PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal

Since our local station airs Psi-Factor immediately following The X-Files, my acquaintance with this unique Canadian show was inevitable. In the first season, the episodes were split into two separate segments of twenty or so minutes each, and the characters, investigative team members for the O.S.I.R. (Office of Scientific Investigation and Research), did little more than run around muttering techno-babble over their instrumentation. In other words, there wasn't much plot or character development.

By the second season, the format changed to a straight hour with one storyline, which improved things considerably; in my opinion, a show that deals with complex--not to mention, paranormal!--situations such as the ones showcased on Psi-Factor should be at least an hour long! The addition of Matt Frewer to the cast was also a big plus. His familiarity with the sci-fi genre made his settling-in time short and smooth while the character he plays, the off-beat, rebellious Case Manager Matt Praeger, injected some much needed fun and energy into what was a sometimes dour and uptight team. An X-Files-esque conspiracy began to develop as well, hinting at the possibility that perhaps those at the top of the O.S.I.R. echelon weren't simply running a legitimate scientific organization in earnest search of tangible proof of paranormal phenomena, but instead, with sinister governmental and corporate ties, shunt the flow of truth into confidential channels just when Matt and the rest of the team are getting close to something big. Which is where Michael Moriarty enters the picture: as the drunken, chain-smoking conspiracy fanatic with connections, Michael Kelly. He does an excellent job, and adds yet more depth to the show.

Not only do the relatively well-known Frewer and Moriarty shine, Colin Fox as the grandfatherly yet suave Professor Anton Hendricks, Barclay Hope as the protocol-obsessed and rather dishy physicist Peter Axon, Nancy Anne Sakovich as the modelesque, hacking genius, and Soo Garay as a somewhat necrophilic Dr. Claire Davison all give exceptional performances. Secondary characters such as mysterious good guy Case Manager Curtis Rollins (Maurice Dean Wint), dark man at the top Frank Elsinger (Nigel Bennett), and lovable goofball Lennox "L.Q." Cooper (Peter Blais) the team's cryptozoologist, always lend their own unique flavour to each episode they appear in.

With the third season came better effects, even more character development (as well as friction!), and higher quality scripts--which included some more in-depth explorations of the dubious string-pulling up top.

This show has really come a long way! Take a look at an early episode of the X-Files, you're bound to be shocked by the vast difference in quality compared to episodes from the most recent few seasons. I believe we're seeing a similar progression with the fantastic--in every way--Psi-Factor. Way to go Dan Ackroyd and crew!

I live in Iran and I must say I've never been so "obsessed" with a T.V show / movie as I was with P.S.I Factor.I bought the original DVDs after the series on T.V were over.Actually I would go into some sort of depression if I just missed one episode! In Iran it was continuous and very well dubbed. The voices in the dubbed Persian version were surprisingly identical to the ones I heard in the original show! My favorite character in the series is definitely Colin Fox (as Dr.Anton Hendricks). I don't know why but every time I saw his face or heard his voice, his patience and the way he treats other people, I get a feeling like I wanna be like him! Our neighbor looks like him (I can't tell them apart!!) and every time I come face to face with him, I'd like to tell him how much I love him, but I don't! Cos it's stupid "I love you because you look like my favorite actor in my favorite T.V show?" come on! Anyway, It's too bad that the series were of a remarkably low quality, if not terrible.It was obviously a low budget show, but in my mind no movie and no T.V show EVER produced can beat it! Other movies, no matter how interesting and well built they are, are DOOMED, YES DOOMED TO be forgotten! But this one just kept me wondering if all those interesting stories actually happened in the real world? I used to read a lot of books about paranormal events, so I know for a fact that some of the stories were true (Like that of human combustion), or moving plants, which are believable, but I wonder if the reason they offered in the series to explain those events were scientific or came straight from the mind of the script writer? To me it sounds to be the second case! The stories in season 1 were quite believable, but as the series went forward, I could sense a lot of fiction coming into the show.Some of the fictional episodes were really interesting, like the one in which Anton Hendricks goes missing in an arch and his wife gets back possessed with a demon.Some episodes were frightening and full of tension like "Bad Dreams" or the episodes in which Connor Doyle was killed and a fake one was back in the fourth season! I don't like the way the series ends, they could have done much more to develop the characters.I'd really embrace an American version of P.S.I Factor, if you will, but with the same Canadian actors and actresses! Special effects could have been much better. Anyway, I still watch P.S.I Factor and I enjoy it! Oh and I'm really happy that I know English so good that I can understand over 95% of the conversations! Please produce the 5th season too!!!! :)

