History AlternateUniverse / LiveActionTV

* The second season of ''Series/TheFlash2014'' introduces Earth 2, an alternate world with many of the characters having duplicates. It's stated that there are an infinite number of universes, but this is the only one that appears to have a direct line to Earth 1 via the breaches that have resulted from [[spoiler:the paradox singularity that opened in the season 1 finale]]. When traveling between the universes, characters experience glimpses of other alternate worlds (read: shows). The overall technology level of Earth 2 is higher than that of Earth 1, partly thanks to the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator working successfully (as far as the public is concerned), although much of the tech has a {{Zeerust}} feel. Additionally, {{Atlantis}} is a real place there. The Flash of that world is not Barry Allen (who is just a CSI on Earth 2) but Jay Garrick (his nickname is Crimson Comet instead of Scarlet Speedster). There is also Gorilla City in a tropical rainforest, a refuge for intelligent gorillas. Meanwhile, [[Series/{{Arrow}} Oliver Queen]] never made it off Lian Yu, his role as Starling City's protector having been taken up by his father, known as the Hood.
** The crossover with ''Series/Supergirl2015'' establishes that that show exists in the same [[TheMultiverse multiverse]]. Also, the same can be retroactively said about [[Series/TheFlash1990 the 1990 Flash series]].
** Earth 3 is mentioned in season 2 finale, which is the world where [[spoiler:the real Jay Garrick (Henry Allen's double)]] is from.

* ''Series/LoisAndClark'':
** In "Tempus, Anyone?", Tempus kidnapped Lois and Creator/HGWells and transported them to a parallel universe. In this universe, Lois disappeared while covering a gunrunning story in the Congo in 1993 and is presumed dead, Jimmy is "a whiz kid of the computer world" who has just bought the ''Daily Planet'' and Perry is running for Mayor against Tempus. The most significant difference, however, is that there is no Superman. In the parallel universe, Jonathan and Martha were killed in a car accident when Clark was ten (which he witnessed but was not fast enough to prevent) and he was bounced around foster homes for the remainder of his childhood. He eventually started a relationship with Lana Lang -- this being Lana's only ''Lois & Clark'' appearance -- who convinced him to keep his powers a secret and scolds him whenever he clandestinely uses them to help anyone in a minor way. At the time of Lois' arrival, he and Lana are engaged. This version of Clark never met the Lois of his universe as she disappeared before his arrival in Metropolis. Speaking of Metropolis, it is a dirtier, more violent city due to Superman's absence and almost everyone carries guns, typically semi-automatics.
** In "Lois and Clarks", after Clark is stranded in a time window by Tempus, H. G. Wells brings the Clark from the parallel universe to the main universe so that he can be fill in for Superman in the absence of the normal version of Clark. This proves difficult for everyone, at least initially. Lois finds it very hard being around him as "it's like having Clark but not." For his part, the alternate Clark, who has a pretty lonely life, is attracted to Lois and the two of them have a "weird chemistry" that he doesn't really understand. Considering that Jonathan and Martha's counterparts in the parallel universe were killed in a car accident when their son was ten, meeting the very much alive normal versions of them is a particularly strange and painful experience for the alternate Clark.

* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'':
** An interesting subversion: Clark [[CuckooNest wakes up in a mental asylum]]; apparently, he started having delusions of superdom in high school, and his "saving" of Lex in the first episode actually cost Lex his legs. Oh, and Chloe is a freaking nutcase. Of course, it was all a delusion caused by an escaped Phantom that attacked him in his barn and invaded his mind. John Jones (the Martian Manhunter) helped him escape by entering the illusion (as another inmate), and capturing the creature in a Kryptonian crystal.
** In "Noir", Jimmy Olsen wakes up in a FilmNoir universe.
** Season 10 had an Alternate Universe as a major plot line: Clark discovers a Kryptonian artifact called a "mirror box" and when activated it takes him to a world where the Kents never adopted him, but instead was raised by Lionel Luthor and goes by the name "Clark Luthor". Clark Luthor himself is brought to Clark Kent's world and causes no end of trouble before the original Clark manages to switch them back. Then it turns out the alternate Lionel managed to come through to the main world with Clark, taking the place of the original Lionel (who was dead) with a story that he'd faked his death. Then Clark Luthor uses ''his'' mirror box to come back and send our Clark to his world, where he helps the alternate Jonathan reconnect with Martha, and convinces Clark Luthor to try and use his powers for good, rather than live in Lionel's shadow.

