This Chilling Sci-Fi Kids’ Show Feels Ripe For A Remake After Stranger Things

With “Stranger Things” finally over following its emotional series finale, there is now room for another YA sci-fi show set in small-town Indiana to make a comeback. Is it time to revisit “Eerie, Indiana,” the ’90s one-season wonder that explored the state’s otherworldly potential long before the Duffer Brothers’ Netflix hit came along?

Created by José Rivera and Karl Schaefer, “Eerie, Indiana” tells the story of two kids, Marshall Teller (Omri Katz) and Simon Holmes (Justin Shenkarow), as they investigate the many strange happenings in the eponymous town. Their discoveries range from Bigfoot raiding through garbage to kids being immortalized in tupperware, so nothing was off-limits.

NBC pulled the plug on “Eerie, Indiana” in 1993 after 19 episodes, but the series has since become a cult classic with proven franchise ambitions (a short-lived spin-off, “Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension” was released in 1998). Judging by the record-breaking ratings of each “Stranger Things” season, audiences clearly still have an appetite for seeing kids in supernatural peril, so this is arguably the best time to revive Rivera and Schaefer’s series — but will it ever happen?

An “Eerie, Indiana” remake has yet to be formally announced, but Karl Schaefer has confirmed there have been conversations about bringing the IP back from the dead. Speaking to the “Return to Eerie, Indiana” podcast, the original series’ co-creator revealed that the plan is to center the story around older teenage characters in the spooky town.

“In most of the versions of the reboot we’re pitching, the kids are older,” Schaefer shared. “They can’t drive yet … Once a kid can drive they’re into the adult world, so you have to kinda keep them out of the adult world.” Schaefer added that they intend to make an edgier reboot that sees its main characters in more dangerous scenarios, as modern shows like “Stranger Things” and “IT: Welcome to Derry” have leaned into scarier storytelling. 

The original series embraced absurdist humor and satire while keeping the horror somewhat lighthearted, but it sounds like the potential reboot will offer something quite different, if it actually comes to fruiton.