So Weird

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So Weird
Created byTom Astle
Henry Winkler
Ali Matheson
Jon Cooksey
StarringCara DeLizia (Season 1-2)
Alexz Johnson (Season 3)
Mackenzie Phillips
Patrick Levis
Erik von Detten
Belinda Metz
Dave Ward
Country of originUSA
No. of episodes65 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time30 minutes
Original release
NetworkDisney Channel
ReleaseJanuary 18, 1999 –
September 28, 2001

So Weird is a television series shot in Vancouver, British Columbia that aired on the Disney Channel as a midseason replacement from January 18th, 1999 to September 28th, 2001. The series at first centered around teenage girl Fiona Phillips (Cara DeLizia) who toured with her rock star mom (Mackenzie Phillips), encountering paranormal activity along the way. Acting as an X-Files for the younger crowd, the series took a darker tone than other Disney Channel Originals. The third and final season saw the replacement of Cara DeLizia with actress Alexz Johnson playing Annie Thelen in a revamped, lighter version of the show. After 65 episodes, Disney Channel halted production on the series.

Main cast

Season one

The season began with Fiona on tour with her famous rocker mother Molly, brother Jack (Scully to her Mulder), bus driver Ned, his wife Irene, and their son Clu. Stringing all of Fi's paranormal encounters was her search to communicate with her father who died when she was three years old. Fi first "encountered" her father in the second episode titled "Website" where an unknown force sent her internet articles warning her of the future. From alien invasions, time warps, and ghosts, Fi faced 13 episodes worth of paranormal activity. Also encountered: one powerful tulpa, a Bigfoot, angels, and more significantly, the Will o' the Wisp. The season finale featured Jack becoming possessed by an Irish Will o' the Wisp, aka Spunkie. Fi found the spirit's true name - Bricriu - and saved her brother by speaking it. Bricriu had offered to protect Fi, and while it is understandable that Fi initially believed he was lying, subsequent events in the show proved that Bricriu may have been telling the truth. However, this is questionable at best.

Season two

The second season was even darker than the first, playing out over twenty-six episodes. The premiere picked up with Molly taking time off the tour to record an album. Fi and friend Candy meet a medium who is proven to be a fraud. However, the one who uncovers the fake is actually a medium himself who aids Fi in contacting her father through music on his old guitar. The episode ends in an emotional scene between Fi and Molly revealing how Molly really feels about Fi's search for her father. The character of Clu was reduced during the season as he went off to college. His brother Carey was introduced to fill in the gap. Many classic beasts surfaced within the season, including vampires, werewolves, banshees, trolls, sirens, and merfolk. In a pivotal episode, Fi learned that her father investigated the same kinds of supernatural events that Fi did. In fact, it was exactly what killed him. Fi was angered by her mother's deceit in covering up the truth about her father. Molly was eventually possessed by the same Will o' the Wisp as Jack was in season one, and Fi discovered that Will o' the Wisps or other dark powers, though not necessarily Bricriu himself, may have killed her father, resulting in the motorcycle accident that police assumed took his life. In this episode Bricriu used Molly to try and kill a firefighter who had been present at Rick's car crash and was aware that Fi's dad had been dead, with no apparent cause, before the car crashed. Following this episode, Fi had further contact with her father, as the answer to a troll's question - Faith - was revealed at the last moment. The season ended with Fi discovering her father's twin sister received messages from him in her sleep. The messages led Fi to a rooftop where she was attacked by a demon and saved by the ghost of her father. He left her with a message that the spirit world was angry with what she does and would try to stop her. At last, Fi got the proper farewell to her father that she had been searching for. Many DeLizia fans consider this a proper, if not entirely fulfilling, conclusion to the spirit of the series.

Season three

After skewing extremely dark and intricate in its second season, the show was forced into a lighter tone for its final batch of episodes. Cara DeLizia left after the first episode, which introduced family friend Annie Thelen. Fi had yet another encounter with Bricriu that ended with him convincing her to give up her innate attraction to the paranormal in order to protect her family. Fi, unable for whatever reason to see that Bricriu was acting in her best interests, trapped him in a floppy disk. The attraction, manifested in the ring her father gave her, was passed on to Annie as Fi went to live with her aunt. Molly moved the family to a new, brightly colored house.

