We just wanted to take a minute to remember the late great Shelley Duvall. While she is probably best known as Jack’s tortured wife Wendy in Stanley Kubrick‘s seminal “The Shining,” she was also a pioneer of children’s television. We say this because a lot of people have never heard of, let alone seen, any episodes of “Shelley Duvall’s Faerie Tale Theatre.”
The 27-episode anthology series first premiered in 1982, and ran for 6 seasons. Every episode would begin with Duvall introducing herself, and giving a brief synopsis of the classic fairy tale the episode would be telling. The truly amazing part is just how many notable stars appeared both in front of and behind the camera.
Just as an example, the very first episode is “The Frog Prince.” In it, Teri Garr plays a spoiled princess who finds her Prince Charming (Robin Williams) as a horrible frog. Rene Auberjonois (“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” “Boston Legal“) also stars. It was written and directed by Monty Python’s Eric Idle. You can’t get more epic than that.
Okay, how about “Rapunzel,” but with Jeff Bridges as the Prince? Or “Sleeping Beauty,” with Bernadette Peters as the Princess, and Christopher Reeve as Prince Charming?! Or Jamie Lee Curtis as Annie Oakley? Seriously, it’s incredible to see the names attached.
Well, thanks to the Internet Archive, you can watch all episodes of “Faerie Tale Theatre” here. Kind of the perfect thing to do this weekend.
