''The Charmings'' is an American

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

that follows

Snow White "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

and

Prince Charming Prince Charming is a fairy tale stock character archetype who comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress and must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell. This classification suits most heroes of a number of traditional folk tales ...

, awakened from a thousand-year spell, as they adjust from their familiar life in the

enchanted forest In folklore and fantasy, an enchanted forest is a forest under, or containing, magic (fantasy), enchantments. Such forests are described in the oldest folklore from regions where forests are common and occur throughout the centuries to modern wor ...

to the modern ways of 20th-century

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

suburbs A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

. The series originally aired from March 20, 1987, to February 11, 1988, on ABC.

Synopsis

The opening voice-over sets up the premise: The premise of the series' plot was that fairy tale characters

and

were magically transported to a 20th-century suburb in

Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Each episode shows the Charmings trying to adapt to their new life while Lillian, the wicked stepmother, and her wise cracking Magic Mirror watch from upstairs. After the first season, Caitlin O'Heaney (who portrayed Snow White) was replaced by Carol Huston. After mild success as part of ABC's Friday night lineup, the series was moved to Thursday nights for its second season, in a head-to-head battle with NBC's ''

A Different World ''A Different World'' is an American sitcom television series and a spin-off of '' The Cosby Show''. It aired for six seasons on NBC from September 24, 1987, to July 9, 1993. The series originally centered on Denise Huxtable ( Lisa Bonet) an ...

'', and later ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom created by (along with Ed. Weinberger and Michael J. Leeson) and starring Bill Cosby that originally aired on NBC from September 20, 1984, to April 30, 1992, with a total of 201 half-hour e ...

''. Due to low ratings, the series was canceled after twenty episodes. One episode remains unaired in the US, though it was shown during the show's run in the UK and in 2021 in Canada on CTV.

Characters

; Snow White Charming: Played by Caitlin O'Heaney (1987) and Carol Huston (1987–1988). Her "fairy tale" motif catches the attention of a department store executive, who sponsors a line of interior decorating products and gives her a job overseeing the designs. ; Prince Eric Charming: Played by Christopher Rich. Unskilled at anything in the modern world, he largely is a stay-at-home dad who wrote about his time in the Enchanted Kingdom. Later he learns he has a skill for handyman work and carpentry, and soon gets a job in construction. ; Thomas and Cory Charming: The two Charming children of Snow White and Prince Eric Charming. Played by Brandon Call and Garette Ratliff Henson. Due to their spending the least time in the fairy tale world, they had been the most assimilated into 20th century society, and they face difficulties accepting they are from fairy tales. ; Queen Lillian White: The wicked stepmother of Snow White, whose sorcery often backfires on her, but occasionally proves useful in helping her family. Played by

Judy Parfitt Judy Catherine Claire Parfitt (born 7 November 1935) is an English theatre, film, and television actress. She made her film debut in the 1950s, followed by a supporting role in the BBC television serial ''David Copperfield'' (1966). She also ap ...

. ; Luther: One of the Seven Dwarfs. Played by Cork Hubbert. ; The Magic Mirror: Played by Paul Winfield. The Mirror frequently reminds Lillian that her daughter and son-in-law will come out on top and make it in this new land because unlike her, they are goodhearted people who respected others. A running gag is that he makes remarks about how Snow White is the fairest and telling Lillian "it ain't you!" whenever she asks who is the fairest. However, it is implied he may have been joking, because at one point when Lillian has lost her powers and he must depart, he confides in her that she has always been the fairest. ; Don "King of Carpets" Miller and Sally Miller: The Charmings' neighbors who find their new neighbors' penchant for

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

style odd but never figured out they were the real Prince Charming and Snow White. Even when Eric is under a truth spell and confides in Don that they were Prince Charming and Snow White, Don considers it a joke. Played by

Paul Eiding Paul Eiding (born March 28, 1957) is an American actor, best known for his voice roles as Colonel Roy Campbell in the ''Metal Gear'' series, Perceptor in '' The Transformers'', and Max Tennyson in the '' Ben 10'' franchise. Early career Eiding ...

and Dori Brenner.

Episodes

Season 1 (1987)

Season 2 (1987–88)

International Broadcast

In Italy, the show aired on Odeon TV under the name '' Biancaneve a Beverly Hills'' (''Snow White in Beverly Hills'') from 1988 until 1989.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Charmings, The 1987 American television series debuts 1988 American television series endings 1980s American sitcoms American English-language television shows American fantasy comedy television series Works based on Snow White Television shows set in Burbank, California Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows based on fairy tales American Broadcasting Company sitcoms