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The Journey of Allen Strange is an American television series that aired on Nickelodeon's SNICK block of programming for three seasons from November 1997 to April 2000.[1][2]
| The Journey of Allen Strange | |
|---|---|
 The cast of The Journey of Allen Strange | |
| Genre | Science fiction Drama |
| Created by | Thomas W. Lynch |
| Starring |
|
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 57 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production companies | Lynch Entertainment Nickelodeon Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | Nickelodeon |
| Release | November 8, 1997 – April 23, 2000 |
Premise
editThe series follows the story of a young Xelan alien (Arjay Smith) who is stranded on Earth, and meets up with a young girl Robbie Stevenson (Erin J. Dean), her younger brother Josh (Shane Sweet), and their father Ken (Jack Tate). This family eventually adopts him, giving him the name "Allen Strange". He has extraordinary powers, including the ability to turn into his alien form, which allows him to hover. He uses his abilities to bring a mannequin in a sporting goods store to life; this "animated mannequin" poses as his Earth father, Manfred, for events like parent-teacher conferences. He also possesses extremely high intelligence and can read incredibly fast by simply placing his hand on the cover of a book. He also seems to have advanced dexterity and athletic muscle memory, as he once observed a neighborhood basketball game and perfectly duplicated the trajectory of shots when he attempted this himself. He has an affinity for canned cheese, and lives in the family's attic in a strange alien cocoon.[3] Allen's ultimate goal is to return to his homeworld of Xela, but he admits that may be a long time away as he stowed away on an exploratory ship which was studying Earth, which had to flee out of fear of discovery.
Allen said he "chose" to disguise himself as an African-American boy as the first Earth people he spied upon were some African-American men playing basketball, and figured this was a way to acculturate. His naivety on the subject (bringing in plain black posterboards for his Black History Month presentation) sparked a Black History Month episode, featuring him learning information about slavery and the Civil Rights Movement.
In the weeks leading up to the series' premiere, Nickelodeon ran a series of teaser ads which would at first appear to be promos for other shows, or for Nickelodeon in general, when a blue ooze would fill the screen as an announcer said cryptically, "Something strange is coming to SNICK. November 8". It would then clear out and the interrupted promo would conclude as if nothing had happened.
Characters
editMain
edit- Allen Strange (Arjay Smith) – A Xelan alien disguised as a human – all he wishes to do is to go back to his planet.
- Roberta "Robbie" Stevenson (Erin J. Dean) – A 15-year-old girl who enjoys surfing and helps show Allen how to fit in with humans.
- Joshua "Josh" Stevenson (Shane Sweet) – Robbie's 11-year-old younger brother and a science whiz.
- Kenneth "Ken" Stevenson (Jack Tate) – an architect and Robbie and Josh's father who is unaware of Allen being an alien.
Recurring
edit- Gail Stevenson (Mary Chris Wall) – a nurse and Robbie and Josh's mother who is separated from their father, but always comes to visit them.
- Manfred Strange (Robert Crow) – Originally just a store mannequin, but was brought to life to serve as Allen's Earth father. He often helps Allen out of dangerous situations and is a good friend of Ken who nicknames him "Manny".
- Latanya (Jaquita Ta'le) - Robbie's best friend who shares the same interests.
- Harold "Moose" Johnson (Sean Babb) – The captain of the high school wrestling team and also a bully. Allen tries several times to befriend him after he unintentionally upsets him, but his strange habits only annoy him.
- Erika (Evan Scott) - Robbie's other best friend.
- Hamilton Gerrigan (Ethan Glazer) - A close friend of Allen who hangs out with him and Josh.
- Phil Berg (Dee Bradley Baker) – Allen's recurring arch-enemy, a crazed alien hunter and journalist who constantly tries to capture Allen and expose him for a top news story. He was later captured by the Xelans' enemies, the Trykloids, and used as a pawn for information on Earth.
- Shaw (J. Kenneth Campbell) - Allen's second arch-enemy, another sinister alien hunter whose face is barely shown and appearance is hidden with a big black fedora and a trench coat. He is the leader of the secret government agency A.R.C. (Alien Retrieval Commission). He wants to capture Allen and lock him up to prove to the world that aliens exist. He sometimes teams up with Phil Berg to achieve this goal.
