Gli acchiappamostri

This was a wonderful and quirky TV series that somehow didn't succeed. Part of this was because the show was marketed as a kids' show--limiting its appeal--even though the show was great for the entire family. Part of this was because the network moved the show around--a sure death knell for a TV show. It's a shame, really, as the show was very good. Now this isn't to say that every episode was gold, but this was also the case with "The Twilight Zone" and other anthology shows--there are great ones and not so great ones.

The show is about friends Marshall and Teller--two kids living in the ultra-bizarre town of Eerie, Indiana. In this town, every weird thing on the planet comes to life. In the opening credits you see Elvis (among others) walking down the street and the show took advantage of numerous crackpot conspiracy theories and did them in a very funny tongue in cheek manner.

My favorite of these bizarre tales was the second episode. This is where the kids discover that after a friend gets braces, he can somehow hear the thoughts of dogs--and the dogs are apparently plotting to take over the world! However, most of the episodes have a similar weirdness about them and it was hard to dislike the show due to clever writing.

Considering they only made 19 episodes, it's surprising that the series was actually released to DVD--a testament to its cult appeal.