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Shows that are sci-fi/fantasy shows and nobody knows it.

Technically you could argue just about any family sitcom that ever had a Christmas episode where Santa turns out to be real..

A schtick that goes back to I Love Lucy at least.

And, yes, lots of old shows tried to have their cake and eat it, too: offering a "rational" explanation, but leaving a question mark hanging in the air at the end.
 
I know "Married with Children" had a story with Sam Kinison as the ghost of Christmas past, I think. Also they had aliens in one episode and vr machine in another.

Jason
 
How about the BBC miniseries "Mayday" from a few years back? It was billed as a crime drama in which the impact of a young girls murder on the community is examined. In the end it turns out, that she was murdered because the murderer thought she was a witch and had put a curse of impotence on him. While there were small hints of the supernatural throughout, in the last half hour of the show it becomes clear that she really was a witch when evidence planted by the murderers relatives on another guy magically vanishes and she basically takes over her twin sister and starts stalking the murderer.
 
Have you every had someone ask you "What the #uc# did I just watch??????" after they took your suggestion to binge a murder mystery about an FBI Agent tracking a serial killer to a small town?

"Rapey drug tourist Native American Gods soul-jumping backwater bumpkins? WHHHHAAATTT TTTHHHEEE FFF#########KKK!?"
 
This leads back into the tail-biting argument about "what is science fiction?" God help us.

Roswell was a soap that turned into a 60s sitcom for one episode.

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Love that show. :)

I thought Black Jesus was just about a homeless pothead on a lark.

Then one of his friends says "Hey Jesus, can you turn this into wine?" And Jesus did. That's what Jesus did, he got his friends blotto.

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A schtick that goes back to I Love Lucy at least.

And, yes, lots of old shows tried to have their cake and eat it, too: offering a "rational" explanation, but leaving a question mark hanging in the air at the end.

Speaking of I love Lucy..the Superman episode could count..because the way they filmed it..it wasn't really clear if it was actually Superman or George Reeves playing SM.
 
Columbo
Peter Falk had to solve a murder where a robot (Robbie from Forbidden Planet) was used as an alibi. Note- they put Robbie's upper torso on a wheeled transport because they were afraid with him walking around he would upstage Peter.

Barney Miller
One episode had a UFO sighting and it was implied that Dietrich might be an alien observer disguised as a human.
Another episode had a time traveller. He was brought in a possible jumper on a bridge but he told them that time travel was a bit uncertain and you sometimes end up in a weird place. When he was being taken away for mental assessment he noticed Dietrich's name on the desk. He suddenly realized that the was the famous Arthur Dietrich he knew from history and almost fell over himself with the honor of meeting him. the interesting part was that the name place only had his initial on it, From the location and setting the traveller deduced that is what his hero had been doing at this time. As he was led away the entire squad turned and just stared at Dietrich, who just smiled and told them "Couldn't have done it with out youse"
 
Benson did a UFO episode as well as several ghost stories.

Walker: Texas Ranger also had a fair number of supernatural episodes, and crossed over with Martial Law, which in turn crossed over with Early Edition which was a sort of sci-fi/fantasy show, so presumably all three take place in the same universe.
 
I have to admit, I was a surprised when I realized People of Earth was full on sci-fi, with a whole plot line revolving around the aliens and their plans for Earth.
 
Columbo
Peter Falk had to solve a murder where a robot (Robbie from Forbidden Planet) was used as an alibi. Note- they put Robbie's upper torso on a wheeled transport because they were afraid with him walking around he would upstage Peter.
Uh, Robby wasn't playing Robby. Robby was playing MM7. MM7 was an advanced robot built by a boy genius who programmed his actions with cartridges. The most advanced thing MM7 did was play/direct a military war game under program control, where the program had been written by the person who was actually directing the game in order, as you say, to give himself an alibi. This wasn't that futuristic even in the 1970s, and Columbo wasn't in continuity with any space sci-fi. Everything the robot did was theoretically possible in 1970.
 
I did not mean that Robby was playing Robby- a modified Robby was playing the robotic character.
While Columbo did not need be in continuity with any space sci-fi to have a scifi element, i seriously doubt a machine in 1970 would have the visual accuity and dexterity to work a keyboard/physical controls in the 70's which is why I submitted the show.
 
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