The Journey of Allen Strange

The Journey of Allen Strange

The cast of The Journey of Allen Strange
Created by Thomas W. Lynch
Starring Arjay Smith
Erin Dean
Shane Sweet
Jack Tate
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons 3
No. of episodes 57
Production
Running time 22 minutes
Release
Original channel Nickelodeon
Original release November 8, 1997 – April 23, 2000

The Journey of Allen Strange is an American television series that aired on Nickelodeon's SNICK block of programming for three seasons from 1997 to 2000.[1][2]

Premise

The 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 has an affinity for canned cheese, and lives in the family's attic in a strange alien cocoon.[3]

Allen states he has "chosen" to be African-American when confronted with the task of blending in with society. 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

Book series

An eight-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.

Episodes

Season 1

# Title Airdate
1 "Arrival" (Pilot) November 8, 1997
2 "Entry" November 15, 1997
3 "Space" November 22, 1997
4 "Gronpoly" December 6, 1997
5 "Starwalk" December 13, 1997
6 "The Visit" December 27, 1997
7 "Battle" January 3, 1998
8 "The Guardian" January 10, 1998
9 "Collision" January 17, 1998
10 "Compute" January 24, 1998
11 "Rescue" February 21, 1998
12 "Home, Part 1" February 24, 1998
13 "Home, Part 2" February 26, 1998

Season 2

# Title Airdate
14 "Passage" August 31, 1998
15 "The Day of the Beagle" September 2, 1998
16 "Haunted" September 7, 1998
17 "Pride of the Dolphin" September 9, 1998
18 "Strange Culture" September 14, 1998
19 "Two for the Road" September 16, 1998
20 "The Broken Puzzle" September 23, 1998
21 "Portal, Part 1" September 28, 1998
22 "Portal, Part 2" September 30, 1998
23 "The Truth About Lies" October 5, 1998
24 "A Room of My Own" October 12, 1998
25 "Cash Crunch" October 21, 1998
26 "Father & Son" November 4, 1998
27 "A New Leaf" November 23, 1998
28 "Secret of the Deep" November 30, 1998
29 "Dances with Moose" December 2, 1998
30 "Baby on Board" December 14, 1998
31 "Eye of a Stranger" February 8, 1999
32 "Unmasked!" March 10, 1999
33 "Fast Friends" March 17, 1999
34 "Space Bugs" March 24, 1999
35 "All Apologies" March 31, 1999
36 "Strike Out" April 7, 1999
37 "Down the Tube" April 14, 1999
38 "Bust a Move" April 21, 1999
39 "Shadows in the Sky April 28, 1999

Season 3

# Title Airdate
40 "First Day of School"  
41 "Split Decision"  
42 "Mother and Child Reunion"  
43 "Twist of Fate"  
44 "As the Millennium Turns"  
45 "A Day at the Races"  
46 "Hamilton's Missing"  
47 "Science Friction"  
48 "Blue-Up"  
49 "Out on a Limb"  
50 "A Burp in Time"  
51 "Love Stinks"  
52 "Allen on TV"  
53 "Out to Lunch"  
54 "Bringing Up Baby"  
55 "Heroes"  
56 "Life of the Party"  
57 "Message from Beyond" (Series Finale) April 23, 2000

References

  1. Rose, Devin (October 13, 1998). "Strange Is A Trip Worth Taking". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-09-03.
  2. "Allen Strange Makes Rocky Journey to TV Movie Format". The Los Angeles Times. December 4, 1999. Retrieved 2010-09-03.
  3. Mangan, Jennifer (November 20, 1997). "New Comedy From Nickelodeon Explores Serious Issues". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-09-03.
  4. "Journey of Allen Strange". fantasticfiction.co.uk. Retrieved 24 November 2010.

External links