A real blast from the past I loved the invaders tv show when I was a kid . But as you say somethings don’t age well , thanks for this bit of nostalgia Richard.
2001: A Space Odyssey is a good example. Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick worked on their projects at the same time, and thus, none of them is based on the others. The book and film stand side by side. Alan Dean Foster is writing good film adaptations, like Alien and Star Wars. But I can recommend his other novels (not based on films) too, like Midworld and Nor Crystal Tears.
I'm a great fan of Foster. You named two good stories. I'm also a fan of his Pip and Flinx series. Incidentally, if you didn't know, in one of those novels Flinx visits Midworld. I find all his stories to be extremely entertaining.
Although i did wath The Invaders but I always remember Roy Thinnes more from Journey to the Far Side of the Sun from 1969. A rather interesting film from the Gerry Anderson stable.
@@adrianmcmahon5731 Wow. Watched it a long time ago in the beginning of the VHS era. If I remember correctly there was another earth exactly opposite our orbit.
@@vintagesf That's the one. It's quite a dark story for the time. Good performance from Herbert Lom in it too and the Gerry Anderson effects are pretty timeless.
@@vintagesf Me too. I loved watching Space 1999 Saturday mornings as a kid. Force of Life & Dragon's Domain from season 1 both gave me nightmares as a child. I rewatched both series a couple of years ago and season 1 still holds up really well with it's often supernatural overtones and the excellent Barry Morse. Such a shame season 2 was often quite goofy and got rid of the great opening theme for a discofied one.
I talked my HS buddies into seeing "Journey to The Far Side of The Sun", instead of The Good, The Bad, etc. for the umpteenth time. The moaning after the movie was monumental, and I still hear about it! We saw the original cut. Some big differences in Thinnes' role with his wife. I have the latest Blu Ray version, some of the scenes are back in.
Hey, Richard... Another enjoyable video! I was a college underclassman when this TV program was aired so I had very little time for watching anything at all. I loved the classic monster movies of the 1950's but the college me would have found this a bit lacking in almost every category. The one TV show that did give me a thrill was "The Prisoner" and I am sure you have seen the series and you know what it was such a sensation. Best to you from your USA neighbor to the south!
@@mikesnyder1788 Want to do a similar video with ‘The Prisoner’. Have to still obtain the novelization by one of my favourite authors Thomas Disch. A program worthy of a major SF author’s adaptation.
Another completely new one to me! Both the TV show and the novel. Sounds a bit like shades of 'They Live'? Sorry to hear the writing wasn't up to snuff.
I think a strong influence on "They Live". But, so was The Soviet Union. I think Martin and Laumer had the usual "Artistic Differences" cited in many failed collaborations.
Invaders is before my time. However, thanks to the channel Liminal Spaces, I did read Laumer's Knight (or Night, depending on the edition) of Delusions. I have a strong suspicion that it inspired Total Recall (without the mars stuff, of course). He struck me as a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy, a natural storyteller, not a prose stylist, entertaining and to the point. However, I think Knight of Delusions was unlike the rest of his work (in terms of subject matter), as if he were experimenting, stretching himself. I don't have any burning desire to read anything else by him, though I enjoyed Knight.
You may have come across an oddiity of 1970s publishing. I collected all of Laumer. Knight of Delusions was available as 2 different novels and authors. But, somehow both novels were published with the same title and credited to Laumer. I had both. They are totally unrelated, and not written in any way similar. The Laumer main character is named Florin. If Florin, you have the Laumer.
Over a long career, Laumer wrote some stuff considered "New Wave", as well. Besides Retief and Bolos, you may like the short "A Trip to the City" available online. Also known as "It Could Be Anything."
