Eerie, Indiana

Eerie, Indiana

The Complete Series DVD cover
Genre Horror
Mystery
Science fiction
Supernatural
Created by José Rivera
Karl Schaefer
Starring Omri Katz
Justin Shenkarow
Mary-Margaret Humes
Francis Guinan
Julie Condra
Jason Marsden
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 19 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) John Cosgrove
Terry Dunn Meurer
Cinematography John Hora (pilot only)
Jonathan West
Editor(s) Alan Baumgarten
Terry Blythe
Tom Meshelski
Jon Poll
Camera setup Single-camera
Production company(s) Unreality, Inc.
Cosgrove/Meurer Productions
Hearst Entertainment
Release
Original network NBC
Original release September 15, 1991 (1991-09-15) – April 12, 1992 (1992-04-12)
Chronology
Followed by Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension

Eerie, Indiana is an American television series that originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1991 to April 12, 1992. The series was created by José Rivera and Karl Schaefer, with Joe Dante serving as creative consultant.

A total of nineteen episodes were produced. The final episode aired for the first time in 1993, when the series was syndicated on The Disney Channel. The show was rerun on The Disney Channel from October 7, 1993[1] to late-March 1996.[2][3] In 1997, the show generated a new fan base, when Fox's children's programming block Fox Kids aired the series on Saturday mornings from January to September, gaining something of a cult following despite its short run. The renewed popularity in the series, encouraged Fox to produce a spin-off Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension, lasting only one season in 1998.

Premise

The series revolves around Marshall Teller, a teenager whose family moves to the desolate town of Eerie, Indiana, population of 16,661. While moving into his new home, he meets Simon Holmes, one of the few normal people in Eerie. Together, they are faced with bizarre scenarios, which include discovering a sinister group of intelligent dogs that are planning on taking over the world, and meeting a tornado hunter who is reminiscent of Captain Ahab. They also confront numerous urban legends such as Bigfoot and a still-living Elvis Presley. Although the show was host to a plethora of jokes, it also featured a serious tone.

After thirteen episodes, one of which did not air during the network run, the series was retooled with Jason Marsden's "Dash X" added to the cast and Archie Hahn's Mr. Radford is revealed to be an imposter, with John Astin revealed to be the "actual" Mr. Radford. The final produced episode was a tongue-in-cheek, fourth wall breaking sequence of events depicting Dash X's attempts to take over as star of the show.

Characters

Recurring characters

Episodes

A total of nineteen episodes of Eerie, Indiana were produced before the show's cancellation. The episode "The Broken Record" was the only episode which did not air before the show's retooling and was omitted during the show's initial run on NBC. The episode aired for the first time on television when the series was syndicated on The Disney Channel in 1993.

The show's producers planned to make an episode entitled "The Jolly Rogers", which featured a group of pirates in search for buried treasure in the Teller house.[4]

