September 17, 1987 (1987-09-17) – May 25, 1991 (1991-05-25)
Out of This World is an American fantasysitcom 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.
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.
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.
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
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 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]
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.
^Fulton, Roger (1995). Encyclopedia of TV science fiction. London: Boxtree. p. 392. ISBN1-85283-953-8. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
