Eerie, Indiana (TV Series) Reality Takes a Holiday (1992) User Reviews

Ultimate in Eerie

[zsenorsock · 10/10 · 10 April 2008]

The series hits a new high as Marshall suddenly finds himself not in Eerie, Indiana, but a television show called "Eerie, Indiana". His mom and dad are actors, as is his best friend Simon (always on his cell making deals). Everyone calls him "Omri" for some reason. Only Mr. Radford seems to be himself, and he's always a bit weird to begin with. Marshall discovers he's being killed off and desperately has to change the script before they shoot his final scene.

This brilliantly written episode is both funny and eerie. Joe Dante plays the show's director and Mark Blankfield (of "Fridays" fame) plays the show's writer/creator. Look for Denise Richards in a bit part as a fan looking for an autograph from Dash, who's planning to take over as star of the show.

It is a CRIME this show was canceled after only 19 episodes.

Lost in Reality/Fantasy

[hellraiser7 · 10/10 · 30 August 2023]

This is my favorite episode of the show and one of my favorite episodes in general. This episode was no doubt ahead of it's time as it was years before films like "Scream", "Last Action Hero" even the TV show "Once Upon a Time". The whole episode feels a bit like a Philp K Dick short story as his stories dealt with the perception of reality.

Really like how we can easily emphasize with Marchall, we're all in the same boat as him as we're trying to make sense of what the hell is going on and if there is any way back. Let alone why and how this is all happening which adds to the disorientation and even makes it a little scary because of the enigma of it all.

The episode has humor but mainly on the satirical side as we get a glimpse into the alternate versions of the characters, we all know as their all-self-involved celebs. I'll admit seeing them this way in fact in a rather unflattering light, was surreal but really showed how strange celeb counterculture can be and how the glitz and glamour can make anyone go nuts.

However, what makes this show is how it really gets into meta fiction and the whole function and physics of writing. Like in one scene where he talks to Radford, and we see Marchall is doing exactly as the script is written but then suddenly there are blank pages ahead. It makes sense there would be because Marchall is still in a scene and hasn't transitioning to the next yet. But also, in writing nothing is completely certain, as there are always blank spaces yet to be filled to advance the story and bring it to completion.

Can Marchall find a way to escape reality and get back into the realm of fantasy, you'll just have to wait and find out.

Rating: 4 stars.

Sublime and meta

[safenoe · 10/10 · 3 January 2024]

Reality Takes a Holiday is one of my favorite episodes of the sadly underrated Eerie, Indiana, which sadly lasted just one season. Reality Takes a Holiday, the penultimate episode of Eerie, Indiana, really goes meta with a show within a show and all credit to the boldness of the writers to pull this off. As one imdb user reviewer said, it is a crime that Eerie, Indiana cancelled after only 19 episodes.

Yes, I liked The X-Files (well the first three seasons), but I'm astonished when well-meaning X-Filers compare Eerie, Indiana to The X-Files, even though Eerie, Indiana came first! Really, what can you do.

They already did it in the "Twilight Zone"

[danieln-15525 · 6/10 · 30 May 2022]

To be honest, this episode is not that original. It is interesting in a way, but not original. They did it in the "Twilight Zone", in the early 1960's.