Like other shows in the science fiction/fantasy genre, including Forever Knight, Conan, Hercules, Xena, and Highlander; the story took the basic premise and added new layers while staying very close to a formula-driven mechanism. Starring Jared Martin as Dr. Harrison Blackwood (genius leader of the group), Lynda Mason Green as Dr. Suzanne McCullough (resident biologist), Philip Akin as Norton Drake (the computer expert), and Richard Chaves as military attaché Lt. Col. Paul Ironhorse, the initial story dealt with terrorists who broke into a government warehouse containing nuclear waste. Unknown to them, the barrels also contained alien bodies from the 1953 attack (the series incorporated the movie as the basis for the show). After some stray rounds opened a few of the barrels, all heck broke loose as the terrorists were taken over (one by one) and became host bodies for the aliens.

The series then had the initially skeptical US military, including Ironhorse, treating the matter as if the beings were terrorists, not wanting to believe the aliens were back. Each episode had the aliens trying to deal with their current condition; deteriorating bodies affected by the radiation that keeps the deadly bacteria from killing them, and trying to restore their ability to complete their mission of taking over Earth as a colony for their dying planet 40 light years away. Somehow, almost everyone has forgotten about the 1953 attack (which was poorly explained a couple of times in the season) except Dr. Blackwood (whose mentor was the leading authority on the aliens) and as the series progressed, the rest of his crew caught on.

The series' producers decided to have the team set up in a remote villa kept by the government for secret projects, likely a move to make production easier. The aliens were ruled by a trio of Advocates and it was interesting to see them limited to whatever technology they could scrounge rather than magically develop their super science from scratch as other series routinely do. That the formula kept going back to the well of "find some of the old warships kept in storage" was weak and the way they were often defeated (not always though) by the handful of protagonists kept the series from achieving the potential the material had but it was a cute show. Here's the shows in order of their airdate for those who care:

1) Resurrection (parts 1 & 2): (10/3/1988)
2) The Walls of Jericho: (10/10/1988)
3) Thy Kingdom Come: (10/17/1988)
4) A Multitude of Idols: (10/24/1988)
5) Eye For An Eye: (10/31/1988)
6) The Second Seal: (11/7/1988)
7) Goliath Is My Name: (11/14/1988)
8) To Heal The Leper: (11/21/1988)
9) The Good Samaritan: (12/26/1988)
10) Epiphany: (1/2/1989)
11) Among The Philistines: (1/9/1989)
12) Choirs of Angels: (1/16/1989)
13) Dust To Dust: (1/23/1989)
14) He Feedeth Among The Lilies: (1/30/1989)
15) The Prodigal Son: (2/6/1989)
16) The Meek Shall Inherit The Earth: (2/13/1989)
17) Unto Us A Child Is Born: (2/20/1989)
18) The Last Supper: (3/6/1989)
19) Vengeance Is Mine: (4/17/1989)
20) My Soul To Keep: (4/24/1989)
21) So Shall Ye Reap: (5/1/1989)
22) The Raising of Lazarus: (5/8/1989)
23) The Angel of Death: (5/15/1989)

The major criticisms of the show's two seasons were how lame the aliens were, how predictable the episodes were, and how completely the second season deviated from the first, but as the kind of cheesy fun so many people like, it was worth a rating of Rent It. It's hard to believe that the show is 17 years old (I admit to watching it with a crazy roommate at the time back in school; he loved it for some reason but again, he was crazy) but like other shows that never truly found a niche, it laid the groundwork for so many other shows to join in on the syndicated market that was developing at the time. In terms of writing and characterization of the lead actors, the show was about as limited as the modern movie, but it was never made as high art so enjoy it for what it was, not what it should have been.

Picture: War of the Worlds: Season One was presented in the same 1.33:1 ratio full frame color as originally released. The show was always low budget and due to the age of the episodes, I wasn't expecting it to look all that great. In that sense, I wasn't disappointed since the show never looked very good to begin with. The down side was that the episodes on DVD looked like they were compressed too heavily to fit four of the ~45 minute episodes on each of the six discs (the first disc had the two part series opener). I noticed the first two discs had the worst looking transfer, with some major pixelation to be seen, especially in the darker scenes. The fleshtones were okay and the other visual aspects were about average for a show that old in the syndication market but don't get the boxed set thinking any restoration was going to happen.

Sound: The audio was presented in 2.0 Dolby Digital stereo (in English) as it originally aired. There was little separation of the channels, so little that I didn't hear anything noticeable even during the fighting scenes (which, of course, took place every episode). The dynamic range was also limited as the cast sounded somewhat hollow. I saw most of the episodes when they aired and didn't notice any changes to the music but shows like this weren't known for having the budget to initially incorporate anything worth mentioning either.

Extras: The only extras included in the set were some trailers for other shows by Paramount Pictures. The cardboard case held three thinpak plastic cases with a brief description of each episode and air date but that was it.

Final Thoughts: War of the Worlds: Season One was the kind of "been there, done that" type of science fiction fodder that littered the weekend television market for decades and was never a serious attempt to more fully explore the concepts of H.G. Wells that it could have been. As such, it failed to satisfy the deeper issues of the material that have been examined in depth by scholars for over a hundred years. The Cold War aspects of the 1953 movie seemed a bit out of time too as the political situation in the country saw a lot of changes with the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Yet on some LCD (lowest common denominator) level, it was just as good, and just as bad, as any number of shows that followed in the ensuing years so give it a look if you'd like to see a generic action drama based on some pretty heady stuff. I just wish the technical aspects could've been better but they were nothing special to start with so I can't fault Paramount for being unable (even if they would've been willing) to clean this one up much.