AVERAGE

It became a global pop-culture phenomenon, this sci-fi show about a small town in Indiana where a group of kids learned about the existence of a portal to a dimension called the Upside Down, harboring monsters.

There was also a secret laboratory from where a girl with psychokinetic powers escaped. She was played by Millie Bobby Brown in her breakthrough role, but the young cast as a whole were lovable, fitting nicely into the irresistible 1980s nostalgia that gave the show its flavor. Stranger Things also frequently gave actors who had iconic moments in that decade fun comeback roles.

Would have been a fine movie in the 1980s; as a Netflix show, it was elaborate but senselessly drawn out for nine years, getting increasingly bloated.

2016-2025:U.S. 42 episodes. Color. Created by The Duffer Brothers. Theme: Kyle Dixon, Michael Stein. Cast: Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Cara Buono, Noah Schnapp, Joe Keery, Sadie Sink (17-25), Priah Ferguson (17-25), Brett Gelman (17-25), Maya Hawke (19-25), Dacre Montgomery (17-22), Matthew Modine (16-17, 22), Paul Reiser (17-22), Sean Astin (17-19), Linda Hamilton (25).

Trivia: Followed by a prequel stage play, ”Stranger Things: The First Shadow”.