JUSTIN SHENKAROW
FLASHBACK
106 | W W W.SCI FI N OW.CO.U K
Imagine being 13-years-old and
moving from the hustle and bustle of
New Jersey to a small Midwestern
town with a population of 16,661.
Imagine then fi nding out that the small,
apparently inconspicuous town is home to all
manner of weirdness, oddballs and sinister
goings-on. Welcome to Marshall Teller’s world.
Welcome to Eerie, Indiana.
This is a small town where Elvis lives on
Marshall’s paper round, Bigfoot eats out of
his trash and the local werewolf is, knowingly,
called Mr Chaney. The freaky thing, however,
is that apart from Marshall and his nine-year-
old sidekick, Simon Hughes, the rest of Eerie
seem to be oblivious to just how strange their
little corner of America is. Investigating ghosts,
visitors from other dimensions and unidentifi ed
fl ying objects is all in a day’s work for Marshall
and Simon in a town where no one else seems
to mind that the local police force’s motto is ‘to
serve and control’.
The brain child of writers and producers
Jose Rivera and Karl Schaefer – with Joe Dante
acting as creative consultant – Eerie, Indiana
blended the tropes and traits of the science
fi ction, horror and fantasy genres with those of
sitcom, soap opera and teen drama to create
19 wonderfully goofy, occasionally creepy
and always very sharply written episodes of a
series that subsequently went on to become a
cult favourite.
Starring Omri Katz as Marshall and Justin
Shenkarow as Simon, Eerie, Indiana gleefully
bombarded the viewer with all manner of
monsters of the week, what-if sci-fi scenarios
and off-the-wall characters. Notable guest-stars,
including a then-up-and-coming Tobey Maguire
as a lovesick ghost and Gomez AddamsWE TALK TO ACTOR JUSTIN SHENKAROW ABOUT ONE OF THE
GREATEST KIDS SHOWS OF THE NINETIES – EERIE, INDIANA
WORDS NEIL MITCHELLINTERVIEW
WHERE THE
WEIRD THINGS ARE
himself, John Astin, in a recurring role as World
O’Stuff shopkeeper. Mr Radford, joined the
other regular cast members, Mary-Margaret
Humes, Francis Guinan and Julie Condra as
Marshall’s mother Marilyn, father Edgar and
sister Syndi respectively. The series may have
only aired for one season in 1991-1992 (more
on that later), but its infl uence on shows that
followed such as American Gothic, Buffy The
Vampire Slayer and, most recently, Stranger
Things, isn’t lost on those familiar with Marshall
and Simon’s weekly pop culture referencing
adventures into the bizarre and unknown.
Though Omri Katz would go on to star in
Hocus Pocus in 1993 and crop up in episodes
of Freaks And Geeks and General Hospital, by
the early Noughties he had retired from show-
business to become a hairdresser in LA.Justin Shenkarow, on the other hand,
successfully made the transition from child to
adult star, providing either his voice or acting
talents to the likes of Hey Arnold! The Movie,
Home Improvement and Z Nation among over
60 other credits. SciFiNow had the pleasure
of chatting to Justin recently to reminisce over
the making of Eerie, Indiana, its reception at the
time and the subsequent fondness with which
it is now remembered. Now a 37-year- old in
charge of his own production company – ShakeThat Fro Productions – Justin is still full of love
for Eerie, Indiana.
When asked about his overriding memories
of working on the series, Justin says: “It was
a real blast, and my favourite show that I’ve
ever been involved in. It was a real family, the
whole cast and crew, all of us so committed to
what we were doing.” On the show’s creators
and its myriad nods to genre fi lms and shows
that preceded it, Justin is equally enthusiastic:
“Karl and Jose were brilliant, the writing was
so sharp, so ahead of its time – the great thing
was that there were so many references to old
shows and movies that it appealed to adults,
but kids loved it as well so it reached out to a
broad audience.” As for being cast in what
was in essence a co-starring role at the tender
age of 11, Shenkarow recalls that “Simon was
my fi rst main part, so for me it was fantastic.
I was a kid in a huge playground. We were
crawling through smoke, fi nding hidden notes,
investigating mysterious goings on in a small
town. It was my fi rst main part and it was real
busy, we were working fi ve days a week.”
On a recent rewatch of the series, we
were struck by how every episode felt like a
movie, which is doubly impressive given the
relatively meagre 25 minute running time for
each self-contained tale. Justin readily agrees:
“Absolutely, with Joe Dante on board, and
directors like Bob Balaban etc, they brought
that eye to the show. We had a $1 million
dollar set for the World O’Stuff that, at the time,
was like the most expensive set assembled for
a TV show.” With seasoned pros like Dante,
Balaban and Tim Hunter appearing behind the
camera, we wondered how much freedom the
young Justin Shenkarow would have been given
to play Simon, and what it was like working“THE WRITING WAS
SO AHEAD OF ITSTIME, IT APPEALED TO
KIDS AND ADULTS”
JUSTIN SHENKAROWJUSTIN SHENKAROW
FLASHBACK
106 | W W W.SCI FI N OW.CO.U K
Imagine being 13-years-old and
moving from the hustle and bustle of
New Jersey to a small Midwestern
town with a population of 16,661.
