibly long, slow motion reaction shots to a dog being hit by a car. Bonus points for the wraparounds featuring BB:FoF’s original host James Brolin covered in Rottweiler puppies.
This is the rare story that is genuinely touching. It’s about a long lost family member, found again after being separated and presumed dead in the holocaust. Not the typical cheapo ghost story. It aspires to be more than the run of the mill Twilight Zone knockoff BB:FoF usually presents. And then of course its ambition is completely undercut by the fact a character is named Tants and they say “Tants” maybe 40 times in 6 minutes.
“The Mandarin’s Bowl” (S04E11)
And finally “The Mandarin’s Bowl” the story about a little white boy who becomes the vessel for the 100 year old spirit of a deceased Chinese man.
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