* ''Series/{{Awake}}'' is about a detective experiencing parallel realities after a car accident, one in which his wife has died, one in which his son has died. He uses tenuous cross-universe clues to solve crimes. The validity of the realities and the possibility that one is a subconscious response to trauma is always in question. The series ends with [[spoiler:the possible introduction of a third reality in which both wife and son are alive]].

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS4E113TheParallel The Parallel]]", while orbiting Earth in his space capsule ''Phoebus 10'', Major Robert Gaines is sent to a parallel universe which is highly similar to his own but with some important differences, both major and minor. In terms of his personal life, he is a full colonel, his house has a white picket fence which was never there before and he takes sugar in his coffee. In terms of wider history, UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy is not the U.S. President in 1963 and no one has even heard of him, a man named Anderson supervised the construction of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Panama}} Panama Canal]] rather than George Washington Goethals and the UsefulNotes/WorldWarI flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker was never found after his B-17 disappeared in October 1942. Gaines also mentions that he has determined from looking at the encyclopedia that there are numerous other differences between the two universes but he does not elaborate.

** In "But Can She Type?", a beleaguered and overworked secretary named Karen Billings, who is verbally abused by her boss Burt Nelson at every opportunity, is accidentally sent to a parallel universe by a malfunctioning photocopier. She soon discovers that being a secretary is the most glamorous and exciting job in existence in this universe. At a party, other guests are enthralled by her stories about her job and a highly paid fashion model tells her that her dream job is to be a secretary. Karen eventually decides to move to this universe permanently after Burt once again berates her. She accepts Edward Rehnquist's offer to organize his company's UsefulNotes/{{Paris}} office and is driven to the airport in a limousine.
** In "The World Next Door", work-a-day schlub Barney Schlessinger discovers a parallel universe where his AlternateSelf is a famous inventor after going through a [[DownTheRabbitHole doorway in his basement]]. (There are lots of cultural differences between the two worlds as well.) The two men end up changing places, to their mutual happiness.
** In "The Road Less Traveled", a version of Jeff [=McDowell=] from an alternate universe who [[AnArmAndALeg lost his legs]] in UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar crosses over to ours after spending years wondering how his life would have turned out had he not gone to UsefulNotes/{{Vietnam}}. The Jeff of our universe [[DraftDodging dodged the draft]] in 1971 and went to UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} with his girlfriend Denise in 1971. They eventually married and had a daughter named Megan. In the alternate universe, Denise was [[DeadAlternateCounterpart killed in a motorcycle accident]]. The alternate Jeff is not angry or resentful as our Jeff fears but glad to have gotten the chance to see the life that he could have had.
** In "Song of the Younger World", Amy Hawkline and Tanner Smith are able to [[AstralProjection transfer their souls]] into the bodies of wolves in a parallel universe using magic.
** In "Memories", Mary [=McNeal=] is transported to a parallel universe in which everyone can [[PastLifeMemories remember their past lives]].
** {{Discussed|Trope}} in "Something in the Walls". Sharon Miles speculates that the [[AmbushingEnemy creatures that live in the walls]] are from a parallel universe which has intersected with ours and are only able to enter our universe through these intersections.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones Ascent'', which follows the plot and events of the TV show (such as the death of Rakharo or Xaro Xhoan Daxos' betrayal) but incorporates elements of the novels: like Vaes Tolorro or Catelyn taking two Freys as wards.

** ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'' takes place in its own world separate from the main Rider timeline, due to its premise having far-reaching societal implications, such as AI robots blending into the human society.

* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'': Of the 45 existing seasons, only one is ever confirmed to exist in an alternate universe, that being ''Series/UchuSentaiKyuranger''. This is because the premise of the series is that [[AfterTheEnd a demonic overlord has been ruling the known universe for the past three centuries]], making it either far into the future or another dimension entirely. The latter is confirmed in a crossover with ''Series/TokusouSentaiDekaranger'' and ''Series/SpaceSheriffGavan'', when the red and silver rangers get flung through a wormhole into what seems to be Sentai's main universe.

* ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' employs a ''literal'' MirrorUniverse, which could be accessed through a mirror.

* ''Series/DarkMatter'' introduced one in the second season episode "Stuff to Steal, People to Kill", via a glitch with the ''Raza'''s Blink Drive. The protagonists of ''Dark Matter'' are a crew of former [[PsychoForHire ruthless mercenaries]] whose memories were wiped during stasis at the beginning of the series, prompting them to rename themselves [[YouAreNumberSix One through Six]] and try to [[ThatManIsDead be better people than their original selves]]. The crew of the alternate ''Raza'' were never mindwiped [[EvilTwin and are still as evil as ever]], as well as prone to ChronicBackstabbingDisorder and playing TheStarscream towards each other in contrast to our ''Raza'' crew's FamilyOfChoice. Our crew manages to get back to the primary universe by stealing the AU crew's Blink Drive, but their evil counterparts sneak along for the ride by attaching the alternate version of the ship's Marauder shuttle to the hull of our ''Raza''. After that, they become a recurring nuisance in Season 3, joining forces with the crew's other enemies in a BigBadEnsemble.

** In "Tempus, Anyone?", Tempus kidnapped Lois and Creator/HGWells and transported them to a parallel universe. In this universe, Lois disappeared while covering a gunrunning story in the Congo in 1993 and is presumed dead, Jimmy is "a whiz kid of the computer world" who has just bought the ''Daily Planet'' and Perry is running for Mayor against Tempus. The most significant difference, however, is that there is no Superman. In the parallel universe, Jonathan and Martha were killed in a car accident when Clark was ten (which he witnessed but was not fast enough to prevent) and he was bounced around foster homes for the remainder of his childhood. He eventually started a relationship with ComicBook/LanaLang - this being Lana's only ''Lois & Clark'' appearance - who convinced him to keep his powers a secret and scolds him whenever he clandestinely uses them to help anyone in a minor way. At the time of Lois' arrival, he and Lana are engaged. This version of Clark never met the Lois of his universe as she disappeared before his arrival in Metropolis. Speaking of Metropolis, it is a dirtier, more violent city due to Superman's absence and almost everyone carries guns, typically semi-automatics.

* Homaged in ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'', "Last of the Wild Horses", where Dr. Forester and TV's Frank get to quip at the movie, and evil Mike and Bots watch on from Deep 13.

** "In Another Life", a man named Mason Stark is about to commit suicide, when he suddenly finds himself transported to another reality, pulled there by his more successful double (usually referred to as Stark), who has invented a device called the quantum mirror. Stark explains that he was using the mirror to meet his doubles from multiple universes in order to find out what his life could have been like. Then one of the doubles (known as Mace) murdered his wife and went on a killing spree. Stark has determined that Mason and Mace are from nearly identical universes, with the only difference being that Mason chose to try to shoot himself, while Mace opened fire on his coworkers. After finding himself in this universe, the insane Mace is trying to "put things right" by killing those, whom he shot in his own reality. In the end, the psychotic Mace and the cold-blooded Stark end up transported to other universes: Mace ends up in Mason's moments before the gun goes off, while Stark ends up facing off cops with a still-smoking gun (this ends predictably). Mason gets a happy ending, inheriting Stark's fortune and getting a second chance with the double of his deceased wife.
** In "Worlds Within", the physicist Dr. Anya Kenway is recruited by the Burkmeer Research Facility to conduct experiments on a test subject named Sasha Vadimsky but commonly referred to as URS-28. He was born in UsefulNotes/{{Belarus}} in 1987. His mother was a technician at UsefulNotes/{{Chernobyl}} who was critically injured in the disaster and ended up in a coma. She did not even realize that she was pregnant. The severely mutated Sasha was delivered via Caesarean section and was not expected to survive. He was brought to Burkmeer at some point after the Soviet Union collapsed. The scientists at Burkmeer discovered that Sasha's body was producing tachyons, the previously only hypothetical particle that travels faster than the speed of light. They incorrectly believe that he does not have a mind. Anya, who is dying of multiple sclerosis and has only a year to live, is able to make telepathic contact with him and she learns that Sasha is connected to his counterpart from a parallel universe. His mother tells Anya that Sasha's mind is trapped in her universe and the experiments to which he is going to be subjected will kill him. With the assistance of her co-worker and former fiancé Dr. David [=LaSalle=], she bombards Sasha with protons in order to create a tear in the space-time continuum. As a result, his mind is reunited with his body in the other universe.
** {{Discussed|Trope}} in "Abduction". Jason, a science fiction fan, theorizes that he, Cody Phillips, Ray, Brianna and Danielle may have entered a parallel universe.