Ironically, my intro to the Invaders was just the opposite. I read the book first, then saw a few TV episodes and read the comic tie-in. I actually thought the plot of Laumer's opener was better than the TV series. It was a good example of how a small number of invaders could leverage their superior science to mass produce weapons for when the rest of them showed up. Laumer was past his prime when he wrote the novel. His Retief series (Envoy to new Worlds) and early Sci-fi short stories are better written. After all, the guy won a Hugo, so he had to have something going for him. Your review was pretty accurate, except that in book 2, Laumer does acknowledge that the Invaders disappear in a puff of smoke at death. I have book 3, by a different author and if you didn't like Laumer's writing, you will loathe book three. It was so bad I didn't try to find book 4. So, as a kid of 12 or so, reading the Laumer novels plus the comics and Whitman books were the stories that fired my Invaders enjoyment. Since then, I have watched all the TV episodes and they're a bit creaky, but still fun stuff. Suggestion next? Maybe Murray Leinster's adaptation of Land of the Giants. I got it at the same time as Laumer's book and it had little resemblance to the show either. The Whitman adaptation was better. I don't think the studios gave them much info to go on, probably. Thanks for the video!
@@andynunez9153 ‘Land of the Giants’, ‘Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea’, ‘Wild, Wild West’ and ‘The Prisoner’ are all series I’d like to compare to their first novelization. I think you are right in saying that the TV productions may not have been too forthcoming in plot details. I’m sure some shows changed their plots while filming or even refilming.
@@vintagesf I had the Wild Wild West novelization, but bought it long after the series ended. It was OK, more straight Western than steampunk adventure. I also had the Lost in Space novelization by Dave Van Arnham IIRC. It was interesting, but again, it had a different vibe. I think the Whitman hardcovers all came out after the series were underway, because they were closer to the shows. I had Star Trek, Land of the Giants and the Invaders. They were just right for middle-school reading. I came from a very rural area and when I got to 8th grade and had access to Scholastic Book Services (fall of 1968), I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I had the Star Trek paperbacks and James Blish did tinker with the adaptations. I recall he change Scotty saying he have half a gallon of Scotch into a liter for the adaptation of "Hour of the Gun" or whatever it was, with the Earps.
I agree, the first 50 pages of his first Invaders novel is pretty good. He does not seem engaged after that, maybe disgreements with Martin or possibly a conflict with his "The Monitors" being produced as a movie in 1968? Of course, I come from the time when descriptive prose with a lot of adjectives was considered essential to visualize the story. Works for me, I can see what van Vogt, Bradbury, Laumer, etc. are descibing. Or at least my interpretation. I see Bradbury's storm in "The Long Rain", I can see the aliens and combat Laumer presents in various Retief, Bolo other stories, and van Vogt's Earth Starship breakup in "Mission to The Stars" is amazing. I am pretty sure Laumer had the stroke in late 1971? His later writing was never close to his pre stroke work. From what I understand, he became sort of a recluse. He did live on a fresh water island in Fla. after the stroke. With a large collection of 1960s Mercury Cougars.
@@andynunez9153 Well, I was glued to Star Trek OS. Charter fan club member. I glad you liked them, I felt James Blish, a great SF writer, did a minimal job with his Star Trek original series adaptations. Pretty bland. I did not keep any of them, I gave the whole set I had to a younger fan in the late 1970s. This task must be harder than it appears to be?
As an 8yo and already a scifi fan, I was fascinated with this show. Unfortunately as an 8yo I also had a short attention span and missed enough episodes to eventually lose interest. It's not like this was Batman or Lost In Space. 😊
I was 12/13 when the show was on. I had read "Starship Troopers", "Nineteen Eighty - Four", etc. without really comprending them until a few years later, but I had some clue. The 2nd season is lot different from the first. The Aliens hardly use their ray guns, using regular firearms. Not so much alien tech, it became a bit more like a detective series. QM did produce "The FBI", too.
