To whom it may concern. If you're reading this document, it means I'm either dead - or disappeared under mysterious circumstances. My name is Marshall Teller. Not long ago Iwas living in New Jersey just across the river from New York City. It was crowded, polluted, and full of crime. I loved it. But my parents wanted a better life for my sister and me - so we moved to a place so wholesome, so squeaky clean, you could only find it on TV. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. Sure, my new home town *looks* normal enough, but look again. What's wrong with this picture? The American dream come true, right? Wrong. Nobody believes me, but this is the center of weirdness for the entire planet. Eerie, Indiana. My home sweet home. Still don't believe me? You will."
- Marshall Teller
Introduction:
Eerie Indiana was argubly one of the best
young adult shows that ran in the
90's. The show was sort of a
comedy, horror hybrid. I personally like to compare it to another show which popped up at the same time, namely
Twin Peaks. Not only did both shows deal with
paranormal themes, but they were also both ahead of their time respectively.
The audience just weren't ready for shows like
Twin Peaks and
Eerie Indiana, but later on other shows like
The X-files,
Are You Afraid Of The Dark? and
Goosebumbs picked up the ball, and got far more attention than their
superior predecessors.
Eerie Indiana was created by
Jose Rivera and
Karl Schaefer, who were also responsible for
scripting some of the best episodes. Other great writers were,
Vance DeGeneres,
Matt Dearborn,
Michael Cassutt and
Julia Poll. Some notable directors of the series were
Joe Dante and
Tim Hunter.
The first episode of
Eerie Indiana was aired on
September 15, 1991 and the last was shown
April 12, 1992. As you can see, the show was rather shortlived, and was unfortunately
cancelled after only 2 seasons (ironically the same as
Twin Peaks). The story goes that the
NBC board thought it was stuck in a
limbo, being too advanced for kids, yet too
childish for adults, and so they decided to
pull the plug.
Eerie Indiana has since been
re-run on countless of different
networks, including
Disney,
Fox Kids and even
The Sci-Fi Channel. Due to its
creative,
satiric and
clever nature it is still acknowledged and remembered by many as one of the
great shows of the
90's.
Synopsis:
Although the
opening segment of this
node - as spoken by
Marshall Teller in the very first
episode - really outlines the series, I feel an elaboration is in order. Marshall Teller is a 13 year old boy, who involuntarily has moved from
New Jersey to the small town of
Eerie, Indiana with his family. Being
the outsider and
new kid in town, Marshall has a hard time making new friends and instead he starts to notice weird and
paranormal things going on. Item,
Elvis lives on his paper route. Item,
Bigfoot eats from his
garbagecan. Yet, nobody seems to believe him. Except for his nextdoor neighbor
Simon Holmes, who soon becomes his
loyal sidekick and friend. Together,
Marshall and
Simon makes it their
personal mission to investigate everything
weird and collect as much
evidence as they possible can, in the hopes of one day unravelling
the mystery of Eerie, Indiana.
During the series Marshall and Simon experience a lot of
weirdness. Parents locking themselves and their kids in giant
tupperware like beds at
night, causing them to
stay young and fresh. (-
Foreverware). Or what about when an
ATM machine that Marshall's dad invented seemingly comes alive, and befriends Simon by cashing him out free money. (-
The ATM Machine). Or the time when Marshall suddenly wakes up one day to find out that his name is not
Marshall Teller, but
Omri Katz, and that his life really is a
tv-show, where his parents are
bitter actors, his best friend Simon is a
snoppy childactor and his
arch nemesis Dash X is trying to get him killed off, so he can be the
new star of the show. (-
Reality Takes a Holliday, simply a
masterpiece)
Characters / Cast:
Marshall Teller / Omri Katz: The main character,
hero and
narrator of the series. Being in his
early teens, Marshall is somewhat
rebellious, preferring to spend his time alone, or in the company of his like-minded friend Simon. Marshall is almost always seen clad in his
dark army green jacket, a blue
New York Giants jersey and wearing the key, to his and Simons'
evidence box, in a chain around his neck. Marshall is played extremely well by
Omri Katz, who despite of his obvious talent has decided to drop
acting for the time being. You might have seen
Omri Katz in other features such as
Hocus Pocus and in a previous role in
Dallas.
Simon Holmes / Justin Shenkarow: Simon is Marshall's
loyal sidekick, nextdoor neighbor and friend. He is a few years younger than Marshall, but their common interest for the
paranormal has brought them together. Simon doesn't seem to thrive very well at
home, so he often hangs around Marshall's house, becoming sort of an
adopted family member. In the
series, Simon is the
quirky yet
loveable comical relief, often finding himself in situations far beyond his control. Simon is depicted by
Justin Shenkarow, who like his
co-star Omri Katz, really does an excellent job (especially considering his
age). Nowadays, it seems as if
Justin Shenkarow solely works as a voice talent in such shows as
Hey Arnold! and
Recess.
