| Eerie, Indiana | |
|---|---|
The Complete Series DVD cover |
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| Format | Mystery, Horror, Science fiction |
| Created by | José Rivera Karl Schaefer |
| Starring | Omri Katz Justin Shenkarow Mary-Margaret Humes Francis Guinan Julie Condra Jason Marsden (episodes 13+) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 19 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | John Cosgrove Terry Dunn Meurer |
| Running time | 24 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Original run | September 15, 1991 – April 12, 1992 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension |
Eerie, Indiana is an American television series that aired on NBC from 1991 to 1992 and then on syndication on Fox from 1997 to 1998. The series was created by José Rivera and Karl Schaefer, with Joe Dante serving as creative consultant.
Contents |
The show revolves around Marshall Teller, a young boy 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 X-Files-like 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 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.
In 1998, a spin off series was produced, 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 was short-lived, and only lasted one season. The first episode of the latter show, "Switching Channels", features a crossover between the two shows via a TV set.
A total of 19 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 series' initial run, but was later added when it was syndicated on Disney Channel. 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.[1]
| # | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Production code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Foreverware" | Joe Dante | José Rivera & Karl Schaefer | September 15, 1991 | 1001 |
| Marshall's mother, Marilyn, takes a job selling Tupperware-style plastic containers called Forever Ware, that can keep anything fresh--including human life. | |||||
| 2 | "The Retainer" | Joe Dante | José Rivera & Karl Schaefer | September 22, 1991 | 1002 |
| Marshall dreads visiting the Eerie, Indiana orthodonist (Vincent Schiavelli), whose retainers carry the power to read dogs' minds. | |||||
| 3 | "The ATM with the Heart of Gold" | Sam Pillsbury | Matt Dearborn | September 29, 1991 | 1003 |
| Marshall's friend, Simon, befriends an ATM that gives Simon the townspeople's money. | |||||
| 4 | "The Losers" | Joe Dante | Story by: Gary Markowitz & Michael R. Perry Teleplay by: Gary Markowitz |
October 6, 1991 | 1004 |
| Marshall and Simon investigate a string of disappearances when Marshall's dad loses his briefcase. | |||||
| 5 | "America's Scariest Home Video" | Sam Pillsbury | Karl Schaefer | October 20, 1991 | 1006 |
| Stuck having to baby-sit Simon's younger brother on Halloween, Marshall and Simon fool around with their video camera. Unfortunately they end up trapping him in a monster movie, while a mummy runs wild in their house. | |||||
| 6 | "Just Say No Fun" | Bryan Spicer | Michael R. Perry | October 27, 1991 | 1008 |
| Simon gets his eyes checked at the school nurse's office--and comes out a homework-loving zombie. | |||||
| 7 | "Heart on a Chain" | Joe Dante | José Rivera | November 3, 1991 | 1007 |
| Marshall and a classmate, Devon (Cory Danziger) fall for the new girl, Melanie (Danielle Harris) but when Devon dies, his heart gets transplanted into Melanie--which turns weird when she begins acting like him. | |||||
| 8 | "The Dead Letter" | Tim Hunter | James L. Crite | November 10, 1991 | 1009 |
| Marshall finds an old letter in the basement of the library--and is haunted by Trip McConnell (Tobey Maguire) who won't leave until Marshall delivers the letter. | |||||
| 9 | "Who's Who" | Tim Hunter | Julia Poll | November 17, 1991 | 1011 |
| A troubled young girl named Sara Bob (Shanelle Workman) with a penchant for drawing can suddenly change reality when she starts signing her pictures with an Eerie brand pencil. | |||||
| 10 | "The Lost Hour" | Bob Balaban | Vance DeGeneres | December 1, 1991 | 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 a scared teenage girl (Nikki Cox) and a group of garbagemen who want the two of them dead. They both seek refuge from a mysterious milkman (Eric Christmas). | |||||
| 11 | "Marshall's Theory of Believability" | Bob Balaban | Matt Dearborn | February 2, 1992 | 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 Kwapis | Michael Cassutt | March 1, 1992 | 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 as the tornado chasing meteorologist, Howard Raymer (Matt Frewer) left by Bob on his first pass-though, returns to challenge the tornado once more. | |||||
| 13 | "The Hole in the Head Gang" | Joe Dante | Karl Schaefer | March 1, 1992 | 1014 |
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Marshall and Simon investigate an old mill rumored to be haunted. It proves to be a hoax, set up by a mysterious young man who doesn't want anybody nosing around... or so it seems until they accidentally uncover a rusted gun, containing the ghost of Grungy Bill (Claude Akins) -- Eerie's worst bank robber. Note: Jason Marsden joins the cast as Dash X in the episode. This is also the first episode in which the episode titles are shown on screen. |
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| 14 | "Mr. Chaney" | Mark Goldblatt | José Rivera | March 8, 1992 | 1015 |
| Marshall is chosen to be the Eerie "Harvest King" and must go face the Eerie wolf in the forest. Trouble is, none of the previous harvest kings have ever returned! Stephen Root guest stars as Mr. Chaney. | |||||
| 15 | "No Brain, No Pain" | Greg Beeman | Matt Dearborn | March 15, 1992 | 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 Spicer | Michael Cassutt | March 22, 1992 | 1017 |
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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). Absent: Julie Condra as Syndi Teller |
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| 17 | "Zombies in P.J.s" | Bob Balaban | Julia Poll | April 12, 1992 | 1018 |
| Facing bankruptcy due to a possible audit, Radford welcomes a new partner - The Donald (René Auberjonois), who brainwashes the town into buying on credit. | |||||
| 18 | "Reality Takes a Holiday" | Ken Kwapis | Vance DeGeneres | April 12, 1992 | 1019 |
| In this self-referential episode, Marshall finds a screenplay 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 Holland | José Rivera | December 9, 1993 | 1005 |
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Marshall's friend Todd is a shy nerd with a verbally abusive father (Tom Everett). Marshall then gives him a metal record that turns him into a rebellious headbanger after listening. Meanwhile, Edgar and Marilyn worry about Syndi taking part in a police ride-along. Note: This is the only episode that did not air on NBC, it aired for first time on Disney Channel. Also this episode was produced before Jason Marsden joined the cast. |
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Eerie, Indiana was well-received by critics when it first 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.[2] 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."[3] 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."[4] 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."[5] 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!"[6]
On October 12, 2004, Alpha Video released Eerie, Indiana: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1. The 5-disc boxset features all nineteen episodes of the original series, including an episode that never aired on NBC.
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| Eerie, Indiana: The Complete Series | 19 | October 12, 2004 |
Each episode was strewn with in-jokes and references to old films, particularly horror films.
Following the show's "re-birth" on Fox during the latter half of the 1990s, 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.