Weird Science (1994 - 1997)
Plot
The series follows the adventures of Gary Wallace (John Mallory Asher) and Wyatt Donnelly (Michael Manasseri), two socially inept high school students in an unspecified town in California (unlike the movie, which was set in Illinois). Together, using Wyatt's computer, they try to create a computer simulation of a perfect woman in order to practice communicating with women. However, a freak lightning storm brings the computer simulation to life, creating a real woman named Lisa (Vanessa Angel) - a drop-dead gorgeous genius with the powers of a "magic genie. The show followed in the tradition of 1960s fantasy sitcoms like Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie, combining a sitcom format with supernatural stories.
In the pilot episode, Gary claims that creating Lisa is possible because he "saw it in a John Hughes movie" - that is, of course, Weird Science.
Cast
John Mallory Asher takes over the role of Gary Wallace. Unlike his counterpart in the film, Gary is a poor student and a slacker, always looking for shortcuts to get what he wants (usually to impress girls). His father, Al (Jeff Doucette) is a plumber.
Michael Manasseri takes over the role of Wyatt Donnelly. Wyatt's wealthy parents are usually out of town, leaving him and his older brother Chett alone in the house. Most stories have him as the more cautious member of the group, more reluctant than Gary to use Lisa's magic. He is more popular with girls than Gary, and several episodes feature Gary being interested in a girl who likes Wyatt instead.
Vanessa Angel takes over the role of Lisa. Lisa describes herself as a "magic genie," able to grant the boys' wishes, though she does this out of choice rather than duty and is free to deny them any wish she does not want to grant. Once she grants a wish, Lisa is unable to reverse it, no matter how badly it turns out; however, most of her spells wear off after an indeterminate amount of time. Other than those basic rules, the limits of her powers are never clearly defined, and she seems to get more or less powerful depending on what a particular episode's plot requires. Although she is physically manifested, she is apparently still a program running on Wyatt's computer, and she ceases to appear if the computer is switched off. She is addicted to Chunky Monkey ice cream.
Lee Tergesen takes over the role of Chett Donnelly. Chett is a military school graduate who turned down his commission, claiming that he did not want to be sent overseas to work for "Third-World slackers"; he lives with his parents and shows no interest in getting a job. Paranoid and angry, he takes out his frustrations on Wyatt, though less sadistically than in the movie; mostly he takes Wyatt's things without asking and calls him names like "wuss-boy" and "pit-lick." He also has a vendetta against Scampi (Bruce Jarchow), principal of the boys' high school, whom he remembers as "Ass-istant" principal. Most episodes have Chett getting caught up unwittingly in the magical shenanigans, often getting hurt or transformed without knowing what is going on. At the end of the third season, to expand Lee Tergesen's role, Chett was let in on the secret of Lisa's existence; it was explained that Lisa had so often erased parts of his memory that he had developed a mental callus making him immune to erasure. He occasionally had hints of sexual tension with Lisa.
Production
Weird Science was produced by St. Clare Entertainment in association with Universal Television. Premiering on March 1, 1994, the show ran for five seasons on the USA Network for a total of 88 episodes. However, new episodes ceased airing in 1997 with the final six still unaired. They would eventually air in the United States the following year on The Sci-Fi Channel.
The theme song for the series was "Weird Science" by Oingo Boingo, the same as that used in the movie (though they received no on-screen credit for the series).
John Hughes had no involvement with the television version of his film. The creators and showrunners of the series were Tom Spezialy and Alan Cross, who had both been key writers on Parker Lewis Can't Lose and brought along many other writers, directors and producers from that show, giving Weird Science the feel of a fantasy version of Parker Lewis's light high school comedy.
Kari Lizer, one of the staff writers, who later went on to create The New Adventures of Old Christine, remembered her Weird Science years very fondly: "Weird Science turned out to be the best job because it made me realize I was more than an actress who could write monologues for herself. It turned me into a real writer because I had to write about things that weren’t close to home.”
Seth Green was one of the finalists for the part of Gary. This is mentioned on the DVD commentary for the pilot of Weird Science. He later had a guest appearance in season 2, episode 1 "Lisa's Virus"
Episode Guide
Season 1: 1994
1 "She's Alive" Max Tash Alan Cross & Tom Spezialy March 5, 1994
Gary Wallace and Wyatt Donnelly create a cyber-genie, Lisa, with the help of Wyatt's computer and a freak lightning storm.
2 "Universal Remote" Max Tash Adam Barr & Peter Ocko March 12, 1994
Gary wishes for a remote control that he can use to skip past the boring parts of his daily life, and ends up stuck in a time loop.
