Out of This World (American TV series)

This article is about the U.S. television series. For the British television series of the same name, see Out of This World (British TV series).

Out of This World
Genre	Fantasy Sitcom
Created by	John Boni Bob Booker
Starring	Maureen Flannigan Donna Pescow Doug McClure Joe Alaskey Steve Burton Christina Nigra Buzz Belmondo Tom Nolan
Voices of	Burt Reynolds
Opening theme	"Swinging on a Star"
Composer	Kevin Kiner
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	96
Production
Executive producer	Bob Booker
Producers	John Boni Barbara Booker Gail Honigberg Laura Levine Mike Scully Bruce Taylor George Yanok
Running time	22 minutes
Production companies	Bob Booker Productions MCA TV
Original release
Network	Syndication
Release	September 17, 1987 (1987-09-17) – May 25, 1991 (1991-05-25)

Out of This World is an American fantasy sitcom about a teenage girl who is half alien, which gives her unique supernatural powers. It first aired in syndication from September 17, 1987 and ended on May 25, 1991.

During its first season, the series was originally part of NBC's Prime Time Begins at 7:30 campaign, in which the network's owned-and-operated stations would run first-run sitcoms in the 7:30-8 p.m. time slot to counter-program competing stations' game shows, sitcom reruns and other offerings. ^[1] Out of This World was rotated with four other shows: the original series Marblehead Manor and She's the Sheriff , a syndicated revival of the 1983 sitcom We Got It Made , and a television adaptation of the play You Can't Take It with You . NBC ended the experiment after the 1987–88 season due to the low ratings put up by three of the series, which were cancelled. Out of This World was renewed, as was She's the Sheriff.

After its first season, Out of This World began airing primarily on weekends. Despite receiving mostly negative reviews from critics, it lasted three more seasons.

Show summary

The series revolves around Evie Ethel Garland, a young girl who discovers on her 13th birthday that her father Troy is an alien from the planet Antareus. Evie's half-alien heritage gives her supernatural abilities, with most of the episodes revolving around Evie misusing her powers and causing some trouble which she spends the rest of the episode fixing.

Only Evie and her family know about the alien side; many episodes depict their efforts to hide her secret from other characters. After four seasons, the series ended on a cliffhanger: Troy came to visit and Donna took his place by accident, ending up on Antareus while Troy was stranded on Earth.