Episodes
editSeries overview
edit| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 13 | November 8, 1997 | February 26, 1998 | |
| 2 | 26 | August 31, 1998 | April 28, 1999 | |
| 3 | 18 | December 5, 1999 | April 23, 2000 | |
Season 1 (1997–1998)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Arrival" | Paul Hoen | Thomas W. Lynch | November 8, 1997 |
| 2 | 2 | "Entry" | Victor DuBois | Alfa-Betty Olsen & Marshall Efron | November 15, 1997 |
| 3 | 3 | "Space" | Jason Marsden | David Garber | November 22, 1997 |
| 4 | 4 | "Gronpoly" | Paul Hoen | Thomas W. Lynch & Bruce Kalish | December 6, 1997 |
| 5 | 5 | "Starwalk" | Shawn Levy | Thomas W. Lynch | December 13, 1997 |
| 6 | 6 | "The Visit" | Lev L. Spiro | Larry Levy | December 27, 1997 |
| 7 | 7 | "Battle" | Victor DuBois | Arthur Sellers (?) | January 3, 1998 |
| 8 | 8 | "The Guardian" | Diane Wynter | John May & Suzanne Bolch | January 10, 1998 |
| 9 | 9 | "Collision" | Allison Liddi | Suzanne Bolch & John May | January 17, 1998 |
| 10 | 10 | "Compute" | Lev L. Spiro | Lawrence H. Levy | January 24, 1998 |
| 11 | 11 | "Rescue" | Christopher Coppola | Robin Riordan | February 21, 1998 |
| 12 | 12 | "Home, Part 1" | Paul Hoen | (Story by: Thomas W. Lynch) | February 24, 1998 |
| 13 | 13 | "Home, Part 2" | Paul Hoen | John May & Suzanne Bolch & Bruce Kalish | February 26, 1998 |
Season 2 (1998–1999)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 1 | "Passage" | Shawn Levy | Thomas W. Lynch | August 31, 1998 |
| 15 | 2 | "The Day of the Beagle" | Topper Carew | Suzanne Bolch & John May | September 2, 1998 |
| 16 | 3 | "Haunted" | Paul Hoen | Lawrence H. Levy | September 7, 1998 |
| 17 | 4 | "Pride of the Dolphin" | Paul Hoen | John Slama | September 9, 1998 |
| 18 | 5 | "Strange Culture" | Joe Rasullo | Story by : Thomas W. Lynch Teleplay by : Robin Riordan & Arthur Sellers | September 14, 1998 |
| 19 | 6 | "Two for the Road" | Patrick Williams | John May & Suzanne Bolch | September 16, 1998 |
| 20 | 7 | "The Broken Puzzle" | Allison Liddi | Lawrence H. Levy | September 23, 1998 |
| 21 | 8 | "Portal, Part 1" | Jason Marsden | Story by : Thomas W. Lynch & Mark Palmer Teleplay by : Mark Palmer | September 28, 1998 |
| 22 | 9 | "Portal, Part 2" | Lev L. Spiro | John May & Suzanne Bolch | September 30, 1998 |
| 23 | 10 | "The Truth About Lies" | Topper Carew | Arthur Sellers | October 5, 1998 |
| 24 | 11 | "A Room of My Own" | Gilbert Shilton | Robin Riordan & Arthur Sellers | October 12, 1998 |
| 25 | 12 | "Cash Crunch" | Paul Hoen | Robin Riordan & Arthur Sellers | October 21, 1998 |
| 26 | 13 | "Father and Son" | Lev L. Spiro | (Story by: Thomas W. Lynch) | November 4, 1998 |
| 27 | 14 | "A New Leaf" | Allison Liddi | Suzanne Bolch & John May | November 23, 1998 |
| 28 | 15 | "Secret of the Deep" | Susan Youngman | John May & Suzanne Bolch | November 30, 1998 |
| 29 | 16 | "Dances with Moose" | Topper Carew | Story by : Haren Russell Teleplay by : Bruce Halish | December 2, 1998 |
| 30 | 17 | "Baby on Board" | Allison Liddi | Thomas W. Lynch & Arthur Sellers | December 14, 1998 |
| 31 | 18 | "Eye of a Stranger" | Allison Swan | Eugene Lee | February 8, 1999 |
| 32 | 19 | "Unmasked!" | Lev L. Spiro | Suzanne Bolch & John May | March 10, 1999 |
| 33 | 20 | "Fast Friends" | Allison Liddi | David Pitlick & Barry Gurstein | March 17, 1999 |
