It wasThe X-FilesbeforeThe X-Files.
Well, sort of.
Later that fall, someone did.
Marshall hates the town of Eerie because its not the dirty, crowded city he was born in.
Statistically speaking, its the most normal place in the country.
But, as Marshall himself states in the opening narration for the pilot, statistics lie.
To pass the time, Marshall takes up a new hobby thats more of a quest.
He starts investigating every act of weirdness in Eerie to find out why it is the way it is.
The 90s were finally here.
It was almost the future!
The cast was incredible.
For many of you out there, Omri Katz is forever Max fromHocus Pocus.
For the rest of us, he is Marshall Teller until the bitter end.
Thats quite a feat, since he has a lot to compete with.
And the supporting cast?
Equally as great, if not better.
They could land every gag, no matter what.
They always made you crack a smile.
She has some of the funniest moments in the whole series.
(Not best ever, though; that honor goes to Keith Mars.)
Last but certainly not least isDawsons Creeks Mary-Margaret Humes.
Curiously enough,Eerie, Indianagot paired up with embarrassing family sitcom,The Torkelsons, on Sunday nights.
AlthoughEeriewas indeed an all-ages program starring child actors, it wasnt speaking to the same audienceThe Torkelsonswas.
Despite the wayits promoslooked,Eeriewas not written strictly for eight year olds to enjoy.
But well get to that later.)
No one really seemed to notice or care, and the world kept spinning on.
Suddenly, 1997 crept up.
Kids everywhere were eating upR.L.
Stines Goosebumpsbooks and watching the crap out of the TV adaptations on its very own Fox Kids show.
Other networks had shown reruns ofEerie, Indianabefore (like Disney andEncores WAM!
channel) so why couldnt the biggest name in kids programming at the time?
They did.And it turned out to be slightly more successful than expected.
A show that was cancelled almost a decade before that no one remembered had finally found an audience.
A couple different solutions to this problem were devised, and both were pretty clever.
They called itEerie Indiana: The Other Dimension.
Their names were Canadian Marshall and Canadian Simon from seven years into the future.
Their actual names were Mitchell Taylor and Stanley Hope.
But thats what I call them in my head.
(Then again, you dont really hear much aboutTazmaniaorShnookums and Meat, either.)
Thats why I think its time we bring it back.
What do you say?
Lets take a quick road trip to the center of weirdness for the entire planet.
Lets do this…
Get ready, becauseyou can watch Eerie, Indiana on Amazon Prime right now.
Weve got a guide to it all for you.
Plus, theres aGoonies-ness to everything.
Directed by Joe Dante.
Episode 4: The Losers
Joe Dante directs again, with heavy Terry Gilliam influence this time.
Feels like it should have been an hour.
Episode 5: Scariest Home Videos
A Halloween special that doubles as a bottle episode.
How does this even happen?
He wants to fight the system and wear Groucho Marx glasses instead.
A bold statement for individualism, or a silly argument for good, clean fun?
Definitely ranked in my top three.
Fun scenes in this, even if it follows the template of everyGhost Whispererepisode ever.
Episode 9: Whos Who?
Also, it kinda reminds me of a Soundgarden video.
Episode 10: The Lost Hour
You know how Indiana doesnt observe Daylight Saving Time?
Yeah, Marshall hates that.
Except for that militaristic clean up crew.
And that strange girl running around.
When a paranormal expert arrives in Eerie claiming a UFO is about to appear, the town is divided.
Case in point: Marshall wants to believe, but his father Edgar doesnt.
(Its complicated.)
Act now and get a ghost cowboy, cross-dressing hijinx, and a brand new toaster too.
The actual werewolf scenes are poorly executed but still have a quaint low-tech charm to them.
The plot, however, is mostly predictable hogwash.
A lot, actually.
But I like that.
You cant get more meta than this.
The bestEerie, Indianaepisode ever, though its hard to pick a favorite.
Written by Ellen DeGeneres brother.
To escape his abusive father, Marshalls friend becomes obsessed with a heavy metal band.
This new interest consumes his life, and ends up putting it in danger.
Are there evil messages in the bands music or is it something else?
Thats it, all you corn heads!
In the meantime, why dont you check out Stephensblog series on Eerie, Indiana here?
You might want to add him on Twitter @onlywriterever while youre at it.
