The Invaders

Re: The Invaders

Ordinarily, I would agree, but to date all season sets of this vintage that have been split had about 30-32 episodes per season ("Big Valley", "Untouchables", "The Fugitive", "Rawhide", etc.). I don't see Paramount releasing a 13 episode half season set, but anything is possible I suppose.

And given that Paramount has not provided any extras for the last three shows listed above, I wouldn't expect any here, except possibly the 75 minute pilot (which I've never seen myself, but am dying to). But you are correct in that there's a golden opportunity here for having Roy Thinnes provide commentary on the series, especially since he himself has remained an "Invaders" enthusiast.

This is one series in my mind that should be accorded the full series release treatment, as Fox accomplished with "Land of the Giants", but alas it just won't happen.

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For the most part Paramount's transfers have been top notch. And when was the last time their TV division used flippers? Hopefully there won't be any music issues.

it is interesting that this appears to be the first Paramount series that they've offered on DVD, but don't have listed in their Syndication Bible.

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They're doing a 13-episode set with Mod Squad S1 V2, but are including at least one featurette as a bonus. I think half-season sets are going to be the norm, aside from the anomalies of H5-0, WWW, and M:I.

I'm pretty happy with my UK Invaders set, but may spring for the US version if it's a significant improvement. I'm curious to see how they're going to fit the 17th episode on there.

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Well, one improvement is that (unless they really goof and use PAL masters), the sound will, unlike the R2, play at the correct speed.

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That's true, I forgot about that one--I stand corrected in my assessment.

I think the only guarantee for a full season set is if a studio released say, Kodiak (1974) starring Clint Walker. I believe it lasted 4 episodes. Well, they might want to test the waters with 2 episodes...

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but did they only shoot 4 episodes or are there a few adventures trapped in the vault?

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Or Quark, which lasted just a few more than that...

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S1 of "The Invaders" is now listed on Amazon and Deep Discount and at a decent enough price (Amazon's currently the lowest at $25.99). Product details on Amazon shows 5 discs after all. Presumably just one episode on disc 5, with plenty of room for that 75 min. pilot, right Paramount? On the other hand the run time of 869 minutes points to basically 17 episodes of 51-52 minute duration.

THANK YOU PARAMOUNT!!!!!!

It is unfortunate that official word of an impending Region 1 DVD release of THE INVADERS in North America will finally be realized was made known about the same time as the recent passing of Suzanne Pleshette (January 31st, 1937 - January 19th, 2008) who made two stellar guest appearances on this Quinn Martin produced 1960s SF tv classic in the episodes "The Mutation" and "The Pursued."

I want to express my sincere appreciation to TV SHOWS ON DVD for breaking this long anticipated news. For months now (more likely years) I have regularly monitored this information website on a daily basis for just such a glimmer of hope and when it was made known I wasn't even afforded the distinct pleasure of discovering this for myself but was informed by someone else...apparently just as dedicately conscientious and alert!

In retrospect we can now with (considerable) humour look back at the erroneous suggestion that somehow copyright issues were the (major) deterent in preventing just such a DVD release of THE INVADERS in the U.S....something that I well knew to be untrue!

The truth be known apparently Paramount Pictures-CBS Television Home Entertainment had no real intention of marketing THE INVADERS stateside until this tv property well proved its formidable retail muscle abroad where it has done outstandingly well in sales. Indeed at least two major online retail outlets (in both the U.K. and Australia) completely ran out of stock almost immediately which doesn't happen very often you can be sure of that.

Now we turn our thoughtful attention to certain specifics that have to be addressed and hopefully will reach Paramount who just may frequently monitor this excellent online information discussion forum.

Being an entirely different market we North American INVADERS fans are naturally looking forward to a completely new approach taken with this DVD collection.

01) That the video transfers are drawn from the original 35mm source elements fully restored and digitally remastered to optimum pristine condition (in the same manner that was done for THE FUGITIVE) considering that this show was after all produced in colour.

02) With 5 discs being utilized there is certainly room for some additional bonus extras which Paramount no doubt likely has access to most notably the unaired 75 minute version of THE INVADERS pilot "Beachhead" (10/01/1967). Actually there are to my knowledge at least 4 different versions: two alternate 50 minute, one 55 minute and of course the highly desired 75 minute in addition to the inclusion of the first (1967) and second season (1967-68) tv promos.

03) That an entirely new and dynamic packaging design much more reflective of the actual show be drafted.

With all these substantial changes it is conceivable that even those who have already purchased the previous Region 2 and Region 4 editions would likely be induced to buy this vastly improved upon ultimate collector's edition set.

THE INVADERS has already proven its considerably impressive marketability and popularity as a viable commercial product abroad so that Paramount is hardly risking the additional investment and effort that would be made for a really worthwhile collection as befitting this truly outstanding SF television classic.

There is at least one of the individuals who helped brainstorm and implement the excellent THE TWILIGHT ZONE - THE DEFINITIVE EDITION series DVD sets that is a forum member here and hopefully this gentleman will now on our behalf further discuss this most important matter with CBS Television Home Entertainment and set about some more ambitious plans in an effort to market THE INVADERS here.

Well, at least we are trying for something better!

Jeff T.

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While I have never seen this show before, I have always been curious about checking it out and now, mainly due to the endorsements of the shows' fans in this thread (first and foremost Jeff T.), I am going to make Season 1 a blind buy when it comes out. I am looking forward to it, and given the satisfaction I have with many other CBS DVD releases, I am confident they will make every effort to provide the show with a stellar presentation as they have with other classics such as Mission: Impossible, Wild, Wild West and Hawaii Five-0.

