Weird Science is another movie of the Hughes Oveure from the 1980s. It is the charming tale of two complete nerds, Wyatt Donnelly (Ilan Michael Smith) and Gary Wallace (Anthony Michael Hall), who can’t seem to get any play from anybody. So in the wonderful tradition of Dr. Frankenstein, they use Wyatt’s computer to create their very own live hot babe named Lisa (Kelly LeBrock). Gorgeous Lisa fawns all over Wyatt and Gary, causing the guys who beat them up to suddenly start trying to get with Lisa. Lisa’s fawning also helps the girls Wyatt and Gary like to finally notice them and they all hook up in the end. Also, just to spice up the mix, Wyatt has a really scary older brother named Chet (Bill Paxton) who likes to torment Wyatt and Gary, but eventually Lisa the Magic Genie turns him into a fat-troll-slug-like thing. Think Jabba the Hutt.

Well, 9 years after this movie was released, USA Network decided to make a TV series out of it. This is one of the few movie spin-off shows (along with Buffy the Vampire Slayer) that I think surpassed the movie it is based on. Now, this may just be my opinion, but I thought the TV series was far superior to the movie in just about every aspect. The show is much funnier and since it ran for 4 seasons, there were a lot of cool adventures Wyatt and Gary could have once they made Lisa the Magic Genie.

GARY: “I know it can be done. I saw it in a John Hughes movie.”

The cast made many positive changes as well. I really prefer the series cast to the movie cast. Anthony Michael Hall was replaced by John Mallory Asher as Gary, who was just as good as the original. Kelly LeBrock was replaced by Vanessa Angel as Lisa, and while Kelly LeBrock was certainly a total babe in 1985, Vanessa Angel brought Lisa into the 90s. She was a perfect combination of beauty and comedy because she made Lisa very funny. Lee Tergesen replaced Bill Paxton as Chet, which I thought was a good move because Lee Tergesen had great chemistry with both actors who played Wyatt and Gary. Finally, Ilan Michael Smith was replaced by Michael Manasseri in what I think was the best casting change of all. Ilan Michael Smith played Wyatt like a total drip and at least Michael Manasseri gave him some balls.

But what truly made this show so amusing was the awesome dialogue the writers produced. A lot of the writers are alums from Parker Lewis Can’t Lose and it totally shows. The dialogue, the story lines, everything is great. I personally can’t get enough of all the wonderful tongue-in-cheek parodies they did. My all-time favorite episodes are Bikini Camp Slasher, Sci-Fi Zoned, and Pirates! In BCS, Wyatt, Gary and Lisa get sucked into a slasher movie and must survive the killer, Mitt-Face, using Gary’s infinite knowledge of horror movie rules. It also aired a year and a half before Scream, so it did not rip off the idea.

LISA: “My heel broke off!”
GARY: “I tried to warn you. Rule twelve: High heels always break when a homicidal maniac is chasing you.”
LISA: “But I wasn’t wearing high heels when we zapped in.”
GARY: “Rule eleven: In these movies, women always wear high heels.”

In Sci-Fi Zoned, Wyatt and Gary get in a fight, so Lisa zaps them into their favorite TV show, Sci-Fi Zone. It’s a total Twilight Zone homage, with Chet doing a wicked impression of Rod Serling. Also, my mom happened to watch this episode with me once and told me that the last place Wyatt and Gary end up (the world that is totally deserted) is exactly like an actual episode of the Twilight Zone that she still has nightmares about sometimes.

Finally, Pirates! is a wonderful parody/tribute to the musical genre, particularly the actual musical Pirates of Penzance. By some magic spell gone wrong, the pirate costumes from the school musical come to life as real pirates and it is up to Gary and Wyatt to stop them. However, the pirates are not just ruthless, bloodthirsty animals. They’re ruthless, bloodthirsty animals who sing and dance. They crown Chet their Pirate King and maurade around town wreaking havoc until Gary and Wyatt can finally, in the climactic Disco number “We’re the Pirates” (to the tune of In the Navy), turn the pirates back into costumes.

This show is hysterical, every episode is fantastic. The movie is okay and definitely worth a viewing, but if USA or FOX Family Channel starts to rerun the show again (they seem to do it in the summer a lot), you should make sure to check it out because the characters are loveable, the story lines are fun and the dialogue is hilarious.