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateProd.
code
1"Foreverware"Joe DanteJosé Rivera & Karl SchaeferSeptember 15, 1991 (1991-09-15)1001
Marshall's mother, Marilyn, hosts a neighborhood party of Forever Ware, Tupperware style plastic containers that can keep anything fresh — and Marshall discovers that this extends to human life.
2"The Retainer"Joe DanteJosé Rivera & Karl SchaeferSeptember 22, 1991 (1991-09-22)1002
Marshall's friend Steve dreads visiting the Eerie, Indiana orthodontist (Vincent Schiavelli) and is fitted for a retainer that gives him the power to read dogs' minds.
3"The ATM with the Heart of Gold"Sam PillsburyMatt DearbornSeptember 29, 1991 (1991-09-29)1003
Simon, feeling left out with no friends but Marshall, comes across an ATM that gives him money to be more popular -- which also causes Eerie, Indiana to sink into a financial depression.
4"The Losers"Joe DanteStory by: Gary Markowitz & Michael R. Perry
Teleplay by: Gary Markowitz
October 6, 1991 (1991-10-06)1004
Marshall and Simon investigate a string of disappearances when Marshall's dad loses his briefcase.
5"America's Scariest Home Video"Sam PillsburyKarl SchaeferOctober 20, 1991 (1991-10-20)1006
Stuck having to baby-sit Simon's younger brother on Halloween, Marshall and Simon fool around with their video camera. However, Simon's bratty brother manages to trade places with a mummy while left unattended, then proceeds to literally "break the fourth wall" in the monster movie by wrecking the set and harassing the film crew. Simon and Marshall learn the mummy is actually a famous actor who is doomed to keep reshooting that mummy movie, and agrees to get Simon's little brother back to them in exchange for them getting him into a happier film.
6"Just Say No Fun"Bryan SpicerMichael R. PerryOctober 27, 1991 (1991-10-27)1008
Simon gets his eyes checked at the school nurse's office — and comes out with huge horn-rimmed glasses with the power to make its wearer boring and disinterested in fun.
7"Heart on a Chain"Joe DanteJosé RiveraNovember 3, 1991 (1991-11-03)1007
Marshall and a classmate, Devon (Cory Danziger) fall for the new girl, Melissa (Danielle Harris) who needs a heart transplant. When Devon dies in a gruesome accident, Melissa receives Devon's heart — and her personality changes almost overnight. Is Melissa acting out because she feels guilty over Devon's death or does Devon's spirit live on in his transplanted heart, which is now in Melissa's body?
8"The Dead Letter"Tim HunterJames L. CriteNovember 10, 1991 (1991-11-10)1009
Marshall finds an old letter in the basement of the library — and is haunted by a boy named Trip McConnell (Tobey Maguire) who won't leave until Marshall delivers the letter.
9"Who's Who"Tim HunterJulia PollNovember 17, 1991 (1991-11-17)1011
A young artist (Shanelle Workman) in a dysfunctional family of slovenly males begins to change her life for the better when she uses an Eerie brand pencil to draw her masterpieces — and ends up stealing Marshall's mother when she draws a picture of her and signs it.
10"The Lost Hour"Bob BalabanVance DeGeneresDecember 1, 1991 (1991-12-01)1010
Marshall doesn't like the Indiana practice of ignoring daylight saving time, and sets his clock back an hour anyway. When he wakes up the next day, he finds himself all alone — save for a runaway teenage girl (Nikki Cox) and a group of garbage collectors who want the two of them dead.
11"Marshall's Theory of Believability"Bob BalabanMatt DearbornFebruary 2, 1992 (1992-02-02)1012
Nigel Zirchron (John Standing), a professor renowned as an authority on the supernatural, comes to Eerie to observe an extraterrestrial object he believes will land here. Marshall immediately sees an opportunity to blow the lid off the Eerie weirdness, but is the professor really all that he claims to be?
12"Tornado Days"Ken KwapisMichael CassuttMarch 1, 1992 (1992-03-01)1013
As the tornado "Old Bob" approaches Eerie, the citizens prepare for their annual tornado day picnic to appease him. But Marshall and Simon insist on staying home, and a tornado chasing meteorologist, Howard Raymer (Matt Frewer) gets deposited on the front lawn. Howard says he is a member of NOAA, and a prior mission in tracking Old Bob left several of his NOAA colleagues dead. Now Old Bob wants to kill Marshall in addition to Howard.
13"The Hole in the Head Gang"*Joe DanteKarl SchaeferMarch 1, 1992 (1992-03-01)1014
Marshall and Simon investigate an old mill rumored to be haunted, only to discover that it's a hoax set up by a mysterious young man who doesn't want anybody nosing around ... until they accidentally uncover a rusted gun, containing the ghost of Grungy Bill (Claude Akins) — Eerie's worst bank robber.
14"Mr. Chaney"Mark GoldblattJosé RiveraMarch 8, 1992 (1992-03-08)1015
Marshall is chosen to be the Eerie and Mr. Chaney (Stephen Root) as the "Harvest King" and must go face the Eerie wolf in the forest. Trouble is, none of the previous harvest kings have ever returned!
15"No Brain, No Pain"Greg BeemanMatt DearbornMarch 15, 1992 (1992-03-15)1016
Marshall and Simon help out a homeless man (Paul Sand) after witnessing him being attacked by a woman (Anita Morris) with a ray gun. It is difficult, though, because all he does is mumble nonsense, and reassemble electrical appliances into bizarre contraptions.
16"The Loyal Order of Corn"Bryan SpicerMichael CassuttMarch 22, 1992 (1992-03-22)1017
Marshall's father, Edgar joins a strange club called "The Loyal Order of Corn". Meanwhile, Dash X gets a job at the club and seeks answers about his past from the mysterious bartender (Ray Walston).
17"Zombies in P.J.s"Bob BalabanJulia PollApril 12, 1992 (1992-04-12)1018
Facing bankruptcy due to a possible audit, Radford welcomes a new partner — a pompous businessman known as The Donald (René Auberjonois), who brainwashes the town into buying on credit.
18"Reality Takes a Holiday"Ken KwapisVance DeGeneresApril 12, 1992 (1992-04-12)1019
In this self-referential episode, Marshall finds a television script in the mail and suddenly finds himself behind the scenes of Eerie, Indiana where his friends and family are the actors and actresses on the show and everyone refers to him as Omri Katz.
19"The Broken Record"Todd HollandJosé RiveraDecember 9, 1993 (1993-12-09)1005
Todd, Marshall's shy, nerdy friend with a verbally abusive father (Tom Everett), suddenly turns into a rebellious punk rocker after listening to one of Marshall's favorite records, but is the music really to blame? Meanwhile, Edgar and Marilyn worry about Syndi taking part in a police ride-along.

