invasion-related stories
Posted Mar 24th 2009 3:03PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Programming, OpEd, Reality-Free
We've talked a lot about great short-lived shows here at TV Squad. We even have a whole
category for them. But it's always good to revisit the topic to see what you readers think.
Over at
Entertainment Weekly, they've chosen the
25 great TV shows that got a quick hook, the shows that got canceled (way) before their time (we're talking really short runs, so
Arrested Development and
Sports Night aren't on the list). There are several shows on the list that you would expect to see (
Freaks and Geeks,
My So-Called Life,
Firefly), some surprise entries that made me happy to see on there (
The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr,
Frank's Place,
Karen Sisco,
Now & Again), and a few head-scratchers (
Malibu Road? Really?). It's slightly heavy on the current side, with
Journeyman and
Life on Mars on the list. I mean,
Life on Mars is still running new episodes.
Continue reading What's the greatest short-lived show of all-time?
Posted Sep 12th 2008 11:01AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, OpEd, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free
Sure
Lost is a bona fide hit, but who remembers
Invasion? In fact, none of the sci fi series premiering that year (
Surface and
Threshold) made it beyond a single season. And yet, as Brad reported,
ABC is developing The Return, a series focusing on how the world handles an "alien landing." You know, like the classic
V mini-series of the '80s. In fact, the last episode of
V: The Series was called "The Return." Maybe this is a secret code name for the long teased
V return!
But that announcement got me thinking about all those sci fi and fantasy shows that never finish on television. It's a phenomenon us long-time science fiction/fantasy fans have learned to live with. We jump on any new genre show on television hoping against hope that the ratings will be strong enough that we'll get the whole story. Alas, we know that more often than not the plug will be pulled mid-stream and we'll be left wanting. And for every Joss Whedon who continues
Buffy and
Angel in comics, there are tons more who don't.
Continue reading Ten unfinished sci fi/fantasy series ... and I'm dying for resolution
Posted Aug 8th 2008 11:04AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, OpEd, TV Squad Lists
Let's face it, science fiction on television is always a challenge, and more often than not, these series fail to find a big enough audience to stick around. That's why the year after
Lost hit it big on just minor sci-fi elements, we had three ratings flops at once with
Invasion, Threshold and
Surface. And all three were good, for different reasons. So my question is why did none of them make
Sci Fi Wire's list of the top 10 sci fi shows canceled too soon? Because Sci-Fi Wire liked
Eerie, Indiana better!
Seriously though, while there were some good elements in their list, and I absolutely agree with their number one choice, there were some real problems and omissions as well.
Wonderfalls ranked way too high and
Homeboys in Outer Space didn't even make the list? Outrageous! So I've taken it upon myself to make my own list of
The Top 10 Sci Fi Short-Lived Sci-Fi Shows That Weren't Pulitzer Worthy But Went Great With Popcorn. And I intentionally didn't include any of the shows on their list, because I'm acting like a spoiled brat and I don't want to play with their toys.
Continue reading My Top 10 list is better than Sci Fi Wire's
Posted Jun 10th 2008 2:14PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, OpEd, Video, Short-Lived Shows, Cancellations, Reality-Free
Invasion aired for one season from 2005-2006. Check out Jonathan Toomey's great reviewcaps
here.
Along with
Surface,
Invasion was one of my favorite new shows that season, with each episode getting better and better. By the series finale, I was hooked. I'm still miffed that ABC didn't give it more time to flesh out the story and characters.
Incorporating a sci-fi-alien mystery, a government conspiracy, and plenty of family drama,
Invasion had a built-in audience because it aired directly after another sci-fi mystery,
Lost. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to keep the series on the air.
Continue reading Short-Lived Shows: Invasion - VIDEO
Posted Sep 14th 2007 8:01PM by Brett Love
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Industry, Programming
"Have you tried turning it off and on again?"
It would appear that the adaptation of UK sit-com
The IT Crowd might need more than Roy's famous reboot fix. According to
reports, NBC is set to pull the plug on the midseason comedy. If you haven't been playing along at home, the show is to be a joint production between Universal Media Studios and Freemantle Media. It's an ensemble comedy, set in an IT department, starring Joel McHale (
The Soup) and Rocky Carroll (
Invasion).
