"War of the Worlds" (1988) TV series 1988-1990

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Creator:

Greg Strangis

Seasons:

1 | 2

Release Date:

7 October 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

Humanity must resume its war against the Martians after they revive after decades of hibernation after their defeat in the 1950's.

Plot Keywords:

Bacteria | Mother Daughter Relationship | Interplanetary War | Casualty Of War | Exodus

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Jared Martin	...	Dr. Harrison Blackwood / ... (43 episodes, 1988-1990)
Lynda Mason Green	...	Dr. Suzanne McCullough / ... (43 episodes, 1988-1990)
Rachel Blanchard	...	Debi McCullough (25 episodes, 1988-1990)
Richard Chaves	...	Colonel Paul Ironhorse / ... (24 episodes, 1988-1989)
Philip Akin	...	Norton Drake (24 episodes, 1988-1989)
Denis Forest	...	Malzor / ... (21 episodes, 1989-1990)
Adrian Paul	...	John Kincaid (20 episodes, 1989-1990)
Catherine Disher	...	Mana (20 episodes, 1989-1990)
Ilse von Glatz	...	Advocate #2 / ... (19 episodes, 1988-1989)

Also Known As:

"War of the Worlds: The Second Invasion" (USA) (second season title)

Runtime:

60 min (44 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 (some episodes)

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Hometown Films

Trivia:

Originally, the Morthren deity, the Eternal, was to be called the Immortal (presumably to tie in with the "To Life Immortal" exchange of the Mor-Tax in the first season) and was going to speak in English.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In one episode, an actor dressed as an alien jumps down from an air duct onto a human. As he jumps, you can see his socks.

Quotes:

Ironhorse Clone: You won't leave, will you? You'll stay and die because you won't leave one child behind. That's why we'll win.
Harrison: That's why you'll lose.

Movie Connections:

Follows The War of the Worlds (1953)

A classic example in how to screw up a great series

The first series of WAR OF THE WORLDS is great television and great TV SF-- rivetting, exciting, thought-provoking, well-acted, and well-written. Every week it was a delight to watch and worth talking about in the following week with other TV SF fans. And as I recall, it was more interesting that that other big name SF show at the time.... something about next generations, I think......

Then for reasons that will forever escape rationality, the producers were switched and the series radically, FATALLY revamped into a cyber-punk show. The off-hand killing of two main characters, the addition of an unneeded extra male lead, and a drastic switch in the series format from covert action to urban guerilla warfare..... I stopped watching it after a couple months. Most of its fans did too.

The first season is fascinating in retrospect for being one of the roots of X-FILES. But like EERIE INDIANA, it was just a little too ahead of its time. If the show had come along, say, three years later (and NOT had those idiots take over the series in Year Two), who knows what might have happened?