Memories

A friend of mine mentioned this late-80’s TV sitcom, “Out of This World.” When this show came out, my brother was six or seven. He loved this show. He loved it so much that my dad actually found it adorable. So, uncharacteristic of my father, he made the “interstellar communicator box” for my brother. That is an incredible act of affection! I mean, the thing really had an incredible likeness: the crystal shell that opens up at the middle with all that iridescent lighting – all it needed was the “woosh” sound-effect that my brother gladly provided on his own.

When I was a bully, he would look at me and put his two index fingers together just like the character on the show (Evie Garland), thinking/hoping he can stop time and, hence, me from annoying him. That’s cute. Very cute… a six-year old who thinks he can stop time.

In a way, he did. He stopped time for himself while the rest of the world moved on without him.

Out of This World
Produced: 1987-1991 (96 episodes)
Released: September, 1987
Theme Music: “Swinging On A Star” (a 1944 pop song)
Cast

• Donna Garland….. Donna Pescow
• Evie Garland (age 13)….. Maureen Flannigan
• Mayor Kyle Applegate….. Doug McClure
• Beano Froelich (1987-1990)….. Joe Alaskey
• Buzz….. Buzz Belmondo
• Troy (voice only)….. Burt Reynolds
• Lindsay Selkirk….. Christina Nigra
• Phil (1987-1988)….. John Roarke
• Quigley Handlesman (1987-1988)….. Carl Steven
• Chris Fuller….. Steve Burton
• Jeffrey Cummings (1990)….. Tony Crane
• Peter (1990-1991)….. Peter Pitofsky
• Mick (1990-1991)….. Tom Nolan

SYNOPSIS

Donna Garland ran a private school for gifted children in the town of Marlowe, near Carmel, California. The most gifted out of the bunch was her own daughter, Evie, who was starting to develop powers she had inherited from her fathery Troy, an extraterrestrial visitor from the planet Antareus who had married her mother and then been called back to his home planet shortly after her birth.

Evie’s powers included the ability to stop time (freezing people in mid-sentence was her favorite trick) and to materialize things by willing them into existence. Whenever she had problems dealing with her powers, she could communicate with her dad through a special cube that served as an interstellar-type phone.

The only other person who knew about Troy was Donna’s brother, Beano, the rotund owner of “Beano’s Diet Clinic.” Anyone else who happened to witness Evie’s remarkable powers simply thought that she – or themselves – were crazy! Buzz was the eccentric character who ran the clinic for Beano, and Mayor Kyle an egocentric former TV star who had turned to politics.

After the first season, there were many changes on the set. The focus of the series shifted from the use of Evie’s powers to the everyday problems of high school life, with her best friend Lindsay and her boyfriend Chris moving into regular appearing characters. Troy’s voice, which only Evie could hear during the first season, became audible to everyone starting in the fall of 1988.

In the third season, Donna defeated Kyle for Mayor and appointed him Police Chief, and the fourth season brought Donna’s brother Mick, a former rock musician, back to the city of Marlowe. Chris, Lindsay’s boyfriend, was now student at Marlowe Community College.

Also seen during the last season were: Jeffrey, the new high school hunk and Peter, a bumbling alien who worked as a waiter at the Goodie Goodie, the restaurant where Evie and all her friends hung out.