Time-Life had branched out into television in the 70's, first with syndicated nature programs. Then, in 1978, they decided to try to move into primetime. Unfortunately, it didn't pan out.
The World Beyond was tried out in a pair of pilots about a year or so apart. Granville Van Dusen was cast as sportswriter Paul Taylor, who was clinically dead for nearly three minutes after an accident, but after coming back to life, Taylor discovered that the dead can reach out to him to help other living beings.
After the 2nd pilot, "Mud Monster", CBS gave up on the project, as it was perhaps a bit ahead of its time. Then again, the cheesy special effects didn't help matters.
JoBeth Williams (later of "Poltergeist", among other feature films) and Barnard Hughes co-star in "Mud Monster":
Van Dusen is better known to cartoon fans after being cast as Roger "Race" Bannon in the 1980's revival of Jonny Quest, and I'm not sure about any other live action work he had done.
Rating: C.
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