A young Maureen Flannigan played superpowered Evie Ethel Garland, daughter of human Donna Garland (Donna Pescow) and alien father, Troy (voiced by Burt Reynolds,) who’d been called back to his planet (Antareus, three billion miles from Earth) not long after Evie’s birth.
Evie lived with her mother in a spacious house at 17 Medvale Road and explained her father’s absence to her friends by saying that he was in the CIA.
Donna ran the Marlowe School for Gifted Children (1987–88), then operated the catering service ‘Donna Delights Planning and Catering’ (1988–90) and finally became the mayor of Marlowe (1990–91), where she also hosted a talk show called Meet the Mayor on public access television, Channel 108.
Evie had several superpowers which she had inherited from her alien father, including the ability to stop time (which she would do by joining two fingers), restart time (which she achieved by clasping her hands together), materialise things into existence from nowhere, and transport herself instantaneously from one place to another (by snapping her fingers).
The only other person who knew of Evie’s powers was Donna’s brother, Uncle Beano (Joe Alaskey), the overweight owner of the Waist-a-Weigh Diet Clinic (later changed to Beano’s Health Club).
Evie and her mother communicated with Troy using a device called the ‘cube’ (pictured below).
Lindsey Selkirk (Christina Nigra) was Evie’s boy-crazy girlfriend who was a member of the Movie Mania Video Club and had a dog named Mimi. Chris Fuller (Steve Burton) was Evie’s on-and-off boyfriend. Like Lindsey, he attended Marlowe High School. He also worked as the assistant manager of Chicken in a Basket and attended Marlowe Community College.
Other characters included Donna’s musician brother, Mick Froelich (Tom Nolan); Donna’s mother, Barbara Froelich (Betsy Palmer); Troy’s father, Zelig (Tom Bosley); Lindsey’s mother, Paula Selkirk (Susan Bugg); and Lindsey’s brother, Spencer Selkirk (Jack Lynch).
96 episodes of the syndicated show were produced from 1987 to 1991. In the last first-run episode), Troy appeared on Earth again (via his Interplanetary Transport Booster) to surprise Evie on her eighteenth birthday. Troy, however, was transparent as a result of a malfunction in his re-materialisation unit.
The episode ended in a cliffhanger that was never resolved: Donna accidentally transported herself to Antareus, leaving Troy stranded on Earth.
Donna Garland
Donna Pescow Evie Ethel Garland
Maureen Flannigan Troy Ethel Garland
Burt Reynolds Kyle X. Applegate
Doug McClure Lindsay Selkirk
Christina Nigra Beano Froelich
Joe Alaskey Buzz
Buzz Belmondo Chris Fuller
Steve Burton