Imagine then fi nding out that the small,
apparently inconspicuous town is home to all
manner of weirdness, oddballs and sinister
goings-on. Welcome to Marshall Teller’s world.
Welcome to Eerie, Indiana.
This is a small town where Elvis lives on
Marshall’s paper round, Bigfoot eats out of
his trash and the local werewolf is, knowingly,
called Mr Chaney. The freaky thing, however,
is that apart from Marshall and his nine-year-
old sidekick, Simon Hughes, the rest of Eerie
seem to be oblivious to just how strange their
little corner of America is. Investigating ghosts,
visitors from other dimensions and unidentifi ed
fl ying objects is all in a day’s work for Marshall
and Simon in a town where no one else seems
to mind that the local police force’s motto is ‘to
serve and control’.
The brain child of writers and producers
Jose Rivera and Karl Schaefer – with Joe Dante
acting as creative consultant – Eerie, Indiana
blended the tropes and traits of the science
fi ction, horror and fantasy genres with those of
sitcom, soap opera and teen drama to create
19 wonderfully goofy, occasionally creepy
and always very sharply written episodes of a
series that subsequently went on to become a
cult favourite.
Starring Omri Katz as Marshall and Justin
Shenkarow as Simon, Eerie, Indiana gleefully
bombarded the viewer with all manner of
monsters of the week, what-if sci-fi scenarios
and off-the-wall characters. Notable guest-stars,
including a then-up-and-coming Tobey Maguire
as a lovesick ghost and Gomez AddamsWE TALK TO ACTOR JUSTIN SHENKAROW ABOUT ONE OF THE
GREATEST KIDS SHOWS OF THE NINETIES – EERIE, INDIANA
WORDS NEIL MITCHELLINTERVIEW
WHERE THE
WEIRD THINGS ARE
himself, John Astin, in a recurring role as World
O’Stuff shopkeeper. Mr Radford, joined the
other regular cast members, Mary-Margaret
Humes, Francis Guinan and Julie Condra as
Marshall’s mother Marilyn, father Edgar and
sister Syndi respectively. The series may have
only aired for one season in 1991-1992 (more
on that later), but its infl uence on shows that
followed such as American Gothic, Buffy The
Vampire SlayerVampire SlayerVampire Slayer and, most recently, and, most recently, Stranger
Things,Things,Things, isn’t lost on those familiar with Marshall isn’t lost on those familiar with Marshall
and Simon’s weekly pop culture referencing
adventures into the bizarre and unknown.
Though Omri Katz would go on to star in
Hocus Pocus in 1993 and crop up in episodes
of Freaks And GeeksFreaks And GeeksFreaks And Geeks and and General HospitalGeneral HospitalGeneral Hospital, by , by
the early Noughties he had retired from show-
business to become a hairdresser in LA.Justin Shenkarow, on the other hand,
successfully made the transition from child to
adult star, providing either his voice or acting
talents to the likes of Hey Arnold! The Movie,
Home ImprovementHome ImprovementHome Improvement and and Z NationZ NationZ Nation among over among over
60 other credits. SciFiNowSciFiNowSciFiNow had the pleasure had the pleasure
of chatting to Justin recently to reminisce over
the making of Eerie, Indiana, its reception at the
time and the subsequent fondness with which
it is now remembered. Now a 37-year- old in
charge of his own production company – ShakeThat Fro Productions – Justin is still full of love
for Eerie, Indiana.
When asked about his overriding memories
of working on the series, Justin says: “It was
a real blast, and my favourite show that I’ve
ever been involved in. It was a real family, the
whole cast and crew, all of us so committed to
what we were doing.” On the show’s creators
and its myriad nods to genre fi lms and shows
that preceded it, Justin is equally enthusiastic:
“Karl and Jose were brilliant, the writing was
so sharp, so ahead of its time – the great thing
was that there were so many references to old
shows and movies that it appealed to adults,
but kids loved it as well so it reached out to a
broad audience.” As for being cast in what
was in essence a co-starring role at the tender
age of 11, Shenkarow recalls that “Simon was
my fi rst main part, so for me it was fantastic.
I was a kid in a huge playground. We were
crawling through smoke, fi nding hidden notes,
investigating mysterious goings on in a small
town. It was my fi rst main part and it was real
busy, we were working fi ve days a week.”
On a recent rewatch of the series, we
were struck by how every episode felt like a
movie, which is doubly impressive given the
relatively meagre 25 minute running time for
each self-contained tale. Justin readily agrees:
“Absolutely, with Joe Dante on board, and
directors like Bob Balaban etc, they brought
that eye to the show. We had a $1 million
dollar set for the World O’Stuff that, at the time,
was like the most expensive set assembled for
a TV show.” With seasoned pros like Dante,
Balaban and Tim Hunter appearing behind the
camera, we wondered how much freedom the
young Justin Shenkarow would have been given
to play Simon, and what it was like working“THE WRITING WAS
SO AHEAD OF ITSTIME, IT APPEALED TO
KIDS AND ADULTS”TIME, IT APPEALED TO
KIDS AND ADULTS”TIME, IT APPEALED TO
JUSTIN SHENKAROW