Weird Science Boned the Fish When...

[TMC]

http://www.bonethefish.com/viewtopics.php?3060

Weird Science was a comedy series based on the movie of the same name. It debuted in 1994 and aired on USA Network. The roles of the characters are played by different people than the ones who played them in the movie; for example, Gary Wallace is played by John Mallory Asher instead of Anthony Michael Hall, Wyatt Donnelly is played by Michael Manasseri instead of Ilan Mitchell-Smith, Lisa is played by Vanessa Angel instead of Kelly LeBrock, and Chett Donnelly is played by Lee Tergesen instead of Bill Paxton. In the series, Gary and Wyatt create the perfect woman on their computer, but a freak storm brings to life a woman named Lisa, a gorgeous and highly intelligent woman with the abilities of a "magic genie". The sitcom was similar to Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie.

https://web.archive.org/web/20070225...ptheshark.com/

• Other Thoughts:
  
  No, this show (based on a John Hughes movie Hughes accurately described as a "dopey-ass comedy") wasn't great. But it was more fun than it had any right to be, mainly because its writers were, originally, a surprisingly gifted bunch: many former staffers from "Parker Lewis Can't Lose," and even one former staffer from "Northern Exposure." These writers, along with the engaging presence of Vanessa Angel as a modern-day genie, made the show into an amusing fantasy-comedy. Then most of the talented writers left for real shows (one of them is now on "Will and Grace"), to be replaced by young hacks-to-be and their college cronies, and the show lost whatever charm it had as it put all its remaining energy into idiotic would-be parodies and pop-culture references. For the true shark-jumping moment, I choose the episode where two rats, accidentally morphed into human form, were trying to rule the world. It was a bad parody of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," it was a ripoff of "Pinky and the Brain," and it committed the extra idiocy of turning the evil big brother character into the sympathetic hero and telling it from his point of view. This particular idiocy would be perpetuated a few episodes later by making him privy to the two geeks' "secret" and a full participant in all stories. This made the show *completely* worthless. Not that anyone was paying attention by then.
  This was good show for the first couple of seasons then it just ran out of gas. Check this out, that bozo who played Gary is now married to Jenny McCarthy!
  This show was such a lame premise that it was funny, I loved to watch it suck, like staring down a swirling drain
  When Chet found out about Lisa and wasn't such a bastard to Gary and Wyatt. Oh and that whole Rocket shoes episode. The Horror movie episode was single-handedly the great piece of television ever.
  A lame show based on a lame movie. Sure, I'd like to have a shapely computerized woman who can fulfill every desire I have, but that kind of crap really doesn't make for a good TV show. The only thing I liked was the line from the bubblegum dopplegangers episode, "Let's do that thing we did to that guy at that place at that time."
  Never. The show was always funny, made sense most of the time, and had Vanessa Angel. Too bad she became money hungry and wouldn't wear revealing clothes after a while.
  This show was in many respects better than the movie that spawned it which is one of the essential teen comedies of the 80's. Michael Manasseri was a much more likable Wyatt and John Mallory Asher did a fine job as the ever-horny Gary Wallace (and Anthony Michael Hall is one tough act to follow). The incredible Vanessa Angel made a stunning Lisa and Lee Tergesen expanded on the precedent set by Bill Paxton as Chett. It also boasted an impressive list of guest stars: B-Movie icons Bruce Campbell and Dick Miller, Seth Green and Emma Caulfield (both pre-Buffy), King Kong Bundy, Robert Romanus (AKA Damone from Fast Times At Ridgemont High), Ryan Stiles of Whose Line and many more. The writing was stellar. One episode in which Gary Wyatt and Lisa are in a horror movie and they survive by adhering to the rules Gary's learned from watching scary movies predates the production of Scream by a year. Weird Science was genius plain and simple and stayed clear of the shark during its 88 episodes.
  "You Make Man?...No Woman...Woman"... Oh My God, this show has got to be the best show on the U.S.A station EVER! I first saw it when i was 8, with my best friend Matt. We never missed it, 10pm on Saturday night. We would watch SNICK on Nick, then we would watch Weird Science and then Play with POGS for 1 hr, then watch Saturday night Live. WE most have stuck to this routine for 3 years. I was so sad when it was canceled in 8th grade. I loved Gary and LISA was my idol. THE GREATEST SHOW EVER. FUNNY STUFF!!!!!
  When Gary and Wyatt were cool all of a sudden. They no longer needed the magic computer genie.
  Oh, when is this one coming to DVD? I'll be the first in line. I don't know how they did it, actually. The movie was so bad... although, Bill Paxton as Chett, that's something to see. But, this show was actually brilliant. I didn't think it jumped after Chett found out about Lisa, b/c he was still helpless to make her work for him, and still out to get Gary and Wyatt b/c of it. (It's odd to know that Lee Tergesen went on to such a different character in "Oz." I mean, he's got a gift for comedy.) Absurdity will always work for a show, if you let it. And, come on, it was about a computer-generated genie. What sort of grip w/ reality were we supposed to have here? I loved the pirate episode ("Booty! Booty! Everybody get some booty! Booty! Booty! Everybody shake that booty!"); the one about the zombie movie, where Lisa provided real zombies to act; the one where they shrunk and were inside a spaceship in Chett's body, and the only way out was thru his tearducts, so they had to make him cry; and the b&w one where they were stuck in the world of "The Twilight Zone." Oh, so great. And back-to-back w/ "Duckman," and a lot of sugar, my Saturday nights were crazy.
  The episode where Lisa transforms the three of them into Rock Stars, serviceable enough story on paper, only their music was already horribly dated, even when it aired in the mid 90’s, capped off by Gary’s “flock of seagulls” hair, it just didn’t work.

[TMC]

While it wasn't as bad as people have said, it really jumped the shark once Chet and Lisa became a couple.

Sacrilege!