3 "Cyrano DeBrainiac" Mark Jean Adam Barr & Peter Ocko
Doug Chamberlin & Chris Webb (story) March 19, 1994
Gary seeks dating advice from Albert Einstein's brain, whom Lisa falls in love with.
4 "Magnifico Dad" Mark Jean Alan Cross & Tom Spezialy March 26, 1994
Gary's father switches bodies with the male model Magnifico.
5 "The Feminine Mistake" Max Tash Kari Lizer
Kari Lizer & Eric Alan (story) April 9, 1994
In order for them to better understand the opposite sex, Lisa turns Gary and Wyatt into women.
6 "Airball Kings" Max Tash Jeff Vlaming April 16, 1994
Gary asks Lisa to get him and Wyatt on the school basketball team. Her spell makes the Coach their biggest fans, even though they can't play.
7 "Party High, USA" Mark Jean Paul Lieberstein April 23, 1994
Gary wishes that his school classes were relevant to his interests.
8 "One Size Fits All" Mark Jean Adam Barr & Peter Ocko (teleplay)
Kari Lizer (story) April 30, 1994
Wyatt fancies himself an athletic girl, and wishes his body muscular to get her attention.
9 "Keeps on Tickin'" Max Tash Jeff Vlaming May 7, 1994
Lisa gives the boys watches that count down to Wyatt's death and the loss of Gary's virginity.
10 "Mr. President" Mark Jean Jeff Vlaming May 14, 1994
Wyatt wishes to be President of the school chess club, but instead he becomes the President of the United States.
11 "Fatal Lisa" Max Tash Alan Cross & Tom Spezialy May 21, 1994
Gary tries to wish Lisa into falling in love with him, but instead she gains an obsessive affection for Wyatt.
12 "Killer Party" Tom Spezialy Richard Doctorow May 28, 1994
Gary throws a party. Lisa makes the boy's parents feel young again.
13 "Sex Ed" Max Tash Adam Barr & Peter Ocko June 4, 1994
Lisa becomes the teacher of Gary and Wyatt's sex education class.
Season 2: 1994
14 (1) "Lisa's Virus" Max Tash Kari Lizer August 6, 1994
Lisa catches a computer virus. While Gary and Wyatt look for the disk, Lisa thinks she's part of a soap opera.
15 (2) "The Bazooka Boys" David Grossman Eric Alan August 13, 1994
Lisa makes bubble gum clones of Gary and Wyatt, which plot to take over their lives.
16 (3) "The Most Dangerous Wish" Max Tash Adam Barr & Peter Ocko August 20, 1994
To get revenge on the boys for taking her for granted, Lisa brings a video game villain to life.
17 (4) "Wyatt Erectus" David Grossman Jeff Vlaming August 27, 1994
In an attempt to make Wyatt more assertive, Lisa gives him a magic cologne. But when he uses too much, he begins turning into a caveman.
18 (5) "Tale of Two Lisas" Ricardo Méndez Matta Kari Lizer September 10, 1994
Lisa splits herself between the two boys to be more like what each of them wants.
19 (6) "Nightmare on Chett St." David Grossman Paul Lieberstein September 17, 1994
Gary uses a dream machine to control Chett for his first day on a new job.
20 (7) "Magic for Beginners" Tom Spezialy Alan Cross & Tom Spezialy September 24, 1994
Gary makes a wish to do real magic to win a talent show.
21 (8) "Copper Top Girl" David Grossman Jeff Vlaming October 1, 1994
Gary asks Lisa to find a perfect date for Wyatt, but pressed for time, she creates a robotic girl.
22 (9) "Switched at Birth" Ricardo Méndez Matta Kari Lizer October 8, 1994
Gary and Wyatt swap places with each other.
23 (10) "Camp Wannabe" David Grossman Adam Barr & Peter Ocko October 15, 1994
Gary wishes to go back in time to get a girl and seek revenge. Wyatt finds his teacher and dates her.
24 (11) "Circuit Courtship" Ricardo Méndez Matta Ed Ferrara & Kevin Murphy October 22, 1994
Lisa creates a supercomputer, but when he falls for Lisa, the boys are in danger.
25 (12) "Chett Reborn" Steve Dubin Paul Lieberstein, Kari Lizer & Jeff Vlaming (teleplay)
Paul Lieberstein (story) October 29, 1994
Lisa turns Chett into a baby and Wyatt tries to raise him to be nice.
26 (13) "Unplugged" David Grossman David Steven Cohen November 5, 1994
Gary, Wyatt and Lisa become rock stars, but their producer (Ryan Stiles) fires them when they can't write any good songs after their first hit.