Characters

• Evie Ethel Garland (Maureen Flannigan) — A half-human, half-alien girl who lives with her mother Donna in Marlowe, California (a fictional analogue of Carmel-by-the-Sea), in a house overlooking the sea. An only child, Evie attends a school for gifted children that her mother runs, and achieves good grades there. Her father describes her as "the perfect child: loving; caring; with the same needs of most teenagers". The series follows Evie through her teenage years, from her 13th birthday in the pilot to her 18th birthday in the final episode. Donna had always told Evie that her father was a secret agent, but on her 13th birthday, Evie developed superhuman abilities; it was then revealed that her father is a native of another planet. Evie's most frequently-used power is her ability to freeze time on Earth by touching her index-fingertips together; this allows her to alter the course of Earthly events by maneuvering herself and/or others as desired. When she claps her hands together, time resumes as normal. She can also "unfreeze" individuals by touching them while time is frozen. Evie later gains the power to gleep, which allows her to manifest objects using only her mind. On her sixteenth birthday, she is given her choice of a new power (including levitation, invisibility, and eight others) and is seen experimenting with several, but declines to make any of them permanent. For one episode near the end of the series ("Evie's Three Promises"), she gains the ability to teleport. Although she was the leading character, Flannigan was billed last in the credits. In the first season, she received the billing "And Introducing Maureen Flannigan". Starting with the second season, she received a different billing: "And Maureen Flannigan as Evie".
• Donna Froelich-Garland (Donna Pescow) — Evie's mother. Described by her husband as "an ambitious working mother with a career", Donna runs a school for gifted children, which Evie attends. She later starts her own catering company, "Donna's Delights". Toward the end of season 3, Donna becomes the mayor of Marlowe. Donna is very protective of her daughter, often to the dismay of Evie, who would like to be more independent. Donna, along with her brothers Beano and Mick, are the only regular characters on the show who know Evie's secret.
• Troy Garland (Burt Reynolds, voice only) — Evie's father. Troy is a human-looking extraterrestrial with many special powers, from the distant world of Antareus, where he is an astronaut. Troy met Donna when his spacecraft crashed on Earth at some point in the late 1960s or early 1970s. The two fell in love and were married in 1971; two years later, Donna gave birth to Evie. The year after that, Troy was recalled to participate in a war which raged on Antareus. Since then, Troy, while occasionally visiting Earth, stays in touch with his daughter via a special communication device known as the "cube" (see below). Troy's powers seem practically unlimited; although he lives on Antareus, he can control many things on Earth, from computers to the weather. He can also give and/or take away Evie's powers at will (as demonstrated in the second episode of the series), and is very good at keeping up with events on Earth. While Troy appears in the show's opening credits, he rarely makes a physical appearance, and when he does, his face is obscured (for example, via a surgical mask or shadows). In the series finale, when Troy arrives on Earth, he is seen in a silhouette with stars from the galaxy. Troy was credited as "himself" in the opening credits from Season Two onwards.
• Beano Froelich (1987–1991) (Joe Alaskey) — Donna's brother and Evie's uncle, who lives next door to them. Beano has a large appetite and runs a diet clinic known as "Waist-a-Weigh", which is later renamed after him. Beano is one of the two regular characters who know Evie's secret, Donna being the other. He last appears in season 4, episode 12.
• Kyle Applegate (Doug McClure) — A former television actor who serves as the mayor of Marlowe. Kyle is a good friend of the family, but "the mayor" punishes even the smallest offenses. Kyle is dimwitted and gullible in addition to being egocentric and vain, often completely failing to notice Evie's "alien" antics. He clings to his former TV glory as the star of "Mosquito Man" and many long forgotten movies, mainly Westerns. Towards the end of season three, Donna takes over as the new mayor and appoints Kyle police chief.
• Buzz (Buzz Belmondo) — The manager of Beano's diet clinic, and one of the more eccentric characters in town. Buzz usually makes one brief appearance per episode, during which he performs a series of puns and/or prop-based gags...sometimes related to the elaborate costume that he is wearing. He speaks with an unknown accent, and is prone to bizarre behavior. Donna sometimes resorts to him for help, more often than not regretting it.
• Lindsay Selkirk (Christina Nigra) — Evie's best female friend. She and Evie spend a lot of time together drinking milkshakes at their local diner, the "Goodie Goodie.” Lindsay is Evie's confidante when it comes to boys and her non-Antarean related problems.
• Chris Fuller (Steve Burton) — A surfer and high school student who later enrolls at Marlowe Community College. He is introduced as a new student and good basketball player in the season one episode "Evie Get Your Basketball". Chris becomes Evie's boyfriend, although they are more like brother and sister; sometimes they even date other people. In Season Four, Chris says Evie was and always will be his girl.
• Quigley Handlesman (Carl Steven) (1987-1988) - One of Evie's classmates at Donna's school for the gifted.
• Phil (John Roarke) (1987–1988) - The jovial, funny handyman who works on the Garlands' house during the first season. He is always snooping around in the family's business; Donna, Evie, and Beano constantly scramble to keep Phil from suspecting Evie's alien heritage.
• Jeffrey Cummings (Tony Crane) (1990) - A high school classmate of Evie and Lindsay's who transfers in during their senior year. Incredibly handsome, basically picking where Chris left off after going to college, Jeffrey soon begins dating Evie...who is forced to juggle her relationships with him and with Chris.
• Peter (1990–1991) (Peter Pitofsky) — A waiter at the Goodie Goodie who is introduced in the first episode of Season Four. He is a clumsy, goofball Antarean who provides his own brand of comic relief whenever Evie and her friends stop by the restaurant. He was military intelligence for Antareus until he chose to stay on Earth, his memory erased of all Antarean things. He has a penchant for misinterpreting people's orders, and sometimes even forgets his own name.
• Mick Froelich (1990–1991) (Tom Nolan) — Donna's brother and Evie's uncle, who was introduced in season 4, episode 7, to replace Uncle Beano as a recurring character. He is a former rock musician.

The Cube

Evie is able to communicate with Troy through a special laser genetic communication device known as the "cube," which he gave to her when she turned 13. The cube effectively functioned as a telephone line to Antareus — it could also be used to leave Troy an "answerphone" message, as seen in the episode "My Little Evie." There were no controls on the cube; Evie simply would call for her father, and the cube would activate when he answered, and deactivate when he would "hang up." Depending on the plotline, Troy would manifest his powers while talking through the cube, emitting a beam of energy directly from the cube.