Edgar Teller / Francis Guinan: Marshall's dad is employed by
Things, Incorperated as an
inventor, and always seems too busy working to pay attention to the ongoing
weirdness of Eerie. It was because of his job, that the
Teller family relocated to Eerie.
Francis Guinan has continued his acting work in relative obscurity appearing in
Speed 2: Cruise Control and
Hannibal.
Marilyn Teller / Mary-Margaret Hurnes: Marilyn is Marshall's mother, who naturally is a bit concerned of her son. She works at the
Eerie mall as a
party planner.
Mary-Margaret Hurnes has popped up in
Dawson's Creek.
Syndi Teller / Julie Condra: Marshall's
cute 16 year old sister, who talks on the
phone a lot. She's obsessed with obtaining a
drivers license.
Julie Condra has since her role in
Eerie Indiana appeared in movies such as
Svitati and
Nixon.
Dash X (Kid With the Grey Hair) / Jason Marsden: Perhaps one of the
coolest and most
mysterious characters in
Eerie Indiana was
Dash X. He is about the same age as Marshall, wears a
black trenchcoat, has
grey hair and always talks in
heavy sarcasm. When he initially was introduced someway into
the second season, he had
no name, but later on he adopted the name Dash X because of the
strange marks on his hands,
- and
X. Dash X is best described as a
devious,
sneaky,
two-face, whom nobody can be sure of. He
doublecrossed Marshall and Simon on more than one occasion, but as time went by he nonetheless started to show a sense of
fellowship with them. Unfortunately, not much is revealed about
the background of Dash X, most likely because of the shows
premature end.
Jason Marsden is totally believeable as
Dash X, completely mastering this
ingenious character to the perfection.
Jason Marsden is probably best known for his role as
Rich in
Step By Step, but he has also done a variety of voice work such as his role as
Max Goof in various
Disney animated features. He has also
voiced in several
computer games, such as
Fallout 2 and
Baldur's Gate. Another honourable mention is his voice work as
Haku in the Oscar winning
Spirited Away.
Episode List:
Foreverware
The Retainer
The ATM Machine (Alt. The ATM with a Heart of Gold)
The Losers
Scariest Home Videos (Alt. American's Scariest Home Videos)
Just Say No Fun (Alt. No Fun)
Heart on a Chain
The Dead Letter
Who's Who (Alt. Who's Who?)
The Lost Hour
Marshall's Theory of Believability
Tornado Days
The Hole in the Head (Alt. The Gun and the Toaster)
Mr. Chaney
No Brain, No Pain
The Loyal Order of Corn
Zombies in P.J.s
Reality Takes a Holiday
The Broken Record*
The Jolly Rogers**
* Not originally shown
** Never aired, presumably never completed
Other:
Eerie Indiana: The Other Dimension: A totally
lame,
weak attempt from
1998 to create something similiar to before mentioned
Are You Afraid Of The Dark? or
Goosebumbs. It lacked everything that made the original so great,
clever stories,
interesting characters and not to mention
good acting. The show failed miserably, but for a good reason. Avoid at all costs.
The Eerie Indiana DVD: Contains the first 3 episodes (
Foreverware,
The Retainer and
The ATM Machine) of the series. No
extra material of any kind, but a must
buy. It seems as if they are planning to release more, no sign of any new ones yet, but keep your
fingers crossed though!
The Eerie Indiana Videos: Apparently, 2
videos, each containing 3 episodes has been released at some point in the
U.K. Volume 1 contains the first 3 episodes (
Foreverware,
The Retainer, and
The ATM Machine).
Volume 2 contains the next 3 episodes (
Scariest Home Videos,
The Losers, and
Just Say No Fun). Who knows, you might get able to find them on
eBay or such. However, keep in mind that these videos are
encoded in
PAL.
The Eerie Indiana Books: A series of 17
spin-off books for
young adults has been written. I'm guessing this is because of the sudden
paranormal hype, but since I haven't read any of them, I can't really say anything about them.
Sources:
1) The Eerie Indiana Episode Guide by Loren Heisey and Terry Gaetz. (Used this for the episode order, actor names and date facts). Do a search for it on Google for a complete episode-by-episode synopsis, fun facts, plus much more. Highly recommend.
2) The Internet Movie Database. (Used for actor roles etc).
3) My head.