I’ve seen the cast of kids all over the place, and they’re very charming. I’m a 35 year old male, and I don’t often get into TV series very lightly. I Googled “Straight Dope Message Boards Strange Things” and didn’t see any threads on the show. If it weren’t for the cast of children and the fact that it’s set in the 80’s, I wouldn’t be interested enough to even look into it. I know from the trailer that the show is most likely a Thriller/Sci-Fi/Drama… I guess I’m wondering most about it’s Sci-Fi aspect.
Is there a satisfactory explanation for the ‘strange things’, or is it more of a pulp-comic type theme? I guess the best way to put it; Is it like an X-Files episode where there’s just a monster with no real good explanation as to why the monster exists, or is it like an X-Files where there’s a lot of Scully explaining how the monster could have actually come to be? Is there emphasis on the Science and logic? Or is that to be determined later in the show? Is it just a horror with Sci-Fi elements?
Everyone I know loves the series, mostly because of the nostalgia factor and the kids are so engaging.
I would caution you not to take the sci-fi elements too seriously. There’s an explanation for them, but there’s also some plot holes. You’ll enjoy it a lot more if you don’t try to analyze everything.
How do you feel about Stand By Me, ET, the early novels of Stephen King and the early films of John Carpenter? Because if you like any two of those, then I recommend Stranger Things to you.
I’m a 34 year old male, and I rarely watch TV series. I’ve started a handful like GoT, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, and always tune out after the first 3 episodes or so. I finished Stranger Things in about 3 binges.
It really helped that I had coworkers who were into it and willing to have water-cooler type chats about it.
SaharaTea’s point about plot holes is a good one. Upon reflection, quite a few items seem like B.S. Entertaining B.S. though.
I recommend the show, but don’t look too closely for the hard science. Like others said, I liked the nostalgia. And the acting was excellent all around, including the kids, which is no small feat.
I don’t think it is as great as everyone makes it out to be. HOWEVER, it is still certainly worth watching. I think it was about episode 3 where I went from just-watching-so-as-to-not-have-to-decide-on-something-else-to-watch to actually engaged.
I’m a hair too young for most of the nostalgia. I mean, I watched ET as a kid… on VCR in the 90s. I haven’t seen many of the movies that are being referenced, though through cultural diffusion I can recognize some things.
In spite of this, I loved it. The characters were very well written, and the atmosphere was perfect. The Big Spooky Mystery Science stuff was given just enough detail to keep the plot moving. Any more detail or attempt at “accuracy” would have detracted.
It is indeed a good show. Just sucks we have to wait till '17 for new episodes, those kids are going to look different by then so I hope it’s written into the script.
Mainly because Super 8 was taking from the same source material.
For the OP watch Episode 1, it’s pretty indicative of the rest of the show. I thought it was entertaining and the kids were good actors but I don’t quite get why the Internet seems to have gone so bonkers over it. It’s good but not that good IMO.
I sort of hesitate to start watching an on-demand series because I know I might get hooked on it. I watched the first episode last night about 10PM. About 2:30AM I stopped because that was way past my bed time. Yeah it’s very good. It really brings together a lot of movie concepts from Stand By Me, The Goonies, Poltergeist, and even ET.
I finished it in 2 nights, terrific nostalgic creepy series overall. My eyes got watery at a couple places, must have been some dust floating around my living room.
