Before proceeding.
I AM FROM CENTRALIA, PA. I was one of ‘those’ folks.. my parents moved away as we were in one of the hardest hit part of town due to the mine fire.. But the water is clean. The smoke has cleared.. there are lots of tourists desperate for a view of fire that they will never see.. and graffiti highway is amazing. Now on to the news..
For better or worse, CENRTALIA is going to get some major TEE VEE time coming up very soon.
According to DEADLINE, NBC just won the rights to produce ‘CENTRALIA,’ a project being called a ‘dark’ drama..
MORE FROM THE DEADLINE REPORT that broke today:
In a competitive situation with multiple bidders, Centralia, a genre drama from Star-Crossed creator/executive producer Meredith Averill and Amblin TV, has landed at NBC with a major penalty and has been laid off at Universal TV.
Written by Averill, Centralia is a dark character-driven genre soap based on a real town in central Pennsylvania where an underground mine fire has been burning for over 50 years. The remaining few residents of this ghost town are determined to preserve their homes but remain unaware of the evil that is slowly making its way to the surface. Averill is executive producing with Amblin TV’s Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey
And finally..
Averill has first-hand knowledge of the Centralia story as she grew up in the nearby town of Pottsville, PA. She is coming off an overall deal at CBS TV Studios where, in addition to creating and executive producing alien-themed love story Star-Crossed for the CW, she also worked as co-executive producer on the studio’s CW dramedy Jane The Virgin and producer on CBS’ The Good Wife. She is repped by WME.
I have very, very mixed feelings about this project.. I applaud the idea. It is natural–a ghost town, especially one with the history that Centralia has, is an amazing story. But it is also complex.. I would expect Averill to create a story with respect and beauty–something Centralia had and still does.. But it’s also a situation ripe for attention, entertainment, and profit.
This upcoming project is both exciting and frightening.
After all.. this is my hometown, by default. I know the real story of it. It’s not filled with ‘ghosts’ but instead wonderful memories of times long ago. And I hope that is brought forward in the setting of the series.
Centralia is worth attention.
In the best ways possible.
I visited Centralia to my grandparents home in the swamp. Many relatives buried in the Catholic Cemetery/ including my parents and a sibling. Still visit when in the area.
would love to see it on tv can’t wait for it to come out
If they do it fair justice.
I lived in Centralia, children born there and parents , aunts , uncles &cousins there . What do you know about Centralia living in Pottsville for how long before you left? P.S. grandparents there also plus all my friends I grew up with !!
I did not live in Pottsville. I am from Centralia.. I lived there, was born there, and family was there. WE moved in the late 80s..
I love Centralia aka Hell! I made a special trip to walk the grounds and see it. There’s nothing really dark but an amazing feeling when you walk around the abandon areas. I would watch a series based on it. I hope people will be respectful of the folks still living there. TV shows aren’t reality so whatever spin they choose can work.
Absolutely agree.
The people there are amazing, wonderful people.
i grew up in centralia until we had to move . I was thirteen at the time. It was very traumatic to me. Not only did all of my friends scatter in many different directions, our house was demolished , never to be seen again. I can remember thinking, remember this, remember what that looked like. I’d ride my bike around town trying to make myself remember everything I saw… It was a very sad time in my life.
I was about 6 going on 7..and traumatic nonetheless, so I would only imagine being 13 was tougher .. And knowing that it was that important at 13 is impressive and also amazing. A beautiful story and thank you for sharing .. Always fee free to email me at [email protected] if you want to speak more
I’d love to have my 95 year old mother Helen Timpko give an interview !
I have been to Centralia twice and the first time visited it, I pretty much drove right by it. It wasn’t at all what was expected. But I was determined to see “something”. Alas all I encountered was a really nice guy who still lived there. He told stories about the homes that used to be there. The streets that used to have names and how the highway was completely diverted in a way it was no wonder I kept driving right by it. It really was a total shame how the town lost itself. I really do hope the show respects the towns history and doesn’t make a mockery of the tragedy and turmoil the towns residents had to endure.
You can find a lot of little hidden amazing things there.. The people are good, those who remain are good.. I agree with you, I hope whatever show does it all justice.