Season 3: 1995
27 (1) "Earth Boys Are Easy" Max Tash Ed Ferrara & Kevin Murphy April 8, 1995
After Chett breaks up with his girlfriend, Lisa finds him a new woman, who turns out to be an alien who eats her mates.
28 (2) "Horseradish" Troy Miller Peter Ocko April 15, 1995
Gary forgets Lisa's new password, leaving her locked out of the computer without her powers.
29 (3) "Grampira" Max Tash Kari Lizer April 22, 1995
Wyatt wishes for his grandmother to spend a day with the energy of a young person, but she gains this energy by sucking it from any young person she touches.
30 (4) "Rock Hard Chett" David Grossman Ed Ferrara & Kevin Murphy April 29, 1995
To save Chett from a prank gone wrong, Lisa makes him invulnerable. When he discovers his new powers, he becomes the superhero "The Star-Spangled Butt-Kicker."
31 (5) "Lucky Suit" Max Tash Kari Lizer May 6, 1995
Believing that Wyatt's father is successful because of his lucky suit, Gary wishes for his dad to have a lucky suit of his own.
32 (6) "Gary Wallace: Boy Reporter" David Grossman Jeff Vlaming May 13, 1995
To impress the beautiful editor of the school paper, Gary uses a magic pen that can make any story come true.
33 (7) "Hot Wheels" Troy Miller Adam Barr & Peter Ocko May 27, 1995
Lisa transforms Wyatt's car into a sleek, sexy talking car named "Nadine," who both the boys literally fall in love with.
34 (8) "Bikini Camp Slasher" David Grossman Ed Ferrara & Kevin Murphy June 3, 1995
Lisa and the boys become trapped in a horror movie, where they must depend on Gary's encyclopedic knowledge of slasher movie conventions to keep them alive.
35 (9) "What Genie?" Troy Miller Kari Lizer June 10, 1995
Lisa has been forced to work as someone else's genie and erase Gary and Wyatt's memories of her existence.
36 (10) "Sci-Fi Zoned" David Grossman Alan Cross & Tom Spezialy June 17, 1995
After Gary and Wyatt have a falling out, Lisa zaps them into the Twilight Zone-like TV show that made them friends in the first place.
37 (11) "The Wyatt Brief" Les Landau Chris Black June 24, 1995
A glimpse into the future shows Wyatt that he's destined to steal Gary's prom date. To turn the girl off, Lisa gives him Chett's personality.
38 (12) "Free Gary" David Grossman Jeff Vlaming July 1, 1995
Lisa tries to give the boys the "Super Bowl of wishes": being Baywatch lifeguards. At the beach, she meets a man who may be another genie.
39 (13) "Quantum Wyatt" Ron Ames Ed Ferrara & Kevin Murphy July 15, 1995
To test out possible careers, Lisa gives Wyatt a box of magic chocolates that leap him into the bodies of various professionals.
40 (14) "Fly Boy" David Grossman Jeff Vlaming July 22, 1995
Gary is spotted using a pair of flying shoes Lisa created, bringing FBI agents Scolder and Molly to town to investigate rumors of the paranormal.
41 (15) "Teen Lisa" Les Landau Kari Lizer July 29, 1995
Lisa and the guys trade lives, with Lisa becoming a homely teenager and Gary and Wyatt becoming incompetent genies.
42 (16) "Dead Can Dance" David Grossman Adam Barr & Peter Ocko August 5, 1995
A time vortex brings a visit from a brawling, boozing Donnelly ancestor, who bonds with Chett.
43 (17) "The Legend of Red Brick Wallace" Les Landau Jeff Vlaming August 12, 1995
Gary travels back in time to the Old West to meet an ancestor who was a legendary gunfighter.
44 (18) "Spies 'R' Us" David Grossman Alan Cross & Tom Spezialy September 9, 1995
Gary overloads Lisa's virtual reality spy game and turns Farber High into a real-life James Bond adventure.
Season 4: 1996
45 (1) "Searching for Boris Karloff [a.k.a. She's Alive II]" Tom Spezialy Chris Black January 6, 1996
Lisa takes Gary and Wyatt to meet the only other person who has successfully created life, Dr. Victor Frankenstein.
46 (2) "Men in Tights" David Grossman Ed Ferrara & Kevin Murphy January 13, 1996
Lisa's spell turns Chett and Wyatt into an unstoppable tag-team wrestling duo.
