What Happened to The INVADERS?

[@ardscorner]

It began with a closed deserted diner, and a man too long without sleep to continue his journey.

[@MoviesMusicMonsters]

Haha right :-)

[@paulsmith8664]

@@proto-geek248 wasn't he driving a "galaxy" 500?

[@johnmarx3919]

@proto-geek248 that's total crap - the aliens don't come from another GALAXY but from another star system - but I guess that sounded better to Quinn...

[@startrekstuntman]

You covered this pretty well Dan. It was great seeing my family in one of the clips. I could go on forever about this show and how close my Father and larry Cohen were but here's a little backround. My uncle Murray Hamilton, aka "The Mayor of Shark City" did an episode, my uncle John Randolph did an episode and my uncle Keefe Brassellle got Roy Thiness one of his first acting jobs on "The Reporter" When my Dad met Larry Cohen he was a Page-Boy at NBC and they became lifelong friends. I still have Larry's phone number in Beverly Hills and was very sad when he passed. I met Roy Thiness back in 1970 when my father's best friend Frank Marth, who was also on the show, took me to his house. He knew Frank's wife Hope Holiday. This planted the seed for me and eventually I became a stuntman on Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Voyager. I am so glad you covered this as it brought back so many memories and seeing Batman in the clip was awesome as my dad Remo Pisani did stunts on that show before becoming the bartender on Bonanza. I owe my whole sci fi collection to this show, The Invaders will always be very special to me and thanks for covering it Dan!

[@richardvinsen2385]

You’ve had quite the interesting life.

[@Hunter-R-Hickey]

This was one of my all-time favorite shows as a kid. I rooted for David Vincent harder than any other TV character. It was so frustrating that the Invaders ALWAYS managed to cover their tracks no matter how close Vincent came to exposing them. I also never understood the addition of the "Believers" but kept watching the show anyway. Thanks for doing a report on this wonderful short-lived series. 😊

[@RogueWJL]

One of the best opening sequences of all time. Absolutely sets the mood. Very Very claustrophobic and you are never sure who to trust?

[@maxsmodels]

I think the show was also popular because it fed on Cold War fears.

[@wolfhound45]

My favorite pop-culture channel on KZbin. Thank you for the labor of love Dan.

[@woodedape]

Roy Thinnes also starred in an awesome 1973 TV horror movie called The Norliss Tapes. The Norliss Tapes happens to be on KZbin for free streaming.

[@Illini58]

Hi Dan. I'm 66 yrs old remember watching the series when it came out. Love all your shows. Keep up the good work.

[@Illini58]

Dan. New to your Podcast. Did you ever do a review of the movie King Kong Escapes. As a kid I loved the Robot King Kong. I know it was a gut in a suit. Always wondered what happened to the Robot Suit. Have a great day

[@joelennis6338]

I can still recite the opening titles narrative 50 years later. I used to sneak out to the TV to watch the reruns at 11pm - past my bedtime on school nights. Thank you for covering this series!

[@roberttelarket4934]

You're in alot of trouble! I’m going to report you to your parents!

[@DayTwo-w8n]

This is a really good review of The Invaders. It was one of my all time favorites from the 1960s. Truly a fantastic sci-fi classic. As a young teenager the show kept glued to my seat. And the model kit of the flying saucer is still available through Atlantis Models.

[@BarbarosaAlexander]

Am I the only one who sees "Gaaawwwwwd... Network Executives!" as a t-shirt?

[@stevepederson6287]

I bought, built and painted that Aurora kit back in the late 70's. It sat on a shelf in my bedroom for a few years.

[@theequalizer9154]

My sister was a huge Roy Thinnes fan. We watched the first season of the Invaders, which was well done, and was creepy. The second season, even my sister agreed it wasn't very good and it was lacking compared to the 1st season. I'm so glad you did this, I always look forward to your videos! Hope you do Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea, soon.

[@stephenperry3753]

Dan,U.K. here, I've just discovered your site and it's just great, thanks so much for doing justice to all the classics in TV and film, I loved this Invaders special, and shout out to the seriously underrated Roy Thinnes.Keep up the good work and I for one are spreading the word how good this channel is.Live long and prosper.

