Eerie, Indiana

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Eerie, Indiana
The Complete Series DVD cover.
Format	Mystery/Science Fiction
Created by	Jose Rivera Karl Schaefer
Starring	Omri Katz Justin Shenkarow Mary-Margaret Humes Francis Guinan Julie Condra Jason Marsden
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	19
Production
Executive producer(s)	John Cosgrove Terry Dunn Meurer
Running time	24 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC FOX
Original run	September 15, 1991 – April 12, 1992
Chronology
Followed by	Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension

Eerie, Indiana is an American television show that aired on NBC from 1991 to 1992 and then on FOX from 1997 to 1998. The show was created by Jose Rivera and Karl Schaefer, with Joe Dante serving as creative consultant (and directing a multitude of episodes).

Overview

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 an undead Elvis Presley. Although the show was host to a plethora of jokes, it also featured a serious X-Files-like tone. After thirteen episodes, the last 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.

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. Though occasionally arrogant, Marshall is also intelligent, resourceful and quick-thinking, qualities that come in handy during his investigations. He is sometimes torn between hanging out with Simon and following his burgeoning instincts about girls. Marshall constantly compares Eerie to where he grew up in New Jersey, which is the epitome of 'normal' in his mind.

• 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. In Scariest Home Videos, it is revealed that Simon has a younger brother, who was never mentioned before and never appears again.

• 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 Institution 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?". As Edgar is a scientist, 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. Ironically, as shown in Foreverware, Marilyn is not an organised person. In Who's Who, she is briefly adopted as a mother by Sarah Bob, who is trying to create a perfect family.

• 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. Syndi aims to be a reporter and spends time with the Eerie police and fire department to gain experience.

• 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

• Mr. Radford (later revealed to be Fred Suggs) - (Archie Hahn)
• Mr. Radford (the real one) - (John Astin)
• Winifred Swanson and Mother - (Belinda Balaski)
• Sergeant Knight - (Harry Goaz)
• Mayor Winston Chisel - (Gregory Itzin)
• The Anchorman - (Doug Llewelyn)
• Elvis Presley - (Steven Peri)
• Bertram Wilson - (Nathan Schultz)
• Ernest Wilson - (Nicholas Schultz)
• Trip McConnel - (Tobey Maguire)

Episode list

Nineteen episodes of Eerie, Indiana were produced before the show's cancellation. The episode, The Broken Record, the last produced before the show's retooling, was omitted during the series' initial run, but was later added to the syndicated run. 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]

DVD release

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.

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. Also in this episode, Marshall's creepy English teacher is called Miss Annabel Lee, a reference to the morbid Edgar Allan Poe poem of the same name. Right at the end of the episode, the Grim Reaper is seen in the background.

• 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 ain't 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 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's role as The Terminator. Additionally, an instrumental variation of the song "My Sharona" is played during portions of the episode, while the song is referenced several times.

• In the episode Reality Takes A Holiday Marshall says, "I don't have a dog named Toto. But, if I did, right about now I'd be telling him - Toto, I don't think we're in Indiana any more", a reference to The Wizard of Oz. Later in the episode, Dash X says, "he's the kind of guy who actually believes that there's no place like home".

Book series

The Cover of The Dollhouse That Time Forgot

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.

Titles in book series

1. Return to Foreverware (Mike Ford) (October 1997) ISBN 0-380-79774-7
2. Bureau of Lost (John Peel) (October 1997) ISBN 0-380-79775-5
3. The Eerie Triangle (Mike Ford) (October 1997) ISBN 0-380-79776-3
4. Simon and Marshall's Excellent Adventure (John Peel) (November 1997) ISBN 0-380-79777-1
5. Have Yourself an Eerie Little Christmas (Mike Ford) (December 1997) ISBN 0-380-79781-X
6. Fountain of Weird (Sherry Shahan) (January 1998) ISBN 0-380-79782-8
7. Attack of the Two-Ton Tomatoes (Mike Ford) (February 1998) ISBN 0-380-79783-6
8. Who Framed Alice Prophet? (Mike Ford) (March 1998) ISBN 0-380-79784-4
9. Bring Me a Dream (Robert James) (March 1998) ISBN 0-380-79785-2
10. Finger-Lickin' Strange (Jeremy Roberts) (May 1998) ISBN 0-380-79786-0
11. The Dollhouse That Time Forgot (Mike Ford) (June 1998) ISBN 0-380-79787-9
12. They Say (Mike Ford) (July 1998) ISBN 0-380-79788-7
13. Switching Channels (Mike Ford) (August 1998) ISBN 0-380-80103-5
14. The Incredible Shrinking Stanley (Robert James) (September 1998) ISBN 0-380-80104-3
15. Halloweird (Mike Ford) (October 1998) ISBN 0-380-80105-1
16. Eerie in the Mirror (by Robert James) (November 1998) ISBN 0-380-80106-X
17. We Wish You an Eerie Christmas (Robert James) (December 1998) ISBN 0-380-80107-8

References

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