One Step Beyond

One Step Beyond is an American television series created by Merwin Gerard. The original series ran for three seasons on ABC from 1959 to 1961 and remains syndicated to this day.

Created by Merwin Gerard and produced by the prolific producer Collier Young, the program was hosted by John Newland, "your guide to the supernatural" (also credited as "Our guide into the world of the unknown"). Newland presented tales which explored paranormal events and various situations that defied logical explanation. Unlike other anthology programmers, this ABC network series episodes were presented in the form of straightforward thirty-minute docudramas, all said to be based on true events. Initially, the program included the corporate name of the sponsor Alcoa as its full title.

One Step Beyond filled the time slot at 10 p.m. Tuesday vacated by the crime/police reality show, Confession, in which Jack Wyatt interviewed assorted criminals in an attempt to determine why they had rejected societal mores and turned to a life of lawlessness.

Among its varied tales, One Step Beyond dealt with premonition of death ("The Lincoln Assassination") and disaster ("Tidal Wave", "Night of April 14th"); astral projection ("The Long Call"); the existence of ghosts ("The Last Time"); and wildly improbable coincidence ("The Glider", "Death on the Mountain", etc.).