The Invaders Seasons 1 and 2 !!

Re: The Invaders Seasons 1 and 2 !!

I actually tend to agree with Michael. I was greatly looking forward to Season Two since I hadn't seen very many of these since they originally aired. After the first batch of episodes, I was really intrugued and gung-ho on the series.

Then I hit those middle episodes and have had a tough time even staying awake to get through them. There DOES seem to be quite a lot less intensity from Thinnes as David Vincent. In the great early episodes, he was the driving force, representing Everyman in his quest. Once he got allies, it seemed like he was just a cog in a machine.

I understand the need for the series to have grown and changed, but what they came up with just fell a bit flat, IMHO. I now can understand why I don't remember these episodes - there's little that's memorable as far as the stories go.

The production values, the guest stars are still all top-notch - but the stories seem to be a bit lacking. I'm encouraged to hear that the even later episodes get a bit better. I'll attempt to continue to wade through them - this is a good week for that as I await new FUGITIVE and VOYAGE sets.

Harry

Re: The Invaders Seasons 1 and 2 !!

Well stated. There are far too many scenes where Vincent is absent and he frustratingly comes off as just an appendage to circuitous, tired dramas. It's almost a different series at this point. It's no coincidence in my mind that on "The Invaders" fan site out of the UK, submitted episode reviews are sparse or absent in the middle and heavy for episodes in the beginning and end of the season. Save for "Inquistion", I think you'll find the episodes much to your liking from "The Peacemaker" onwards.

Yes, I'm allso greatly anticipating both "The Fugitive" and "Voyage" S4!

Re: The Invaders Seasons 1 and 2 !!

You guys are making me think I shouldn't have bought S2 kidding....I think I'll be happy overall with the set. I'm still in S1 about 2/3 complete. As long as those S2 middle episodes' guests are good, I think I'll get through them due to the era's show & guests.

Jeff "Definitely waiting for HTF reviews regarding the backscores before buying Fugitive S2V2" W.

Re: The Invaders Seasons 1 and 2 !!

That's the great thing about TV viewing in that era, Jeff. No matter how humdrum the proceedings, you can always rely on the likes of Charles Aidman, Nancy Kovack, or J.D. Cannon (who appear in the episodes in question) to pull you through. It helps too to have the spry and enthusiastic Roy Thinnes provide his little prologue in which he hangs onto every word that has to do with "Invader" shenanigans. My 8 year old son, when he sees him, said to me once "Dad, he acts like those Invaders are really here..."

Re: The Invaders Seasons 1 and 2 !!

Harry, You are so right on your assessment of Season 2 !
I would be watching an episode and then find myself browsing the internet and not even watching the show.

In the episode "The Organization", Barry Atwater must have made somebody very mad, cause when he said " My name is Dorcas (DORK-US) I just about spit out my dinner. You know everyone including Atwater was thinking the director who came up with that name must be a real DORK-ASS !
Atwater is one of my favorite actors !

Re: The Invaders Seasons 1 and 2 !!

Umm, Dorcas is not a made-up name. I don't know of many people with that name, but I do know an older lady whose first name is Dorcas.

Doubt Barry Atwater would've thought such a thing in the 1960s. I'm pretty sure "dork" hadn't become slang for "idiot" until quite sometime later. Back then, the only connotation I can think of for the word is as slang for a certain part of male anatomy.

Re: The Invaders Seasons 1 and 2 !!

Poor Barry was even a "Jonas" in "The Outer Limits" (Dr. Jonas Temple) and a "Benedict Arnold" in "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea". The next year, though he reedems himself when he became the man responsible for making the Vulcans who they are today, in Star Trek's "The Savage Curtain".

Re: The Invaders Seasons 1 and 2 !!

When I read the name 'Dorcas' above, the first thing I thought of was the biblical reference. I also thought of gazelle ('tabitha' = gazelle). I first learned of the name many years ago through my study of Greek and Aramaic. Otherwise, I probably would never have heard of the name.

DORCAS in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE (Bible History Online)

Re: The Invaders Seasons 1 and 2 !!

I did not mean to offend anyone by that name, due to the fact at age 44, I have never heard the word or name ever used any any form or fashion except in the Invaders series.
Seems to me I remember being called a dork in the 1960s, 70s, 80s, 90s and....I think you get the picture.

Re: The Invaders Seasons 1 and 2 !!

But don't forget that he then ends up a vampire in the original "Night Stalker" movie!

Re: The Invaders Seasons 1 and 2 !!

That Jonas Skorzeny vampire was what made him famous outside of the Star Trek world!!
Hmmm, I never realized he was Jonas (joe-nus) Temple in the Outer Limits and Jonas (yawn-ose) Skorzeny in The Night Stalker movie.
Same first name but pronounced differently!

Re: The Invaders Seasons 1 and 2 !!

Actually in Night Stalker it was spelled "Janos".

Re: The Invaders Seasons 1 and 2 !!

You are so right jack !!
I had a brain fart and need more coffee !

That Janos Skorzeny scarred me for life as an 8 year old and i still have a nightmare at least once a year that that creepy vampire is after me !!

Re: The Invaders Seasons 1 and 2 !!

