Invasion (TV series)

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Invasion
Format Drama/Science Fiction
Created by Shaun Cassidy
Starring William Fichtner
Eddie Cibrian
Kari Matchett
Lisa Sheridan
Tyler Labine
Alexis Dziena
Evan Peters
Ariel Gade
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 22 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time 42 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel ABC
Original run September 21, 2005 – May 17, 2006
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Invasion is an American science fiction television series that aired on ABC for only one season beginning in September 2005 before it was cancelled. Somewhat similar to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the show told the story of the aftermath of a hurricane in which water-based extraterrestrials infiltrate a small Florida town and begin to take over the bodies of the town's inhabitants through a cloning process (first by merging with and then unknowingly replacing them). The show was produced by Shaun Cassidy Productions and Warner Bros. Television.

Due to the Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the aftermath in the southern United States, early on-air promotions were quickly pulled by ABC. The advertising then switched emphasis completely to the alien invasion aspect of the series, while the hurricane received no mention. The premiere was also preceded with a warning that the show featured images of a fictional hurricane that viewers could be sensitive to.

Contents

[edit] Cast and characters

[edit] Main Crew

[edit] Episode guide

Main article: List of Invasion episodes

[edit] Ratings troubles

According to Nielsen Ratings, the series premiere was able to attract 17 million viewers from another ABC show, Lost. After the 10th episode, the series lost a total of 7 million viewers over nine episodes with the November 30, 2005 episode garnering only 10 million. In order to get the viewers back in for the 2nd half of 2005-2006 TV season, the show was put on hiatus until January 11, 2006, and it was replaced with another show already scheduled for cancellation, Alias.

For the episodes shown on January 11th, 18th, and 25th the Nielsen Ratings only reached 9.7 million, 9 million and 9.3 million. It had lost nearly half of the first episode's audience and was way behind CBS's CSI: NY, which had 13.7 million, 15.5 million and 14.9 million for the same period.[1] [2] [3] The show was then put on hiatus for the second time, during which time it was replaced with The Evidence.

Some fans of Invasion have attributed poor handling on the part of ABC as one reason for the show's continued problems, citing two hiatuses and a three-week break all within one season—periods in which no repeats were aired. Throughout the show's run, these incidents became a topic of speculation and concern among its fanbase.

[edit] Cancellation and petition

Following cancellation of the series by ABC, there were reports that Invasion might move to The CW for the 2006-2007 season.[1] However, in May 2006, the CW had not picked up Invasion for its 2006-2007 program lineup.[1]

Fans of the series began a campaign to revive it through web sites and forums,[2] including an online petition,[3] letter writing campaign, and the mailing of water bottles to ABC and other prospective networks.[2] In close to four weeks, over 35,000 signatures were recorded on the petition including the signature of Invasion cast member Nathan Baesel.[citation needed] On June 13, 2006, fans paid to have a banner plane fly over ABC Headquarters in Burbank, CA with the message, "ABC See the light! Save Invasion!".[citation needed] The online petition is still running, to date having collected over 60,000 signatures.[3]

The two starring actors, William Fichtner and Eddie Cibrian, are currently signed with other network series, making it highly unlikely that Invasion would return anytime soon.

[edit] Future plotlines

In the "August 14-20, 2006" issue of TV Guide, actor Tyler Labine (who played the character Dave Groves) relayed what creator Shaun Cassidy had planned for the following season, saying that Cassidy had said, "Larkin was going to be presumed dead. Russel and I were going to join forces against Tom. Tom was going to find out that his first wife was alive and running this whole military operation, and she was Szura's boss."

[edit] DVD releases

Warner Home Video has released the entire series on DVD for the very first time in Region 1 & Region 2.

Season Releases

DVD Name Region 1 Region 2 Ep # Additional Information
The Complete Series August 22, 2006 September 4, 2006 22 This 6 disc box set includes all 22 episodes of the series and 50 minutes of extras: a documentary, invading the mind of Shaun Cassidy, plus the gag reel and over 12 deleted scenes from several episodes of the series.

[edit] Soundtrack

According To Jon Ehrlich, CD will be available soon at moviescoremedia.com.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Wayne Hall. No More 'Invasion': ABC scifi series cancelled, not likely to go to CW. SyFy Portal. Retrieved on 2008-02-27.
  2. ^ a b "Save Invasion: a campaign of fans". Retrieved on 2008-02-27.
  3. ^ a b Lizzie Ernst. [www.petitiononline.com/33030/petition.html Petition to Save ABC's show "Invasion"]. Petitiononline.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-27.

[edit] External links