Evie and Donna would normally keep the cube around the house, out of sight (often in Evie's bedroom), sometimes telling people it was an ornament, a talking clock, a toaster radio/phone, or a candy dish, amongst other common household items. When the cube was activated, the top half of it would open up on a hinge with a magenta light pulsing inside, with a "spacey" sound effect. The ambient lights in the room would usually dim as well. Troy's voice would be heard clearly through the cube with reverberation.

Originally, even though everyone was able to hear Troy through the cube, Evie was the only one who Troy could hear, as the cube was described to be "genetic." This changes in the first episode of season 2, "Evie's Birthday Wish." At the end of the episode, Evie uses her final wish to request that her mother be able to talk to Troy as she can. As a result, Troy could then hear Donna and they could talk back and forth. It was unknown whether the rest of Evie's family could also talk to Troy, but there were other aliens that Troy could hear through the cube, as seen in Season 4 Episode 5 "Evie's Guardian Angel" (An Anterean was sent to Earth to protect Evie and Donna, and he could speak to Troy via the cube).

Guest stars

The series featured several celebrities who made cameo appearances on the show, occasionally as themselves. In chronological order of appearances:

• Ann Miller
• Norman Fell (as Evie's psychiatrist Dr. Hauser, "The Nightmare", 1987)
• Scott Carpenter (as himself, "Evie and the Young Astronauts", 1987)
• Charles Nelson Reilly (as himself, "Dueling Mayors", 1987)
• Betsy Palmer (as Donna's mother, "Uh, Oh... Here Comes Mother", 1987 and “AKA Dad”, 1987)
• Tom Bosley (as Troy's father, "Guess Who's Coming to Earth", 1988 and "Around the World in Eighty Minutes", 1989)
• Jamie Farr ("Go West, Young Mayor", 1988)
• Richard Kiel (as Norman, "Go West, Young Mayor", 1988)
• Scott Baio (who also directed several episodes) made a cameo appearance in "Princess Evie" (1988) and "Evie Goes For the Gold" (1989)
• Lyle Alzado ("Goodbye Mr. Chris", 1990)
• Mr. T ("New Kid on the Block", 1990)
• Susan Anton ("Best Friends", 1990)
• Tiffany ("I Want My Evie TV", 1990)
• Florence Henderson ("My Mom, and Why I Love Her")
• Kathleen Freeman (as Miss Ogilvy, Evie's high school teacher, "Educating Kyle", 1991)

Episodes

Season 1 (1987–88)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	1	"Evie's Thirteenth Birthday"	Bob Claver	John Boni	September 17, 1987 (1987-09-17)
It’s Evie’s thirteenth birthday, and during the party, her mother, Donna, is wrestling with a difficult decision alongside her brother, Beano, who is also Evie’s uncle. Donna is unsure whether to reveal a lifelong secret to Evie: that her father is an alien living on a planet called Antareus. Before Donna can decide, Evie suddenly feels compelled to slowly touch her pointer fingers together. When she does, everyone around her freezes in time. After a brief moment of panic, she accidentally unfreezes her mother by touching her. With no other choice, Donna tells Evie that she is half-alien and that her powers seem to have activated. Though initially frightened, Evie quickly learns to cope with the revelation. Together, they unfreeze Uncle Beano and let him in on the secret. Donna then gives Evie a gift from her father—a mysterious alien cube that functions as a phone to contact him. After speaking with her father and learning more about her history, Evie successfully unfreezes the rest of the party guests.
2	2	"Playing with the Power"	Jack Regas	Bob Booker	September 24, 1987 (1987-09-24)
3	3	"The Nightmare"	Bob Claver	John Boni	October 1, 1987 (1987-10-01)
4	4	"Till Then"	Bob Claver	Dave Hackel & April Kelly	October 8, 1987 (1987-10-08)
5	5	"Evie, Get Your Basketball"	Jack Regas	Patricia Niedzialek & Cecile Alch	October 15, 1987 (1987-10-15)
6	6	"Every Beano Has His Day"	Bob Claver	Richard Albrecht & Casey Keller	October 22, 1987 (1987-10-22)
7	7	"Evie and the Young Astronauts"	Jack Regas	Dave Hackel & April Kelly	October 29, 1987 (1987-10-29)
8	8	"Fifties Mom"	Bob Claver	Laura Levine	November 5, 1987 (1987-11-05)
9	9	"Dueling Mayors"	Bob Claver	Dave Hackel & April Kelly	November 12, 1987 (1987-11-12)
10	10	"Baby Talk"	Russ Petranto	Mike Scully	November 19, 1987 (1987-11-19)
11	11	"Beano's New Diet Clinic"	Selig Frank	John Boni	November 26, 1987 (1987-11-26)
12	12	"Uh, Oh... Here Comes Mother"	Jack Regas	George Tricker & Neil Rosen	December 3, 1987 (1987-12-03)
13	13	"The Anniversary"	Bob Claver	Tom Brauner	January 21, 1988 (1988-01-21)
14	14	"To Tell the Truth"	Bob Claver	Frank Mula	January 28, 1988 (1988-01-28)
15	15	"Pen Pals"	Bob Claver	Frank Mula	February 4, 1988 (1988-02-04)
16	16	"Broadway Danny Derek"	Bob Claver	George Tricker & Neil Rosen	February 11, 1988 (1988-02-11)
17	17	"Mosquito Man: The Motion Picture"	Bob Claver	Mike Scully	February 18, 1988 (1988-02-18)
18	18	"The Russians Are Coming"	Bob Claver	John Boni	February 25, 1988 (1988-02-25)
19	19	"a.k.a. Dad"	Bob Claver	Dave Hackel & April Kelly	April 21, 1988 (1988-04-21)
20	20	"The Illness"	Russ Petranto	Donald Jordan	April 28, 1988 (1988-04-28)
21	21	"The Box Is Missing"	Michael Dimich	Dave Hackel & April Kelly	May 5, 1988 (1988-05-05)
22	22	"Boy Crazy"	Bob Claver	Ed McCatty	May 12, 1988 (1988-05-12)
23	23	"The Three Faces of Evie"	Bob Claver	Dave Hackel & April Kelly	May 19, 1988 (1988-05-19)
24	24	"I've Got a Secret"	Bob Claver	Story by : Tom Brauner Teleplay by : Robert Schechter	May 26, 1988 (1988-05-26)

