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Faerie Tale Theatre

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TV Series

The Resume

    (September 11, 1982-November 14, 1987)
    Children's anthology series
    Aired on Showtime
    Hosted by Shelley Duvall
    Debut presentation was 'The Tale of the Frog Prince'
    Other presentations included 'Rumpelstiltskin,' 'Rapunzel,' 'Sleeping Beauty,' 'Jack and the Beanstalk,' 'Little Red Riding Hood,' 'Hansel and Gretel,' 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,' 'The Princess and the Pea,' 'Beauty and the Beast,' and 'Cinderella'

Why they might be annoying:

    It featured Mick Jagger in yellowface as a Chinese Emperor (kinky).
    It was conceived as an idea after Shelley Duvall asked Robin Williams his opinion of the 'Frog Prince' story she was reading during the filming of Popeye.
    Every episode opened with Shelley giving a bland Alistair Cooke-style intro from the set surmising the show's plot (like over half the viewing audience doesn't already know the plot to Jack & the Beanstalk).
    It was high on innuendo jokes that went over kids' heads but could only offend adult sensibilities.
    For instance, the Good Fairy in 'Sleeping Beauty' suggests magically putting the kingdom to sleep like the Princess by explaining to the King 'that way, you'll all sleep together - in a manner of speaking of course!'
    Later seasons saw fewer prestigious guest stars, lower production budgets, and storylines less readily identifiable to audiences (e.g. The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers, The Princess Who Never Laughed).
    It got nightmare-fuel graphic at the drop of a hat (see: the Prince's eyes bleeding out at the end of Rapunzel).

Why they might not be annoying:

    It was basically Masterpiece Theatre for kids.
    It featured the talents of over twenty Oscar winners/nominees, either future or prior (mostly the former).
    It was one of the first television shows to be released on home video.
    It gave Shelley Duvall the chance to exhibit her dramatic strengths beyond 'The Shining.'
    Francis Ford Coppola, Tim Burton, and Roger Vadim all directed episodes.
    The set and costume designs were stylistically modeled after the childrens book illustrations by famous artists (Kay Nielsen for Aladdin, Gustav Klimt for Rapunzel, etc.)
    The show's retellings stayed closer to the original fairy tales than their Disney counterparts.
    The 'Pied Piper' episode was a direct adaptation of the Robert Browning poem down to all the narration and dialogue being in rhyme.

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 14 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 36 Votes: 50.0% Annoying