This show had a great idea in the beginning by describing paranormal mysteries from the researchers point of view. Sort of a brighter more technological X-Files, the series slowly degraded into conspiracies and confusion. Matt Frewer was a likeable enough actor as he nervously settled into the show, but as the series rotated around nothing but aliens and cover-ups and not enough ghost stories, it became boring. Nancy Anne Sakovich was a lovely presence on the show and a great actress. Barclay Hope and Colin Fox were both extras from the Friday The Thirteenth's repetoire of actors, but as more and more specialists joined, I couldn't keep up with them all even with the mysterious disappearances, abductions and ridiculous pseudo-science. It didn't need to go this far. Good-bye to a well-loved and unforgettable series.

I was really amazed at how long this show lasted. Sure, it was only four seasons, but as a show that was constantly (unfairly) dismissed as a lame X-FILES wannabe, the fact it lasted as long as it did is pretty surprising. The first season remains my favorite, with the show's original pseudo-documentary approach to stories inspired by real-life cases investigated by the Office of Scientific Investigation and Research. With it's blue-tinted witness interview footage, documentary-like feel, and two story-per-episode structure, PSI FACTOR offered up some intriguing stories for those interested in the world of the paranormal and supernatural. Paul Miller and Maurice Dean Wint alternated as lead investigators Professors Connor Doyle and Curtis Rollins, respectively, though Doyle proved to be the most popular character of the show, despite his forced departure at the end of the first season. Rollins took a leave of absence midway through the season, but would return for the forth (and final) season. The lovely Nancy Anne Sakovich, Colin Fox, and Barclay Hope rounded out the team of investigators as specialists in a specific field.

The second season saw the inclusion of genre veteran Matt Frewer as Matt Praeger, a more skeptical character who was brought in by the O.S.I.R. as Doyle's replacement, and though he was okay, he still couldn't fully replace Doyle. His character's skepticism brought a feeling of "here we go again" to the show, having to sit through yet another character who doesn't believe in much. That was what was so refreshing about Doyle; he always had an open mind about things and believed in anything until the evidence (if there was any) proved otherwise. Despite the lacking of some elements Frewer's Praeger had in comparison to Doyle, the second season still came out pretty good, with many standout episodes, though the show lost the documentary feel many fans loved from the first season and took on a more straight forward storytelling approach, as fell as focusing the entire hour on one story.

With the third season, the show took a turn for the worst as it made the same mistake X-FILES made: things began to focus more and more on internal conflicts within the O.S.I.R., headed up by Nigel Bennet as Elsigner. It was a shame to see the show make such a change when it had been doing just fine telling entertaining stories about paranormal/supernatural investigation. Instead, characters began having hidden agendas and there was internal conspiracies among the O.S.I.R. high-ranking officials. Following Frewer's (rather interesting) departure, the forth season attempted a return to the feeling of the first two years. Even the blue-tinted interview segments return for one episode, and an attempt to wrap up the mystery surrounding Connor Doyle's departure was featured in one of the season's few best episodes. But by the time the forth season was over, the show was gone, and it was such a shame, because it started out great and ended as a hollow shell of its former self. Much like how it appears X-FILES will end.

I like Psi Factor better than X-Files because it really happens. After you watch X-Files series, no matter how amazing or terrific it is, you'll end up saying: it's only movie. But, every time I watch Psi Factor... it opens up my mind that so many things, that I couldn't even imagine, exists. So, you think you already know and see everything... watch this series, you'll find out there is a lot more you don't know.