Splinter of the Mind's Eye, by Alan Dean Foster. Lucas commissioned the book, in case Star Wars flopped as the "Sequel" to Star Wars. Leia isn't Luke's sister, nor Darth Vader his father. Good book, I enjoyed it immensely when I found it, soon after watching Star Wars.❤
My last experience with a novelisation was about three years ago with a novelisation of the first series of the ITV sitcom Shelley, of which I’d become a solid watcher. It was written by the scriptwriters themselves (this was common for British sitcom tie-in media back in the ‘70s), but all they did was prosify those six episodes and do nothing else with it. They had this fascinating character in James Shelley-a sarcastic, miserable, unbelievably lazy bastard with a PhD and extreme ergophobia-and they did nothing to expand upon him. They gave him a voice in a first person narrative, but not much to say.
One interesting thing - the Invaders' aliens were emotionless and most of them (except some really smart ones and of course some mutants) were "evil" in their relentless plans to take over the earth. ... Juxtaposed with Star Trek's Vulcans, who were also emotionless, but worthy, "constructive" allies. Thus: two opposing television script views of emotionless aliens.
@@vintagesf Yes. You phrased that perfectly. Supposedly "the urge for survival" motivates most, if not all, life... but I cannot picture Vulcans just pushing aside settled inhabitants of planets, even to save Vulcan...
Yeah, the Laumer book was just literary click bait and was unrecognizable as the REAL TV screenplay "Invaders". Succeeding novelizations were also simply abysmal. Too bad for the innocent people who thought they were buying original, faithful "Invaders" material...
I’ve been long fascinated how they just straight-up copied George Adamski’s alleged photos of flying saucers in that show. (Adamski himself, like Billy Meier after him, was a pathological bullshitter who built his fakes out of hubcaps and lightbulbs.)
Oh man, I loved that show when I was a kid. I wish I had that book!
Have the staff of Vaughn Manor check your email.
A real blast from the past I loved the invaders tv show when I was a kid . But as you say somethings don’t age well , thanks for this bit of nostalgia Richard.
2001: A Space Odyssey is a good example. Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick worked on their projects at the same time, and thus, none of them is based on the others. The book and film stand side by side.
Alan Dean Foster is writing good film adaptations, like Alien and Star Wars. But I can recommend his other novels (not based on films) too, like Midworld and Nor Crystal Tears.
I'm a great fan of Foster. You named two good stories. I'm also a fan of his Pip and Flinx series. Incidentally, if you didn't know, in one of those novels Flinx visits Midworld. I find all his stories to be extremely entertaining.
I did not know, thank you for recommending it.
Although i did wath The Invaders but I always remember Roy Thinnes more from Journey to the Far Side of the Sun from 1969. A rather interesting film from the Gerry Anderson stable.
@@adrianmcmahon5731 Wow. Watched it a long time ago in the beginning of the VHS era. If I remember correctly there was another earth exactly opposite our orbit.
@@vintagesf That's the one. It's quite a dark story for the time. Good performance from Herbert Lom in it too and the Gerry Anderson effects are pretty timeless.
@@adrianmcmahon5731 I’m a big fan of season one of ‘Space 1999’.
@@vintagesf Me too. I loved watching Space 1999 Saturday mornings as a kid. Force of Life & Dragon's Domain from season 1 both gave me nightmares as a child. I rewatched both series a couple of years ago and season 1 still holds up really well with it's often supernatural overtones and the excellent Barry Morse. Such a shame season 2 was often quite goofy and got rid of the great opening theme for a discofied one.
I talked my HS buddies into seeing "Journey to The Far Side of The Sun", instead of The Good, The Bad, etc. for the umpteenth time. The moaning after the movie was monumental, and I still hear about it!
We saw the original cut. Some big differences in Thinnes' role with his wife.
I have the latest Blu Ray version, some of the scenes are back in.
Hey, Richard... Another enjoyable video! I was a college underclassman when this TV program was aired so I had very little time for watching anything at all. I loved the classic monster movies of the 1950's but the college me would have found this a bit lacking in almost every category. The one TV show that did give me a thrill was "The Prisoner" and I am sure you have seen the series and you know what it was such a sensation. Best to you from your USA neighbor to the south!
