Eerie, Indiana
Eerie, Indiana | |
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The Complete Series DVD cover. |
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Format | Mystery/Science Fiction |
Created by | Jose Rivera |
Starring | Omri Katz Justin Shenkarow Mary-Margaret Humes Francis Guinan Julie Condra Jason Marsden |
Country of origin | United States |
No. of episodes | 19 |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | John Cosgrove |
Running time | 24 minutes |
Broadcast | |
Original channel | NBC FOX |
Original run | September 15, 1991 – April 12, 1992 |
Eerie, Indiana is an American television show and that aired on NBC from 1991 to 1992 and then on FOX from 1997 to 1998. Despite its short run time, the show received a cult-like fan following. The show was created by and , with Joe Dante serving as creative consultant (and directing a plurality of the episodes).
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Overview
The show revolves around Marshall Teller, a young boy whose family moves to the desolate town of Eerie, Indiana. 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 an undead Elvis Presley. Although the show was host to a plethora of jokes, it also featured a serious X-Files-like tone.
In 1998, a spin off of the series was produced, entitled . 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 for one season. In 2004, Alpha Video released a DVD containing all nineteen episodes of the series, including an episode that never aired on NBC.
Characters
- Marshall Teller, played by Omri Katz, is the protagonist of the series. With the help of his sidekick and best friend, Simon Holmes, he manages to unravel the many mysteries that plague Eerie, Indiana.
- Simon Holmes, played by Justin Shenkarow, is Marshall’s best friend. Due to the constant arguing between Simon’s parents, he chooses to spend most of his free time hanging out with Marshall. Prior to Marshall's arrival, Simon was a lonely child, as most of his peers in Eerie shun him. Similar to Marshall, Simon believes that something is afoul in Eerie.
- Edgar Teller, played by Francis Guinan, is Marshall's father. Edgar works at "Things Incorporated", a product testing company, for a living. According to Marshall, it was Edgar's idea to leave New Jersey, and move to Eerie. During the course of the series, it is revealed that Edgar interned at the Smithsonian Institute before entering the University of Syracuse to do his undergraduate work in archeology. He later received a scholarship from NASA to attend MIT, where he worked on his thesis, "Matter: What is it Exactly?". Considering the fact that Edgar is scientist on Eerie, Indiana, many fans believe that his name was a subtle nod towards Edward Teller, an American nuclear physicist who helped develop the Hydrogen Bomb.
- Marilyn Teller, played by Mary-Margaret Humes, is Marshall's mother. Marilyn operates her own party planning business at the Eerie Mall.
- Syndi Teller, played by Julie Condra, is Marshall's sister. At the time in which Marshall introduces Syndi to the audience, she is practicing for her Drivers Ed. Test. Marshall often ridicules his sister for the awkward spelling of her name.
- Dash X, played by Jason Marsden, is a character shrouded in mystery. Dash claims that he woke up in "Weirdsville" without any knowledge to how he got there. Dash has no memory of parents, hometown, past or his real name. Since Dash has no home, he is forced to live on the streets and eat out of dumpsters. Dash is commonly referred to as "The Kid with the Grey Hair". People would later go on to call him the "Sneaky Kid with the Hair" and "the Kid with No Name". On some occasions, Dash would help Marshall and Simon solve some of Eerie's mysteries, most notably by helping them infiltrate the Loyal Order of Corn cult. Dash X gave himself his name in the episode The Loyal Order of the Corn, as a reference to the mysterious '-' and '+' markings on his hands which were shared by the extraterrestrial leader of the cult. Dash X may believe that the cult leader, played by Ray Walston may be his father, but he returns to his homeworld without revealing whether or not he is.
