The massive success of supernatural thriller Stranger Things on Netflix has led to a multitude of parodies, homages, and analysis since the series was released July 15, and the latest one was, well, kind of inevitable.
A new video titled “Stranger Things as an 80s sitcom” reimagines the creepy series as a classic, family-friendly sitcom from the 1980s, complete with a catchy theme song (Randy Newman’s Strange Things from the soundtrack to Toy Story) and a montage of the characters smiling, joking around, and otherwise looking cheesy for the camera. Given the dark tone of the real series, the video does a nice job of making a scary story seem altogether silly.
The video was posted by YouTube user Tim Bennett, and along with altering the show’s memorable title sequence to something a little less John Carpenter and a little more Full House, the video also manages to find a surprising amount of scenes featuring the characters laughing and looking happy. As anyone who’s watched the series can attest, Stranger Things isn’t a show that’s typically described as “lighthearted.”
The ’80s sitcom homage is just the latest in a series of fan-made tributes to the Netflix series, which has generated tremendous buzz and rave reviews since it arrived on the streaming video service. A co-creation of brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, the series follows a group of kids in the ’80s who get caught up in a terrifying mystery involving a missing boy, a telekinetic girl, and a monster terrorizing their small town.
So far, there’s been no official announcement that the series will get a second season on Netflix despite all of the positive attention it received (and is still receiving) from critics and general audiences alike.
Stranger Things is available to watch now on Netflix.