** ''Series/PowerRangersDinoCharge'' is revealed [[Series/PowerRangersNinjaSteel in the following season]] to take place in its own separate timeline similar to ''RPM'' likely to justify the MindScrew finale wherein [[spoiler:the Rangers go back in time to kill [[BigBad Sledge]] and his crew 65 million years earlier and inadvartantly save the dinosaurs from going extinct thus resulting in a present day timeline where they live side-by-side with humans.]]
* "Ace" Rimmer (what a guy!) on ''Series/RedDwarf'' came from an Alternate Universe, and travelled between dimensions. The Red Dwarf crew themselves had previously travelled into an Alternate Universe in the episode "Parallel Universe". Some episodes have featured similar alternate versions of characters and events, but were a result of time travel rather than passing into another Universe (notably "Timeslides" and "Inquisitor").
** Rimmer enters a mirror universe in "Only The Good...", where he's captain of the ship, [[BrainyBrunette Kochnski]] is a DumbBlonde, and [[TheDitz The Cat]] a genius professor.
** [[spoiler: The dream world from "Back To Earth" is treated like this after the crew wakes up, and they find it hilarious that the people in it think they're real and the Red Dwarf crew are the fictional ones...]]
** The books delve into this too. While multiple universes are established in ''Better Than Life'', they really come into play in ''Last Human'' and ''Backwards''. ''Last Human'' occurs when the crew return from Backwards Earth to the wrong universe and try to track down Lister's other self. In ''Backwards'', Ace Rimmer is given a backstory behind Project: Wildfire and turns up to save the crew. Bonus points for the fact that both books, having each been written by Grant and Naylor separately, take place in alternate universes to each other.

** ''Noir'': ComicBook/JimmyOlsen wakes up in a FilmNoir universe.
** Season 10 had an Alternate Universe as a major plot line: Clark discovers a kryptonian artifact called a "mirror box" and when activated it takes him to a world where the Kents never adopted him, but instead was raised by Lionel Luthor and goes by the name "Clark Luthor". Clark Luthor himself is brought to Clark Kent's world and causes no end of trouble before the original Clark manages to switch them back. Then it turns out the alternate Lionel managed to come through to the main world with Clark, taking the place of the original Lionel (who was dead) with a story that he'd faked his death. Then Clark Luthor uses ''his'' mirror box to come back and send our Clark to his world, where he helps the alternate Jonathan reconnect with Martha, and convinces Clark Luthor to try and use his powers for good, rather than live in Lionel's shadow.

* ''Franchise/{{Stargate|Verse}}'':

