Monsters (TV Series) Parents from Space (1989) User Reviews

Cute episode

[Woodyanders · 7/10 · 5 July 2019]

Sweet little girl Cindy (a solid and sympathetic portrayal by Mary Griffin) discovers that her horribly abusive elderly foster parents have been replaced by a couple of much nicer and kinder aliens.

Director Gerald Cotts relates the enjoyable story at a snappy pace as well as maintains a charming whimsical tone throughout. Frank Gorshin and Peggy Cass are both perfectly hateful and grotesque as the bad parents; they also manage to convey a more friendly and appealing side when both their characters are possessed by the benign extraterrestrials. Ann Hillary contributes an amusing turn as ditsy social worker Mrs. Rogers. The nice upbeat ending hits the heartwarming spot, too. While this episode is pretty slight, it nonetheless still makes for a pleasant enough diversion.

A sci-fi like monster story!

[blanbrn · 6/10 · 12 March 2021]

This episode of "Monsters" from season 1 Feb. 11, 1989 called "Parents from Space" was one that was different far out and strange! It involves a little girl who is believed to be abused by her older foster parents. However this story twist with a body change like theme when aliens are found downstairs in the basement it's like everything spins and turns in the little girl's favor! Look for Frank Gorshin(The Riddler from "Batman") overall okay fun episode of the series.

A rather forgettable light hearted episode.

[b_kite · 5/10 · 24 July 2018]

A Abusive elderly foster couple of a nice little orphan girl have their bodies taken over by friendly alien rats, whose spaceship has broke down. While the aliens have no way to return to there home planet the little girl has other ideas on how to keep them with her.

The story for this one is pretty much just a routine Disney style tale, which if you watched "Tales from the Darkside" you would know producer Richard P. Rubinstein loved to sprinkle episodes like this around every once in a while, while most of them were usually goofy cornball affairs which I'm sure ill run in to some before this series is threw, this one really isn't all that bad, but, as another reviewer stated its rather forgettable. The best thing here is the creatures themselves which are two huge rat costumes, they look a lot better then the "Glim-Glim" creature from the last tale, but, I was left wishing they were in a more horror filled episode, as we don't really see them much. Veteran actors Frank Gorshin and Peggy Cass do a fine job and there names Ward and June are throwbacks to "Leave It to Beaver". And as usual with these types of stories we get a happy ending, even tho the little girl pretty much murders the original parents. Overall an OK tale with two monsters that I wish would have been used in another story.

Perfectly good episode if a bit forgettable.

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 30 December 2008]

Monsters: Parents from Space starts as Ward Ellers (Frank Gorshin) arrives home from work & as usual takes his frustration's out on his young foster daughter Cindy (Mary Griffin) who also suffers at the hand of his cruel wife June (Peggy Cass). Cindy is very unhappy & wishes things were different. Then that very night an alien spaceship lands in the Ellers barn & the two aliens inside take over the Ellers bodies & are a big improvement on the real Ellers, Cindy begins to like them & their strange but kind ways although the aliens plan to swap bodies again once their damaged spaceship is repaired. An idea Cindy is not too keen on...

Episode fourteen from season one of Monsters this originally aired in the US during February 1989, directed by Jerry Smith this episode shares a lot of the same plot details of the previous Monsters episode Glim-Glim (1989) which also features an alien stranded on Earth, a little girl who befriends it/them but the main difference is probably that this time there's a happy ending for the girl rather than the downbeat sad ending of Glim-Glim. In fact I would say that the basic feel-good nature of Parents from Space would have suited a Disney film instead with the fantasy premise of two aliens from space saving a cute little girl from her unhappy existence. Parents from Space isn't as good an episode as Glim-Glim anyway, the writing is more predictable & the whole episode is a little dull, sure the story is quite good but it doesn't really go anywhere the ending is obvious & you can see it coming from a mile away. Having said that it's fairly amusing in a light hearted sort of way although it does sidestep the important central issue of child abuse despite introducing the delicate topic early on & is one of the more forgettable entries from this generally very good series.

The monster this time around are the two aliens which look a hell of a lot better than the alien from Glim-Glim which makes me suspect that it's goofy appearance was deliberate. Anyway, the furry sharp fanged Rat like aliens here look a lot like the ones from Critters (1986). There's a slightly gross scene in this when the alien controlled Ward eats a maggot! Some might find that bit a distasteful & I would advise you not to be eating anything at the same time while watching that bit. The acting is alright if nothing Oscar worthy.

Parents from Space is a watchable Monsters episode that passes twenty odd minutes harmlessly enough but certainly isn't up there with the best the show has to offer. Not bad but not great.

Disney-style storyline

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 11 July 2015]

PARENTS FROM SPACE is a straightforward body-swap episode of MONSTERS. In it, a young girl suffers at the hands of her unpleasant parents, so she's delighted when aliens land on Earth and swap bodies with her elders. The new versions are a great improvement, but what about when the aliens swap back?

Unlike the preceding episode GLIM-GLIM, which was fabulous stuff indeed, PARENTS FROM SPACE is a rather twee and forgettable. It feels like a short Disney film more than anything else, and despite the presence of alien characters in the cast, not much really happens. The most notable thing about it is that Frank Gorshin (the BATMAN TV series) plays the father character.