Continue reading NBC's version of The IT Crowd could be dead already
Posted Apr 17th 2007 8:03PM by Meredith O'Brien
Filed under: 24, Stargate
*Spoilers ahead for future 24 episodes. Fair warning.*
Stargate: SG-1 star Michael Shanks, who's going to be featured in a 24 multi-episode arc, has not only been busy filming hot and heavy scenes with the Invasion mom (Kari Matchett) who plays the vice president's assistant, but he's been blabbing about his character's story.
According to Zap2it, Shanks will play Washington lobbyist Mark Bishop who is the "love interest" for VP aide Lisa Williams . . . the one who was getting her hand and face caressed by the creepy vice president, Noah Daniels, in hour 18. Shanks, who said he just started watching Jack Bauer & Co. this season, said he and Matchett have filmed "sexy stuff" that is "unusual for 24."
Great. Another love triangle. Just what 24 is famous for, right? First there was Chloe-Morris-Milo. Then Jack-Graem-Marilyn. Followed by Doyle-Nadia-Milo. And now the love triangle disease is going to spread to D.C. with Daniels-Williams-Bishop? What's next, Buchanan-Hayes-Lennox and other law firm sounding combos?
[Via the Arizona Republic.]
Posted Dec 16th 2006 10:02AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, ABC, Cancellations, Ratings, Day Break
Sadly, that's the case over at ABC. Try as they might, and for reasons I don't quite get, people just don't want to watch this show. I've posted about the
slide in the ratings before, and it continued this week. After garnering their lowest 18-49 numbers yet, ABC has
pulled the show, with plans for the remaining episodes to be shown on ABC.com. Or, on DVD for those of you that are going to be screwed by that whole geography thing. To add insult to injury, the Wednesday schedule will be filled with repeats of
George Lopez and
According to Jim until the new schedule starts in January.
I think this has to signal a change at the networks. The big serial drama experiment is now officially a failure. With
Surface and
Invasion failing to get a second season, and now
Smith, Kidnapped, The Nine, Six Degrees, and
Day Break all failing to finish one, I think we can look for the networks to try something different next season. And hey, if Diggs really wants to be on a hit show, they're still casting for the next
Dancing with the Stars, right?... Too soon?
Posted Nov 24th 2006 4:30PM by Brett Love
Filed under: ABC, Programming, Lost, Watercooler Talk, Dancing With The Stars, The Nine, Ratings, Day Break
There has been much chatter about ABC's somewhat unconventional scheduling of
Lost this season. In an effort to avoid a repeat filled schedule, they have split the season into two parts, handing off the time slot to
Day Break for three months in the middle. While they will tell you it was because of outcry from the fans, the cynic in me thinks that the fact that
Lost doesn't repeat well had something to do with it.
Either way, it's not working. Rather, it's
really not working.
Day Break premiered with a somewhat disappointing 11 million viewers, despite having the
Dancing with the Stars finale drop 27 million sets of eyeballs on their doorstep. But 11 million sounds just grand compared to this week. With the dancing shoes stowed away for the foreseeable future, Captain Kirk's
Show Me The Money is delivering just under 8 million viewers as the lead in. And Wednesday,
Day Break only managed to hang on to 5.12 million of them. 5 million? The worst repeat of
Lost would never approach 5 million viewers.
Continue reading Screw the hiatus, bring back Lost now
Posted Nov 2nd 2006 10:00AM by Richard Keller
Filed under: Industry, Programming, The Five, Celebrities, Psych
I know that we already have a 'Ask TV Squad' category to answer questions from our beautiful and intelligent readers, but that is usually meant for one question at a time. In this episode of 'The Five' I'd like to reply to a number of questions that have come to us over the last few weeks. So, without further ado . . .
1. Steph writes 'Please help! Is Psych canceled? I just discovered it and I've only seen reruns.'
Fear not, dear Steph. Psych is just taking a mid-season break, which is normal for cable shows to do. The USA Network comedy, which stars James Roday, Dule Hill and Corbin Bernsen, returns with new episodes in January of 2007.