Annie's story arc was the mystery behind a spirit guide that followed her in the form of a panther. Her character was also musically talented, and episodes featured more of her singing than that of the older Mackenzie Phillips. The season's stories were a far cry from previous episodes, playing such plots as being sucked into a painting (which directly followed an episode of people being sucked into photographs) and a detention class that never ended. Fi never reappeared in the season, not even the final episode, which was a clip show of mostly the third season.

Cancellation

After 65 installments, Disney canceled the show as was standard practice at the time no matter how popular a series it was. After the show ended, the series' reruns were pushed further back on the schedule. Before it was taken off completely, the show was airing at 3:00 AM in late 2001. Starting in 2002, Disney Channel completely overhauled its line-up and So Weird re-runs were gone.

Unaired plots

Executive producers Jon Cooksey and Ali Marie Matheson had plotted out a very different and dark third season. Season two would have ended with Rick being thrown off the roof rather than having a tearful farewell with his daughter. Season three would then pick up with stories including Bricriu making a reappearance, possessing Fi who would later be saved by Molly's priest brother. Fi would have continued to investigate the paranormal but the encounter on the rooftop would have made her more cautious; the Phillips witch ancestry would be delved into; the alien thread from the past two seasons would have come full circle; Jack would have been revealed to have lived a past life as a knight (subtly alluded to in past episodes); Molly's past alcoholism (the subject of "In the Darkness") would have been addressed; and Rick's story would have continued through to the series finale of Fi going into Hell to rescue her father.

However, Disney would not allow the dark themes to be included in the show. They instead opted for a lighter tone to dominate the final season. This led to executive producers Cooksey and Matheson leaving the show. However, most of the planned plots would not have been possible because Cara DeLizia had already made the decision to leave and pursue other projects.

The other known incidence of Disney rejecting proposed stories was the unproduced episode "Chrysalis." The episode would have featured Carey helping a friend who was a victim of addiction. The episode would have also introduced the backstory of Molly's alcoholism. The episode "Avatar" was aired instead.

Cast changes and guest appearances

Erik von Detten was snatched up by Disney when the show was in its second season. While he was used in two network projects, sitcom Odd Man Out and fantasy series Dinotopia, von Detten returned in the third season in several guest spots. Eric Lively meanwhile replaced him. The Disney movie The Princess Diaries also featured von Detten.

Despite many rumors, producers confirm that Cara DeLizia left after season two to pursue other projects before Disney had decided to revamp the show.

In the season three episode "Earth 101," Fi's cameo appearance was done through past vocal footage and a look-alike stand-in. DeLizia had no part in the episode.

The Moffatts made a guest appearance in the episode "Destiny." SHeDAISY made a guest appearance in the episode "Listen."

Mackenzie Phillips does not appear in two episodes of the series.

Music of So Weird

The series featured original songs sung by both Mackenzie Phillips and Alexz Johnson. Songs sung by Mackenzie Phillips included the theme "In the Darkness", "Another World", "Rebecca", "The Rock" and "Love is Broken". Each of the songs usually tied into the theme of the episode they were featured in. For example, "Rebecca" was featured in the episode "Rebecca" which dealt with Molly's former best friend of the same name who vanished when she was 13 years old. A compilation of Molly's songs was featured in the episode "Encore."

"Last Night Blues," was the only occasion Cara DeLizia had to sing during her stint on the show. The song was supernaturally transferred to the characters from a murdered blues musician.

Season 3 mainly used the music of Alexz Johnson. One of Johnson's original songs, "Dream About You", was featured in the episode "Carnival." A music video by Alexz Johnson, "Shadows", was also featured near the end of the show's run on the Disney channel.

The following is an incomplete listing of music from So Weird. With the exception of "Lorena" and occasional musical guest appearances, all music was original, created especially for the series.