[@MoviesMusicMonsters]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@robbyarcher670]

I knew Larry Cohen. Brilliant Producer/Writer/ Director. Sci- Fi, Westerns, etc. Invaders was one of his best concepts. RIP Larry. 🙏

[@Beaut2013]

Hoping we get an episode on The Prisoner. The 1967-1968 British show. It's a guilty pleasure.

[@Beaut2013]

@@proto-geek248 It's hard for me to recommend it due to it's ending.

[@Sm1ret]

This show scared me to death as a kid.

[@TurningoffyourGaslights]

I remember when this series was current and on TV...I watched all the episodes. The starting sequences, where the saucer lands in a remote area...made me uncomfortable....I was a kid at the time and every summer I went to the countryside, not remote, but a sparsely populated area. There was actually a UFO incident not too far from where I went to, reported in local papers, never resolved, around the same time. . Roy Thinnes, the lead actor also appeared in Gerry Anderson's "Doppleganger/Journey to the Far Side of the Sun" movie. Pretty good movie too.

[@Jessesmall]

The Invaders title font design is truly incredible. Makes me want to add "the" to every subject 😅 Awesome prop and poster design for this one 🎉🎉🎉

[@maxsmodels]

I loved that show and recently built Atlantis repop of the old Aurora Invaders UFO saucer.

[@dougwright7333]

I was like eight or nine years old and I would sit in front of the TV glued to every minute! I loved it! Also, 'The Fugitive'!! Great stuff there! 'The Immortal' was another that I loved. What a trip these shows were.

[@neilgodwin6531]

The post mortem disintegration was copied by Star Trek the Next Generation for the Borg. A similarly themed show called Dark Skies ran for just one season. I loved it, and it ended on a cliffhanger! Starred Jeri Ryan, a actor new to me, but who made a huge impression on me. Years later, she became Seven of Nine in Star Trek Voyager. Perhaps you could cover Dark Skies one day?

[@mikavirtanen7029]

Dark Skies was awesome and i'm still bummed that they pulled the plug after only one season. Jeri was hot as hell, but J.T. Walsh as Captain Frank Bach, the head honcho of Majestic-12 was the most memorable character.

[@snelled]

One of the TV movies he did later in 1973 was The Norliss tapes parts of which still creep me out to this day.

[@1TakoyakiStore]

It was Roy Thinnes' performance that not only helped inspire the feel of the X-Files but also landed him the role of Jeremiah Smith. Also the sound effect and the ray blast itself of the alien's ray guns are still my favorite in all of science fiction.

[@marksimmo8626]

Watched this on rerun in the 80's when i was a kid never forget this show invaders. Was so cool 😎

[@emilkarpo]

Growing up, in 1967 I was 14, I really liked the Invaders. 1967 was also the year my family got our first color TV, a big Philco, probably one of the last round tubes, but it had really nice color, not an RCA for sure but pretty good.

[@transitengineer]

Back in the day, this was one of my all time favorite TV shows. Even in 2024, I still think it is one of the best science fiction TV shows of all time. So in 1998, when the new TV show "First Wave" aired, I told all my science fiction buddies that, it was like a re-make of the classic 1960's, TV show the "Invaders" had been reborn (smile...smile).

[@GSD-hd1yh]

Saw the Invaders upon its original release in the UK back in the 60's. "Alien beings from a dying world. Their destination - Earth. Their purpose, to make it their world" Can still recite the opening lines now nearly 60 years on. Great show full of good ideas. Childhood back then was full of TV dealing with new, inventive ideas that fired your imagination. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Bewitched, Batman, I Dream of Jeannie, The Time Tunnel, Dr Who, Star Trek, The Invaders, The Saint, Lost in Space, Fireball XL5, Thunderbirds, Stingray, Gilligans Island, Department S, The Champions, Mister Ed and many others

[@rickmoore5319]

One of my all time favorite TV series along with "The Prisoner" and "The Avengers" ( the Diana Rigg years). I always felt that the second season wasn't as strong but having purchased the series on DVD I found the second season to be actually pretty good especially the episodes with J.D. Cannon and the two parter with William Windom and Michael Rennie.

