TV and Movies

[Oznell]

Midnight tonight (Sat/Sun.)  "The Invaders"  --  "The Trial"  Roy Thinnes, Lynda Day George, Don Gordon

Hey, has ME TV been showing the "Invaders" again for a while now?  This is the first time I've spotted it in over a year-- I was furious that our annoying local MeTV had stopped airing it on weekends in favor of hideous local programming.  But now, it's suddenly back!

For anyone not aware, this is fun 60's fare, in the vein of "Run for your Life" or even "The Fugitive".   It pits a man, "architect David Vincent" (Roy Thinnes) against a clever invading extraterrestrial force.  It plays on a kind of shivery paranoia about "what may be out there", ha.

I'm not a sci fy fan.  This is more like a Kafka-esque nightmare drama.  David Vincent was minding his own business when he accidentally glimpsed the invaders, and now has made it his mission to warn "a disbelieving world" of their malign presence. 

The chiseled Roy Thinnes is a big part of what makes this believable-- he played Vincent straight, with urgency, and very well, enhancing the plausibility of the premise.

This episode, "The Trial",  re-unites him with an old friend (Don Gordon) who is accused of murder, but may have inadvertently stirred up an invaders' cell of his own.  His lovely, distraught wife is played by the beautiful Lynda Day George.

This is a very absorbing series for anyone who relishes "vintage" TV with high production values, a noir-ish predicament, good acting and fast pace. 

[LisaMofSLC]

I love the show myself. Watched it all the way through once, so now just look for my favourite episodes. I wish there had been another season. It needed a conclusion.

[twinsister]

@Oznell - ME TV has been airing The Invaders for a few months.  I know because my dear BF tapes it every Saturday night!  He enjoys it.   I don't watch it, but maybe I should, since as you said it is like The Fug and RFYL.

[marleespal]

Thanks so much for this heads up. I set my recorder in case I fall asleep.

[alicedee]

Yes, The Invaders has been on ME-TV on Saturday night for awhile now.   I never watched it when it was originally on, but I do enjoy it now!

[spiderw]

The Invaders has been on MeTV weekly, Saturday nights.  I loved his series when it was on TV in the late sixties and it is  a treat watching it again. As I remember it was a short lived series but I thought a very good one..When it first aired, it was exciting to see Thinnes trying to expose the aliens and stop them from their invasion, clever story line.

[SuhseK]

I like the series, too.   

To me, it has kind of a funky, cultish feel.   

I'm 48, so I love the period vibe of it. And somewhere out there, isn't it possible, we're "not alone"😈? 

[Oznell]

So nice that there are other "Invaders" appreciators out there!  I think there always will be.  It HAS become something of a cult, @SuhseK , and interestingly, French critics are mad about it, and hold little festivals, etc.  Those French!

@twinsister,  ask your BF if he thinks you would like it, but based on your responses to those other two shows, I think you would.  "David Vincent",  as Roy Thinnes plays him, takes on the character of a lonely, vigilant sojourner, with few allies and an unswerving mission.  He's "soulful".

Of course, they're now in the second season, rats, where he does acquire some help from even a few powerful sources.  But then the series abruptly ends.  You are so right, @LisaMofSLC ,  it needed more seasons and a bang-up ending!

I'll take what I can get though, and if MeTV knows what's good for them, ha, they'll start all over again with the show, once it runs its course!

[Group 5 minus 1]

We own the complete series. Just 2 seasons. Roy Thinnes also talks  (at the beginning of each episode ) about the particular show. My fav is "Moon Shot" w/ Peter Graves.

Thinnes did a show (I think was a pilot) about a monster hunter???? called the Norliss Tapes. Very good. Did you all know that the "Invaders was VERY popular in France?

Who Knew?

Another good "Invaders" stars Joe Campenella as a priest.

[wilma]

@Group 5 minus 1 

@twinsister 

My DH has all the episodes too. He remembers watching it  when it first aired. I don’t remember the show at all. I’ve watched some episodes with him. We both like sci-fi TV & movies.