The Journey of Allen Strange

The Journey of Allen Strange ran on Nickelodeon’s SNICK lineup for three seasons, from November 1997 to April 2000. The show centers on a young alien from the planet Xela, played by Arjay Smith, who becomes stranded on Earth. He is taken in by a family consisting of a teenage girl named Robbie Stevenson (Erin J. Dean), her younger brother Josh (Shane Sweet), and their father Ken (Jack Tate). The family gives him the human name Allen Strange.

Allen possesses several unusual abilities: he can transform into his alien form, which allows him to hover; he can read an entire book just by placing his hand on its cover; and he has advanced dexterity and muscle memory, once perfectly replicating basketball shots after watching a game. He also brings a sporting goods store mannequin to life, who then poses as his Earth father, Manfred, for events like parent-teacher conferences. Allen has a fondness for canned cheese and lives in the family’s attic inside a strange alien cocoon.

His ultimate goal is to return to Xela, but he admits that may take a long time, as he stowed away on an exploratory ship that fled Earth out of fear of discovery. Allen explains that he chose to disguise himself as an African-American boy because the first Earth people he observed were African-American men playing basketball, and he thought this would help him fit in. His naivety on the subject—such as bringing plain black posterboards for a Black History Month presentation—led to an episode where he learns about slavery and the Civil Rights Movement.

Before the series premiered, Nickelodeon ran teaser ads that initially appeared to be promos for other shows, only for blue ooze to fill the screen as an announcer said, “Something strange is coming to SNICK. November 8,” before the original promo resumed. The main characters include Allen; Robbie, a 15-year-old surfer who helps him adjust to human life; Josh, an 11-year-old science enthusiast; and their father Ken, an architect who is unaware of Allen being an alien. Recurring characters include Gail Stevenson (Mary Chris Wall), the children’s mother and a nurse, who is separated from Ken but visits often; Manfred Strange (Robert Crow), the living mannequin who becomes Ken’s friend and is nicknamed “Manny”; Latanya (Jaquita Ta’le), Robbie’s best friend; Harold “Moose” Johnson (Sean Babb), a wrestling team captain and bully; Erika (Evan Scott)