The Journey of Allen Strange facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Journey of Allen Strange
The cast of The Journey of Allen Strange
Genre	Science fiction Drama
Created by	Thomas W. Lynch
Starring	Arjay Smith Erin J. Dean Shane Sweet Jack Tate
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	57
Production
Running time	22 minutes
Production company(s)	Lynch Entertainment Nickelodeon Productions
Release
Original network	Nickelodeon
Original release	November 8, 1997 (1997-11-08) – April 23, 2000 (2000-04-23)

The Journey of Allen Strange is an American TV show that was shown on Nickelodeon from November 1997 to April 2000. It was part of Nickelodeon's SNICK block of shows. The series tells the story of an alien who gets stuck on Earth and learns to live among humans.

What the Show Is About

The story is about a young alien named Allen (Arjay Smith) from the planet Xela. He gets stranded on Earth and meets the Stevenson family: Robbie (Erin J. Dean), her younger brother Josh (Shane Sweet), and their dad Ken (Jack Tate). They take him in and give him the name "Allen Strange."

Allen has amazing powers. He can change into his alien form, which lets him float in the air. He even brings a store mannequin to life to pretend it's his Earth dad, Manfred, for things like school meetings! Allen is super smart and can read a whole book just by touching its cover. He's also very good at sports, like basketball, after watching others play. He really likes canned cheese and lives in the family's attic inside a special alien cocoon.

Allen's main goal is to get back to his home planet, Xela. He came to Earth on a research ship that had to leave quickly to avoid being discovered. He chose to look like an African-American boy because the first people he saw on Earth were playing basketball. This led to an episode where he learned about Black History Month, including information about slavery and the Civil Rights Movement.

Before the show first aired, Nickelodeon showed mysterious ads. They would look like regular commercials, then a blue goo would fill the screen. A voice would say, "Something strange is coming to SNICK. November 8." Then the ad would go back to normal as if nothing happened.

Meet the Characters

Main Characters

• Allen Strange (Arjay Smith): He's an alien from Xela who looks like a human boy. All he wants is to return to his home planet.
• Roberta "Robbie" Stevenson (Erin J. Dean): A 15-year-old girl who loves surfing. She helps Allen learn how to act like a human and fit in.
• Joshua "Josh" Stevenson (Shane Sweet): Robbie's 11-year-old younger brother. He's a genius when it comes to science.
• Kenneth "Ken" Stevenson (Jack Tate): Robbie and Josh's dad. He doesn't know that Allen is an alien.

Other Important Characters

• Gail Stevenson (Mary Chris Wall): Robbie and Josh's mom. She's separated from their dad but often visits them.
• Manfred Strange (Robert Crow): He started as a store mannequin. Allen brought him to life to be his "Earth dad." Manfred often helps Allen and is good friends with Ken, who calls him "Manny."
• Latanya (Jaquita Ta'le): Robbie's best friend. They enjoy doing the same things.
• Harold "Moose" Johnson (Sean Babb): The captain of the high school wrestling team and a bit of a bully. Allen tries to be friends with him, but his alien habits sometimes annoy Moose.
• Phil Berg (Dee Bradley Baker): Allen's main enemy. He's a crazy alien hunter and reporter who always tries to catch Allen. Later, other aliens called Trykloids captured Phil and used him to get information about Earth.
• Shaw (J. Kenneth Campbell): Allen's second main enemy. He's a mysterious alien hunter who leads a secret government group called A.R.C. (Alien Retrieval Commission). He wants to capture Allen to prove that aliens exist. Sometimes he works with Phil Berg.

Episodes Overview

The show had 3 seasons and a total of 57 episodes.

Book Series

There was also a series of eight books based on the TV show. Different authors wrote them, including John Vornholt and Mel Odom. You can find a list of these books on the Internet Speculative Fiction Database.