** An Alternate Universe seems to be seen in the episode "What Is And What Should Never Be", but it's really all in Dean's head and everything is his perception -- Mary's perfect, Sam and Dean are a bit wussy and the family is like any other. In his fantasy, his mother Mary and Sam's girlfriend Jessica were never killed by Azazel, so the Winchester family live perfectly normal lives and his Dad died peacefully. As Dean is utterly unhappy there, it seems he wants a extremely codependent relationship with Sam and the wracking memories of his family.
** A real Alternate Universe, or rather a series of them, pops up in the episode "Mystery Spot" thanks to a [[GroundhogDayLoop repeating time loop]] in which Dean keeps dying. The iteration before the final time loop lasts months instead of the standard day, resulting in a dark, isolated Sam.
** Later in the episode "It's a Terrible Life", where Dean is a Marketing Director for a firm and Sam is a techie in the same building with no memory of their hunter life beforehand apart from a few dreams, it's revealed that this was all [[SecretTestOfCharacter a ruse from an angel]] to show Dean hunting is in his blood and he will always find a way to be a hunter. This is also a play on the ItsAWonderfulPlot trope.
** The second AU episode took place in the sixth season, where the brothers are sent to a universe [[note]]which is basically our [[RealLife world]] with a bit of hyperbole[[/note]] where Supernatural [[NoticingTheFourthWall is just a TV show]] filmed in Canada, in which Sam and Dean are played by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, and there is no magic, demons, angels, monsters, or any supernatural beings at all.
** And then there's "My Heart Will Go On", in which the Titanic never sank, somehow causing the Winchesters to own a Mustang, Bobby and Ellen to be married, and Celine Dion to be a lounge singer in Quebec.

** In the Season 15 episode "Destiny's Child", the brothers encounter dimension-traveling alternate-universe versions of themselves. Really rich, executives in an extremely successful monster-fighting company, versions of themselves.

** In "The World Next Door", Barney Schlessinger discovers a parallel universe where his AlternateSelf is a famous inventor after going through a [[DownTheRabbitHole doorway in his basement]].

* ''Series/DarkMatter'' introduced one in the second season episode "Stuff to Steal, People to Kill", via a glitch with the ''Raza'''s Blink Drive. The protagonists of ''Dark Matter'' are a crew of former [[PsychoForHire ruthless mercenaries]] whose memories were wiped during stasis at the beginning of the series, prompting them to rename themselves [[YouAreNumberSix One through Six]] and try to [[ThatManIsDead be better people than their original selves]]. The crew of the alternate ''Raza'' were never mindwiped [[EvilTwin and are still as evil as ever]], as well as prone to ChronicBackstabbingDisorder and playing TheStarscream towards each other in contrast to our ''Raza'' crew's FamilyOfChoice. Our crew manages to get back to the primary universe by stealing the AU crew's Blink Drive, but their evil counterparts sneak along for the ride by attaching the alternate version of the ship's Marauder shuttle to our ''Raza'''s hull. After that, they become a recurring nuisance in Season 3, joining forces with the crew's other enemies in a BigBadEnsemble.

* ''Series/DarkMatter'' introduced one in the second season episode "Stuff to Steal, People to Kill", via a glitch with the ''Raza'''s Blink Drive. The protagonists of ''Dark Matter'' are a crew of former ruthless mercenaries whose memories were wiped in stasis at the beginning of the series, prompting them to rename themselves [[YouAreNumberSix One through Six]] and try to be better people than their original selves. The crew of the alternate ''Raza'' were never mindwiped and are still as evil as ever, as well as prone to ChronicBackstabbingDisorder and playing TheStarscream towards each other in contrast to our ''Raza'' crew's FamilyOfChoice. Our crew manages to get back to the primary universe by stealing the AU crew's Blink Drive, but their evil counterparts manage to sneak over in the alternate Marauder shuttle and become a recurring nuisance in Season 3, joining forces with the crew's other enemies in a BigBadEnsemble.

* ''Series/DarkMatter'' introduced one in the second season episode "Stuff to Steal, People to Kill", via a glitch with the ''Raza'''s Blink Drive. The protagonists of ''Dark Matter'' are a crew of former ruthless mercenaries whose memories were wiped in stasis at the beginning of the series, prompting them to rename themselves [[YouAreNumberSix One through Six]] and try to be better people than their original selves. The crew of the alternate ''Raza'' were never mindwiped and are still as evil as ever, as well as prone to ChronicBackstabbingDisorder and playing TheStarscream towards each other in contrast to our ''Raza'' crew's FamilyOfChoice. Our crew manages to get back to the primary universe by stealing the AU crew's Blink Drive, but their evil counterparts manage to sneak over in the alternate Marauder shuttle and become a recurring nuisance in Season 3, joining with the crew's other enemies in a BigBadEnsemble.