Season 2 (1988–89)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
25	1	"Evie's Birthday Wish"	Bob Claver	Bob Booker	October 8, 1988 (1988-10-08)
26	2	"Blast from the Past"	Bob Claver	Mike Scully	October 15, 1988 (1988-10-15)
27	3	"Career Crunch"	Bob Claver	Frank Mula	October 22, 1988 (1988-10-22)
28	4	"Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot?"	Bob Claver	Tommy Thompson	October 29, 1988 (1988-10-29)
29	5	"Evie's First Kiss"	Bob Claver	Sheldon Krasner & David Saling	November 5, 1988 (1988-11-05)
30	6	"Princess Evie"	Bob Claver	Ted Bergman	November 12, 1988 (1988-11-12)
31	7	"Old Flame"	Bob Claver	Laura Levine	November 19, 1988 (1988-11-19)
32	8	"Guess Who's Coming to Earth"	Bob Claver	Bob Booker	November 26, 1988 (1988-11-26)
33	9	"Go West Young Mayor"	Jack Regas	Tommy Thompson & Brian Scully	December 3, 1988 (1988-12-03)
Kyle accompanies Evie, Donna, and Beano on a vacation to an old western town. When Evie, Donna, and Beano are taken hostage by counterfeiters, Kyle is the only one who can save them, due to Evie's inability to use her powers.
34	10	"Close Encounters of the Nerd Kind"	Selig Frank	Mike Lyons & Kimberly Wells	December 10, 1988 (1988-12-10)
35	11	"The Incredible Hunk"	Selig Frank	Diana Ayers & Susan Sebastian	December 17, 1988 (1988-12-17)
36	12	"Pupil's Court"	Bob Claver	Brian Scully & Tommy Thompson	January 28, 1989 (1989-01-28)
37	13	"Evie's Two Dads"	Bob Claver	Mike Scully	February 4, 1989 (1989-02-04)
38	14	"The Secret of Evie's Success"	Bob Claver	Robert Caplain	February 11, 1989 (1989-02-11)
39	15	"Honest Evie"	Bob Claver	Frank Mula	February 18, 1989 (1989-02-18)
40	16	"Evie Goes to Hollywood"	Jack Regas	Mike Scully	February 25, 1989 (1989-02-25)
41	17	"Two Many Evies"	Jack Regas	Brian Scully	March 4, 1989 (1989-03-04)
42	18	"Futile Attraction"	Bob Claver	Laura Levine	March 11, 1989 (1989-03-11)
43	19	"Beano the Kid"	Scott Baio	Pamela Wick & Susan Cridland	April 29, 1989 (1989-04-29)
44	20	"Queens for a Day"	Bob Claver	Tommy Thompson & Brian Scully	May 6, 1989 (1989-05-06)
45	21	"The Amazing Evie"	Bob Claver	Laura Levine	May 13, 1989 (1989-05-13)
46	22	"Whose House Is It, Anyway?"	Bob Claver	Mike Scully	May 20, 1989 (1989-05-20)
47	23	"Frisky Business"	Bob Claver	Laura Levine	May 27, 1989 (1989-05-27)
48	24	"Star Dog"	Bob Claver	Bob Booker	June 3, 1989 (1989-06-03)

