If you were a fan of all things fantasy in the late 80s, then the show Out of This World was something you watched every weekend.
It revolved around a mischievous girl who found out she was pretty remarkable, who was played by Maureen Flannigan.
While she was barely a teenager when the show aired, Maureen had already appeared in a few TV shows, and kept acting for years after.
But what did this superhuman do after the show ended? Let’s see if Flannigan is still using her alien-given powers on screen.
Background info
On December 30th, 1983, Maureen Osborne Flannigan was born to parents Bernice Wilkinson and Henry Flannigan in Inglewood, California.
A single child, she attended Notre Dame High School, and later went on to the University of Southern California, graduating from the School of Theatre with a Bachelor of Arts Degree.
Acting Career
Flannigan was only 11 years old when she was approached by a Mattel advertising agent while having a beach day with her dad.
Her first time on screen was in an episode of the show fantasy drama Highway to Heaven in 1985.
Out Of This World
It was her time on the fantasy TV series Out of This World that most fans know Flannigan from. She played half-alien, half-human girl Evie Ethel Garland.
Evie finds out on her thirteenth birthday the truth about who she is and that she has some pretty awesome special abilities to go along with it.
The show had Evie learning about her abilities, talking with her alien dad, Troy, voiced by Burt Reynolds, via a cube, and having to fix everything she messed up trying to figure things out before the end of the episode.
For all 96 episodes of the show’s run, Maureen’s character keeps her alien dad a secret with the help of her human mom, Donna.
The show ended after season four, but not before leaving fans hanging forever on a cliffhanger when Evie’s parents are left stranded on each other’s planets.
What did she do after Out Of This World?
After figuring out human/alien life on Out of This World, Maureen went on to appear in a couple of movies and a ton of guest spots on various TV shows.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
But in 1998 she popped up in the ultimate sci-fi fandom, appearing on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. She was only in one episode titled “Covenant,” where she played a pregnant cult member who gave birth to the group’s first child.
She then had a little accident when thrown out into space, but they got her back on the ship to recover from her injuries.
That same year she was in the main cast of the soap opera about Olympic hopefuls called Push.
7th Heaven
While the series was canceled after only two episodes, Flannigan bounced back with a role on the drama series 7th Heaven.
She portrayed Shana Sullivan, one of main character Matt’s girlfriends, for 22 episodes across seasons three, four, and six.
Once her character said goodbye to Matt for the last time on 7th Heaven, Maureen appeared here and there on TV shows like Boston Public, ER, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Her last year in front of the camera was in 2011, when she was in multiple projects. She was in the film 25 Hill where she played Maggie Caldwell, the mother of a child who lost his soldier dad in Afghanistan.
She was also in two shorts, Wrestling with Angels and Retail, and one episode of Second City This Week.
Retired from acting
After that busy year in 2011, Flannigan decided to step out of the spotlight and retire from acting. But she didn’t leave the business completely, she just went to the other side.
Maureen was actually a Line Producer for Tricon while finishing up her last acting year.
She went on to be a Field Producer for Shine America, then a Supervising Producer for Big Breakfast LLC, all the way to a Senior Producer for Creel Studio, Leanna Creel’s company.
What is Maureen Flannigan doing now?
Flannigan was the President of her own productions company, Joyful Science, where she put out her short documentary Lizzy the Cashier.
She wrote, directed, and produced the short with the help of the production company Emancipated Minors, which she also founded.
According to her LinkedIn page, Maureen has been working for Black Valley Films as an Executive Producer since the summer of 2022.
So while she hasn’t been on screen herself, she’s been putting out projects consistently for the last few years.
You can also find Maureen on Cameo, where she sells personalized videos.
Personal life
Maybe part of the reason Maureen stepped away from the camera was to keep her private life a little more protected.
While she doesn’t have a huge following on social media, she updates her fans on occasion through her personal Instagram page.
She doesn’t post any pictures to indicate she’s married, but she does post pictures here and there of two adorable children.
Whether she stays behind the camera or decides to return in front of it, we know that Maureen Flannigan will bring her magic to the project at hand.
Maybe one day she’ll even bring back Out of This World and let us know what happened with Troy and Donna.
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