Summary
"Road to Avonlea" was a Canadian television series created by Kevin Sullivan of the beloved "Anne of Green Gables" miniseries. The "Road to Avonlea" series ran on the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) station from 1990 through 1996, and starred several of the same actors and actresses from "Anne of Green Gables." For example, Colleen Dewhurst (Marilla Cuthbert), Patricia Hamilton (Rachel Lynde) and Marilyn Lightstone (Muriel Stacy) were featured as regulars on the "Road to Avonlea" series. Jonathan Crombie also guest-starred as Gilbert Blythe in an episode called "Old Friends, Old Wounds", which aired in 1991. (Unfortunately, Megan Follows never made an appearance on the show.) The show also attracted the talents of guest stars that included Christopher Reeve, Christopher Lloyd, Faye Dunaway, Meg Tilly, and Madeline Kahn. The "Road to Avonlea" series was inspired by the short stories of Lucy Maud Montgomery, the author of the Anne of Green Gables series. The show explored the lives of various characters from Anne's hometown, Avonlea, in the early 1900s. Originally, the show
focused on the story of young Sara Stanley (played by Sarah Polley), who is sent
to live with her deceased mother's relatives on Prince Edward Island,
including her spinster aunt, Hetty King (Jackie Burroughs) and her cousins,
Felicity King (Gema Zamprogna) and Felix King (Zachary Bennett). Like the
"Anne of Green Gables" series, the "Road to Avonlea" series followed the lives
of its main characters from childhood to young adulthood, and contained the perfect
blend of comedy, drama and romance. Eventually, the show became wildly popular for
its ensemble cast and family-friendly storylines. The series won numerous awards
in Canada and gained an following in Canada and elsewhere that has endured long
after the show's final episode.