Other characters
- Radford - (John Astin)
- Winifred Swanson and Mother - (Belinda Balaski)
- Sergeant Knight - ()
- Mr. Radford and Fred Suggs - (Archie Hahn)
- Mayor Winston Chisel - (Gregory Itzin)
- The Anchorman - (Doug Llewelyn)
- Elvis Presley - ()
- Bertram Wilson - ()
- Ernest Wilson - (Don Stanton)
Episode list
Nineteen episodes of Eerie, Indiana were produced before the show's cancellation. The episode, The Broken Record was omitted during the series' initial run, but was later added to re-syndications of the show on other networks. The show's producers planned to make an episode entitled Jolly Rogers, which featured a group of pirates in search for buried treasure in Marshall's house.[1]
Episode Number | Name | Date |
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1. | Foreverware | September 15, 1991 |
2. | The Retainer | September 22, 1991 |
3. | ATM with a Heart of Gold | September 29, 1991 |
4. | The Losers | October 6, 1991 |
5. | Scariest Home Videos | October 20. 1991 |
6. | Just Say No Fun | October 27, 1991 |
7. | Heart on a Chain | November 3, 1991 |
8. | The Dead Letter | November 10, 1991 |
9. | Who's Who | November 17, 1991 |
10. | The Lost Hour | December 1, 1991 |
11. | Marshall's Theory of Believability | February 2, 1992 |
12. | Tornado Days | March 1, 1992 |
13. | The Hole in the Head Gang | March 1, 1992 |
14. | Mr. Chaney | March 8, 1992 |
15. | No Brain, No Pain | March 15, 1992 |
16. | The Loyal Order of Corn | March 22, 1992 |
17. | Zombies in P.J.s | April 12, 1992 |
18. | Reality Takes a Holiday | April 12, 1992 |
19. | The Broken Record | December 9, 1993 |
In-show references
Each episode was strewn with in-jokes and references to old films, particularly horror films.
- In the episode Heart On A Chain, a scene begins with a shot of spider web before panning right to action taking place. Whilst looking at the spider web, one can faintly hear a high-pitched voice crying "Help me! Help me!", a sly reference to the 1958 version of The Fly.
- In the episode Mr. Chaney, Marshall meets a werewolf that, while in human form, goes by the name of "Mr. Chaney", a nod to Lon Chaney Jr. who played the title role in the 1941 version of The Wolf Man. In this same episode, there is a reference to the 1981 film The Howling, a film about werewolves directed by Joe Dante, himself an occasional director of the show. There is also a mention of David Lynch's TV show Twin Peaks with Marshall exclaiming at one point 'It's you!' and the Grey Haired Kid, holding a log with which he just hit Mr. Chaney, replying 'Well, it's not the Log Lady.'
- In the episode Just Say No Fun the name of the school is B.F. Skinner Middle School in reference to the eponymous psychologist.
- In the episode Scariest Home Videos, an actor from a classic mummy movie is transported into the Teller home. The actor's name is Boris Von Orloff, a reference to Boris Karloff, who played the title role in the 1932 film, The Mummy.
- In the episode The Retainer the orthodontist's name is Dr. Eukanuba, a reference to dog food, and the episode's plot about evil dogs.
- In the Episode ATM with a Heart of Gold, Mr. Wilson's slowly sings 99 Bottles of Beer while his personality is destroyed. This is an homage to the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, in which the computer HAL 9000 sings "Daisy Bell" while his higher functions are being disconnected.
- In the episode No Brain, No Pain, a leather clad woman with sunglasses utters, "I'll be back", before hastily leaving Marshall and his friends. Her appearance and quote reminisces Arnold Schwarzenegger role in Terminator. Additionally, an instrumental variation of the song My Sharona is played during portions of the episode, while the song is referenced several times.
Book series
Following the show's "re-birth" on FOX during the latter half of the 1990s, author Mike Ford wrote a plethora 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.
External links
- Eerie, Indiana at TV.com
- Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension at TV.com
- Eerie, Indiana at the Internet Movie Database
- Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension at the Internet Movie Database
Films directed by Joe Dante |
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The Movie Orgy | Hollywood Boulevard | Piranha | The Howling | Twilight Zone: The Movie | Gremlins | Explorers | The Shadow Man | Innerspace | Amazon Women on the Moon | The 'Burbs | Gremlins 2: The New Batch | Eerie, Indiana | Matinee | Runaway Daughters | The Second Civil War | The Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy | Small Soldiers | R.L. Stine's Haunted Lighthouse | Looney Tunes: Back in Action | Homecoming | | The Screwfly Solution | |
additional contributions Rock 'n' Roll High School | The Phantom |