Forgotten Television: Honey, I Shrunk the Kids the TV Show

After the events of the 1989 movie where the Szalinski kids along with their neighbor’s kids were shrunk and had an adventure getting back to their normal size, the Szalinski family, which includes inventor father, Wayne (Peter Scolari), lawyer wife Diane (Barbara Alyn Woods), oldest daughter Amy (Hillary Tuck) and young inventor Nick (Thomas Dekker),  move to Matheson, Colorado for Diane’s new job.  Their next-door neighbor, Jake McKenna (George Buza) just happens to be the chief of police and often gets pulled into the zany antics of the unconventional family. In the first episode, while allowing Amy to drive the van, the shrink ray accidentally goes off shrinking Mom, Dad, Amy and the Van while Nick tries to get out of a fishing trip with his grandfather (Eugene Roche).  Unfortunately, grandpa eats the van and the shrunken Szalinski’s need to navigate inside the human body to get out before the shrink ray wears off.  Every week a new invention seems to get the family in trouble with things like: time-travel, aliens, ghosts, leprechauns, witches, cloning, mind-swapping, ninjas along with both Wayne and Diane’s work as well as Nick and Amy’s school and social life.

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show (shortened to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids in the show’s title sequence) is an American syndicated comic science fiction series based on the 1989 film, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.  The show ran for three seasons and a total of sixty-six episodes premiering on September 27, 1997 and running until May 20, 2000.  The show was filmed at Currie Barracks in Calgary, Alberta Canada in a decommissioned Canadian Forces dormitory.  The show changes Diane’s profession from real estate agent to lawyer.  Even though the show premiered after the third movie in the trilogy, it takes place between the first and second movie, since their third child which is seen in Honey, I Blew Up the Kid, isn’t mentioned in the series, until the final episode where Diane announces she is pregnant. The third season saw a large drop in viewership prompting Disney to cancel the series after the third season. The series was nominated for three Daytime Emmy Awards three consecutive years in a row.  In 1999 they were nominated for Outstanding Sound Editing but did not win.  In 2000 and 2001, the show was nominated and won the award for Outstanding Sound Mixing.

When reviewing a series based on a beloved movie, it is always very difficult to not compare the two and to take them as their own entities. I like the fact that they did not try to remake the movie for the pilot and instead the series is a continuation of the characters after the first movie. The show itself isn’t terrible and can be mildly entertaining, especially for a syndicated program.  It does suffer from budget restrictions, limiting the special effects on a very “special effects” heavy show. The movies had amazing aesthetics, and the television series lacked the visuals that made the movies so…well…amazing!  Although the cast is good for the most part and the acting is what one would expect for a syndicated Disney program, it is hard not to compare Peter Scolari to Rick Moranis.  Peter has great comic timing and is best known for his role in the hit sitcom Bosom Buddies which catapulted co-star, Tom Hanks, to stardom. The thing that Peter is missing and which role originator Rick Moranis had in droves is a natural connection with the audience.  Rick’s goofy fumbles and geekish attributes are endearing and feel authentic where with Peter, it feels like a role he is playing.  He isn’t bad, it just doesn’t feel real, and it detracts from the connection that could be made with the audience.  Does any of that matter though?  The target audience for the series was children or young adults and they could care less about how well a character connects and are much more forgiving for lack-luster special effects.  In the end, the show was entertaining and well done for the time and budget.  There were some minor glitches but overall, enjoyable.