The last time I watched this series, before the DVDs, was in the late 70s or early 80s. I used to talk with my friend about the show after school and we had wondered how the show ended. I'm glad I got to see the final episode. The series really stuck with me all these years even though I forgot a lot about it, episode and story wise. I never remembered anything about the "Believers" at all.

I think I would have liked the middle section of season 2 more if Vincent's allies had been introduced better, than just suddenly being there. It makes sense for Vincent to have recruited allies in his quest but they came to suddenly and too soon in the series. The sudden change to the series threw my off but once we got near the end of the season, things really picked up. I think when I re-watch the series I'm going to enjoy season 2 more, now that I know what to expect.

It took me this long to finally slog through Season 2. It just wasn't that compelling. I agree with many of the comments here that adding the Believers was an inevitable development, but it also diluted the impact of the one man paranoid intensity.

The prints were good, but the color was a bit oversaturated through most of the series, with orangish skin tones. Probably the type of film stock used.

The last episode, "The Inquisition" definitely DID NOT provide any closure for the series, and, even more disappointedly, it barely featured Roy Thinnes. I love me some Susan Oliver as much as anyone, but the episode predominately featured her soap opera relationshsip with attorney general Peter Mark Richmond.

"The Life Seekers" would have been a more fitting finale, because it featured the successful escape of the the peace-minded aliens (and a great Barry Morse) back to their planet with the possibility they would lobby their planet to choose another substitution than Earth. A simple coda on the end of that (even in the VO) would have provided that believable closure for fans.

Overall, I enjoyed watching the series again, and so did my 12 year-old son, so that speaks well for it's legacy. It was particularly satisfying to hear from Roy Thinnes in the interview and in the introductions, but he SPOILS THE PLOT in almost all of those introductions, instead of just making a personal reminiscence about a guest star or facet of the episode.

Because of the strong and ongoing fan base for this show in Europe, and particularly in France, I wonder if we'll ever see another incarnation of this series where, like TOS Star Trek, some of the effects are upgraded. The spaceship look still holds up but the superimposition zooms as it landed or lifted off made my son groan, "Bad CGI." No, I tried to explain, "Bad opticals." But they were cool back in the time.

Edited by HenryDuBrow - 8/20/09 at 5:28am

Interestingly most of the online DVD reviews cite the second season (1967-68) of THE INVADERS as being (overall) better than the first (1967) so maybe something is being missed there and welcomes a revisit.  I have seen the first 10 second season shows so far and there are most definitely hallmarks to be found like "The Saucer," "Valley of the Shadow," "The Enemy," "The Trial," "The Spores" and "Summit Meeting," Parts One and Two. 

Those that I didn't list were still enjoyable nonetheless especially "Condition:  Red!"

Both first and second season DVD releases of THE INVADERS placed well within the AMAZON.COM (U.S.) and the AMAZON.CA (Canada) top 100 sales ranks and I am certain that their combined certified success encouraged not only the long overdue DVD release of the fourth season (1967-68) of VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA but ONE STEP BEYOND as well. So the DVD release of THE INVADERS has done nothing but good for all-and-sundry...especially SF fans!

Our INVADERS group had the opportunity to submit questions in advance for Roy Thinnes to respond to during the oncamera taped discussion and I personally supplied quite a few of them myself which (believe it or don't) actually made it in the final two indepth Roy Thinnes conversations but I neglected to ask for Roy's authoritative version of THE INVADERS' cancellation mainly because I thought that this was a (obvious) question that would have been asked of him anyway...which of course it wasn't!

Never assume anything and I won't ever again!

I would like to see a Blu-ray DVD release of THE INVADERS utilizing fully restored and digitally remastered video transfers struck from the original 35mm print negatives but frankly I have no real appreciation for CGI embellishments which really don't look that good or convincing anyways.

Wherever needed if there were some "minor" touch-ups done here-and-there (like the effects shot of the descending UFO seen in the main opening titles with the unfortunate matte superimposure bleeding in evidence) that would be satisfactorily sufficient.

Jeff T.
Edited by JeffT. - 8/25/09 at 2:58pm

i purchased the invaders and find it very good. If you like sci-fi shows then i would recommend it. I am huge sci-fi fan would also recommend V The Series, The Starlost, etc.

Though not finished with the set, I went back to finish watching (I'd fallen asleep) "Valley Of The Shadow".  What intrigued me about this was the pairing of character actors Jon Lormer and Harry Townes.  Checking IMDb after watching "Return Of the Archons", a STAR TREK episode, the IMDB revealed that Jon Lormer and Harry Townes were in the same production seven times!

1. "Ironside" (1967) {Gentle Oaks (#5.12)}
2. "Outlaws" (1960) {Beat the Drum Slowly (#1.3)}
3. "Star Trek" (1966) {The Return of the Archons (#1.21)}
4. "Studio One" (1948) {A Bolt of Lightning (#4.9)} 
5. "The Fugitive" (1963) {Tug of War (#2.7)}
6. "The Invaders" (1967) {Valley of the Shadow (#2.4)}
7. Destination Space (1959) (TV) 

I find that an amazing coincidence, that these two would be paired in three of my favorite series (THE FUGITIVE is the third) along with four others.

Harry