Eerie, Indiana

Hi :) When i first saw "Eerie" as i now affectionately dub it, I was 8. I lived in England and i remember it was on Channel 4 (pretty good memory since i am now almost 17). I adored it. Omri Katz (Marshall Teller) reminded me of my older brother and I sometimes wished my brother was as cool. 3 years ago, i saw the title "Eerie Indiana" in the Cable TV guide here in Oz. And all my fond memories came rushing back. I remembered 3 episodes quite clearly. This show made an impact on me so large... i don't know how to explain it! Luckily i got to see it over and over again on cable. I can't believe they axed "Eerie" after only 19 episodes, leaving me with only 6 episodes with my now favourite actor Jason Marsden. If you can, watch an episode of Eerie Indiana, no matter what age you are. You will love the references to other TV shows, and common knowledge, the kooky music.. characters, plotlines. And.. perhaps, you will see that there were some programs which tried to be revolutionary. Shame the kids of that era (minus myself of course) didn't see it, coz it's a cult classic now!

"The X-Files" is sometimes an imaginative, funny show, but "Eerie, Indiana" during its first season was consistently so. It was far superior to "Are you afraid of the Dark" and "Goosebumps". I think in its more recent Fox incarnation, it probably lost something.

A better comparison than any of these would be to "The Adventures of Pete and Pete".

I fondly remember watching reruns of this show on MoviePlex two or three years ago, when I was twelve or thirteen. Even back then, I knew how much better this was than the more popular shows of the time--"Are You Afraid of the Dark" and "Goosebumps." There are so many reasons, I don't even know where to begin.

I'd say the principal reasons this show was so good was mostly because A) it didn't take itself too seriously and B) it didn't talk down to kids. Too many shows underestimate a child's resilience, and so they throw tired plots and cheesy "scares" at them, thinking (and unfortunately, they are usually correct) that these children will be satisfied. I only believe this works because most kids don't know until later what they are missing. But the thing that irks me most about Goosebumps (and, sometimes, Are You Afraid of the Dark) is that they take these cheesy scares so seriously that it quickly becomes not just silly, but in fact plain ridiculous. Not so with Eerie. Here, the plots are outlandish, unbelievable, and perhaps outright absurd, but the makers realize this, and so they are never _silly_. For example, one episode I remember concerned a group of ladies who are obsessed with a brand of Tupperware called "Foreverware," or some such thing, which keeps all food products fresh forever (one lady comments that she packaged some peas "when Jimmy Carter was president, and they're still as fresh as the day I opened them"). But, Marshall and Simon discover the ladies use Foreverware for more than just food storage--like remaining eternally young! Sounds about as frightening as a killer sponge under the sink (*cough R.L. Stine cough*), but not only do they make it work, they make it fun! I don't believe the intention of the show was ever to frighten (although it does get suspenseful at times). I think it was made to cause wonder, explore some of life's little mysteries, and perhaps even spoof the world we live in. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a satire, of life or of other horror shows, but it definitely has a tongue-in-cheek approach to things, and a dry sense of humor is usually present.

To conclude, I can only say I really hope this is out on video somewhere. It's better than Goosebumps in every way imaginable, and more consistent than Are You Afraid of the Dark. And best of all, it won't induce an urge to puke, groan, or even roll your eyes.

Fascinating little show, still turns up in the UK every once in a while. Only 19 episodes and a further unaired one? Shame, really as it had quite a lot of unexplored terrority to go over, such as Dash X (or as Mitchell called him "Plus and minus") and exactly where he fitted into things. I dare say if it had been left to run, like all good things, it would have explained itself, or at least gone off on a tangent.

The 'Reality Takes A Holiday' episode is by far the most surreal and bizarre episode of anything I've ever seen on TV (although some of the stuff that comes out of Japan and turns up on Tarrant On TV comes close). The 'Reality Takes A Holiday' episode basically starts calling everybody by the names of the actors. So Mitchell turned into Omri (Omri Katz, the actor name), Simon turned into Justin (Justin Shenkarow) and so on. I honestly thought somebody had given the broadcaster the wrong tape and we were actually watching one of those so-called "end of year" tapes that find their way onto shows like Alright On The Night and Denis Norden. But its one of the highlights of the entire run though.

I saw one episode this morning and was very impressed. I always enjoyed Who's Afraid of the Dark and the like (though Goosebumps was a little ordinary) and it's Outer Limits, X Files type storyline is very good for a kids show (and I'm 23).