20TH ANNIVERSARIES

TONY ROSATO DEAD AT 62

You can read the full story here.

Tony Rosato was an actor and writer. He assumed the voice of video game plumber Luigi from Danny Wells for The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and The New Super Mario World. He also provided voices in several episodes of Mythic Warriors: Guardians of the Legend as Orpheus and a young nomad, Quentin Eggert in Pelswick, and unspecified characters in The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police. On screen, he played Mr. Tempest in an episode of Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension. 

 

DON FRANCKS DEAD AT 84

A little late, but we've just learned of the passing of actor and musician Don Francks on April 3rd. You can read the full story here.

Francks had been on several Saturday shows, but probably his most recognizable role was of the recurring villain Sabretooth on X-Men: The Animated Series. His other roles included several voices in Inspector Gadget including that of Dr. Claw in some episodes, Jann Tosh and Boba Fett in Star Wars: Droids, Dr. Arcane in Swamp Thing: The Animated Series, Girth and Hobbs in Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, , Fob Canine in Dog City, the Hunter, the Exterminator and Red Beard in two episodes of Tales from the Cryptkeeper, the Swamp Hermit on two episodes of Goosebumps, Kalek in an episode of Silver Surfer, and the Sandman on an episode of Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension. He also provided voices for The Care Bears Family, ALF Tales and Piggsburg Pigs.

EERIE, INDIANA: THE OTHER DIMENSION

EERIE, INDIANA: THE OTHER DIMENSION

(FOX, February 7-May 30, 1998)

Global Television Network

MAIN CAST:

Bill Switzer – Mitchell Taylor

Daniel Clark – Stanley Hope

Deborah Odell – Mrs. Taylor

Lindy Booth – Carrie Taylor

Bruce Hunter – Edward Taylor

Neil Crone – Mr. Crawford

            Created by Jose Rivera and Karl Schaefer, with Joe Dante as a creative Consultant, Eerie, Indiana was a series about a small town. A bizarre small town. The Teller family had moved to Eerie and Marshall Teller (Omri Katz) befriended one of the few legitimately normal kids in town, Simon Holmes (Justin Shenkarow). Together, they encountered the town’s strange populace, urban legends, and other impossible things.

The show ran on Sundays on NBC during the 1991-92 season. It blended comedy with serious tones, which, along with episodes directed by several feature film directors and numerous references to old films, caught the attention and positive reviews of critics. However, it failed to capture a sustainable audience, even after it was retooled halfway through its run with new characters and replacement actors. It was cancelled after its initial run of 18 episodes, the 19^th not seen until reruns and a 20^th planned but never made.

Stanley and Mitchell: two kids against the weird.

            By 1997, Saturday morning reruns on Fox Kids had given the show a renewed popularity. Seeking to increase their viewership, FOX commissioned a spin-off series of the show called Eerie, Indiana: the Other Dimension. The show also took place in Eerie, Indiana, but, as the title suggested, in another dimension due to the fact the original series stars were too old for their roles by that time.

Stanley and Mitchell having a meeting of the minds at the malt shop.

Best friends Mitchell Taylor (Bill Switzer) and Stanley Hope (Daniel Clark) ended up being contacted by Marshall and Simon via television sets (using stock footage from the previous show and dubbed voices) and are warned that a crazy cable man is setting up satellite dishes on rooftops that are allowing the weirdness from the original Eerie to spill over into the new Eerie. They’re tasked with fending off the strange occurrences in order to save theirs and every Eerie in existence with the help of local bartender, Mr. Crawford (Neil Crone). As broadcast standards had become stricter in the years following the original show, this series was forced to tone down the creepy elements and put a greater focus on comedic gags. 

Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension debuted as part of Fox Kids’ mid-season revamped schedule on February 7, 1998. It aired as part of the “No Yell Motel” programming block, which featured interstitials starring puppets working inside a creepy motel, which also included Goosebumps and Toonsylvania. The series was written by Esther Behar, Luciano Casimiri, Tony DiFranco, Jim Henshaw, Terry Saltsman, Janet MacLean, Peter Mohan, Tim Burns, Dennis Foon, Jeremy Hole, and Tony Sheer. The Einstein Bros. provided the series’ music.

The lengths one goes to for beauty.

Despite the similarities to the previous Eerie, The Other Dimension’s differences in tonality and cast failed to attract the original’s audience or find a new one. Like its predecessor, it was cancelled after its single season, but without the fond regard. The series was made available to purchase in its entirety or as individual episodes on YouTube and Amazon Prime.

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Switching Channels” (2/7/98) – Mitchell and Stanley meet Marshall and Simon who warn them about the weirdness spilling over into their Eerie due to a crazy cable man.

“The Goody-Two Shows People” (2/14/98) – The Eerie Junior Executives Club is replacing its members with robotic clones.

“Standard Deviation” (2/21/98) – A woman from the Mad Bureau of Statistics searching for the aliens who kidnapped her husband cites Maitchell’s family for not being “normal.”

“Time Flies” (2/28/98) – Mr. Crawford’s new coffee machine causes time to speed up.

“The Phantom” (3/7/98) – Mitchell and Stanley investigate a phantom haunting the school.

“The Young and the Twitchy” (3/14/98) – A soap opera star’s behavior transforms everyone into soap opera characters.

“Last Laugh” (3/21/98) – Stanley becomes a master comic thanks to a gag writing genius, but his personality shift causes him to become an outcast.

“The Newsroom” (4/4/98) – A bad news future predicting machine at the newspaper office predicts a disaster at the nuclear power plant where Mrs. Taylor works.

“Little Buddy Beep Beep” (4/11/98) – A new toy fad hides a sinister secret at the local toy factory.

“Perfect” (4/18/98) – A former beauty queen is selling a skin treatment that turns its users into living dolls, including Carrie.

“Nightmare on Eerie Street” (4/25/98) – Unable to sleep, the Sandman takes his frustration out on Eerie by keeping everyone awake with nightmares.

“Mr. Lucky” (5/2/98) – Mitchell’s good fortune from winning a wishbone quickly turns bad.

“Send in the Clones” (5/9/98) – Mitchell accidentally creates a 13-year-old clone of his father from a plant and must stop him from blowing up the school with a potato and electricity.

“I’m Okay, You’re Really Weird” (5/16/98) – A motivational speaker turns the entire town into immature goofballs.

“The Jackalope” (5/30/98) – Mitchell and Stanely try to save the Jackalope from extinction.


Originally posted in 2015. Updated in 2017.