GUEST SPOT: BRIAN-EL ON "INVASION"

Brian-El wrote to me, and to the Iddiot's Delight Digest, about Wednesday night's upcoming final episode of 'Invasion':

It's official: ABC has canceled 'Invasion'. There was some talk of the new CW Network picking it up, but apparently it's too expensive for them.

I haven't been so pissed-off about a show being canceled since probably 'Lou Grant'--and that had been on the air for several seasons and was arguably headed downhill.

'Invasion' had one season, a season which spent its time slowly building up the suspense and horror and developing its characters masterfully. Last week's episode literally gave me chills--and I can't recall any TV show doing that since I was a kid watching 'Twilight Zone'.

'Invasion' gets my vote for best show of the 2005-6 TV season, a season which included terrific shows like 'Lost', 'Arrested Development', 'Scrubs', '24', and 'Boston Legal'. It was, I think, better than any of the similar shows which preceded it, like "V" and even, yes, 'The X-Files' (although admittedly 'The X-Files' had some superb individual episodes).

And I thought Shaun Cassidy would never amount to anything...

I didn't agree. I gave it a few episodes, but time is short in Toobworld, even without commercial breaks, and I couldn't waste any more of mine to the show. Besides, after seeing any episode of 'Lost', I was always too jazzed to watch anything else. Even last year, I just wasn't in the mood to watch 'The West Wing' following 'Lost'. And I loved 'The West Wing'.

So I wrote to him and hoped that he would enjoy it, and that it would have the resolution he was seeking.

After seeing the final episode, Brian-El wrote back:

It had *some* resolution, but certainly not enough. Really there would have been no way to do it right given the story arc. There was a"cliffhanger", but it was low-key--I think (based on an article I read)that it was the one thing Cassidy was able to change in time--that is, making it a "muted" clffhanger instead of a more agonizing one, as you say.

Apparently ABC had given them the impression that the show would be renewed, and that didn't change until the final episodes were beingwrapped.

Actually, I'm glad I knew while watching it that it would be the end--that way, I could sit there and think up possible resolutions of my own. BTW,did I mention that I'm now an alien-human hybrid? So are you.

And I would still recommend watching 'Invasion' on DVD if it ever comes out.

Silly human hybrid. He has no clue who - what! - my people are......

BCnU!
Tele-Toby