WATCH THE "DARK SKIES"!

They're here! The lives of John Loengard (Eric Close) and Kim Sayers (Megan Ward) will never be the same again in the short-lived sci-fi series DARK SKIES. All images: NBC/SONY.

“History is a lie!”

An historical spin on THE X-FILES and THE INVADERS, with more than a hint of sci-fi B-movie-like enthusiasm added to the mix, DARK SKIES, made by SONY/COLUMBIA, arrived on US (NBC) and UK (CHANNEL 4) TV screens in a blaze of publicity in 1996, with the studio bosses eager to cash in on the blended popularity of UFOs, science fiction and conspiracy thrillers then being investigated by the likes of FBI Agents Mulder and Scully, which were entertaining audiences in large and commercially successful numbers worldwide.

The storyline/series format for DARK SKIES being devised by its creators certainly showed promise, combined with an interesting desire to tell a unique kind of story that looked set to go in an intriguing new direction away from its X-FILES competition. Examining the funding into the PROJECT BLUE BOOK UFO team, young fresh faced idealist John Loengard (played by Eric Close, soon to be a star in the mini-series TAKEN and the long running thriller/drama series WITHOUT A TRACE), working for a Congressional investigator in 1962 America, soon finds himself caught in the secret war between the countries’ top secret Black Ops unit, MAJESTIC-12, led by the blunt edged Frank Bach, and its war of nerves battle against an invading alien force known as The Hive, who travel from world to world and enslave species with their parasitic creatures. And now Earth is next in their sights, with their presence amongst Humanity first being detected with the infamous Roswell crash of 1947, and a catastrophic meeting between the two sides that will eventually lead up to the death of the Americana dream with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Kim's nightmarish first encounter with The Hive aliens in the pilot episode.

Aiding MAJESTIC, Loengard and his girlfriend, Kim Sayers (a nice performance from Megan Ward), soon find themselves on the run after the latter is attacked and infected with an alien control parasite. With no assistance from the government-either infiltrated by human and alien enemies- and further stalled due to the enormous power wielded by MAJESTIC- the duo travel across America in their attempts to reveal the truth about the alien invasion to the general world public…

Main titles and music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWHbwgOsEls

Produced with clear enthusiasm by James D. Parriott, alongside Creators Bryce Zabel and Brent V. Friedman, cue a series full of famous historical events from 1962 to 1967 mixed in with alien interference and MAJESTIC 12 intervention, with the writers initiating a planned five year series arc that would take the alien infiltration up to the present day, alongside the presence of off-screen actor Gregory Harrison (who would continue providing the voice of an older Loengard through the passage of time beyond the pilot and into the regular episodes), of which the trio would write or conceive a lot of the episodes, alongside talents like Melissa Rosenberg and future LOST writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach.

Amongst the iconic celebrities unwittingly involved in the alien invasion are THE BEATLES, in the episode DARK DAYS NIGHT.

It was clear that the chance for the series to use the best of the past would prove stronger and more irresistible for the producers than ever, as they incorporated classic pop music, the latest in continually evolving period fashions, plus the top celebrities of their day (including Ed Sullivan, J. Edgar Hoover, Marilyn Monroe, The Beatles, Howard Hughes, Jim Morrison of THE DOORS, Martin Luther King, Colin Powell, and even Carl Sagan, who gets to work as an advisor for MAJESTIC in the latter half of the run!), all being incorporated around the invasion storylines, intermixed with real life footage of historical note (like the Watts riots), or recreations.

Frank Bach (J.T. Walsh), Kim Sayers and John Loengard pose for the cameras in this early publicity shot for the series.

