Shark Bytes

One of that shows that did not end, being cancelled before any proper conclusion (like the Allen´s shows and dozens of others). Poor old David Vincent must be chasing aliens until today...

It was a good show and Roy Thinnes was very good at playin his role. However, one of the complains I have, after buying the first Season DVD set, was the total disregard of the producers regarding stunt action! The scenes where stunt men doubled for Thinnes were shot without any attmept to hide the face of the stunt man! It´s very funny, the shots protray the stunt men clearly.

Another complain is the lousy remastering job (if there was one). If you compare it with the restoration job made in the Iriwn Allen´s DVD sets, it´s a shame.

Bought this one right away. Brought back memories. Love the intro and end music. The beginning intro credits remind me of the movie The Blob from the 60's. I love watching season one, although my wife thinks its way out dated and corny. Little does she know, I am going to buy season two also!

The Invaders was one of the best Sci-Fi shows to ever reach television. I have long awaited its release to DVD and only wished that all 43 episodes were released at once in a giant collectors set. The release in the UK was a great success and I only hope that they (Paramount) will release the second set asap after the May release of the first season

THE INVADERS (one of Quinn Martin's reworkings of the incredibly successful THE FUGITIVE series; the other was THE IMMORTAL) jumped the shark when David Vincent (Roy Thinnes) met Edgar Scoville (Kent Smith), and they began to form The Believers. It ruined the intense paranoia and total isolation of the Vincent character which is what drove the series forward ("You've got to believe me! They're here!"), changing it into Vincent as merely one of a band of funded resistance fighters. A big mistake on the part of QM, it destroyed the show's impact and heavy aura of fear and dread. Definitely jumped. I'll be happy buying the first season when it arrives on DVD--17 episodes of classic TV.

I am a big collector of 60's tv. The 1960's had the most prolific output of sci-fi on television. When people think of 60's sci-fi, Star Trek or one of the Irwin Allen classics come to mind.

In many ways I think the Invaders was the most plausible. Where there frustrations and illogical problems inherent in many of the stories- yes. But you have to be able to suspend reality. Many of the people who are critical of this show, I wonder if they are fans of this genre in general.

My personal feeling is I love this show. You can't put it down and I hope Paramount release both seasons here in the US as soon as possible.

Never jumped; was a 60's classic (despite the obvious similarities, commented on ad nauseum by previous posters, to "The Fugitive). The Invaders had a formula which it stayed true to, and it was one that you either liked or didn't like. One of the things that made this show interesting (and unnerving) was how many of the guest stars (some of them fairly big names at the time) got killed in the course of an episode. That simply wasn't done much in TV (then or now) and served to heighten the eerieness of the show. And the succeeded in giving the viewer the pervasive feeling that NO ONE was safe from the aliens -- from your average Joe-on-the-street to eminent scientists, industrial tycoons, and army generals. And of course the paranoia induced by having so many seeming "good guys" David encounters either turn out to be aliens or willingly working for the aliens. Of course this could be turned around by having a sympathetic alien, such as Suzanne Pleshette in "The Mutant", who comes to trust and help David Vincent; she was one alien I was sad to see get killed off! Great, underrated actress. Finally, viewed in retrospect, this show simply had a great "feel" to it, one that, when viewed now, really transports you back to the 1960's. I forced myself to watch the Scott Bakula remake (though God only knows why!) and at least I can say I wasn't disappointed -- I EXPECTED nothin, and nothin is what I got! Only went to show, once again, the futility of money-grubbing producers trying to mine old TV shows for a few fast bucks.

A lot of TV shows seem to be uncredited reworkings of movies: Alias Smith & Jones ("Butch Cassidy"), McCloud ("Coogan's Bluff"), Banacek ("The Thomas Crown Affair"), Man from UNCLE ("North by Northwest"), and Hunter ("Dirty Harry"). My guess is The Invaders was derived from the brilliant Don Siegel film "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" starring Kevin McCarthy as a small town doctor fighting an invasion of aliens who are taking over everyone's identity. Dana Wynter was the lovely, civilized heroine who eventually becomes one of "them". The Invaders was a fine reworking of this theme. Roy Thinnes made a superb running man, following in the fine tradition of Kevin McCarthy and David Janssen as intelligent, decent, low-key professional men suddenly thrown into a situation where they were fighting for their lives, where they were in constant fear, and where they could trust nobody. These guys were thrust out of their everyday middle-class lives to suddenly become outsiders and ultimate romantic existential heroes. David Vincent, "looking for a short-cut he never found" became every man.