[@Teelirious]

A few years ago I developed dupuytrens-a deformation of my pinkie fingers-and my mind IMMEDIATELY shot back 50+ years to this show and I thought, "Crap! I'm an Invader!"

[@fenech97]

I used to love the show. I love SF movies.

[@jimstandefer1799]

You can see a lot of these shows still on Me-TV on Saturday night

[@PhilLaird]

I loved The Invaders very much. My favorite episode was named "The Saucer" that showed the inside of the saucer.

[@FIREBRAND38]

7:44 Regarding the finger thing I can't remember the title of the specific episode but one of the Invaders tells Vincent that he's able to bend that finger. The implication being that they realized the flaw was being used to identify them and an effort was made to fix it. I haven't rewatched the DVD box set but I got this from a fan site: _There is a scene in the pilot episode 'Beachhead' where David Vincent grabs the hands of one of the aliens trying to find the pinky defect, then, the alien tells:_ _Fingers? We're not all like that, David. Some of us learn. We're always learning._

[@rayguile-rb6qi]

Carol Baker the actress who played the alien, who said that was in Journey to the Center of the Earth and in some episodes of the TV series House. Edit: I stand corrected. You're correct it was Diane Baker.

[@FIREBRAND38]

@@rayguile-rb6qi Thanks, but now that you mention it that was _Diane_ Baker who also played the Mother of the kidnapped girl in _Silence of the Lambs._

[@bigkahuna6277]

Dan, Thanks for this great story of the Invaders. I was only able to see the first season in 1967 (IN B&W, at this time we did not own a color TV) . In 1968 I had joined the Air Force and did not get out till 1971. Sometime after that I did finally get a color TV and most likely saw the all the seasons in color on reruns. I now own the DVD set. I do remember seeing the Scott Bakula series with Roy Thinnes, that was so cool. Your KZbin channel is now my #1 channel to look forward too, you are doing a great job. Keep It Coming!

[@Kotv6Vfg1]

Thanks for covering "The Invaders", one of my all time favorite shows.

[@ronaldzeka1720]

Thanks for reviewing The Invaders. I have a first edition Invaders paperback published in 1967 by Pyramid. The book cover states “First in a thrilling new series based on the smash ABC-TV hit . . .” I wonder if the series ever made it to publication.

[@Mr17051963]

I used to see, as a kid, with my father. And the opening images and music used to frightens me a lot. 😄 And talking about Quinn Martin, very few people that I know remember “Tales of the Unespected” Tv series from the 70s.

[@tavrafii]

Early 1970's I watched this in Iran (before the revolution). The Series was dubbed and one of my favourites. After the invent of internet, I looked everywhere for copies of the series and couldn't find it. Back in school in Iran, we practised keeping our pinkies separate to freak out the others. Good old days.

[@isaganipalanca8803]

I have fond memories of this series which I watched during my childhood in Manila in the late Sixties! We had ALL the SF series including Star Trek, Thunderbirds, The Outer Limits, Stingray, Lost in Space - you name it!

[@renaissancepoet]

You've become my new favorite KZbin channel! I grew up watching all of these movies & TV shows! I just love love love taking these trips down memory lane!

[@xray86delta]

I always remembered from "The Invaders", which I watched as a kid, that the aliens disintegrated after they were killed, so he never had the proof he needed to show people they were being invaded!

[@geminidreamno2]

One of my favorite Sci-Fi shows of my youth. I loved it!

[@dathyr1]

The Invaders TV series episodes are still being shown on METV early Saturday mornings. Some episodes are better than others - had allot of great actors in some of the episodes. I didn't know there were only 2 seasons. I think I remember watching this TV series live on TV when I was a young lad. Nice to know the history of "The Invaders" Take care.

[@petejp1]

Yes, thank you! Finally, someone talking about this excellent series from the 60's. I still watch it every week.

[@MoviesMusicMonsters]

It's an absolute classic that had a real impact on future Invasion show :-) Thanks for the support, Dan

[@ldifalco2010]

Roy Thinnes also played an important and reoccurring character in "The X-Files". His role as Jeremiah Smith, an alien hybrid oddly enough, appeared in several of the alien invasion story arc episodes. I would bet that Thinnes was cast in that role as an homage to his role in the Invaders. The X-Files also did a similar homage for actor Darrin McGavin who starred in "The Night Stalker".