@@mikesnyder1788 Want to do a similar video with ‘The Prisoner’. Have to still obtain the novelization by one of my favourite authors Thomas Disch. A program worthy of a major SF author’s adaptation.
@@vintagesf Great! I will be anxious to see that one! That series exploded onto my little black and white TV back in the day!
Another completely new one to me! Both the TV show and the novel. Sounds a bit like shades of 'They Live'? Sorry to hear the writing wasn't up to snuff.
I think a strong influence on "They Live". But, so was The Soviet Union.
I think Martin and Laumer had the usual "Artistic Differences" cited in many failed collaborations.
Invaders is before my time. However, thanks to the channel Liminal Spaces, I did read Laumer's Knight (or Night, depending on the edition) of Delusions. I have a strong suspicion that it inspired Total Recall (without the mars stuff, of course). He struck me as a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy, a natural storyteller, not a prose stylist, entertaining and to the point. However, I think Knight of Delusions was unlike the rest of his work (in terms of subject matter), as if he were experimenting, stretching himself. I don't have any burning desire to read anything else by him, though I enjoyed Knight.
You may have come across an oddiity of 1970s publishing. I collected all of Laumer. Knight of Delusions was available as 2 different novels and authors. But, somehow both novels were published with the same title and credited to Laumer.
I had both. They are totally unrelated, and not written in any way similar.
The Laumer main character is named Florin. If Florin, you have the Laumer.
Over a long career, Laumer wrote some stuff considered "New Wave", as well. Besides Retief and Bolos, you may like the short "A Trip to the City" available online.
Also known as "It Could Be Anything."
@@joebrooks4448 Thanks for the kind recommendation. I'll have to check out "A Trip to the City." I did enjoy (k)night of Delusions.
Ironically, my intro to the Invaders was just the opposite. I read the book first, then saw a few TV episodes and read the comic tie-in. I actually thought the plot of Laumer's opener was better than the TV series. It was a good example of how a small number of invaders could leverage their superior science to mass produce weapons for when the rest of them showed up. Laumer was past his prime when he wrote the novel. His Retief series (Envoy to new Worlds) and early Sci-fi short stories are better written. After all, the guy won a Hugo, so he had to have something going for him. Your review was pretty accurate, except that in book 2, Laumer does acknowledge that the Invaders disappear in a puff of smoke at death. I have book 3, by a different author and if you didn't like Laumer's writing, you will loathe book three. It was so bad I didn't try to find book 4. So, as a kid of 12 or so, reading the Laumer novels plus the comics and Whitman books were the stories that fired my Invaders enjoyment. Since then, I have watched all the TV episodes and they're a bit creaky, but still fun stuff. Suggestion next? Maybe Murray Leinster's adaptation of Land of the Giants. I got it at the same time as Laumer's book and it had little resemblance to the show either. The Whitman adaptation was better. I don't think the studios gave them much info to go on, probably. Thanks for the video!
@@andynunez9153 ‘Land of the Giants’, ‘Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea’, ‘Wild, Wild West’ and ‘The Prisoner’ are all series I’d like to compare to their first novelization. I think you are right in saying that the TV productions may not have been too forthcoming in plot details. I’m sure some shows changed their plots while filming or even refilming.
@@vintagesf I had the Wild Wild West novelization, but bought it long after the series ended. It was OK, more straight Western than steampunk adventure. I also had the Lost in Space novelization by Dave Van Arnham IIRC. It was interesting, but again, it had a different vibe. I think the Whitman hardcovers all came out after the series were underway, because they were closer to the shows. I had Star Trek, Land of the Giants and the Invaders. They were just right for middle-school reading. I came from a very rural area and when I got to 8th grade and had access to Scholastic Book Services (fall of 1968), I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I had the Star Trek paperbacks and James Blish did tinker with the adaptations. I recall he change Scotty saying he have half a gallon of Scotch into a liter for the adaptation of "Hour of the Gun" or whatever it was, with the Earps.
