Illinois

Illinois is a U.S. state located in the continental United States. It is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern state and the fifth most populous state in the nation. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and western Illinois, and natural resources like coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a broad economic base. Illinois is an important transportation hub; the Port of Chicago connects the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River via the Illinois River.

Babylon 5
Illinois is the place of birth of Stephen Franklin, who was born in Chicago in the year 2220. Franklin served as the second Chief Medical Officer aboard the space station Babylon 5 from 2258 to 2262. Coincidentally, series star Bruce Boxleitner, who plays Captain John Sheridan, was also born in Illinois. He was born in Elgin on May 12th, 1950.

Heroes Reborn
The NBC television series Heroes Reborn partially took place in Carbondale, Illinois. Notable landmarks include Pinehurst High School and Moe's Ice Cream Parlor. Carbondale was the home of Emily Duval, her ex-boyfriend Brad, and Brad's abusive father. Tommy Clark relocated to Carbondale to keep a low profile from those who were hunting Evos. Luke and Joanne Collins came to Carbondale in search of Tommy, who had escaped from a church fire that Luke had set in order to kill other Evos.

Space Odyssey
In the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, Urbana, Illinois was the site of the Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic Computer plant, the facility responsible for developing the HAL 9000 computer system, which was later used as the operating control systems on the Discovery One shuttle. The HAL 9000 computer was developed by Doctor Sivasubramanian Chandrasegarampillai and was brought online on January 12th, 1997.

The X-Files
Robert Gailen Orison was born in Illinois on July 15th, 1937. In 1959, Orison committed first degree murder and was sent to prison. He drilled a hole into his skull, allowing extra blood flow, which enabled him to project his personality via group hypnosis. Becoming a self-styled Reverend and voice of God, Orison committed himself to bringing judgment to the unjust.

Points of Interest

 * Hub City: Hub City is a major metropolitan city located in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a short distance away from Chicago. Hub City is the base of operations for the masked investigative reporter Vic Sage, also known as the Question.


 * Shermer: Shermer is a small town in Illinois and is the principal setting for many of the 1980s teen comedies directed by John Hughes. As it relates to the speculative fiction genre, it is the main location of the 1985 film Weird Science, as well as the Weird Science television series.
 * Urbana: Urbana is the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois. Most of the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is located here. Urbana is where the HAL 9000 artificial intelligence was first designed.

Films that take place in

 * Strange Invaders
 * Transformers: Dark of the Moon
 * Weird Science

TV shows that take place in

 * Biker Mice from Mars (1993 TV series)
 * Biker Mice from Mars (2006 TV series)
 * Timecop
 * "Public Enemy"

Comics that take place in

 * Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Spike and Dru 3
 * Cat, The 1
 * Cat, The 2
 * Monsters Unleashed 4
 * Wild Dog Special 1

Characters from

 * Bill Nelson
 * Charley Davidson
 * Chet Donnelly
 * Courtney A. Krieger
 * Daimya Zajino
 * David Reid
 * Emily Duval
 * Frederick Sloan
 * Gary Wallace
 * Gayle Marsh
 * Greasepit
 * HAL 9000
 * Jack O'Neill
 * Johnny Blaze
 * Karen Baley
 * Lisa/Weird Science
 * Malcolm Donalbain
 * Marc Spector
 * Maria Hill
 * Randall Spector
 * Riri Williams
 * Robert Gailen Orison
 * Sam Loomis
 * Shirlee Bryant
 * Stephen Franklin
 * Ted Kord
 * Vic Sage
 * Wyatt Donnelly
 * Zabo Donalbain
 * Zack Allan

People who were born in

 * Adam Baldwin
 * Albert Glasser
 * André Bormanis
 * Andy Wachowski
 * Arnold Laven
 * Bruce Boxleitner
 * Colin Strause
 * Deanna Lund
 * Daryl Hannah
 * Don Siegel
 * Doug Wax
 * Edward Mann
 * Eric Forsberg
 * Gillian Anderson
 * Greg Strause
 * Harrison Ford
 * Harve Bennett
 * Helen Horton
 * Henry Myers
 * Howard Keel
 * Janina Gavankar
 * Jeff Austin
 * Jennifer Beals
 * Jennifer Lien
 * Jennifer Rhodes
 * Joan Taylor
 * John Logan
 * Kevin Grevioux
 * Larry Wachowski
 * Mel Tormé
 * Michael Clarke Duncan
 * Michael Crichton
 * Michael O'Hare
 * Nichelle Nichols
 * Oliver Crawford
 * Peter Baldwin
 * Phil Bondelli
 * Philip Kaufman
 * Philip Yordan
 * Ray Bradbury
 * Reiko Aylesworth
 * Richard Fancy
 * Sarah Wayne Callies
 * Sendhil Ramamurthy
 * Stephen Rappaport
 * Stuart Gordon
 * Terrence Howard
 * Terry Brooks
 * Tom Towles
 * Tyler Bates
 * Virgil W. Vogel
 * Walter Koenig

Notes & Trivia

 * Scenes of the high school and shopping mall featured in the 1985 comedy film Weird Science were filmed at Niles East High School in Skokie, Illinois and Northbrook Court Mall in Northbrook, Illinois. Director John Hughes attended high school in Northbrook.