I don't think Zim ever jumped - it was a truly spectacular piece of mad genius. I hate Jhonen Vasquez's comics (way too dark for me), but he did an extraordinary job with this show. Odd and very unique animation, spectacularly over-the-top voice over work (Richard Horvitz has always been MAH BOY!), and ingenious (sic) writing. Some of the plots for the unreleased/never made episodes sound pretty stupid, but what did get made was spectacular ("TAK The Hideous New Girl" was pure genius). I do have a problem with the overuse of the word "Doom" (putting it in every other episode title, or line of dialogue IS just a teensy bit annoying), but otherwise, fantastic (and that's a very minor quibble, at best). I do agree that a lot of the Goth/wannabe Berkeley Liberal idiots (seriously, I know a lot of people like that) who like this show get very annoying, but hey, I'm allowed to like this show without getting in bed (so to speak) with its other fans. Go Zim!

To the previous poster: you sir, are full of crap. If the show was trying to cash in on anything, it was the tremendous interest in ufo's in the late 60's and the ongoing cold war. There were innumerable ufo flaps and tons of books and tv specials during that time and a show like "Invaders" was a no-brainer. But instead of making it a bunch of bug-eyed monsters and camp crap like "Lost in Space" and "Voyage to see what's on the Bottom", Larry Cohen and Quinn Martin actually tried to make an intelligent, thought-provoking show, tapping into Americans' deep-rooted cold war fears with invading aliens as the metaphor for the commies...and they did a damn good job. The show had its weak moments for sure - what television show doesn't? - but overall it tried hard to play it straight. And "The Invaders" had the absolute greatest opening intro of all time with the tear away screen, incredibly eerie and jarring Dominic Frontiere music and ominous narration as you watched the saucers heading to earth. Got to love it!

I'd like to respond to the 4th set of comments posted above: Dude, you are giving the writers and producers of this sham waaayyyyy too much credit! "the depth of its study of paranoia"? "insightful social commentary"? Give me a break! The only reason this program was put on the air was because the same crew that had a hit series with "The Fugitive" thought they could cash in again using the same basic formula. They took "The Fugitive", and with some minor variations (i.e., having a bunch of sinister aliens chase David Vincent, instead of Police Lt. Phillip Girard chasing Richard Kimble), and sold it to the network. As someone else noted above. many of the same character actors that showed up in bit parts on The Fugitive also appeared in this show. If the show had lasted longer, it wouldn't have surprised me if David Vincent ran into Richard Kimble somewhere along the way. This show was not about any attempt to explore any 'deep social meaning". It was just an attempt to capitalize on the success of The Fugitive using the same basic plot.

I remember seeing The Invaders aka "Les Envahisseurs" in French, a couple of years ago on French-Canadian cable channel Canal D, it will be a long while before the X-Files will equal them. However there was a moment when the Invaders almost Jump the Shark was the episode "The Believer" when David Vincent had the support of a millionaire named Edgar Scoville for the following episodes, it was when he's not into a solo war anymore. But the definitive Jump the Shark was the tv movie starring Scott Bakula

you are really missing the point with your comments on the show "The Invaders" I think you're Fugitive comments are really uncalled for! The same accusation could be leveled at many shows, from "The Hulk" to "highway to heaven", I see the show as having much more to offer than that! The depth of its study of paranoia, the use of distinguishing "racial" characteristics of the Aliens (the flaw in their matrix giving them a little finger that does not bend) was clever, because of the uncomfortable image it conjures of the Nazis measuring the noses of people suspected of having Jewish blood! The obvious "reds under the beds" comparison is of course valid, but it was cleverly handled, and also cleverly "blended" with the disbelief/ apathy and the whole "I'm alright jack", "Worry about tomorrow, tomorrow" attitude of the general public, and authorities. Not only an insightful social commentary, but genuinely uncomfortable and disturbing at times. I do agree about the "Doomed" aspect of the character Vincent, but wasnt that also clever? Isn't the American credo that "one man can make a difference"? Not in David Vincent's America, not while everyone else can be corrupted by power or money so easily. "Watch the Skies"

"The Invaders - a Quinn Martin Production". This show can best be described as "The Fugitive", only with aliens. During the opening credits, we are told how Architect David Vincent (why do we care that he's an architect?), too tired to continue his journey, pulls into a deserted motel to rest a while, and witnesses the invaders landing in their ship, yadda, yadda, yadda. Each week, he travels around the country trying to convince a disbelieving public that the invaders are here. The invaders, naturally, travel around the country each week trying to get rid of David Vincent before he succeeds in "convincing a disbelieving public that the invaders are here". David Vincent must therefore must run from town to town, change his identity, toil at many jobs (oh, wait a minute - that's "The Fugitive" again!). Never mind!

After three or four episodes, it becomes clear that this series is never going to be resolved. Since the small town stories David Vincent became involved in with dull "Fugitive" cast-offs, the journey was not going to be entertaining either. The very nature of the series meant he was robbed of evidence at the end of the episode. Repetition is the crime m'lord!