Sunday, August 22, 2010

War of the Worlds Season 2 at last!

It's taken the best part of 5 years since the release of season 1 on DVD, but at long last we're going to get the conclusion to the War of the Worlds TV series. Dating back to 1988, the series ran a scant 2 years and starred Jared Martin as maverick scientist Harrison Blackwood, battling aliens and penny pinching government bureaucracy. The first season featured some inspired episodes, particularly one set in Grover's Mill, where Orson Welles set his 1938 invasion, but the second season lurched off in strange directions. Suddenly the series is set in the future rather than the present day and the original alien invaders are themselves kicked out of frame by a new set of aliens. Earth is portrayed in a dire environmental state, with social order breaking down and the characters we came to love in the first season are either killed off or their personalities rewritten. Blame a new creative team who apparently barely bothered to take much notice of the first season. I still recall there were some good episodes, and it's good to get to see the 2nd season on DVD so I'll be in line to get one, but if you've only ever seen Season 1, be prepared for a shock. Release date in the USA is set for October 26th. There's a pre-order page on Amazon, but it lists C. Thomas Howell as the star, which means the Amazon editorial team are mixing it up with the recent direct to video War of the Worlds movies from The Asylum film studio.