Books, Movies, Music & Entertainment - Help, odd sci-fi tv question

There was a sci-fi show that ran in the late 80's(?) It started out as a secret alien invasion. That lasted a season or two and then it got real "post-apopalyptic"(read: super dark). A new group of aliens was introduced that wanted to wipe out everything and not just take Earth for their own. So the humans and the first group of aliens joined up. Does this sound familiar to anyone? I cannot think of the name of this show and it is driving me nuts. I have spent the last hour delving into the dark recesses of scifi fan sites and I got nothing. Help.

Was it "V"?

That was a strange, dark sci-fi series.

I always like "The Invaders" which was quite a bit earlier.

It was not V. That was early eighties, I think. And the aliens were generally known by the public (Just turned out they were cold blooded lizards that ate hamsters)
On this show the aliens were a secret conspiracy of some kind.

Alienation?

It wasn't 'War of the Worlds' was it? http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0094578/

That series began with the revival of the Martians and their plans to subjugate the human race, but after the first season they were replaced with newer, better Martians (complete with ready-made human forms so they wouldn't have to brown-bag it (that is, inhabit the corpses of humans they killed) as their predecessors had. The new Martians executed the remaining members of the invasion force and dispatched a few of the main characters, and thereafter the series took a very dark turn, which is saying something because it wasn't exactly a skip in the park before then.

That the one you mean?

It sounds like "War of the Worlds". I remember watching that series. The first few seasons had an elite secret band that hunted down the revived martians (who were packed away in 50 gal "toxic-waste" drums) that invaded in the '50s and almost destroyed the world. I was always amused by the explanation given for how everyone in the entire world (save a handful of people) had conveniently forgotten (through some kind of worldwide post-traumatic amnesia) about the existance of the aliens and the almost apocalypse they caused.

Then in the later seasons, some kind of climate change caused by another faction of the same aliens (the ones with permanant "Eurotrash" looking human form) change brought on a real apocalpyse. It seemed like the entire series was shot in the dark from that point on and the heros lived in sewer pipes.

I actually enjoyed the series as campy as it was. I remember that everyone in the first season's team would call each other on those huge cellphones from the 1980s that looked like WW2-era Army field phones... all the while running after aliens.

YAY, War of the Worlds is it. I enjoyed the show when it first aired, and thought I might look for it on DVD. Thanks so much. And now the search begins.

V was good too, but when they made the tv show, it turned chintzy. :(

Koffee

The War of the Worlds (1953) is one of my very favorite movies, but I've always wanted to see a cinematic representation of the story envisioned and written by H. G. Wells. We've had the visual effects technologies needed to do justice to it for years now, so I have a hard time believing that the concept hasn't occured to at least one half-way literate pony-tail in Filmland. I say "Stop reading that single-page, double-spaced treatment for 'Jason Does Disneyland' and get on the stick!"

The War of the Worlds (1953) is one of my very favorite movies, but I've always wanted to see a cinematic representation of the story envisioned and written by H. G. Wells. We've had the visual effects technologies needed to do justice to it for years now, so I have a hard time believing that the concept hasn't occured to at least one half-way literate pony-tail in Filmland. I say "Stop reading that single-page, double-spaced treatment for 'Jason Does Disneyland' and get on the stick!"

They did do a modern version of War of the Worlds... it was called Independence Day. :D Seriously though, I do know what you mean. It would be nice to see a new authentic adaption of the original story.

The thing I liked about the original story was the fact that it was germs that killed them. Humans weren't the 'real' winners - it was an accident.

I see so much stuff on the tv about 'anti-bacterial' that it makes me laugh.

Kurt Vonegut (sp?) had a sub-story in one of his books where an alien species put the idea that virii/bacterii were harmeful and convinced a planet that they needed to wipe them all out. The planet (earth) killed every little single/no/celled organism they could. The ones that didn't die got stronger and stronger untill they were strong enough to withstand space... Then they went to start life on other planets...

Wish I could remember what book that's from...

My cousin spray painted a big V on the wall in his basement. It was always kind of scary down there. He said the aliens came and spray painted that and they were going to eat us. My cousins and I were scared sh**less to go down there after that. Man I hate older cousins.

I may have diverged off topic here a little bit. Apologies. Mentioning "V" brought back some memories, :rolleyes: .

I have in my paltry CD collection a two-disk set of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds. Richard Burton narrates. Roles and/or songs are provided by Justin Hayward (The Moody Blues; this is the album that originally featured the song 'Forever Autumn'), David Essex, Phil Lynott (of Thin Lizzy!) and a few others. This is a great listen if you can tolerate an uneasy blend of orchestra and mid-'70's pop with a slight disco slant. Your mileage may vary.

My cousin spray painted a big V on the wall in his basement. It was always kind of scary down there. He said the aliens came and spray painted that and they were going to eat us. My cousins and I were scared sh**less to go down there after that. Man I hate older cousins.

I may have diverged off topic here a little bit. Apologies. Mentioning "V" brought back some memories, :rolleyes: .


Oh god, I haven't laughed that hard in a few days. Thanks!

Your cousin sounds like a funny guy. I wish he'd been my cousin... oh the fun we could have played on my other younger (and more hillbilly) cousins! :D

Koffee

Just thought you might be interested in this...

Steven Spielberg, the renowned and treasured director who has made several cinematic classics, will begin work on an adaptation of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds in 2005. With Tom Cruise attached to star and produce, the screenplay is being developed by David Koepp (Panic Room, Spider-Man et al).

Spielberg is currently finishing The Terminal, a romantic comedy starring Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta Jones, whilst Cruise is shooting the third instalment in the blockbuster Mission: Impossible series.

Just thought you might be interested in this...

Steven Spielberg, the renowned and treasured director who has made several cinematic classics, will begin work on an adaptation of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds in 2005. With Tom Cruise attached to star and produce, the screenplay is being developed by David Koepp (Panic Room, Spider-Man et al)...


Oh good grief. Tom Cruise? All the talented English actors to be considered and Tom Cruise gets cast? Oh, my nation.

But *sigh*, of course I'll go see it when it's released... :rolleyes:

Oh god, I haven't laughed that hard in a few days. Thanks!

Your cousin sounds like a funny guy. I wish he'd been my cousin... oh the fun we could have played on my other younger (and more hillbilly) cousins! :D

Koffee

My story wasn't supposed to be funny! I was traumatized, :D . The same cousin used to put on flippers, a snorkel, life vest and goggles and pretend he was a swamp creature. We kept saying, "Come on Tom, quit kidding!", but he would never go out of character. He would chase us for hours! Good times, good times...

Although I think that there could be a better pick for the lead in that movie, I will probably go see it as well.