Goosebumps (1995 TV series)

Did You Know?

• A Halloween 1998 tie-in marketing campaign with General Mills promoted the video series on 10 million packages, including coupons for Fruit Roll-Ups and Gushers.
• Books adapted into episodes were re-released as Goosebumps Presents editions containing photos from the episodes; eighteen such books were released from 1996 to 1998.

Production

In April 1995, Fox Children's Network was working with Scholastic to produce an anthology series based on the Goosebumps novels, under the working title Goosebumps Theatre, for the 1995 fall schedule. Fox planned to premiere it as the lead-out program for that year's The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Halloween special. The series was filmed largely in Ontario, Canada, using existing houses and historic properties in Toronto, Markham, and rural areas rather than constructed sets. Ontario provided cost-effective filming with a versatile aesthetic resembling the U.S. while maintaining geographical ambiguity. Props were designed by Ron Stefaniuk and Alan Doucette; Stefaniuk kept many animatronic props at his studio after cancellation.

Telecast history

Goosebumps originally aired on YTV in English from 1995 to 2004, and again in 2016–2017, and on Canal Famille in French in Canada. In 2015 and from 13–18 August 2019, it aired on Teletoon and Télétoon (Quebec). Since 2022, Family and WildBrainTV have aired reruns. In the U.S., it aired on Fox from 27 October 1995 to 16 November 1998, with repeats on Fox Family until 6 September 1999 and 3 September 2001. Cartoon Network aired episodes every October from 2007 to 2009. The Hub aired the series from 6 September 2011 until 5 October 2014. Netflix has streamed all 74 episodes since 2013. In the UK, it aired on Children's BBC from 1997 to 1999, with repeats until 2001; CBBC heavily censored episodes, especially twist endings, while UK Fox Kids aired mostly uncensored versions except for omitting Mr. Wright's death by electrocution in "A Shocker on Shock Street". It is also available on Tubi, The Roku Channel, and Paramount+.

Home media

Beginning in 2004, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the series on DVD in individual volumes, initially one two-part episode per disc, later sometimes two separate episodes per disc. On 16 September 2008, twelve of the earlier discs were re-released in double-feature sets with the same episodes. Starting in 2008, new DVD sets coincided with the Goosebumps HorrorLand revival books, featuring enhanced audio and picture quality, menus, and three to four 22-minute episodes per set instead of two, with new cover art. Of the 74 episodes, 69 have been released on DVD in the U.S., excluding "The Haunted Mask" Parts 1 and 2, "Werewolf Skin" Parts 1 and 2, and "The Cuckoo Clock of Doom"; those two titles were previously released on VHS. On 26 November 2012, Revelation Films released season sets in the UK (region 2) with mostly uncensored versions from the British Fox Kids channel, still truncating the ending of "A Shocker on Shock Street"; all six hour-long specials are presented in their entirety. On 2 April 2014, Madman Entertainment released the entire series in four DVD sets and a "Most Wanted Collection" in Australia and New Zealand (region 4). The complete series is on iTunes and was available on Netflix in North America and the UK. The full series is free on Tubi in the U.S.

Reboot

A rebooted live-action Goosebumps series was announced on April 28, 2020, by Scholastic Entertainment, Sony Pictures Television Studios, and Original Film, the production company behind the 2015 movie and its sequel. R.L. Stine confirmed in March 2021 that a producer and director were attached. In February 2022, the show was set for Disney+. Unlike the original anthology, this 10-episode season follows five high schoolers who accidentally release supernatural forces on their town. They must cooperate despite personal conflicts, uncovering secrets from their parents' teenage years along the way.