[@jimbear62]

I think they explained the reason they dropped the straight finger flaw in the 2nd season . Apparently the aliens simply redesigned the artificial bodies on the newer invaders and fixed the pinky finger flaw. The aliens who have been on Earth longer still had straight fingers

[@QuorkEx]

Doppelganger is a personal favourite film of mine, might be a good subject for a future video, perhaps?

[@TryptychUK]

Good call on this show. The spaceship design was not original, but based on a famous supposed UFO sighting in 1952 by George Adamski. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Adamski The other notable feature of the aliens were they had webbing between their fingers. Roy Thinnes wife, Lyn Loring also featured as his screen wife in "Doppelganger".

[@emsleywyatt3400]

Yes, I have the model kit. My second, actually. The legs broke off on the first. As a result, mine has a bigger crew and more regen stations. On the show itself, Vincent become such a driven man. He doesn't even crack a joke until the second season, by which time he has the believers to help him. Edited to add: Dawn Welles was super hot in that episode.

[@Wolf-3.5.9]

Roy Thinnes also appeared in the X-Files as Jeremia Smith. This was clearely a tribute Roy as the David Vincent character.

[@johnmcdougald1238]

Yet another of the current MeTV shows I'm currently recording and watching. It's one of those shows I heard about in the 70s but never saw anywhere. I'm so thankful for these Retro-TV channels for bringing back so many of these shows I've wanted to see since I was a kid.

[@greg5011]

Yea..Sci Fi Saturdays....Bitchin...

[@larryseago730]

Roy Thinnes was also a guest star on an episode of X-files, Talitha Cumi, where he played a character Jeremiah Smith a mysterious person with special abilities, an Alien Clone hybrid , who was in the resistance against the Syndicate, bad aliens I barely remembered the Invaders as a kid, I was 4 and 5 when it was on back in the 60's , but found it online and watched it through, then later saw Roy in a rerun of X-files, and thought that was cool they had him on in that genre again. neat stuff.

[@chrisjohnston4445]

Never watched the show as a kid, but was well aware of the spaceship from seeing the model kit at my local hobby shop. Binged the series a few years ago, and it's now my favorite Sci-Fi from the 60s!

[@willpower8061]

The space ship is currently available (limited time) in certain model kit shops online.

[@LordRusty5]

And, thankfully, Roy Thinnes is still with us.

[@bigkahuna6277]

Dan I have a couple more TV shows that were cut off too short. SPACE ABOVE AND BEYOND, great series about marines in space fighting aliens and left us on a big cliffhanger. There is some very interesting trivia about this show. Also EARTH 2 I thought this was a very interesting show about colonists crashing on the right planet but in the wrong location and finding out they are not alone as they were told. Congrats again on 100K 👍

[@donchoq]

Space Above and Beyond? You mean "Melrose Space"?

[@davidsigalow7349]

I loved this show as an impressionable young fellow and bought the DVD set a few years ago. Even though it only ran two seasons, there are lots of episodes to watch, and they are still great.

[@JMxx6204]

Holy moly I loved loved loved this show. Just brilliant.

[@theironclads]

I respectfully disagree that the addition of the believers, who joined with David Vincent to fight the Invaders in the second season, had ruined the series. The entire first season saw David Vincent as the man all alone battling the Invaders each week. That storyline concept had worn thin for me, they needed to develop the premise of the series to avoid staying in a rut.

[@josephcontreras8930]

Maybe they had that guy fred friedman??? That practically ended tos star trek and space 1999...

[@jeffholt9437]

I agree but you should have said "had worn THINNES for me" 😂

[@edvela5492]

IDK, that "rut" worked for "The Fugitive" for YEARs! 😄

[@theironclads]

@@edvela5492 Entirely different premise on The Fugitive.

[@Number6_]

Agreed, he was making all these believers that you can't just ignore they exist, then continue to do the same episode every week. There has to be movement growth. They also added him architecting to finance his adventures. I'm sure there were other causes.

[@neonwind]

Thank you. I saw it as a kid in the UK. I still think of it in Black and White. The Theme Music is so Beautiful.

