Faerie Tale Theatre The Three Little Pigs (1982–1987) Online

This is one of the lightest, fluffiest episodes of Shelley Duvall's beloved television show. Billy Crystal and Fred Willard clearly have a great time playing two of the three titular pigs, with Crystal's passively sardonic wit providing plenty of guffaws along the way, and Willard's gleefully mischievous presence making him all the more entertaining. Jeff Goldblum's Big Bad Wolf is effective but it's hard not to feel as though Goldblum is holding back a bit of his charming ability to roll every line of dialogue with his tongue, but he's got a number of standout moments as well. The humor is pretty undemanding but fun nevertheless, it's just that it feels a bit padded and repetitive by the end.

There is a lot to like about the 'Faerie Tale Theatre' series. Many of their adaptations of various well-known and well-loved fairy tales are charming, clever and sometimes funny, a few even emotionally moving. 'Faerie Tale Theatre' puts its own magical spin on the best of the episodes while still capturing the essence of the stories, while also giving further enjoyments in seeing talented performers in early roles or in roles that are departures from their usual roles.

It's episodes like "The Three Little Pigs" that epitomise what 'Faerie Tale Theatre' is all about. The original story is entertaining if slight, what 'Faerie Tale Theatre's' version does is stick to the basic details and spirit and doing so while giving the story a refreshing and necessary freshness and expanding on the characters' personalities (so instead of the Third Pig and the wolf being the only really, really interesting ones, all the characters are distinct).

Fans fairly widely consider "The Three Little Pigs" one of the funniest episodes of 'Faerie Tale Theatre'. Without question, and definitely one of the most successful episodes of the show to play for laughs or go for humour rather than play it straight. Both approaches 'Faerie Tale Theatre' does well (though in some episodes better than others on both counts), and 'The Three Little Pigs' is one of those stories that lends itself well to not being played straight and really benefits from that approach and the significant character expansion.

Visually, "The Three Little Pigs" is above decent, not one of the best-looking of the show but not one of the cheapest either. The lighting and sets/scenery are pleasingly atmospheric and picturesque and at least with the costumes it's easy to figure out what the characters are meant to be. The music has a pleasant energy and lilt, and it's all brightly and breezily directed.

Writing is very rarely less than very funny, and often hilarious. The best lines, especially for the wolf, is some of the most quotable of any episode of 'Faerie Tale Theatre' in my opinion. The story is a lot of fun and very charming, what could easily have been repetitive is given enough variety which is a good thing. Loved what was done with the characters, and also the chemistry between Larry and the wolf. The character of Tina was a nice addition.

Of the uniformly good cast (it is agreed that "The Three Little Pigs" is one of the better cast episodes), Billy Crystal and particularly Jeff Goldblum come off especially well. Crystal has a great zany presence as well as making his need to stand up for himself and to the wolf easy to identify with, while Goldblum's menacing and hilarious wolf is one of the best performances of the show (to me). Fred Willard, Stephen Furst and Doris Roberts add hugely too, as does charmingly feisty Valerie Perrine. The chemistry between everybody is a sheer delight.

In conclusion, brilliant and what 'Faerie Tale Theatre' is all about. Certainly not the runt of the litter by any stretch of the imagination. quite the opposite. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Some episodes of the Faerie Tale Theatre are too silly to have any redeeming value. Some episodes actually take themselves too seriously and become boring as a result. With "The Three Little Pigs", however, a perfect balance between humor & storytelling is found.

What really helps this effort is one of the better celebrity casts in FTT history, including such names as: Billy Crystal, Jeff Goldblum, Stephen Furst, Larry Hankin, Fred Willard, Doris Richards, & Valerie Perrine.

This episode might be the single greatest in the annals of FTT. Terrific viewing for adults and children alike!