47 (3) "Puppet Love" Michael Lange Kari Lizer January 20, 1996
Gary has lied about himself to impress his online girlfriend, so Lisa gives him a living puppet who can be the person he pretended to be.
48 (4) "Chett-A-Nator" David Grossman Adam Barr & Peter Ocko January 27, 1996
Chett is replaced by an invicible android who abducts Lisa and takes her to an alien spaceship.
49 (5) "Phantom Scampi" David Grossman Jimmy Aleck & Jim Keily February 3, 1996
Wanting better treatment from Principal Scampi, Wyatt shoots him with a magic dart that turns him into an obsessive best friend.
50 (6) "Grumpy Old Genie" Win Phelps Jim Lincoln & Dan Studney February 10, 1996
Lisa must deal with the humiliation of not being young and sexy when a hacker replaces her image file with a picture of Abe Vigoda.
51 (7) "Funhouse of Death" Christopher Hibler Glen Merzer February 24, 1996
Gary and Wyatt compete for the attention of a beautiful girl (Denise Richards). To settle the matter, Lisa locks them in a funhouse with a homicidal clown.
52 (8) "It Takes a Geek" David Grossman Chris Black March 2, 1996
Gary and Wyatt enlist Chett's help to rescue Lisa when she is trapped in Principal Scampi's computer.
53 (9) "Slow Times at Farber High" David Grossman Sherri Budnick & Joanna Sandsmark March 9, 1996
Gary gets a "brain buster" that turns smart people dumb, but he overloads it and creates a malevolent intelligence-sucking orb.
54 (10) "Chett World" Michael Lange Glen Merzer March 16, 1996
Lisa gives Chett a job that caters to his interests, but his bosses are hell-bent on turning all humans into macho Chett clones.
55 (11) "By the Time We Got to Woodstock" David Grossman Ed Ferrara & Kevin Murphy March 23, 1996
Stranded in 1969, Gary and Wyatt try to get to the Woodstock festival to find Lisa, while Chett tries to prevent the downfall of Richard Nixon.
56 (12) "You'll Never Eat Brains in This Town Again" Ricardo Méndez Matta Ed Ferrara & Kevin Murphy March 30, 1996
Lisa brings in real zombies to be extras in a low-budget zombie movie.
57 (13) "Demon Lisa" David Grossman Chris Black April 6, 1996
Lisa is possessed by the spirit of a computer demon trying to escape cyberspace and take over the world.
58 (14) "Cyborg Sam I Am" Max Tash Chris Black April 13, 1996
Lisa brings Wyatt's childhood toys to life.
59 (15) "It's a Wonderful Life... Without You" Christopher Hibler Kari Lizer April 27, 1996
Wyatt and Lisa see what life would have been like if Wyatt had never been born, only to find that the wish has wiped them both out of existence.
60 (16) "Lisa's Childhood Memories" David Grossman Chris Black (teleplay)
Seth Kurland (story) May 4, 1996
Gary and Wyatt program Lisa with memories of a family, but her magic makes the imaginary family become real.
61 (17) "Lisarella" David Grossman Jimmy Aleck & Jim Keily May 11, 1996
Lisa sneaks in to a ball to meet the President of the United States, and winds up falling in love with him.
62 (18) "Family Affair" Alan Cross Jimmy Aleck & Jim Keily May 18, 1996
Gary wishes that his girlfriend's family liked him, but they wind up liking him a little too much; Lisa tries to scare Chett out of his smoking habit.
63 (19) "Gary and Wyatt's Bloodsucking Adventure" Les Landau Kari Lizer (teleplay)
Alan Cross, Kari Lizer & Tom Spezialy (story) June 1, 1996
To be cool enough for an exclusive club, Lisa, Gary and Wyatt become harmless vampires, but they don't realize the club is full of real vampires.
64 (20) "It's a Mob, Mob, Mob, Mob World" David Grossman Jim Lincoln & Dan Studney June 15, 1996
Wyatt wishes that he had a close-knit loving family, and winds up in the Mafia.
65 (21) "Strange Daze" Tom Spezialy Alan Cross & Tom Spezialy June 22, 1996
When Lisa grants Wyatt's request for a technologically advanced school, she creates a futuristic dystopia.
66 (22) "Community Property" David Grossman Jimmy Aleck & Jim Keily June 29, 1996
After an argument, Gary and Wyatt go to court to see who will get custody of Lisa.
67 (23) "Master Chett" Les Landau Glen Merzer July 6, 1996
Chett develops an immunity to Lisa's power to erase memories, leaving him permanently aware that she's a magic genie.