Often fighting against our noble and heroic young leads as the series shades of grey antagonist would be a formidable film/TV actor, and one of the series greatest pluses as MAJESTIC 12’s do or die leader Frank Bach, the late, great character actor J.T. Walsh), with fine MAJESTIC henchmen/thug support from Tim Kelleher (in a role which has so far been his best) as agent Jim Steele, and Conor O’Farrell as Phil Albano, more recently known to TV viewers as the man who cold-heartedly killed Warwick Brown in CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION, all of whom would add much to a mix of weird and wonderful plots revolving around traitors, alien landings, grey aliens (who are certainly not like any of the ones seen in Spielberg’s CLOSE ENCOUNTERS or E.T.. They’re not friendly, don’t want to do strange hand gestures, play music or phone home!), gross alien body take-overs, and lots of action, all spun around the aforementioned real-life historical events.

Despite a few pretty poor cgi effects, alongside some stop-motion that would make the legendary Ray Harryhausen shiver (continuing episodes do see an improvement in that area, though, provided by THE X-FILES effects suppliers: AREA 51), the series pilot would be a solid affair, directed with fun flair and occasional creepy menace by Tobe Hooper (THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and POLTERGEIST), with the regular episodes to follow improving as they went along. Eventually, however, a sense of repetition began to creep in, with US viewing audiences starting to get bored. There would also be some occasionally silly and contrived moments from time to time in early episodes, but as the series developed the format soon became tempered with certain sequences when you’d think, “wow, this is really starting to go somewhere now”, especially with regards to its own internal continuing story and character arcs.

Jeri Ryan joins the show at its crucial mid-point as new character, Russian agent Juliet Stuart.

To counter-act their audience decline worries, the producers would beef the show up further by initiating a series of bold moves, changing its format for the better, and its characters, including a glamorous but deadly new addition to the cast: a pre VOYAGER Jeri Ryan (credited as Jeri Lynn Ryan) as Juliet Stewart, a Russian agent on loan to MAJESTIC, who joins John and Kim in their investigations. She may not be wearing the ribbed alien Borg corset but Ryan certainly looks as impressive as ever!

Intro clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX-nKXs6ijQ

Juliet’s individual presence and portrayal of an agent with a score to settle against The Hive would prove a plus to the series as a whole, and its expanding storytelling, though it would also act as a double edge sword in that it would occasionally diminish some of the other series leads valuable screen time (especially J. T. Walsh and Megan Ward). Additionally, a series of events pushes Kim (who’s becomes a bit more harder edged herself, and gets a sexy new wardrobe as the series enters the late sixties) away from John, now a more firmly centered heroic action lead, more desperate than ever, alongside new partner Juliet, to end the threat of The Hive species once and for all..

Ultimately, despite these positive changes, backed up with quality direction from the likes of TV veterans like Winrich Kolbe and Lou Antonio, plus fine music from Michael Hoenig, DARK SKIES was never going to escape the shadows of the more superior, and out of the gate first THE X-FILES, or, trying hard as it might, its similarities. In the end, viewer loyalty to Chris Carter’s ground breaking show, rather than DARK SKIES, was never in doubt, and, left out on its own to survive in a lousy Saturday mid-evening slot in the States, the show came to an abrupt end in May 1997 after 18 episodes, of which its planned story arc, had it all not been cut short, would have concluded its first year with a “lost” Apollo mission to the Moon, and then, in subsequent seasons, taking viewers right up to the present day with the story, and the turn of the Millennium, with the arrival of the aliens mysterious Tenth Planet. Sadly, all these intriguing plots were never to be completed, and DARK SKIES ended within its time-frame of 1967...

A good rather than great series, DARK SKIES proved to be one lonely but enjoyable season, though it’s an intriguing failure well worth sampling on DVD.

Notable episodes after the pilot would include:

Bach shows Loengard the real threat to Earth in DARK SKIES pilot episode.

MOVING TARGETS (Episode One)

Investigating the Kennedy assassination in Dallas, John and Kim unravel the truth behind not only the Presidents death but also the Roswell incident of 1947, and the declaration of war by the human race against The Hive.

MERCURY RISING (Episode Two)

Retaining her unusual link to the alien Hive, Kim takes John to Florida after she has visions from her previous abduction in which she recalls a fellow kidnapee -a NASA astronaut- who, if has been converted to the enemy cause, may disrupt a new top secret black ops mission to investigate the moons surface.