* ^ "The Hole in the Head Gang" is the first episode in which the episode titles are shown on screen.

Critical reception

Eerie, Indiana was well received by critics when it debuted on television. Entertainment Weekly gave it a "B" rating and Ken Tucker wrote, "You watch Eerie for the small-screen spectacle of it all — to see the way, in the show's first few weeks, feature-film directors like Joe Dante (Gremlins) and Tim Hunter (River's Edge) oversaw episodes that summoned up an atmosphere of absurdist suburban dread.[5] In his review for The Hollywood Reporter, Miles Beller wrote, "Scripted by Karl Schaefer and José Rivera with smart, sharp insights; slyly directed by feature film helmsman Joe Dante; and given edgy life by the show's winning cast, Eerie, Indiana shapes up as one of the fall season's standouts, a newcomer that has the fresh, bracing look of Edward Scissorhands and scores as a clever, wry presentation well worth watching."[6] In his review for the Orange County Register, Ray Richmond wrote, "It's the kind of knowingly hip series with equally strong appeal for both kids and adults, the kind that preteens will watch and discuss."[7] USA Today described the show as "Stephen King by way of The Simpsons", and Matt Roush wrote, "Eerie recalls Edward Scissorhands and even - heaven help it - David Lynch in its garish nightmare-comedy depiction of the lurid and silly horrors that lurk beneath suburban conformity."[8] In his review for the Washington Times, David Klinghoffer wrote, "Everything about the pilot exceeds the normal minimal expectations of TV. Mr. Dante directs as if he were making a movie, and a good one. In a departure from usual TV operating procedures, he sometimes actually has more than one thing going on on screen at the same time!"[9]

In-show references

Each episode was strewn with in-jokes and references to old films, particularly horror films and also had references to previous episodes from the show such as guest characters for example "The Twins" from "Foreverware" in the episode "Zombies In PJs" and other subtle hints from previous episodes such as the schoolchildren wearing glasses in a later episode from an earlier episode "Just Say No Fun" which was a good way to link each episode for a nice hint of nostalgia.