68 (24) "Pirates!" Tom Spezialy Ed Ferrara & Kevin Murphy (teleplay)
Peter Ocko & Adam Barr (story) July 13, 1996
Lisa's spell brings a pirate musical to life, and Chett becomes the leader of a band of bloodthirsty singing and disco dancing pirates.
69 (25) "Swallow 13" David Grossman Jim Lincoln & Dan Studney August 3, 1996
When Chett swallows the directions to the hottest party in town, Wyatt would rather get shrunk down and travel to Chett's stomach than ask a girl for another copy.
70 (26) "Strangers in Paradise" David Grossman Ed Ferrara & Kevin Murphy (teleplay)
Ed Ferrara, Kevin Murphy, Jim Lincoln and Dan Studney (story) August 10, 1996
Lisa and Chett are stranded together on a desert island in the Bermuda Triangle, where magic powers don't work.
Season 5: 1997-1998
71 (1) "I Dream of Gene" Sandy Smolan Jeff Vlaming January 5, 1997
Chett gets his first real competition for Lisa when she meets a fellow genie (Bruce Campbell) who works for a Texas billionaire.
72 (2) "Girl Talk" Ricardo Méndez Matta Jimmy Aleck & Jim Keily January 12, 1997
Lisa makes her first female friend, who can't handle the revelation that she's a magic genie.
73 (3) "Boys on the Hide" David Grossman Sherri Budnick & Joanna Sandsmark January 19, 1997
The boys go on the run when they are falsely accused of a crime at the school.
74 (4) "Gary Had a Little Cram" David Grossman Jim Lincoln & Dan Studney January 26, 1997
Gary tries to get into college, with the help of a magical Lisa device that makes him a great athlete.
75 (5) "Forbidden Janet" Christopher Hibler Jimmy Aleck & Jim Keily February 2, 1997
Lisa creates a machine that brings Wyatt's dream girl to life, but Gary and Chett ruin everything when they steal the device.
76 (6) "Man's Best Friend" Alan Cross Kari Lizer February 9, 1997
Touched by Chett's affection for a stray dog, Lisa temporarily turns the dog into a human.
77 (7) "Show Chett" Tom Spezialy Chris Black February 16, 1997
To teach Chett a lesson about treating people as sex objects, Lisa turns him into a male stripper.
78 (8) "Bee In There" David Grossman Jimmy Aleck & Jim Keily February 23, 1997
The boys go back in time, in their parents' bodies, to teach their younger selves to play catch.
79 (9) "Future Bride" Ricardo Méndez Matta Adam I. Lapidus March 7, 1997
Wyatt wishes to meet the girl he's destined to marry; Chett tries to convince Lisa that she's his future mate.
80 (10) "Stalag 16" Ricardo Méndez Matta Ed Ferrara & Kevin Murphy March 14, 1997
Chett and his arch-nemesis Principal Scampi must work together when they're trapped in a virtual reality game.
81 (11) "I, Chettus" Tom Spezialy Chris Black March 21, 1997
Chett goes back in time to ancient Rome and becomes a hero by introducing the people to jeeps and beef jerky.
82 (12) "The Genie Detective" David Grossman Christer Hokanson & Howard Klausner April 11, 1997
Chett butts into Lisa's black-and-white film noir game, only to find out if he dies in the game, he'll die for real.
83 (13) "Magic Comet Ride" David Grossman Jim Lincoln & Dan Studney July 11, 1998
To find out more about herself and why her powers are so unpredictable, Lisa meets with a wise "genie master."
84 (14) "School Spirits" Tom Spezialy Jimmy Aleck & Jim Keily July 11, 1998
Lisa and the boys try to protect the ghosts of Farber High teachers from a creepy ghost-buster hired by Principal Scampi.
85 (15) "Wicked Wish" David Grossman Jim Lincoln & Dan Studney July 18, 1998
Lisa gives Wyatt's mom a magic mirror to make her feel young and beautiful, but the mirror turns her into a vain and evil witch.
86 (16) "Night of the Swingin' Steves" Ricardo Méndez Matta Chris Black July 18, 1998
The alien race known as "Steve" returns to ask Lisa to be their queen, and she calls in Agents Scolder and Molly to help.
87 (17) "Genie Junior" Ricardo Méndez Matta Susannah Hardaway July 25, 1998
To test Chett's ability to commit, Lisa makes herself pregnant.
88 (18) "WS4" David Grossman Jim Lincoln & Dan Studney July 25, 1998
When the school is attacked by warlike aliens, Wyatt reveals that he and Lisa are dating, and a dying Principal Scampi reveals that he's Chett's real father.