DREAMLAND (Episode Four)

Kim and John travel to the wild world of Las Vegas to discover why the aliens are using their abilities to win big at the gambling tables, of which their presence has already aroused the interests of a certain enigmatic named Howard Hughes.

Trouble in Alaska for John, Kim and their American Indian friends in ANCIENT FUTURE.

ANCIENT FUTURE (Episode Six)

A 4,000 year old American Indian legend and prophecy sends John and Kim to Alaska where they find an intact Grey alien spacecraft, possibly from a time before the race was infected by the Hive parasites. MAJESTIC 12 want to remove the craft from its tomb but John has seen the future and the dangers of what will happen if they do…Can Frank Back, determined to have working alien tech, be persuaded not to take it?

WE SHALL OVERCOME (Episode Eight)

Being black or white skinned makes no difference to The Hive as their beachhead invasion into the heart of the Mississippi continues apace, as John and Kim travel there to investigate the disappearance of three civil right workers.

THE ENEMY WITHIN (Episode Ten)

As Steel re-enters MAJESTIC 12’s headquarters to locate important documents relating to the upcoming Warren Commission report into the Kennedy assassination, The Hive target Loengard’s older brother, Ray.

THE WARREN OMISSION (Episode Eleven).

With ratings dropping, this episode at the series half way point was created especially to re-acquaint viewers with the story so far and introduce newcomers with a revised change to the series format, which, hoping to get more males watching, would see in the introduction of a new and deadly female MAJESTIC agent, Juliet (played by Seven of Nine-to-be Jeri Lynn Ryan). With a strong presence backed up with a great figure, pouty red lips and crystal clear eyes, Ryan did indeed prove to be a great asset to DARK SKIES, and her opening intro proves spectacular (breaking into the Loengard’s safe house and quickly beating everybody into the middle of next Thursday!). Also adding much to the overall episode is the conclusion of the series main plotline involving Robert Kennedy, as he and his security forces unsuccessfully break-in to the MAJESTIC building and soon has to back down on his prosecution of Frank Back due to some damning blackmail footage…

War is hell for both Humans and Aliens during the Vietnam conflict in WHITE RABBIT.

WHITE RABBIT (Episode Twelve)

Against Juliet’s specific wishes to head the team, Loengard is forcibly recruited into the army and sent with Back to the hell hole that is 1960’s North Vietnam so as to recover a crashed alien craft. But they haven’t counted on the heavy presence of the Human enemy forces there, whom certainly aren’t afraid to put the odd alien head or two on a warning pike!

SHADES OF GRAY (Episode Thirteen)

In an uneasy alliance with MAJESTIC, John and Kim plans to capture an alien Grey soon lead to a shocking discovery of the Hives plans for the children of the human race, and Kim gets a surprising piece of news…

STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT (Episode Seventeen)

When AURA-Z, the Russian equivalent of MAJESTIC, loses contact, under terrifying circumstances, with its special facility in Chernobyl, a small task force, including Loengard, Juliet Stewart and Lt. Colin Powell, is sent to investigate, resulting in an already dangerous mission becoming even more personally complex for Juliet when her old mentor is discovered amongst the missing personnel.

Loengard confronts his ultimate destiny in the series finale BLOODLINES.

BLOODLINES (Episode Eighteen. Series finale)

MAJESTIC's daring new plan - Project: Intruder - to infiltrate the Hive mothership, which is in secret orbit above Earth - has its singular volunteer: Loengard, whose actions aboard it bring the season to an effective close, full of shocks and surprises, but sadly not proving totally satisfying as an overall series finale.

With thanks to SammyStyle for his help in the formation of this article. 

DARK SKIES: The Complete Series is available on DVD in the UK from MEDIUMRARE, though the US release, from SHOUT! FACTORY, has special features (including behind the scenes material and a feature on the never made Season Two) that its UK counterpart doesn’t have.