Bone Chillers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
by Betsy Haynes and Daniel Weiss
Saadia Persad
Esteban Powell
John Patrick White
Charles Fleischer
| Bone Chillers | |
|---|---|
![]() | |
| Genre | Comedy horror |
| Created by | Adam Rifkin |
| Based on | Bone Chillers by Betsy Haynes and Daniel Weiss |
| Starring | Linda Cardellini Saadia Persad Esteban Powell John Patrick White Charles Fleischer |
| Theme music composer | David Newman |
| Composer | Christopher Hoag |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Fred Silverman Willard Carroll Thomas L. Wilthe Adam Rifkin |
| Producers | Corey King Richard G. King |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production companies | Hyperion Pictures The Fred Silverman Company |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | September 7 – December 7, 1996 |
Bone Chillers is a series of children's horror fiction novels and a TV show created and authored by Betsy Haynes.[1] This series is similar in style and tone to the Goosebumps series.[1] At the end of each television episode, author Betsy Haynes would appear in an educational segment encouraging young viewers to read, write and be creative.[2]
Four freshmen at Edgar Allan Poe High School not only have to deal with the normal pressures of competing with the cool kids and the jocks but also have to contend with all sorts of weird happenings. Similar to Goosebumps, the stories that were originally about different people in each book were all changed to the setting of a haunted high school to provide a continuing cast. [1] Assisting the main characters was Arnie the custodian, who lived in the school's basement. There was the feared cook of the school, Carl, the ditzy Miss Dewberry, and the evil Principal Percival Pussman. Only three episodes of the TV series were adapted from books; the others were all original[1] (although the episode, Romeo and Ghouliette, was later adapted into the 23rd and final entry in the book series).
Cast
Main cast
- Linda Cardellini as Sarah Moss
- Saadia Persad as Lexi Orwell
- Esteban Powell as Brian Holsapple
- John Patrick White as Fitzgerald Crump
- Charles Fleischer as Arnie
Recurring cast
- Dave Ruby as Buddy
- Trey Alexander as Kirk
- Danielle Weeks as Tiffany
- Miles Dougal as Carl
- Erick Avari as Dr. Lumbago
- Laraine Newman as Ms. Dewberry
- Arthur Burghardt as Principal Pussman
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Art Intimidates Life" | Rif Coogan | Adam Rifkin | September 7, 1996[2] | |
|
Drawing/sketching pictures is no fun anymore when the horror creatures that are being drawn are found in reality. | |||||
| 2 | "Teacher Creature" | Rif Coogan | Teleplay by : Alex Zamm Based on the novel by : Betsy Haynes | September 14, 1996 | |
|
The new teacher at school, Mr. Batrachian, turns into a frog after he accidentally digests toxic eggs that Fitz and Brian find in the swamp. Based on book #6. | |||||
| 3 | "Back to School" | Rif Coogan | Teleplay by : Adam Rifkin Based on the novel by : Betsy Haynes | September 21, 1996 | |
|
Hating the disgusting cafeteria food at Edgar Allan Poe High School, Fitz refuses to eat it, even when Miss Webb takes over, and when his voracious classmates start fighting for seconds, he knows something weird is happening. Based on book #3. | |||||
| 4 | "Frankenturkey" | Valarie Breiman | Teleplay by : Michael McDowell & Adam Rifkin Based on the novel by : Betsy Haynes | September 28, 1996 | |
|
Fitz and Brian are supposed to stuff the school turkey so it will be a good meal for the school's Thanksgiving turkey. They don't want it to suffer, so they develop a decoy that is struck by lightning. It comes to life and becomes Frankenturkey. Can Fitz, Brian, Sarah, and Lexi outsmart him before he makes a meal out of them? Based on book #4. | |||||
| 5 | "Mummy Dearest" | Richard Elfman | Matt Bates & Carl V. Dupré | October 5, 1996 | |
|
The kids at Edgar Allan Poe High School must face off with a mummy during the school play. | |||||
| 6 | "Charlotte's Revenge" | Richard Elfman | Matt Bates & Carl V. Dupré | October 12, 1996 | |
|
A giant spider terrorizes the students and staff. | |||||
| 7 | "Romeo and Ghouliette" | Willard Carroll | Rege Bulman & Clay Eide | October 19, 1996 | |
|
Lexi knows there's something weird about Julie, the new girl at Edgar Allan Poe High School. Julie was practically drooling over a worm in biology lab. Then Lexi swears she saw Julie snatch a fly out of the air in homeroom—and eat it! Now Julie is after Lexi's best friend, Fitz. And Fitz is totally falling for her. He loves everything about Julie—especially the cookies and candies she brings him. Lexi suspects Julie is fattening Fitz up for a feast... Later adapted into Book #23. | |||||
| 8 | "Gorilla My Dreams" | Valarie Breiman | Matt Bates & Carl V. Dupré | October 26, 1996 | |
|
A gorilla is invading the dreams of a High School student. | |||||
| 9. | "Mr. Fitz and Dr. Hyde" | Richard Elfman | Rege Bulman & Clay Eide | November 2, 1996 | |
|
Fitz is uncontrollably transforming into an insane monster wreaking havoc all over. | |||||
| 10 | "Root of All Evil" | Willard Carroll | Michael J. Prescott | November 9, 1996 | |
|
The students of Edgar Allan Poe High School are battling against plants. | |||||
| 11 | "Edgar Allan Poe-Session" | Willard Carroll | Michael J. Prescott and Matt Bates & Carl Dupré | November 16, 1996 | |
|
The ghost of horror writer Edgar Allan Poe, for whom the school is named, gets angry when the principal gets rid of his bust from the school lobby. | |||||
| 12 | "Shmendel's Comet" | Willard Carroll | Adam Rifkin | November 30, 1996 | |
|
The return of Shmendel's Comet causes strange powers to be released at the school, which cause trouble for Kirk and his friends, who are trying to sneak in to steal the answers to a test. | |||||
| 13 | "Full Moon Goon" | Christopher Coppola | Michele Rifkin | December 7, 1996 | |
|
Sarah has a new friend named Lobo but she does not know that he is a werewolf. Fitz and Brian are suspicious about Lobo's strange behaviour and they discover that Lobo, under a spell, changes into a beast and howls at the Moon on a full moon. | |||||
Development and broadcast history
Having witnessed the major success of the Goosebumps series, television executive Fred Silverman went in search of another book series in a similar vein in hopes of rivaling that show's success, eventually coming across Haynes's book series. Noting that one of the books in the series, Back to School, featured a cast of four teens in a haunted high school, he decided that these four would serve as the core of the series; he believed that the format was sure to be "a gargantuan sized hit" that bore similarities to the Scooby-Doo franchise, a series he had originally greenlit in his early career in the late 1960s.[1] Haynes took an active role in the series development, stating that the series "couldn't hurt sales" of the books.[1]
The television series was not a success and was pulled from broadcast midseason, replaced by Nightmare Ned.[3]
Home media
Buena Vista Home Video released six episodes of the series on three VHS cassettes in 1997, after the series had been cancelled.
| Name | Release date | Episodes | Format | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Art Imitates Life | August 26, 1997 | 2 | VHS | Includes the episodes "Art Imitates Life" and "Mummy Dearest" |
| Back to School | August 26, 1997 | 2 | VHS | Includes the episodes "Back to School" and "Teacher Creature" |
| Frankenturkey | August 26, 1997 | 2 | VHS | Includes the episodes "Frankenturkey" and "Full Moon Goon" |