[@49525Bob]

@ 3:09 you finally explained why I'd never heard of this show. 1967 & 1968. Thousands of young men my age were activity involved 10,000 miles from US television.

[@garystotler3149]

Senior trip to Saigon? Glad you survived buddy.

[@todleo01]

100K subscribers, Congratulations, Great job! You'll hit one million by the end of the year. Great content.

[@RobSchofield]

@ 18:30 - Lynn Loring also starred with him in "Doppelganger" as his rather hostile wife.

[@Skeptic236]

Excellent review yet again. The Invaders was an excellent show with amazing production values, really interesting plot devices and a cast of stars. Dominic Frontiere's music was amazing...I particularly loved his Mexican incidental music in the episode "The Mutation". You neglected to mention the 3 paperbacks:: The Invaders, Night of the Trilobites and Dam of Death. I read Night of the Trilobites and it was a good read

[@Bill23799]

The Universal Studios opening logo was changed in the film " Xanadu " to include the spaceship from the Invaders,

[@XanthusMs]

The Invaders may have inspired The X-Files, but later the X-Files series guest starred the David Hansen character (Roy Thinnes) as himself passing the baton onto to Fox Mulder and Dogget. It was a three show continuation of The Invader.

[@JohnBernardin]

When I was a kid, THIS SHOW SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF ME! 🌚 I was afraid to watch it but I felt like I had to… I don’t know why… maybe so I could learn something, so I could save my family!

[@CyberScifi]

Shows like this need to come back!!

[@jeffreyfisher3115]

No pulse, no heartbeat, don’t bleed? Gawwwd, network executives!

[@unboxingwithmarty]

I remember this show. Sitting in front of the black and white TV just waiting for it to start. This was one of my favorites!

[@kennethlee494]

As for the Aurora model of the saucer it is still available through Atlantis Toy and Hobby.

[@outsider238]

I'm not sure why we never watched this show during its original run. My dad let us watch all of these cool shows but this one slipped by us. I'll have to buy the DVDs and binge watch the series. I did build the model back then though!

[@jamesevans3492]

I Had The Aurora Invaders Spaceship Model, As A 6 Year Old Child Back In 1968, Wherein My Older Brother Painted It For Us, And We Played With It For Many Years, Before It Got Broke, And Tossed Away Tragically . . . ;-( The Invaders Scared Us As Little Children Back Then, To The Chagrin Of Out Father, Who Enjoyed Watching The Invaders With Us Back Then . . . . lol . . .

[@kozkoz7776]

i have the complete dvd collection and i LOVE IT ! i was surprised that you didnt mention that the INVADERS was so popular in FRANCE and the he is a well known celebrity their

[@JohnSwindells-zm4sq]

Thanks Dan great video The Invaders still is one of my favourite shows of the 60s.I also think the music from the show is fantastic.

[@kevinshimwell7469]

I used to have a model of the INVADERS space ship....it was painted silver on the outside .You were able to take the top off to reveal the space ship's bridge which was completely red.

[@MoviesMusicMonsters]

Nice :-) but the question is do you still have it

[@nyohaku]

I have mine. Missing the landing gear sadly.

[@alfonsofernandez13]

Well done on research this story, I had forgotten so much about this show.

[@bcsadman]

Atlantis Toy & Hobby re-released the model kit in 2020. And there are upgrade kits to get those cool lighting & sound effects.

[@Makeshift_Mulder]

Great video. I thought it was strange you didn't mention Roy Thinnes was also Jeremiah on "The X-Files" where he played a very old member of the alien shapeshifters who was battling the Smoking Man for a very long time. He reveals the whole alien conspiracy to Mulder and the fate of his sister Samantha. It's very similar to his own role in the Invaders reboot.

[@fredbarnes2600]

Yup. Along with Darren McGavin I thought that was one of the better Easter egg appearances on the series

[@bradeichman9638]

I've got those comics. There were 3 of them. Plus they had two paperback novels and also 2 children story books. I bought them when I was a kid in 1966 or 67. And I still have them.

[@jarniwoop]

I read one of the paperbacks!

