| The Invisible Man | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Created by | Harve Bennett |
| Starring | David McCallum Melinda O. Fee Craig Stevens |
| Theme music composer | Henry Mancini |
| Composer(s) | Pete Rugolo |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Harve Bennett |
| Producer(s) | Steven Bochco Leslie Stevens |
| Running time | 60 mins. |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original run | September 8, 1975 – January 26, 1976 |
The Invisible Man, the second television series with this title, debuted in 1975 on NBC and starred David McCallum as scientist Daniel Westin, and Melinda Fee as his wife, Dr. Kate Westin. The series was created by legendary producer Harve Bennett.
Contents |
MACHINE MALFUNCTION... WESTIN PERMANENTLY
INVISIBLE... KLAE CORPORATION WILL FINANCE
RECOVERY EFFORT... WESTIN WILL RENDER
SERVICES AS SECRET AGENT.
HIS CODE NAME: KLAE RESOURCE.
Inspired by the original novel by H.G. Wells, the pilot film depicts Westin working for a company called Klae Corporation, which is doing experiments in molecular disintegration. He discovers the side effect of his work is the ability to turn objects invisible and tries to find medical applications for his invention. He discovers that objects that are made invisible reappear after a few hours, and on living test animals the collars they wear re-appear before the living cells themselves. Obsessed by his invention, Daniel decides to become invisible himself, in part to prove that a human can survive the process, and also to test a serum he has developed to reverse the invisibility.
He reveals the process to his boss (Jackie Cooper), who is initially unimpressed by what he sees as millions spent on a nuclear disintegrator, but he becomes more interested when he realises that the pen Daniel disintegrated is actually still there ("Do you know what you've got here?" "An invisible pen..." "Cute. No, invisible armies..."). He wants to back the project for military purposes, and in the course of the argument it is revealed that the Pentagon has provided the funding for Daniel's research; in effect the military already own the process. Daniel tries to destroy his invention by sneaking into the lab after hours and deleting his research. In order to make his escape he becomes invisible for a second time, before triggering an overload and destroying the apparatus. But it appears that after all the process is unstable, and he becomes only briefly visible before turning permenantly invisible; he can't return to his visible state anymore, and the serum is ineffective. He goes to his friend Dr. Nick Maggio (Henry Darrow) a skilled plastic surgeon, who creates a disguise for him, a face mask and a pair of gloves using a special material called Dermaplex, that has the same properties as human skin. This enables Daniel to appear in public (and the actor to appear on-screen). The Dermaplex side effect is that Daniel has to remove the mask from time to time because, as Dr. Maggio states, "The beard will be your enemy, and the itch drive you crazy."
By the conclusion of the pilot, the process' lack of stability renders it effectively useless for commercial or military applications, and the Klae Corporation is persuaded to re-employ him in his research capacity despite his condition, and thus the series begins from this point. Daniel seeks to perfect his work and at the same time find a cure.
There were subtle differences between the pilot and the series. The pilot depicts Westin as a tragic figure, the "victim" of the invisibility process; despite his continued efforts, he essentially remains invisible all the time and must use technology to "fake" being visible. (This is truer to the Wells novel, but makes this production stand out against all other adapted series wherein the hero can become visible at will or after a pre-determined time). The series was lighter and more humorous, featuring invisibility-related gags and scenarios (in the case of the latter, many of these were depicted in the opening titles – such a telephone receiver rising unsupported off its hook, or a Jeep driving itself) and ignoring the tragic side of Westin's predicament. Indeed the character's invisibility was utilised as the Klae Resource of the show's introduction; an invisible man can go places and do things that the visible cannot accomplish.
| # | Title | Directed by | Written by | Guest stars | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot | "The Invisible Man" | Robert Michael Lewis | Harve Bennett Steven Bochco |
Jackie Cooper, Henry Darrow, Milt Kogan | May 6, 1975 |
| 1 | "The Klae Resource" | Robert Michael Lewis | Steven Bochco | Conrad Janis, James Karen | September 8, 1975 |
| 2 | "The Fine Art Of Diplomacy" | Sigmund Neufeld Jr. | James D. Parriott | Ross Martin, Paul Stewart | September 15, 1975 |
| 3 | "Man of Influence" | Alan J. Levi | Rick Blaine Seeleg Lester |
Loni Anderson, John Vernon | September 22, 1975 |
| 4 | "Eyes Only" | Alan J. Levi | Leslie Stevens | Thayer David | September 29, 1975 |
| 5 | "Barnard Wants Out" | Alan J. Levi | James D. Parriott | Nehemiah Persoff | October 6, 1975 |
| 6 | "Sight Unseen" | Sigmund Neufeld Jr. | Kandy Rehak Brian Rehak |
Al Ruscio | October 20, 1975 |
| 7 | "Go Directly to Jail" | Sigmund Neufeld Jr. | Steven Bochco | James McEachin | November 3, 1975 |
| 8 | "Stop When Red Lights Flash" | Gene Nelson | Seeleg Lester | Scott Brady | November 24, 1975 |
| 9 | "Pin Money" | Alan J. Levi | James D. Parriott | Helen Kleeb | December 1, 1975 |
| 10 | "The Klae Dynasty" | Alan J. Levi | Philip DeGuere | Peter Donat | December 8, 1975 |
| 11 | "Power Play" | Alan J. Levi | Leslie Stevens | Monte Markham | January 19, 1976 |
| 12 | "An Attempt to Save Face" | Don Henderson | James D. Parriott Leslie Stevens |
Charles Aidman | January 26, 1976 |
On February 21, 2012, Visual Entertainment will release The Invisible Man- The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 and on Blu-Ray in Region A for the very first time.[1] In the US, the release will be distributed by Millennium Entertainment.