Continue reading The Five: Your questions answered
Posted Aug 22nd 2006 8:39AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV on DVD
The Bill Cosby Show - Season One - A Bit of Fry and Laurie - Season One and Season Two
- Blue Thunder - Complete Series
- Conviction - Complete Series
- House - Season Two
- Invasion - Complete Series
- Threshold - Complete Series
- Veronica Mars - Second Season
Posted Jun 20th 2006 12:35PM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: ABC, FOX, Talent, Prison Break, Invasion, Celebrities
In other news, fans of Invasion were heard whimpering tiny little cries of despair. I started to anyway, but then I got over it. As if fans of ABC's now canceled Invasion hadn't been dragged around enough about the status of the show's future, this definitely counts as the final nail in the coffin.
Yesterday, Kristin over at E! reported that William Fichtner has been cast in FOX's second season of Prison Break as the federal marshal tasked to hunt down Michael, Lincoln, Abruzzi, and the rest of their merry gang of fugitives. I have to say that I'm actually pretty pleased about this. I think Fichtner is a great actor and he'll fit in fine with the rest of the cast down in Dallas.
Of course, this officially means that we'll never find out what happened to Larkin after Tom threw her in the water during the Invasion season series finale. Boo to that.
Posted May 28th 2006 6:53PM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: OpEd, Ma and Pa America, Surface, Invasion
I came home this weekend to see my folks for Memorial Day (which coincidentally means that I've eaten an unhealthy amount of food and it's only Sunday afternoon) and we got into a pretty interesting conversation about TV. For starters, neither of them knew what "the upfronts" were and I suppose it makes sense. If I didn't follow television as much as I do, I probably wouldn't know what the upfronts were either. Moreover, I would most likely have had the same question my mother had: "Why do they call it the upfronts?" I'm not 100% sure, but I think it has something to do with the fact that ad-space is being presented to advertisers "up front" and if they sit on it, they may not be able to get the spots they want at a later date.
Continue reading Ma and Pa America: They canceled what?!?
Posted May 19th 2006 6:33PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Industry, Programming, OpEd, Watercooler Talk
This time of year is intense, isn't it? Between
all the season finales, all
the series finales, and the network upfronts, it's a wonder that people who love TV, and the people who write about TV, get any sleep at all. Heck, we even got a
Presidential address thrown in for good measure. It's like we're accountants and it's the two weeks leading up to April 15; lots of late nights, emotional outbursts, and severe negotiations, leaving us emotionally exhausted.
But it's just about over. Even as it is, I feel like I'm coming down from the high. Why? Because the upfronts are over;
all five networks have given us a look at their fall schedules, and we finally get to find out what's in and what's out (good news for
Veronica Mars fans, bad news for
Invasion fans). So right now I'm just feeling a bit spent. And completely uncreative. I couldn't think of one thing to write today because of it. If anyone has any ideas for me to get my mojo back, let me know in the comments.
(By the way, the picture is of Count Blah from
Greg The Bunny. Best way I could represent the concept of blah. Blah.)
Posted May 18th 2006 9:16AM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, ABC, OpEd, Invasion
(S01E22) I really don't think ABC understands what they're giving up here. Granted this wasn't the best episode of the season. But as far as season finales go, this is right up there. Things you wanted addressed were taken care of and the cliffhanger... man, I never saw that coming. The only gripe I had was the middle. There was a lot of filler and it took some patience to get to the good stuff. I'm glad I waited.
We picked up right where last week left off with Szura's gang pushing people into the water to do a dance with the orange aliens. Tom and Russell put up a fight though. They bust out their guns and take out a ton of the hybrids. Just in time too because Dave and Louis finally show up with Colonel Lopez and the Air Force. Szura, being the smart guy that he is, grabs Mariel (four of the pregnant ladies too) and drives off with them. Game on.
Continue reading Invasion: The Last Wave Goodbye (finale)
Posted May 15th 2006 8:02AM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, ABC, NBC, Programming, Invasion
Ahead of today's Upfronts,
The Futon Critic is reporting that NBC is not renewing
Conviction or
Teachers for the fall. Neither of these cancelations comes as a surprise, really. The storytelling style on
Conviction was so complicated that it was virtually impossible to feel anything for any of the characters (although, I'm going to miss Julianne Nicholson and Eric Balfour). And,
Teachers? Why was that even on television?
Also, ABC had reportedly decided not to renew
Invasion,
Freddie and
Hope & Faith. Also not major surprises-- and
Invasion might end up
on The CW. What will Kelly Ripa do with all her extra time?
Stick around... Bob will be covering NBC's Upfronts later today.
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