Renewed popularity and spin-off series

In 1997, the show generated a new fan base, when Fox's children's programming block Fox Kids aired the series. The following year, a spin-off series was produced entitled, Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension. The series was filmed in Canada and focused on another, younger boy while still following the concept of the original show. The spin-off lasted one season. The first episode of the spin-off, "Switching Channels", features a crossover between the two shows via a TV set.

In 2012, the entire series was added to the Hulu website.

Reruns of the series began on August 2012 on the now-defunct Fearnet, airing weekend mornings on their "Funhouse" block.

Book series

Following the show's "re-birth" on Fox in 1997, authors Mike Ford, Sherry Shahan, Jeremy Roberts, John Peel and Robert James wrote a number of in-universe paperback books relating to Eerie, Indiana. The books featured new stories, which helped expand the Eerie universe. Similar to the television series, the books focused on Marshall and Simon, as they continue to solve various perplexing phenomena in Eerie.

Titles in book series

  1. Return to Foreverware (Mike Ford) (October 1997) ISBN 0-380-79774-7: Marshall and Simon get jobs cleaning a strange couple's basement out and discover that they were Forever Ware representatives and also used the infamous Tupperware to keep themselves young.
  2. Bureau of Lost (John Peel) (October 1997) ISBN 0-380-79775-5: Eerie's Bureau of Lost suffers a power failure, and all of history's famous figures who went missing and/or died under mysterious circumstances (Jesse James, Butch Cassidy, The Sundance Kid, Amelia Earhart, among others) are on the loose and planning to commit crimes.
  3. The Eerie Triangle (Mike Ford) (October 1997) ISBN 0-380-79776-3: Marshall and Simon try to solve the mystery of why Eerie, Indiana's town founder is not mentioned in the history books and if it has anything to do with a possible alien invasion cover-up in the 1950s.
  4. Simon and Marshall's Excellent Adventure (John Peel) (November 1997) ISBN 0-380-79777-1: Simon and Marshall suspect a new boy, Jazen, who seems to disappear into thin air as he is about to be caught, of being a time traveler.
  5. Have Yourself an Eerie Little Christmas (Mike Ford) (December 1997) ISBN 0-380-79781-X: Marshall and Simon find themselves in a Dickensian London town on Christmas Eve — and discover that they're trapped inside a snow globe and will remain so unless they can find a way out.
  6. Fountain of Weird (Sherry Shahan) (January 1998) ISBN 0-380-79782-8: Marshall and Simon find themselves at the Old Fogey's Farm, run by Dr. Beelzebug, who has discovered a way to stop people from aging. But he uses hormones from young people to do it — and he plans for the boys to be his next donors.
  7. Attack of the Two-Ton Tomatoes (Mike Ford) (February 1998) ISBN 0-380-79783-6: Everyone in Eerie begins eating a new line of super-juicy, super-big vegetables to get healthy, but Marshall and Simon soon find that the produce is turning the people into plant monsters.
  8. Who Framed Alice Prophet? (Mike Ford) (March 1998) ISBN 0-380-79784-4: A mysterious painting leads Marshall and Simon on the trail of an artist who makes her paintings too real.
  9. Bring Me a Dream (Robert James) (March 1998) ISBN 0-380-79785-2: When anything the Tellers dream of is delivered to Marshall's door, it's fun at first—until the delivery van starts leaving nightmares.
  10. Finger-Lickin' Strange (Jeremy Roberts) (May 1998) ISBN 0-380-79786-0: The new chef at World o' Stuff's lunch counter is a sensation: everybody raves about her cooking, but Marshall and Simon discover why the new chef's lunch leaves people wanting more.
  11. The Dollhouse That Time Forgot (Mike Ford) (June 1998) ISBN 0-380-79787-9: Syndi and Mrs. Teller just love the old dollhouse they found at a yard sale, but Marshall and Simon aren't impressed. Still, when they see an interesting doll in a shop window, they make it a present for Syndi. But when Syndi puts the doll into the house, weirdness ensues. And when Marshall sneaks into a real-life house that looks like the dollhouse, he realizes that he's shrinking. What's the connection between all this and the peculiar new girl in school who looks just like Syndi's doll?
  12. They Say (Mike Ford) (July 1998) ISBN 0-380-79788-7: Marshall and Simon help an old woman who tells them about The Gathering of They, a secret society behind the myriad of generalizations, advice, and superstitions in society.
  13. Switching Channels (Mike Ford) (August 1998) ISBN 0-380-80103-5: In an adaptation of the series premiere of Eerie, Indiana: The New Dimension, two boys named Mitchell and Stanley find their television tuned into another dimension, where two boys named Marshall and Simon are looking for a portal into another reality.
  14. The Incredible Shrinking Stanley (Robert James) (September 1998) ISBN 0-380-80104-3: Stanley and Mitchell go to the Eerie Laundromat after Stanley's washer breaks, but when Stanley comes in contact with the laundromat's soaps and powders, he begins to shrink, and unless Mitchell can fix it, Stanley will continue to grow small until he vanishes.
  15. Halloweird (Mike Ford) (October 1998) ISBN 0-380-80105-1: Mitchell's dad is planning a special Halloween show on radio station WERD, a spooky story about invaders from Mars. Then Mitchell and Stanley find some terrific costumes at a local shop, and offer to help the proprietor organize a Halloween parade in return for letting them use the costumes for Halloween. Little do they know that they're about to get caught up in the weirdest adventure of all. Because some of the people in Eerie aren't really people—and Dad's radio show might just turn out to be true.
  16. Eerie in the Mirror (by Robert James) (November 1998) ISBN 0-380-80106-X: Stanley and Mitchell accidentally break a mirror, but, rather than seven years' bad luck, the mirror creates an inverted reality of Eerie, Indiana. Can Mitchell and Stanley set things right without coming in contact with their inverted selves?
  17. We Wish You an Eerie Christmas (Robert James) (December 1998) ISBN 0-380-80107-8: When the Tellers find themselves on the verge of losing their home, Mitchell's Christmas cheer turns sour, and only the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Not-So-Far-Into-The-Future can help him.