Season 3 (1989–90)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
49	1	"Evie's Sweet Sixteen"	Bob Claver	Bob Booker	October 7, 1989 (1989-10-07)
50	2	"Cinderella Evie"	Bob Claver	Laura Levine	October 14, 1989 (1989-10-14)
51	3	"Bring Me the Head of Donna Garland"	Bob Claver	Frank Mula	October 21, 1989 (1989-10-21)
52	4	"A Froggy Day in Marlowe Town"	Bob Claver	Laura Levine	October 28, 1989 (1989-10-28)
53	5	"Eviegeist"	Bob Claver	Robert Schechter	November 4, 1989 (1989-11-04)
54	6	"Evie's Driver's License"	Bob Claver	Mike Scully	November 11, 1989 (1989-11-11)
55	7	"Evie Goes for the Gold"	Bob Claver	Alan Moskowitz	November 18, 1989 (1989-11-18)
56	8	"Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow"	Bob Claver	Laura Levine	November 25, 1989 (1989-11-25)
57	9	"Around the World in 80 Minutes"	Bob Claver	Bob Booker	December 2, 1989 (1989-12-02)
58	10	"It's a Cruel World"	Bob Claver	Tommy Thompson	December 9, 1989 (1989-12-09)
59	11	"Evie; Stevie"	Selig Frank	Janice Pieroni & Bruce Teicher	December 16, 1989 (1989-12-16)
60	12	"The Rocks That Couldn't Roll"	Selig Frank	Story by : Julie Thacker & Mike Scully Teleplay by : Mike Scully	January 27, 1990 (1990-01-27)
61	13	"One in a Million"	Bob Claver	Simon Munter	February 3, 1990 (1990-02-03)
62	14	"Four Men and a Baby"	Scott Baio	Bob Booker	February 10, 1990 (1990-02-10)
63	15	"Evie's Double Trouble"	Bob Claver	Kelly Monteith & Bob Booker	February 17, 1990 (1990-02-17)
Evie is tormented by a commercial jingle for a mouthwash company, while Donna rushes to prepare for her commercial on live TV. Throughout the day, the twins that appear in the ad show up to sing part of the jingle again and again as Evie is discussing her retainer with her friends. Evie is confused as to how they keep showing up, so she and Donna turn to Troy for help, and he concludes that the word "mouth" triggers the jingle, she also complains about her retainer so she takes them out, and puts them back in when they leave for the studio. Troy leaves a message saying that the twins appearances were caused by the material in her retainers. Donna then goes on TV for her commercial, but her nervousness causes the word "mouth" to be spoken and the twins to appear and interrupt her, causing her to rhyme the rest of the ad. Buzz then hires the twins to be part of his new commercials. Guest Stars: Marilyn & Roz Borden as the Buffalo Breath Twins, and Michael Francis Clarke as the Ad Director
64	16	"The Garden of Evie"	Bob Claver	Alan Moskowitz	February 24, 1990 (1990-02-24)
65	17	"Evie's Magic Touch"	Bob Claver	Gail Honigberg	March 3, 1990 (1990-03-03)
66	18	"Cowboy Kyle, Man of Granite"	Scott Baio	Laura Levine	April 28, 1990 (1990-04-28)
67	19	"Evie's Secret Admirer"	Bob Claver	Gail Honigberg	May 5, 1990 (1990-05-05)
68	20	"Evie's Yuppie Love"	Bob Claver	Julie Thacker	May 12, 1990 (1990-05-12)
69	21	"Diamonds Are Evie's Best Friend"	Bob Claver	Laura Levine	May 19, 1990 (1990-05-19)
70	22	"A Kinder, Gentler Mayor"	Bob Claver	Brian Scully	May 26, 1990 (1990-05-26)
71	23	"My Mother the Con"	Bob Claver	Mike Scully	June 2, 1990 (1990-06-02)
72	24	"Goodbye, Mr. Chris"	Bob Claver	Mike Scully	June 9, 1990 (1990-06-09)

