Les chemins de l'étrange

This is a terrific show that is hidden on the Pax network. This means that it is hard to find the show times. But, if you do, it is definitely worth it. The 3 main actors: Pasdar, Chong and Downs are reliable professionals who produce quality shows. I think it showed on NBC one time, but I don't know why it wasn't picked up for more episodes.

Pasdar plays an anthropology professor who delves into the unknown. If you liked the X-Files, but don't want the gore, then this show is for you. It's intelligent without insulting the viewer's IQ. And, it has surprise endings that leaves you guessing. I rate it 5 stars.

"Mysterious Ways" is the kind of TV show that grabs you and won't let go. It deals with a variety of subjects that engage, enlighten, and entertain, all while promoting basically good messages and ideals. Declan Dunn is an anthropologist who loves to investigate the mysterious. Along the way, he attracts the attention and friendship of a hospital psychiatrist, Peggy Fowler, and his less-than-normal friend Miranda. Together, they investigate the unexplained... a host of miracles, strange coincidences, unfatal falls, and "voices." Ultimately, they wind up healing the souls of the people they meet, and learn a few life lessons along the way.

For me what makes the show excellent is the complete inability to foresee the climax. Generally I can guess what's going to happen (both in movies, television and books) but this show never ceases to surprise me. I like the element of the unknown... the church window that cries blood, the ghosts that push cars off the train tracks. I like it that often there is an explanation by science, but it's never quite that simple. That, combined with the overall charm of Declan's bumbling character, Miranda's style ("take your IQ, add black velvet, and you're halfway there!"), and Peggy's disbelieving but slowly-coming-around nature.

It's a show in which you don't check your brain at the door. And it's a fun, often amusing and normally shocking, way to spend an hour a week.

It is the kind of TV show that won't let you go after watching the first episode. What gripped me in this TV show is the different characters, the different story and the amusing mind of humor even in serious events. It's the kind of TV show that don't try to tell you that there ARE really something mysterious, maybe alien like, in the world, but try to tell you that there may be something mysterious, maybe alien like, that is behind anything special event, for example suicide or murder.

I love it completely, liking all actors and characters, and every episode awaits always another new surprise.

I've followed the two years of this amazing and marvelous show and as thousands and thousands of fans worldwide I've got to know from numerous discussion boards over the internet would love to have it released on DVD.

Even though it has already been cancelled and it's no longer being aired in many countries, the producers should think carefully about it.

There's a real market opportunity out there and they're simply turning their back to it. If they did so, both sides of the story would be pleased because they would have the return over their investment and the fans would be satisfied to be able to see the show again and again as many times as one wishes.

One of the biggest losses was the cancellation of Mysterious Ways. The first time I saw it was in Sept. 2000. The title caught my eye and decided to watch it. It left me in amazement! I loved it! And this was just the first episode I saw. Some shows grow on you, this one steals your heart and mind.

I totally disagree that this show is a cheap imitation of the X-Files. The X-Files deals with government conspiracies, alien invasions and gives you a sensation of doubt and uncertainty. Mysterious Ways relaxes you and gives you hope that not everything is what it seems and that anyone can experience a miracle, where this word is not meant to be a "Divine intervention", but rather the emotions and possibilities that are within us all.

Take the characters, a bumbling anthropology professor whose heart is the only thing in its right place, a scientific minded calculating psychiatrist and a true genius that is a social misfit. How can these three people have anything in common? How could they get along if placed alone in a room? And yet, each has this trait which takes them above all this and helps them build a friendship of love and loyalty. In a world where they are all alone, they form a union where each accepts the others and is in turn accepted. The message that they scream is that the true miracle is that we all can get along and that we should, if we can get outside our selves for a moment. Who can forget the episode when Declan discovers a lump near his underarm, or when Miranda mysteriously learns to play the violin, or when a college student is found to have "superhuman" strength, or when the tomb of an ancient monk is discovered. (etc, etc.)

The show was marketed at 30 to 40-year olds, and apparently there weren't enough of them to keep the ratings up, so the show was cancelled leaving us with game shows, reality TV and sitcoms. Not that these are bad, everyone is entitled to veg-out once in a while, but shows that make you want to be a better person and that make you think and leave you feeling like there is hope out there and that we can make a difference are scarce, and this was one of them.

If you ever come across it, don't pass up this unique experience.