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It's a great show, if you've never seen it before you can't stop watching it, that's how exciting it is. Even though Vincent has to start from scratch with each new episode, but that's the appeal of old time television, it was a fresh start each time. Unlike today's 'development' TV, where you'll quickly lose track if you miss an episode.

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Seems like I recall that, Jeff. Yes, now that you mention it...



A big 10-4 on that one! The R2 cover design is just about the worst I've come across for a vintage show.



The fact that over at Amazon its sales rank sits currently at #1,368 with over 3 months until release is most encouraging. It's only been a couple of days since "The Invaders" S1 was even listed (with as yet no image of the set to boot). I'd say that definitely this is paralleling "The Fugitive" back when we were monitoring its ranking.

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Amazon has bumped the price to $27.69; congrats to all who got in at the $25.99 price (wish I was one of them). DeepDiscount is listing this for about 60 cents less.

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I hate that, Bob. Sometimes it's like the stock market or something. I also didn't place my order but then I wonder if I'm even patient enough to wait for this come in the mail anyway!

I just happened to be thinking about the narrator's intonement about "alien beings from a dying planet" and such. It's a rather quaint old thing that back in the 1960's aliens seemed to always hail from "another galaxy", as if the distances to the 100 billion stars in our own was too close and we would have detected them by now. If they came from the very closest galaxy, Andromeda, that's about 10 to the power 18 miles (somewhere in the octillions). But that's all part of the charm of these great old shows.

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at least Amazon has the new deal where if the price goes lower, you get that lower price.

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Cover artwork for the upcoming region 1 release here:

The Invaders DVD news: Box Art for The Invaders - The 1st Season | TVShowsOnDVD.com

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Well, at least it's an improvement over the UK region 2 cover above.

Harry

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Oh my goodness...not really, Harry. When you posted the image I thought it was a joke and that you'd photoshopped the UK cover!

Is it too late to ask Paramount to change this? David Vincent being chased by a giant sombrero in a devasted city. I wonder what he's thinking? "Now do you people believe me?" All subtlety totally removed, just as you'd expect from the CGI/"maximum destruction" festooned era we live in...oh well. The people who drafted this have probably not seen even one frame of the original series and just went ahead and used "V" or "War of the Worlds" as their inspiration.

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Yeah, as bad as the UK cover is, I think this one with it's '50s B-movie flying saucer is worse! Better they had left off the spaceship if they weren't going to use the real one.

And really, would it have been too much to have at least used the series logo?

Anyway, let's hope that at least none of the episodes are edited, sourced from PAL or have any of those subtitle errors that occurred in the R2s.

And, if they give us the longer, unaired version of the pilot (or any other extras), I'll likely buy it much sooner.

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What the hell is it with Paramount? I'm sure they have access to stills and such from the show. The "Sombrero" ship isn't the ship from the show. This really is patently ridiculous! Shows you with all the hub hub there's been out there for getting it on disc, they don't even take the time to design a decent much less accurate cover design. I don't see this happening with other shows from that era.

One only hopes what's on the disc is not as suspect or rushed!

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Hey, I wasn't suggesting that I *liked* the cover that was posted on TV Shows on DVD, just that IMHO it was an *improvement* over the UK version, at least showing David Vincent now running from a spaceship and not a planetoid!

For comparison, I'm now going to include the "Invaders" ship that I posted a long time ago in this thread from the opening of the XANADU movie (used in that movie's expanded and stylized Universal logo).





Harry

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And here is the "Sombrero" galaxy as photographed by the Hubble telescope. Perhaps that's the "another galaxy" from which The Invaders hail?



Harry

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they're trying their best to sell a series that to a majority of the consumers isn't well known. So they slim down the spaceship to make it look more imposing. Fat flying saucers just don't cut it. And the original font looks kinda like the series is a comedy. So they toughen it up.

It's all about tempting the folks who never saw it. The devoted would buy it if they had used a Sharpie to mark up the cover

TRY IT AGAIN PLEASE!!!!!

That looks more like a pie plate flying saucer from PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (1959) than it does the incredibly fantastic UFOs seen on THE INVADERS...horror of horrors!

Why is it that the packaging designs for the 1960s SF tv series are always so disappointingly bungled?!

This latest revision is certainly dramatic but Roy Thinnes just looks so inappropriately overdressed (like a stock investment councilor) and the UFO is more like the depiction of a cornball "realistic" sighting than a fancifully sensational Hollywoodized envisionment a la George Pal. It is very reminiscent of the George Adamski UFO of the 1950s upon which the INVADERS spacecraft were inspired from.

Well everyone wanted a change and they certainly got it! Some days you just can't win.

Is it too late to further refine this design before mass production? It has been done before with the VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA DVD release packaging designs which underwent considerable revisions before being finalized?

Come on Paramount you can do much better than that! You are really selling this wondrous concept short by such flagrant ineptitude. This has now become a matter of personal pride.

From the announced specifics it appears that we won't be getting the unaired pilot or any additional extras but let's maintain hope that the video transfers will be newly restored and digitally remastered from the original 35mm source elements.


Jeff T.

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You know guys, i have yet to buy a CBS/Paramount TV show that looked bad. I own Mission: Impossible, Perry Mason, Wild, Wild, West, and Hawaii Five-O, among others, and they all look like new shows! So i have no doubt this will look good.

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This is a show i have never seen. It definately sounds interesting. Is there a site where i can view some clips to get an idea of the feel of the show? Because this show may be right up my alley.

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Actually they made 14 of them with 10 unaired.

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I'd rather they had done a cool retro style cover but I can live with this artwork. It's better than the R2 version

There are some clips of the Invaders on Youtube .

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

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Ah okay thanks! I will go take a look!