I agree, the first 50 pages of his first Invaders novel is pretty good. He does not seem engaged after that, maybe disgreements with Martin or possibly a conflict with his "The Monitors" being produced as a movie in 1968?
Of course, I come from the time when descriptive prose with a lot of adjectives was considered essential to visualize the story. Works for me, I can see what van Vogt, Bradbury, Laumer, etc. are descibing. Or at least my interpretation.
I see Bradbury's storm in "The Long Rain", I can see the aliens and combat Laumer presents in various Retief, Bolo other stories, and van Vogt's Earth Starship breakup in "Mission to The Stars" is amazing.
I am pretty sure Laumer had the stroke in late 1971? His later writing was never close to his pre stroke work. From what I understand, he became sort of a recluse. He did live on a fresh water island in Fla. after the stroke. With a large collection of 1960s Mercury Cougars.
@@andynunez9153 Well, I was glued to Star Trek OS. Charter fan club member.
I glad you liked them, I felt James Blish, a great SF writer, did a minimal job with his Star Trek original series adaptations. Pretty bland. I did not keep any of them, I gave the whole set I had to a younger fan in the late 1970s.
This task must be harder than it appears to be?
As an 8yo and already a scifi fan, I was fascinated with this show. Unfortunately as an 8yo I also had a short attention span and missed enough episodes to eventually lose interest. It's not like this was Batman or Lost In Space. 😊
I was 12/13 when the show was on. I had read "Starship Troopers", "Nineteen Eighty - Four", etc. without really comprending them until a few years later, but I had some clue. The 2nd season is lot different from the first. The Aliens hardly use their ray guns, using regular firearms. Not so much alien tech, it became a bit more like a detective series. QM did produce "The FBI", too.
Splinter of the Mind's Eye, by Alan Dean Foster. Lucas commissioned the book, in case Star Wars flopped as the "Sequel" to Star Wars. Leia isn't Luke's sister, nor Darth Vader his father. Good book, I enjoyed it immensely when I found it, soon after watching Star Wars.❤
@@User_Un_Friendly I remember reading it when it first came out. It felt like an alternate universe after the second film came out.
My last experience with a novelisation was about three years ago with a novelisation of the first series of the ITV sitcom Shelley, of which I’d become a solid watcher.
It was written by the scriptwriters themselves (this was common for British sitcom tie-in media back in the ‘70s), but all they did was prosify those six episodes and do nothing else with it.
They had this fascinating character in James Shelley-a sarcastic, miserable, unbelievably lazy bastard with a PhD and extreme ergophobia-and they did nothing to expand upon him. They gave him a voice in a first person narrative, but not much to say.
One interesting thing - the Invaders' aliens were emotionless and most of them (except some really smart ones and of course some mutants) were "evil" in their relentless plans to take over the earth. ... Juxtaposed with Star Trek's Vulcans, who were also emotionless, but worthy, "constructive" allies. Thus: two opposing television script views of emotionless aliens.
@@stephenbastasch7893 That is interesting. Void of emotion but not intent. What motivates an emotionless intent?
@@vintagesf Yes. You phrased that perfectly. Supposedly "the urge for survival" motivates most, if not all, life... but I cannot picture Vulcans just pushing aside settled inhabitants of planets, even to save Vulcan...
Yeah, the Laumer book was just literary click bait and was unrecognizable as the REAL TV screenplay "Invaders". Succeeding novelizations were also simply abysmal. Too bad for the innocent people who thought they were buying original, faithful "Invaders" material...
I’ve been long fascinated how they just straight-up copied George Adamski’s alleged photos of flying saucers in that show. (Adamski himself, like Billy Meier after him, was a pathological bullshitter who built his fakes out of hubcaps and lightbulbs.)
@@niriop I agree. It is the classic UFO look.
the invaders was so boring. laumer was best known for building model airpoanes. 🎉