| 34 | 21 | "Space Bugs" | Lev L. Spiro | Robin Riordan | March 24, 1999 |
| 35 | 22 | "All Apologies" | Allison Liddi | Story by : Robin Riordan Teleplay by : John May & Suzanne Bolch | March 31, 1999 |
| 36 | 23 | "Strike Out" | Lev L. Spiro | Suzanne Bolch & John May | April 7, 1999 |
| 37 | 24 | "Down the Tube" | Paul Hoen | Jean Gennis & Phyllis Murphy | April 14, 1999 |
| 38 | 25 | "Bust a Move" | Lev L. Spiro | John May & Suzanne Bolch | April 21, 1999 |
| 39 | 26 | "Shadows in the Sky" | Allison Liddi | Story by : Thomas W. Lynch & David Rosenberg Teleplay by : David Rosenberg | April 28, 1999 |
Season 3 (1999–2000)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 1 | "First Day of School" | Paul Hoen | Jean Gennis & Phyllis Murphy | December 5, 1999 |
| 41 | 2 | "Split Decision" | Paul Hoen | Lance Whinery | December 12, 1999 |
| 42 | 3 | "Mother and Child Reunion" | Allison Liddi | Mindy Morgenstern & Terry Maloney Haley | December 19, 1999 |
| 43 | 4 | "Twist of Fate" | Paul Hoen | Thomas W. Lynch | December 26, 1999 |
| 44 | 5 | "As the Millennium Turns" | Allison Liddi | Mindy Morgenstern & Terry Maloney Haley & Lance Whinery | December 31, 1999 |
| 45 | 6 | "A Day at the Races" | Allison Liddi | Catherine Stribling | January 2, 2000 |
| 46 | 7 | "Hamilton's Missing" | Paul Hoen | Thomas W. Lynch & Kathryn Baker | January 9, 2000 |
| 47 | 8 | "Science Friction" | Paul Hoen | Kathryn Baker | January 16, 2000 |
| 48 | 9 | "Blue-Up" | Lev L. Spiro | Lance Whinery | January 23, 2000 |
| 49 | 10 | "Out on a Limb" | Shawn Levy | Terry Maloney Haley & Mindy Morgenstern | January 30, 2000 |
| 50 | 11 | "A Burp in Time" | Lev L. Spiro | Kathryn Baker | February 6, 2000 |
| 51 | 12 | "Love Stinks" | Allison Liddi | Mindy Morgenstern & Terry Maloney Haley | February 13, 2000 |
| 52 | 13 | "Allen on TV" | Robert Duncan McNeill | Jean Gennis & Phyllis Murphy | February 20, 2000 |
| 53 | 14 | "Out to Lunch" | Paul Hoen | Jean Gennis & Phyllis Murphy | February 27, 2000 |
| 54 | 15 | "Bringing Up Baby" | Sturrt Hreisman | Chris Cluess | March 5, 2000 |
| 55 | 16 | "Heroes" | Shawn Levy | Jean Gennis & Phyllis Murphy | April 9, 2000 |
| 56 | 17 | "Life of the Party" | Paul Hoen | Anthony Cipriano | April 16, 2000 |
| 57 | 18 | "Message from Beyond" | Lev L. Spiro | Terry Maloney Haley & Mindy Morgenstern & Lance Whinery | April 23, 2000 |
Book series
editA nine-book series, based on the episodes, was also printed,[4] written by several authors, including John Vornholt and Mel Odom. A list of these books is available at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database.[5]
References
edit- ^ Rose, Devin (October 13, 1998). "Strange Is A Trip Worth Taking". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-09-03.
- ^ "Allen Strange Makes Rocky Journey to TV Movie Format". The Los Angeles Times. December 4, 1999. Retrieved 2010-09-03.
- ^ Mangan, Jennifer (November 20, 1997). "New Comedy From Nickelodeon Explores Serious Issues". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-09-03.
- ^ "Journey of Allen Strange". fantasticfiction.co.uk. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
- ^ "Series: The Journey of Allen Strange". isfdb.org.
- Book references
- Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present (9th ed.). Random House Publishing Group. p. 717. ISBN 9780307483201.