The Invisible Man

Never missed a show , I was 9 years old and I recall thanks to reruns 😊

"The Invisible Man" from "Universal" studios, could have been a highly successful series. It showed a good deal of potential, judging by the feature length pilot episode and about another 5 episodes from the regular series. However, "The Invisible Man" seemed to lose its way and by the last episode, inspiration seemed to have come to a stand still. It is a pity as David McCallum was very well cast in the leading role, he gave his character depth and learning. Jackie Cooper was better as the Government character in the pilot episode than his replacement. I like the Government angle to the series as it gave the proceedings a bit of tension. The special effects for their time were very good and I could believe a person could be rendered invisible. I recall as a young boy during a rare British television broadcast, staring in wonder as David McCallum took off his clothing and latex which covered his whole body. At the time, he and his leading lady were held hostage in this van and the villains were certainly taken by surprise! That memory has remained ever since. I am glad I bought all of the episodes but so much more could have been done. In addition, the region 2 DVD set has now been deleted and is being sold for considerable sums of money. If you are lucky, buy this series whilst you can!

When Dr. Daniel Westin is turned invisible from an experiment, he must now don a mask and gloves when he walks among people. Played by David MacCallum with longer hair that is blonde, he looks nothing like his character on the Man From Uncle. I remembered this show from its brief original run, and caught a half dozen episodes off Sci Fi Network a few years back and they are a marvel to behold. Melinda O. Fee as his cooperative scientist wife, who isn't a Charlies Angel in behaviour but is most definitely in looks, plays well off watching her husband disappear as he disrobes. Craig Stevens statue presence rounds it out nicely. But the show worked marvelously, relying on the moving camera either letting you know where Daniel was or giving his eye view as he approached a person or area. The show offered no camp, no humour, and no sexual bickering. One fantastic episode had Daniel offer his mask as an escape for a person he had to smuggle out of the enemy headquarters and he simply walks out beside him invisible. With the possible exception of the old Topper movie, there hasn't been anything like this show before or since.

This didn't last long enough if you ask me. This TV show was one of my favorite little shows back when I was 14-15 years old. I was in hella love with David McCallum, particularly after seeing him in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and that Outer Limits episode where he grows a giant head from attaining so much intelligence. (You know I was glad when he returned to normal!) It seems the show was suffering from special effects and script quality issues which may have bothered adults of the time, but for kids and young teens, this show was fantastic! Maybe they geared it to the wrong demographic.

Whatever the case, I'm happy I was able to experience and enjoy it back then. Lots of TV shows (The Immortal, The Man From Atlantis, The Magician, to name a few) that were great for kids and teens got cancelled too soon and that was really too bad. I remember loving the fact that he was running around unclothed and doing good deeds. Some station should reshow those fourteen episodes. I'd watch them and remember the good old days. We didn't know how good we had it back then.

OH boy does this take me back!!! I was ten years old when this was shown in England. I was very keen on science fiction at the time. So re-runs of TIME TUNNEL, THE TOMORROW PEOPLE and THE INVISIBLE MAN were truly compulsive viewing! Of course, everything about it screams the 1970's. From the fashions to the scientific wishful thinking of the age. But the cast do a pretty good job with the story lines despite the lack of depth. The sets and scenes are pretty good as is the accompanying music. Not something you can say of many other television series of the time. The only question for me was why did they not make more of them? For those interested. Recently found it on Amazon. Four discs from NBC Universal. Unfortunately, only available in the U.S disc format.