Road to Avonlea Reviews

So, a few years ago, during the beginning of my junior year of college, I discovered a little Canadian show called Road to Avonlea. I discovered it because while I was doing my daily studying of the Emmy awards, I kept encountering a show that had somehow been nominated for “Children’s Program,” but also been nominated for the Guest Acting categories. Rarely does a children’s program seem to have such relatively strong support in other categories. I knew I had to check this show out. After the first episode, I knew I had found my next obsession.

Road to Avonlea is sort of a sequel to Anne of Green Gables. Although the show doesn’t necessarily feature Anne, it takes place in the town where Green Gables is inhabited: Avonlea. It is mostly based on other works by LM Montgomery, including The Story Girl and The Golden Road. The show is sort of like a Canadian version of Little House on the Prairie. The show is mostly centered on the King Family; however, especially as the series progressed, more characters outside that core family are heavily featured.

The show was created by Kevin Sullivan, who also produced the Anne movies and other Canadian programs, including Wind At My Back. The show aired on CBC in Canada and The Disney Channel in the U.S. It was definitely Disney Channel’s most popular program during the bulk of the nineties before the channel changed direction and became more youth-oriented and less family-oriented.

I really love the show. The performances are great. The music is the best part. Family shows like these just aren’t created anymore; it’s certainly the best thing that ever aired on The Disney Channel. I’ve watched it all the way through three times, and I’ve decided to start again. For my birthday I decided to buy myself the 7-season “Widescreen” box set. What better way to watch this show than by posting quick reviews of every episode. So, I have decided to do that. This is a work in progress, and I hope whether you’re a fan of the show too (or I’ve convinced you to become one) you follow along with me.

SEASON ONE (1990)

1. The Journey Begins
2. The Story Girl Earns Her Name
3. The Quarantine at Alexander Abraham’s
4. The Materializing of Duncan McTavish
5. Old Lady Lloyd
6. Proof of the Pudding 
7. Conversions
8. Aunt Abigail’s Beau
9. Malcolm and the Baby
10. Felicity’s Challenge
11. The Witch of Avonlea
12. The Blue Chest of Arabella King
13. Nothing Endures But Change

SEASON TWO (1991)

1. Sara’s Homecoming
2. How Kissing Was Discovered
3. Aunt Hetty’s Ordeal
4. Of Corsets and Secrets and True, True Love
5. Old Quarrels, Old Love
6. May the Best Man Win
7. Family Rivalry
8. Sea Ghost
9. All That Glitters
10. Dreamer of Dreams
11. It’s Just a Stage
12. A Mother’s Love
13. Misfits and Miracles

SEASON THREE (1992)

1. The Ties that Bind
2. Felix and Blackie
3. Another Point of View
4. But When She Was Bad…
5. …She Was Horrid
6. Aunt Janet Rebels
7. A Dark and Stormy Night
8. Friends and Relations
9. Vows of Silence
10. After the Honeymoon
11. High Society
12. The Calamitous Courting of Hetty King
13. Old Friends, Old Wounds

SEASON FOUR (1993)

1. Tug of War
2. Lady and the Blade
3. Incident at Vernon River
4. Evelyn
5. Moving On
6. Boys Will Be Boys
7. The Dinner
8. Heirs and Graces
9. Hearts and Flowers
10. Felicity’s Perfect Beau
11. The Disappearance
12. Home Movie
13. Hearth and Home

SEASON FIVE (1994)

1. Fathers and Sons
2. Memento Mori
3. Modern Times
4. A Friend in Need
5. Strictly Melodrama
6. The Great Race
7. Stranger in the Night
8. Someone to Believe In
9. Thursday’s Child
10. Best Laid Plans
11. Otherwise Engaged
12. Enter Prince Charming
13. The Minister’s Wife