18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More Creativity than allowed on Television., January 21, 2001
This review is from: Eerie, Indiana - Forever Ware / The Retainer / ATM with a Heart of Gold (DVD)
A few of you might remember this series as fondly as I do watching it as a kid when it originally aired on NBC back in 1991. The series, however, was too original and creative for television. It was cancelled and disappeared from the airwaves within a year. But the series would grow to live in the minds of those who remembered it, occasionally popping up for a few months on select channels, with a cult status. And thanks to the success of Goosebumps and similar shows, Eerie Indiana later resurfaced again a few years ago thanks to Fox Kids. It even spawned it's own spin-off almost a decade after it went out of production.
Unfortunately, the spin-off and similar shows could never measure up to the original. It really was too good for television. The main characters on the show were kids. 2 Regular kids, Marshall(Omri Katz) and Simon(Justin Shenkarow), who were the only ones smart enough to realize and uncover what abnormalities took place within Eerie. But unlike most shows, the writers of Eerie Indiana never expressed a need to dumb down the series for the viewer. The episodes were well written, on the basis that the viewer what smart enough to know what was going on. And the artistic direction under the watchful eye of Joe Dante, who served as creative consultant and director of 2 of the 3 episodes on this disk, is clearly evident.
As for the episodes themselves, the series revolves around the Journal Narrations of Marshall Teller, who recently moved to Eerie Indiana to further his father's career. It was to be the perfect American town with the perfect American setting. But Eerie was anything but perfect. To quote Marshall himself...
***My name is Marshall Teller. Not long ago I was living in New Jersey, just across the river from New York City. But my parents wanted a better life for my sister and me, so we moved to a place so wholesome and so squeeky-clean, that 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.***
Marshall would later come to befriend one of Eerie's citizens, Simon, as the only other "normal" person in Eerie. The two begin to find one another tangled in their town's exploits, as they become drawn into the underworld of the odd that is Eerie Indiana. Think of X-Files meets the Twilight Zone set around 2 kids. Only ever episode revolves around the same people, in the same city.
On this DVD set, the first three episodes are collected: Forever Ware, The Retainer, and The ATM with the Heart of Gold. More episodes are set to follow soon, with trailers for the next 2 Disks on here. The sound is good, and the picture is good. If you are expecting $90 million dollar movie clarity, look for a $90 million dollar movie. This is from a 10 year old TV series and it shows. But it's still a very good transfer.
The only problem I have with the disk is the lack of Subtitles. I do not need subtitles, but I enjoy reading along as I watch at times. And I know that others DO need them. So let's hope for some Subs in the next few volumes.
Now, onto the synopsis of each episode...
Episode 1: Forever Ware
The series introductory episode. The Tellers are greeted by the likes of Mrs. Betty Wilson, the ideal door saleswoman of Eerie Indiana. The widow of a genius creator, Mrs. Wilson spends her days with her two sons as a homemaker on the go. Her line of Products, Forever Ware, is every homemaker's answer to vacuum sealed containers. Made with a secret formula simulated plastic, it can keep foods and household products virtually ageless forever. Such as sandwich that remains fresh from the day it was made... in 1974.
An amazing item you might think, for such a simple product. But what appears to be just a simple space-age wonder is anything but. For when a note is passed to Marshall from one of Mrs. Wilson's sons, clues begin to unravel showing that something strange is lying beneath the surface. Startling informations in unearthed about the Wilson family from nearly 30 years ago. As Mrs. Teller is about to be incorporated into a Cult of Forever Ware mothers, Marshall and Simon discover that food and household goods aren't the only things being sealed up in Forever Ware.
Episode 2: The Retainer
Next up... What if there was a secret society living around you? A Society that has been ever present, yet unexpected. A society that we in the real world see ourselves when we go for a walk or go out to play, but would never stop to think about if it hadn't been brought to our attention? That is the plot for "The Retainer".
Steve had the biggest teeth in the 7th grade. So the dentist created a new experimental giant retainer to help his problem. And it helped him alright, and granted him with other things. Such as the power to read minds. But not just any mind was receptible. In fact, only one kind of mind was receivable. That of man's best friend. And after joining with Marshall and Simon, Steve begins using his retainer as an antenna to telepathically read the minds of Eerie's dog society. But as Marshall and Simon begin their test experiments on them, they soon realize their Canine companions have their own Master Plans in the works.
Episode 3: ATM With a Heart of Gold
Simon had always been an outcast in Eerie. Until Marshall came along, he never really had any friends. And now that Marshall was getting the attention of Eerie's In-Crowd, Simon was feeling left out. But that all changed when Marshall's Father invented a new ATM for the city Bank. Mr. Wilson (no relation to Mrs. Wilson above) was a lifelike ATM that was actually your friend. And a friend was just something that Simon needed when he encounters the ATM with a heart of Gold.
The ATM wanted to help people, and seeing Simon unhappy made it unhappy as well. So the ATM begins granting Simon with money, so people would begin to take interest in him. But as interest grew with Simon, the city's money reserve began disappearing. And Simon's conscience begins taking it toll, as he questions what is more important: Being popular or doing the right thing?
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Inventive, Imaginative, Entertaining, December 27, 2001
This review is from: Eerie, Indiana - Forever Ware / The Retainer / ATM with a Heart of Gold (DVD)
I happened to be back in the States when Eerie, IN first aired and taped these episodes. I have watched them once a year or so since then. I don't believe they have been widely distributed commercially on videotape and highly recommend them on DVD. I'd like to give this disc a 4.5 rating, actually. The only reason I don't quite think they deserve a 5 is that the second story, about the retainer which picks up very unexpected signals, doesn't appeal to me as much as the others, which hone in on human psychology through the medium of fantasy. The retainer story is fun, is amusing, but just fluff. In addition, I really kind of wish Marshall lived in a dysfunctional family like Simon's, so we wouldn't have to see his parents and sister. I find the whole bunch of them annoying. Fortunately, the focus is on the two boys, both of whom are excellent actors. Think of all the bad cute kiddie actors you have seen on TV. Justin Shenkarow is the opposite of that as the younger of the boys. The writing is so clever and creative, with plot angles that are both eerie and funny. As others have said, this series was way ahead of its time and stands the test of time ten years later. According to the extras on the DVD, two more sets of Eerie, IN will be appearing on DVD. Soon, I hope. I never saw the other episodes.
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