Did you know?

Yes, I was aware, and have been for a couple of years. It seems that only recently has fans become aware of this as well, but still it seems largely obscure.

Only recently have I gotten a hold of a copy of the pilot (and it's not really a hard find last I checked). The thing is a mixed bag. First, the presentation never establishes how the film relates to the proposed series. It reuses some generic footage (with the exception of a shot of Col. Heffner getting zapped), but that's it. It seems to be set in some kind of alternate near-utopian future (which is only stated, never seen) when the aliens show up.

I certainly like some of the ideas, like humanity taking the fight to the invaders, and learning that they are in fact only underlings to a much superior race, which initates a search to find some rhymes and reasons. But the negative is that it seems that if the series were greenlit, we would have had at large, a clone of Star Trek, a franchise I've never really taken attention to (though I enjoy the nostalgia of The Next Generation). Additionally, there is the connection to the novel - a fair lack there of. The main thing that irked me about Pal's film was how loose the original story was adapted; the pilot itself has an even thinner connection, with a only few far and between visual references to the film. Say what you will about the first season, but there was definately an all-encompasing reference to the original story. Though, ironically, the pilot gives credit to H.G. Wells while the actual series did not.

Perhaps the most interesting thing I found, especially compared to the actual series, was how the aliens, looking much like those from the 1953, are never tied to Mars, as they are tracked down to Alpha Centauri.

I wonder if Strangis or anyone else connect to the actual series were aware of this failed attempt.

----
Formless, faithless, and free.