Season 4 (1990–91)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
73	1	"New Kid on the Block"	Scott Baio	Mike Scully	October 6, 1990 (1990-10-06)
74	2	"My Little Evie"	Bob Claver	George Yanok	October 13, 1990 (1990-10-13)
75	3	"Forget Your Troubles"	Jeffrey Ganz	Brian Scully	October 20, 1990 (1990-10-20)
76	4	"A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read"	Bob Claver	Alan Moskowitz	October 27, 1990 (1990-10-27)
77	5	"Evie's Guardian Angel"	Bob Claver	Bob Booker	November 3, 1990 (1990-11-03)
78	6	"Best Friends"	Scott Baio	Laura Levine	November 10, 1990 (1990-11-10)
79	7	"I Want My Evie TV"	Bob Claver	Bob Booker	November 17, 1990 (1990-11-17)
80	8	"Come Fly with Evie"	Stan Harris	Mike Scully	November 17, 1990 (1990-11-17)
81	9	"Roomies"	Stan Harris	Brian Scully	December 1, 1990 (1990-12-01)
82	10	"Evie's High Anxiety"	Scott Baio	Laura Levine	December 8, 1990 (1990-12-08)
83	11	"Evie's False Alarm"	Selig Frank	Laura Levine	January 19, 1991 (1991-01-19)
84	12	"Marlowe Vice"	Bob Claver	Brian Scully	January 26, 1991 (1991-01-26)
85	13	"Evie's Latin Touch"	Scott Baio	George Yanok	February 2, 1991 (1991-02-02)
86	14	"My Mom, and Why I Love Her"	Bob Claver	Laura Levine	February 9, 1991 (1991-02-09)
87	15	"Heck's Angels"	Bob Claver	Laura Levine	February 16, 1991 (1991-02-16)
88	16	"Would You Buy a Used Car from This Dude?"	Scott Baio	Mike Scully	February 23, 1991 (1991-02-23)
89	17	"Evie Nightingale"	Scott Baio	Laura Levine	March 2, 1991 (1991-03-02)
90	18	"All About Evie"	Selig Frank	Laura Levine	March 9, 1991 (1991-03-09)
91	19	"Mayor Evie"	Renny Temple	Mike Scully	March 16, 1991 (1991-03-16)
92	20	"Stump Your Neighbor"	Renny Temple	Buzz Belmondo & Bill Farley	April 27, 1991 (1991-04-27)
93	21	"Evie's Three Promises"	Selig Frank	Alan Moskowitz	May 4, 1991 (1991-05-04)
94	22	"Too Late for Evie"	Bob Claver	Michael Poryes	May 11, 1991 (1991-05-11)
Evie arrives home late after her midnight curfew, which angers Donna so she grounds her for two weeks and a day. Donna then visits Kyle's apartment, which has many of her belongings which were "borrowed" from Donna. His door refuses to unlock without a card, and Donna can't leave the apartment, leaving Evie worried that she's out late to pay her a lesson. Evie then arrives with the card to save the day, and as revenge to Kyle, they lock him in his apartment without the keycard.
95	23	"Educating Kyle"	Scott Baio	George Yanok	May 18, 1991 (1991-05-18)
96	24	"Evie's Eighteen"	Scott Baio	Bob Booker	May 25, 1991 (1991-05-25)
On the morning before her eighteenth birthday, Evie receives a call from her father, Troy, who informs her that he’s going away on an off-planet trip. Both Evie and her mother, Donna, have been overwhelmed by requests from various people, including Kyle, a senator, a group of Japanese investors, and a fireman. However, Troy unexpectedly appears on Earth to surprise Evie on her birthday. To escape the constant interruptions, Evie freezes time so the family can enjoy a quiet birthday dinner together. As the evening ends and Troy prepares to return home, Donna is accidentally sent back to Antareus, leaving the episode on a cliffhanger.

Opening credits

The opening credits for the series incorporated special effects footage from the 1979–1981 series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century . The theme song is a modified version of "Swinging on a Star". Video snippets of parents Donna and Troy show the start of their relationship including the wedding and birth of daughter Evie. Troy's face is continuously obscured, never fully shown. The fictional town of Marlowe is shown to be adjacent to Carmel-by-the-Sea, California and Monterey, California with a directional traffic sign.

International airings

In France, Out of this World was aired under the name Loin de ce monde (Far From this World) as part of a block called La Une est à vous (Channel One is Yours) from September 10, 1988 until October 12, 1991 then from July to August 1992 on TF1. It was then rebroadcast from November 1994 until November 10, 1996 on M6.

In Germany, Out of this World was aired under the name Mein Vater ist ein Außerirdischer (My Father is an Alien) which aired on RTL Plus in 1989.