[@Coralita675]

Congratulations on the 100K, love your content and enthusiasm. I grew up on British sci-fi, any chance of a few "what happened to" UFO, Dr Who, Space 1999, or Thunderbirds. Don't forget "V" and the Twilight Zone, and Kolchak. Keep them coming thanks for keeping Sci-fi alive.

[@davannaleah]

Roy Thinnes was also in an episode of Fringe as a time traveller trying to save his wife.

[@1marvelfan707]

Thanks for doing these dan, makes my night when a new episode aires, all the shows and movies i love, the silver button is almost here, wont be long till you get the gold😎

[@alfmeister13]

My favorite episode was called 'the mutation' with Suzanne Pleshette. This was a really scary show.

[@scenariowest1001]

you are the man Dan! Thankyou for all these great episodes! Rock On Bro 👍🏻

[@junosugi7466]

Interesting video. The Invaders was my favourite TV series and in fact, it still is, as I continue to rewatch the dvds. I loved the concept of it, and as you say, it has led to other TV series and also films which are based on similar ideas. The strange thing is I had ufo experiences some years later in the 70s. The 60s and 70s had some great TV series (The Avengers, Vendetta, Ghost Squad, The Man from Uncle, High Chaparral, etc etc.) and films, and for me it was a golden period. It was a time of pure entertainment, even the music was great.

[@dragdragon23]

Roy Thinnes said in a interview, he was in France where they was showing the episodes on the big screen way back then. He got a rush as the whole audience was speaking every line along with the characters during the run. watching the title section of every episode always had the hairs stand on the back of my neck with goose pimples. it was so amazing showing the UFOs heading to earth with the eerie backup music, WOW! those shows back then had so much imagination, today programs are task to come close to being as good.

[@SmokingJacket]

I bought that saucer model -- twice (the first one got lost). It was based on a famous UFO photo taken by a California highway patrol officer which,back then, was regarded as one of the most authentic saucer pics.

[@neilgodwin6531]

​@@proto-geek248"Back then was regarded as..." I think the qualification suggests that Smoking Jacket isn't saying it was real or truly authentic

[@SmokingJacket]

@@proto-geek248 At the time (60s & 70s) this photo was felt to be an actual pic of a saucer in part because of the exhaust stirring up dust on the ground.

[@MAZE4]

The Invaders is an absolute classic.

[@ianrotten4453]

Yet another great show that is on MeTV on Saturday nights. A lot of what you cover on this channel (Kolchak and The Invaders) are on that free broadcast channel. They even air Svengoolie on Saturdays as well.

[@michaellloyd4978]

Much of the X-Files underlying conspiracy is a copy of The Invaders. I was 9 and 10 years old when this show came out and never missed an episode. I built the saucer model kit, though I have no idea whatever happened to it (or any of the models I built in that era), and when this show is on MeTV or FeTV I set the DVR to RECORD. The production value of the show is terrific and the acting is too!

[@nuummuun]

Hey, Dan! 99.9k subscribers!!! Almost there. Thanks for the wonderful videos. Paulo - Rio, Brazil

[@VoiceCoachDebbie]

refresh! :) we just keep hitting it! :)

[@THX-vx8vm]

Congratulations on 100,000 subscribers. They were well earned. Your channel is amazing.

[@robertabrams91]

As a kid I would coz it up to our family's floor model t v and sit indian style and watch every episode of the show. loved it

[@codymartin77]

One of my all time favorites!

[@donchoq]

I loved the fact that when the aliens "disappeared" they never left a trace like a burn mark or something in the ground. But if it was a piece of evidence that Vincent needed and they put their hand on it as they were dying, it would disappear with the alien. The same went if they were holding guns or weapons! My Dad called it Quinn Martin physics!😆 And yes, I still have the model after all these years!

[@NJEsperantist]

I had one of the Aurora models in my youth, but didn't know about the TV series until I started buying Starlog magazine.

[@my2commonsense476]

I liked the whole believers concept, that he was forming a group to help in the fight, I think a third season would have been cool.

[@charles2241]

Isn't it true that at least 2-3 of the believers got killed off? The show could be savage at times.

[@GreyhawkGrognard]

I had the model kit (which was really cool, because it had the interior finished, and some figures).

[@docsavage8640]

Loved The Invaders "in color!" My wife and I used to watch it.