“Stranger Things” is all anyone can talk about lately. No matter where you go, someone is talking to their friend about the insane things that have gone down in just two seasons of the show on Netflix. While there are huge twists and turns for the storyline, we now know that the show has been greenlit for another two seasons – so, there’s much more in store. But, while we’ve binge-watched both seasons in record time, there are a lot of things about Stranger Things that you probably don’t know. Yeah, you can watch it twice if you think it’ll help – but I’m sure some of these facts will blow your mind, or, you know – make you say “wow” really quietly to yourself on the train or something.
1. The show was created by twin brothers.
Twin brothers Matt and Ross Duffer got to do the coolest thing ever and work together on an epic TV show that probably includes a lot of things they grew up doing together (like eating Eggos and playing Dungeons and Dragons). The two worked on a few other projects together before ST – like the movie “Hidden” and some other thrillers. But, they came up with the idea for ST based on the question: “What if Steven Spielberg were to direct a Stephen King book?” Obviously, they nailed it.
2. The Duffer brothers had over 1,000 kids audition for the kids’ roles.
While we’re all obsessed with our “ST kids,” there were a lot of other kids who could have scored the roles of our fearsome foursome and, Eleven. Apparently, The Duffer brothers had 906 boys and 307 girls audition for the roles of Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Eleven. During the auditions, the kids all read from the “Stand By Me” script – epic movie to land an epic role.
3. The show is based on “The Montauk Project.“
While the show itself is pretty Sci-Fi, there is actually some truth to the human experimentation that goes down with Eleven (and her “sister”). Apparently, in the early ’80s, government-sponsored human experimentation took place on Montauk, Long Island and – it also involved kidnapping kids. Could you imagine this actually happening today? Trump would never get away with that ish.
4. The Duffer brothers wanted to actually shoot the show on Montauk, Long Island.
While they wanted to make the show as “realistic” as possible, the twins wanted to shoot the show on location on the very end of Long Island – Montauk. It would be pretty legit to have a show based on something that really happened on Montauk to be filmed there, too. But, inevitably, they had to change the location of the show because it would be too hard to shoot there in the winter. Trust me, as a New Yorker, it was the right choice.
5. The opening title sequence isn’t random at all.
In fact, the red “Stranger Things” that appears at the beginning of the show was inspired by a famous motion graphics designer – Richard Greenberg – who was well known for working on the title designs of “Alien,” “Superman” and even “The Goonies” – all cult classics.