10 Things You Might Not Remember About “Out Of This World”

Sure, the TV show had a ridiculous plotline, but did you know it had an Oscar-winning song as its theme song?

Out of This World revolved around Evie Ethel Garland, who, on her 13th birthday, discovers she has superpowers and that her father is an alien named Troy (who lived on the planet Antareus).

Universal Television/ Courtesy: Everett Collection.

The episodes were always about Evie misusing her powers and subsequently causing some sort of trouble.

The show aired in syndication for four seasons, from Sept. 17, 1987, until May 25, 1991.

1. Evie attends a school for gifted children (run by her mother).

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2. Evie actually had several powers: They included the ability to stop and restart time, materialize things into existence from nowhere, and to transport herself instantaneously from one place to another.

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Most everyone remembers Evie's main power, which was the ability to freeze time on Earth by joining two fingers. When she claps her hands together, time resumes as normal. She can also "unfreeze" individuals by touching them while time is frozen.

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3. Actress Donna Pescow, who plays Evie's mother Donna, went on to play Eileen on Even Stevens.

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4. The only other character who knows about Evie's secret is her Uncle Beano.

5. The device used to communicate with Troy was called "cube."

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6. At first only Evie could use the "cube" to talk to Troy, but in Season 2 she wished for her mother to be able to use it as well.

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7. In the opening credits Troy is billed as "himself," but the character was actually voiced by Burt Reynolds.

8. The theme song used in the opening credits of Out of This World was a new adaptation of the Academy Award–winning song "Swinging on a Star."

"Swinging on a Star" was composed by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke and originally sung by Bing Crosby in the 1944 film Going My Way.

It has been covered by artists including Frank Sinatra, Burl Ives, and Tony Bennett.

9. Troy's face is never shown on the show. It is obscured in the opening credits and in the few times he physically appears on the show.

10. Scott Baio directed several episodes. He also guest starred on the episodes "Princess Evie" (1988) and "Evie Goes for the Gold" (1989).

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