DVD release

On October 12, 2004, Alpha Video released Eerie, Indiana: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1. The 5-disc box set features all nineteen episodes of the original series.

DVD name Ep # Release date
Eerie, Indiana: The Complete Series 19 October 12, 2004

Legacy

Alex Hirsch cited the series as an influence on his own Gravity Falls series.[10]

References

  1. The Disney Channel Magazine, Vol. 11, no. 6, October/November 1993: pp. 32-33, 36, 40.
  2. The Disney Channel Magazine, Vol. 14, no. 1, February/March 1996: pp. 28, 40-41, 47.
  3. The Disney Channel Magazine, Vol. 14, no. 3 (typo in magazine: should be "no. 2"), April/May 1996: pp. 26-27, 46.
  4. Unproduced Eerie, Indiana episode, "The Jolly Rogers"
  5. Tucker, Ken (October 11, 1991). "Eerie, Indiana". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
  6. Beller, Miles (September 12, 1991). "Eerie, Indiana". The Hollywood Reporter.
  7. Richmond, Ray (September 13, 1991). "Bizarre TV settles in Eerie, Indiana". Orange County Register.
  8. Roush, Matt (September 13, 1991). "Eerie: Hip horror in the Hoosier state". USA Today.
  9. Klinghoffer, David (September 15, 1991). "Eerie creators' enthusiasm shows". Washington Times.
  10. Bibbiani, William. "Interview: Part Two of Getting Deep with GRAVITY FALLS Alex Hirsch". Blumhouse. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
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