Introduced in season one

  • "In the Darkness"
Music by Annmarie Montade
Lyrics by Jon Cooksey
Sung by Mackenzie Phillips
  • "More Like a River"
Music by Brent Belke
Lyrics by Jon Cooksey
Sung by Mackenzie Phillips
  • "Rebecca"
Music by Annmarie Montade
Lyrics by Jon Cooksey
Sung by Mackenzie Phillips
  • "She Sells"
Music by Annmarie Montade
Lyrics by Jon Cooksey
Sung by Mackenzie Phillips

Introduced in season two

  • "Origami"
Sung by Mackenzie Phillips
  • "New Math"
Sung by Mackenzie Phillips
  • "The Rock"
Sung by Mackenzie Phillips
  • "Love Is Broken"
Sung by Mackenzie Phillips
  • "Last Night Blues"
Sung by Mackenzie Phillips and Cara DeLiza
  • "Another World"
Sung by the fictional Phillips Kane Band, and by Mackenzie Phillips. Alternate version sung by David Steele

Introduced in season three

  • "One In A Million World"
Sung by Mackenzie Phillips and Alexz Johnson
  • "To Dream About You"
Sung by Alexz Johnson
  • "Never Give Up"
Sung by Alexz Johnson
  • "What You Do (Voodoo)"
Sung by Mackenzie Phillips
  • "Thinkin' About Tomorrow"
Sung by Mackenzie Phillips
  • "A Different Story"
Sung by Mackenzie Phillips
  • "Push Me, Pull You"
Sung by Alexz Johnson
  • "'Cause You're Watching Over Me (Shadows)"
Sung by Alexz Johnson
  • "While I Stare"
Sung by Mackenzie Phillips

Other songs

  • "Lorena" (folk song fragment)
Sung by Mackenzie Phillips
  • "Star-Dot-Star" (fictional jingle)
Sung by cast (and by gremlins)
  • "Jack's Lullaby"
Sung by Patrick Levis
  • "Questions"
Sung by Jewel Staite
  • "Little Goodbyes"
Sung by SheDaisy
  • "Misery"
Sung by The Moffatts

Episodes

Main article: List of So Weird Episodes

Production and distribution

  • So Weird will begin playing on The-N's summer schedule in 2008.[citation needed]
  • No DVD release is scheduled at this time.
  • The original title of the show was "Too Weird." An eBay bid had auctioned off a pilot script under that name. Nothing however confirms that it was truly written by anyone involved with the show.
  • The final verse of "In the Darkness" was used for the 40 second theme song because it was the most uplifting part of the song, which is reportedly about Molly's alcoholic past.
  • In an episode the family visits the town of Marfa, Texas, Fi and Jack look for the "Marfa Lights" in a forest of tall trees. Marfa is located in a desert region of West Texas, and there is no large forest in that part of the state. Marfa, Texas Chamber of Commerce commented after the episode aired, "We saw the show and we got a big laugh of the forest that does not exist in our town."
  • So Weird originally aired Mondays at 9 p.m., before Disney Channel put all their shows on weekends.
  • "SoV" was a weekly web feature on the So Weird website of a mysterious ball of light (confirmed by Jon Cooksey to be Bricriu) commented on that week's episode. After the episode "Shelter," the character's contract was erased because Fi discovered his task of observing her every move.

Fan reaction

So Weird was popular amongst older audiences, more so than most other Disney Channel Original Series. Most fans had latched on to the first two seasons with its dark mythology, especially when led by central character Fiona Phillips.

When the lighter tone of season three came around, it seemed to alienate most fans (many of which still continued to watch). In fact, many fans separate the eras as two different series. However, as Disney strived for, younger audiences became attracted to the show in its final season from its lighter stories to marketable new music talent Alexz Johnson filling in for DeLizia. However, fans were also angered by the fact that Disney seemed to completely ignore the show's past in the final year, dropping all previous threads and not including clips from seasons one and two in its finale clip show.

Broadcasters

Brazil: Jetix, SBT

Canada: BBC KIDS, 2008

Spain:TVE CLAN


External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=So_Weird&oldid=187875778"