In Italy, Out of this World was aired under the name Cose dell'altro mondo (Things from the Other World) on Rai 1 from 1990. This was also the name of a comedy film from 2011.

Out of This World was first broadcast in the UK on the ITV network on April 9, 1990, until 1995, ^[2] and was later reran on Trouble (TV channel). ^[3]

Critical reception

Discussing Out of This World, Roger Fulton stated "like many juvenile US sitcoms, the series was short on laughs and long on moralizing". ^[4] The book Television Without Pity contained a review of Out of This World that described the show as "quite possibly the worst sitcom ever made-it's a complete failure on every level". The review went on to criticize the show's scripts, acting and production, and unfavorably compared Out of This World to Sabrina the Teenage Witch . ^[5] The Splitsider website called Out of This World "perhaps the worst sitcom ever, or at least the most '80s sitcom ever". ^[6]

Home media

A DVD set with 35 episodes from seasons 1 and 2 was released in Germany on November 8, 2011. ^[7] The 6-disc set has a runtime of 875 minutes, but does not include all episodes due to music rights. ^[8]

In other media

• In the Universal Studios ride Kongfrontation , the news report that plays during the queue is interrupted by an ad for Out of This World, at which the screen crawl at the bottom of the ad is a civil defense message warning that King Kong is in the vicinity and for civilians to stay indoors and not use public transportation until further notice.
• The show was parodied in the Robot Chicken episode, "Executed by the State". In the parody, Evie (voiced by Kat Dennings) is asked out by a boy who likes her, she uses her powers to stop time and takes a look down his pants in order to check out the size of his penis. After seeing the size of his penis, Evie says "Uhhh, pass." This is followed by canned laughter typical of sitcoms of that era. Evie then walks off with time still frozen.

Stations

As previously mentioned, during the first season, Out of This World aired on NBC's owned-and-operated stations as part of their Prime Time Begins at 7:30 ^[9] experiment.

City	Station
Atlanta	WAGA-TV 5 [10]
Boston	WCVB-TV 5 [11] WFXT 25 [12] WLVI-TV 56 [13]
Charlotte	WBTV 3 [14]
Charleston, South Carolina	WTAT-TV 24
Charleston, West Virginia	WVAH-TV 23 (until 1989), 11 (from 1989) [15]
Chicago	WMAQ-TV 5 [16] WPWR-TV 50 [17]
Cleveland	WUAB 43
Davenport	KWQC-TV 6 [18]
Detroit	WXON-TV 20
Durham	WPTF-TV 28 [19]
Fairbanks	KTVF 11 [20]
Fort Worth	KTVT 11
Grand Rapids	WXMI 17 [21]
Greenville	WFXI 8 [22]
Hartford	WTIC-TV 61 [23]
Houston	KHTV 39
Indianapolis	WXIN 59 [24]
Jacksonville	WJXT 4 [25]
Los Angeles	KNBC-TV 4 [26] KTLA 5 [27]
Miami	WDZL 39 [28]
Milwaukee	WVTV 18 [29]
Minneapolis	KITN-TV 29
New Orleans	WGNO-TV 26
New York	WNBC-TV 4
Oakland	KTVU 2 [30]
Omaha	KPTM 42 [31]
Ottumwa	KOIA-TV 15 [32]
Paris, Ontario	CIII-TV 6 [33]
Philadelphia	WPHL-TV 17 [34]
Salt Lake City	KXIV-TV 14 [35]
San Juan	WAPA-TV 4 [36]
Seattle	KSTW 11 [37]
Secaucus	WWOR-TV 9 [38]
Sacramento	KRBK-TV 31
Spokane	KAYU-TV 28 [39]
St. Louis	KPLR-TV 11 [40]
Washington, D.C.	WFTY 50 [41] WRC-TV 4 [42]
Wichita	KSAS-TV 24 [43]

