Ever since 2016, we’ve learned to see the U.S. state of Indiana as a land of weird and creepy things. Netflix’sStranger Thingshas made sure of that. However, TV connoisseurs of the ’90s were already pretty aware of the so-called Hoosier State’s reputation. After all, long beforeEleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), and the whole gang popped up on our TV, computer, and phone screens, another show had taken the job of making Indiana a place of mystery quite seriously. Created byJosé RiveraandKarl Schaefer, NBC’sEerie, Indianaran throughout 1991, with its final episode airing in 1993. Through syndication, it helped make the American state synonymous with the uncanny and the bizarre for children all around the world.
StarringOmri Katzas Marshall Teller, a young boy who moves with his family from New Jersey to the show’s titular town,Eerie, Indianais a great example of the heights that children’s television reached in the ’90s, an era in which Nickelodeon reigned supreme. Cartoons likeHey, Arnold!and live-action series likeThe Adventures of Pete and Petewere not scared of taking their young audience seriously, and the result is a myriad of shows that can be enjoyed by audiences from 8 to 80. While not a Nickelodeon enterprise,Eerie, Indianahonors this tradition by drinking from the fountain ofThe Twilight Zoneto createscience fiction and social satire aimed at kids. And, even though its tone was never exactly scary, the show crafted some of the most memorable horror stories for pre-teens ever. Considering that we’re talking about a decade in whichGoosebumpsandAre You Afraid of the Dark?were on the air, this is no small feat.
‘Eerie, Indiana’ Took Inspiration from Real-Life Small-Town USA
Eerie, Indiana’s secret to success was taking inspiration not from epic, ambitious sci-fi, but from the day-to-day lives of suburban families in small-town USA. Well, okay, success might be a strong word here, since the show only lasted for one season before cancellation. Nevertheless, it did enjoy an extended shelf life when it aired on Fox Kids Network in the late 90s, and even spawned a spin-off titledEerie, Indiana: The Other Dimensionin 1998. Therefore, the success story ofEerie, Indianais a complicated one. While the show did not become a hit at the time of its conception, it isnowadays considered a cult classic.
So, as we were saying, the secret to this cult classic status stems fromEerie, Indiana’s social critique, which blends perfectly with the weird atmosphere of the series. UnlikeStranger Things, which looks toMKUltraand a whole other universe for inspiration,Eerie, Indianafound its source material in the extremely mundane. Throughout the show’s 19 episodes, Marshall and his best friend Simon Holmes (Justin Shenkarow) face off against tornadoes, school nurses, Tupperware peddlers, and even the concept of Daylight Saving Time. However, there is always a twist. The town of Eerie, after all, is populated by people like atornado hunter inspired byMoby Dick’s Captain Ahab, a nurse who might be brainwashing students, and a 1950s family preserving themselves through time by storing their bodies in some very large plastic containers. Oh, and if you decide not to move your clock forward for Daylight Saving? Well, then a whole other dimension might open itself to you.
The 10 Best Teen Mystery TV Shows, Ranked
Liar, liar, plot on fire.
Quite frequently,episodes ofEerie, Indianadon’t even feature a face-off against a bad guy of the week. In the episode “The Dead Letter,” for example, a very young and very ghostlyTobey Maguirejust wants Marshall and Simon to deliver a letter to the woman he once loved when they were kids. In “The Broken Record,” what starts as a satanic panic-inspired plot about a boy manipulated by heavy metal albums soon turns into a story about a child fighting an abusive parent. Last, but not least, “Heart on a Chain” follows Marshall and Simon as they look into the case of a sick girl whose personality changed after she received the heart of her school sweetheart, killed in a bizarre accident.
With episodes directed byJoe DanteandBob Balaban, among other lesser-known, but equally talented names, the show is constantly entertaining. While the stories sometimes teach important lessons to and about children, the focus is on making something fun and, well… eerie. And, sure,some episodes might lose their scare factor after you grow up, but they never stop being a pleasant watch.
‘Eerie, Indiana’ Is More Influential Than You Think
It is perhaps a pity, then, thatnot many people watchedEerie, Indianawhen it first aired. However, we should not mourn the past, but instead celebrate the present we have. After all, at least one very important person really enjoyedEerie, Indianaback in their childhood days. In 2021,Alex Hirsch, the creator of Disney Channel’s hit animated seriesGravity Falls,took to Xto confirm a fan’s theory that he had gotten inspiration for his show fromEerie. “I was obsessed withEerie Indiana.Gravity Fallswas literally just me as an adult trying to reboot my favorite canceled show from when I was a kid,” Hirsch replied.
It’s one of those cases:Eerie, Indianamight not be your favorite show (yet!), but it is the favorite show of the guys who created some of your favorite shows. Whether it inspired theDuffer Brothersto createStranger Thingsas well is a mystery, but the series sure remains beloved by critics and audiences alike,boasting a100% score onRotten Tomatoes’Tomatometerand an 88% on the Popcornmeter— truly an achievement for a series that never even got to see a second season.
