Stranger Things' Creators Worked On An Underrated Fox Sci-Fi Series

Sometimes it feels like "Stranger Things" came out of nowhere when it debuted in 2016 and almost instantly became the flagship series for the entire Netflix platform, growing bigger and bigger with each season as it set new records for the streamer.

Many of the show's diehard fans had never heard of series creators Matt and Ross Duffer (also known as the Duffer Brothers) before they turned on "Stranger Things" for the first time, but this duo didn't spawn out of the Upside Down with the script for the series ready to go. They actually got their start working on an underrated Fox sci-fi series that paved the way for "Stranger Things," called "Wayward Pines."

After writing and directing the low budget Alexander Skarsgård film "Hidden," the brothers joined the writers' room of "Wayward Pines," which was produced by "The Sixth Sense" writer and director M. Night Shyamalan. Based on "The Wayward Pines" novels written by Blake Crouch, the primetime series starred Matt Dillon, Carla Gugino, and Toby Jones. The brothers wrote four episodes of the show's first season, which served as the jumping off point for them to eventually create "Stranger Things."

"Wayward Pines" promised audiences a new and mysterious world by M. Night Shyamalan as it followed U.S. Secret Service Agent Ethan Burke (Matt Dillon) on his investigation into the mysterious happenings of a small town called Wayward Pines, Idaho. As Burke tries to wrap his head around what is going on, he uncovers a conspiracy that unravels everything we thought we knew about reality. This mind-bending series was deeply indebted to its predecessors like "Twin Peaks" and "The X-Files," and wore these influences on its sleeve as it explored a world full of genetic mutants known as "Abbies."

The Duffer Brothers said goodbye to "Wayward Pines" before the start of its second season, which turned out to be its last. And with this experience, they were able to get to work pitching what would eventually become "Stranger Things," writing a pilot and 20-page pitch book that, like "Wayward Pines," leaned heavily on its Stephen King influences. When the pair pitched the series to networks, they said that executives pushed them to change the show to revolve around Sheriff Jim Hopper (David Harbour) solving crimes, but they wanted to focus on the perspective of the children, and Netflix eventually agreed.

The rest is, as they say, history. "Stranger Things" is set to come to a dramatic conclusion, and unlike "Wayward Pines," which ended on a massive cliffhanger, we hope that "Stranger Things" will be able to answer all of the weird questions that linger over its final season. And if you need more Duffer Brothers after "Stranger Things" comes to a close, you can binge watch "Wayward Pines" on Hulu now.