References

1. Ash, Jennifer (1987-01-04). "Star Girl". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
2. "BBC - Comedy Guide - Out Of This World". Archived from the original on 2004-12-09. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
3. "Out of this World [1987] TV Series - S01/S02 The Missing Episodes". August 9, 1987 – via Internet Archive.
4. Fulton, Roger (1995). Encyclopedia of TV science fiction. London: Boxtree. p. 392. ISBN   1-85283-953-8.{{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
5. Ariano, Tara; Bunting, Sarah D. (2006). Television Without Pity: 752 Things We Love to Hate (And Hate to Love) about TV . Quirk Books. p.  192. ISBN   1-59474-117-4.
6. Boone, Brian (October 18, 2011). "Looking Back at the Terrible Syndicated Sitcoms of the Late 1980s". Splitsider. Archived from the original on October 25, 2014. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
7. "Mein Vater ist ein Außerirdischer - Vol. 1 [6 DVDs]: Amazon.de: Donna Pescow, Maureen Flannigan, Joe Alaskey, Buzz Belmondo, Doug McClure: Filme & TV". Amazon.de. 2012-05-24. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
8. "FSK - VV Programmteile". Fsk.de. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
9. NBC Come Home 7:30 Promo 1988 on YouTube
10. "Who aired what where: Lesser-known syndicated shows". Radio Discussions. June 16, 2017.
11. "RETRO: New Hampshire, Today in 1987 (Oct. 3)". Radio Discussions. October 3, 2007.
12. "Retro: Boston, MA: Wednesday, October 30, 1991". Radio Discussions. January 6, 2019.
13. "Retro: Boston, MA: Saturday: December 16, 1989". Radio Discussions. January 5, 2019.
14. "Retro: Spartanburg, SC, Saturday, July 16, 1988". Radio Discussions. November 28, 2017.
15. WVAH Out of This World promo, 1988 on YouTube
16. "Retro: Arlington Heights, IL, Thursday, November 5, 1987". Radio Discussions. May 31, 2018.
17. "Retro: Chicago 9/15/90". Radio Discussions. October 11, 2009.
18. "Retro: Western Illinois Sun, Mar 13, 1988". Radio Discussions. March 17, 2010.
19. "Retro: Raleigh/Durham Friday, August 2, 1991". Radio Discussions. August 4, 2006.
20. "Shows from the 1980s & 1990s that are lost forever?". Radio Discussions. June 1, 2007.
21. "Out of This World" commercial (1993) on YouTube
22. "Retro: Eastern North Carolina Sat, Oct 6, 1990". Radio Discussions. October 4, 2010.
23. "Retro: Hartford/New Haven TV - Fall 1993 - independents". Radio Discussions. March 18, 2006.
24. "Retro: Indianapolis/Terre Haute/Lafayette, IN - Saturday, January 20, 1990". Radio Discussions. May 5, 2018.
25. "Retro: Central Florida, Saturday, January 5, 1991". Radio Discussions. December 25, 2016.
26. Rosenberg, Howard (September 14, 1987). "SYNDICATED-TV REVIEWS : PRIME-TIME LEAD-INS ON NBC: JOKE'S ON VIEWERS". Los Angeles Times.
27. KTLA Out Of This World Promo 2/20/89 on YouTube
28. "Retro: Miami/West Palm Beach, Saturday, January 21, 1989". Radio Discussions. August 13, 2017.
29. "Retro: Northern Wisconsin/Western U.P. Michigan Sun, Mar 10, 1991". Radio Discussions. March 10, 2010.
30. "Retro: Sacramento/San Francisco, Monday, November 18, 1991". Radio Discussions. September 29, 2017.
31. "Retro: Nebraska, Sat. May 19th, 1990". Radio Discussions. December 8, 2012.
32. "Retro: Quad Cites, Ottumwa, Dubuque, Burlington Sunday April 2, 1989". Radio Discussions. June 24, 2021.
33. "Prime Time - Southwestern Ontario, 10/20/1988". Radio Discussions. July 26, 2005.
34. "Philadelphia independents - June 1990". Radio Discussions. June 10, 2012.
35. "Retro: Salt Lake City, Sunday, November 5, 1989". Radio Discussions. November 13, 2017.
36. "Retro: Puerto Rico Sun, Mar 4, 1990". Radio Discussions. March 2, 2011.
37. "Retro: Yakima, WA; Sun. October 27th, 1991". Radio Discussions. July 13, 2016.
38. "Maureen Flannigan Donna Pescow Out Of This World 1989 Ad- five nights a week/MCA". eBay.
39. "Retro: Spokane, WA - Sunday, March 13, 1988". Radio Discussions. October 8, 2012.
40. "KPLR 11 Saint Louis March 23-24, 1990". Radio Discussions. December 2, 2005.
41. "Retro: Baltimore and Washington, DC...Saturday 9/14/91". Radio Discussions. February 20, 2006.
42. Shales, Tom (September 14, 1987). "AT NBC, SLIME TIME STARTS AT 730". The Washington Post.
43. "Retro: Kansas Sat, May 6, 1989". Radio Discussions. May 3, 2011.

External links

• Out of This World at IMDb
• Out of This World at epguides.com
• Out of This World opening credits at YouTube