Eerie, Indiana facts for kids

Quick facts for kids 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 horror science fiction 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 to late March 1996. In 1997, the show generated a new fan base, when the Fox Kids Network aired the series on Saturday mornings from January to September, gaining something of a cult following despite its short run. The renewed popularity of the series encouraged Fox Kids 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

• 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. Before moving to Eerie, Indiana, he and his family once lived in the city filled with pollution and crime, which he likes. 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. He is a fan of the New York Giants.
• 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 the episode "America's Scariest Home Video", it is revealed that Simon has a younger brother, Harley Schwarzenegger Holmes, 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 M.I.T., 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 episode "Who's Who", she is briefly adopted as a mother by Sara Bob, who is trying to create a perfect family.
• Syndi Marie Priscilla Teller, played by Julie Condra, is Marshall's older 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. "The Loyal Order of Corn", was the only episode in the series Syndi was absent for.
• Dash X, played by Jason Marsden, is a character shrouded in mystery. First introduced in the episode "The Hole in the Head Gang", 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 extra-terrestrial leader of the cult. Dash X wonders if the cult leader, played by Ray Walston is his father, but the leader ruefully and cryptically remarks, "If only it were that simple," before returning to his homeworld.

Recurring characters

• Mr. Radford (the imposter - revealed as 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) (Dan Stanton - adult)
• Ernest Wilson - (Nicholas Schultz) (Don Stanton - adult)
• Harley Schwarzenegger Holmes - (Christian and Joseph Cousins)
• Lodgepoole - (Henry Gibson)

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.

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

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.

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.

Legacy

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

• Eerie, Indiana [1] at Livejournal.com

See also

In Spanish: Eerie, Indiana para niños