The Invisible Man

I am rarely won over so quickly as I was with I-Man. It is not only intelligent but also very entertaining. Consider Hobbes & Darien. When first we meet their characters, we think "These guys are going to kill each other!" by the end of the third episode you think, "I wish I had a friendship like those guys have."

The actors work so well off of each other, you can really believe that what you're seeing is real.

With the entertaining, you also get the heart-warming. Darien's struggle with the loss of his brother, for example. Check out the episodes "Johnny Apocalypse," and "Ralph," for some of the more touching stories.

Besides the excellent writing, stellar cast (Brandy Ledford not included, though you get to like her character but never to love her as you do Hobbes or Darien), great chemistry and a generally great show, you also have the more aesthetic pleasures. You have the lovely Misses Kenney and Ledford, and the gorgeous Misters Ventresca & Ben-Victor (If you like bald men, Ben-Victor is your man!). Plus the more humorously aesthetic "Eberts" and "Borden (a.k.a. "The Fat Man")."

Definitely check this show out. It's running on syndication and every Friday at 5/4c on Sci-Fi.

~J.

The Invisible Man. When you see the title, you would never expect it to be a great show. But it is. I have never fallen in love with a tv show like I've fallen in love with I-Man.

The core of it is of course the purest science fiction. But what makes it so great is the reality and honesty of the characters. They're not perfect, in fact, they're far from it. Darien Fawkes, the Invisible Man himself (Vincent Ventresca), is an ex-con, a thief. His partner, Bobby Hobbes (Paul Ben-Victor), is an ex-FBI agent who suffers from paranoia. And the list goes on, every character beautifully flawed in their own unique way.

And the cast has such excellent chemistry. From the hilarious boss-and-yes-man relationship between The Official (Eddie Jones) and Eberts (Mike McCafferty), to the budding romantic triangle between Darien, Hobbes, and The Keeper (Shannon Kenny), to the excessive banter and joking between the two main characters, a great part of which is ad-libbed. Of course the writers have been an important part of the show as well, with their great, innovative, and witty stories and dialogue. And special kudos goes to Craig Silverstein, who has written 11 episodes, every single one a gem. If you're only ever going to watch one episode, be sure to make it one of Craig's.

It's a story about invisiblity, but like you've never seen before. A major part of the story is the fact that the substance that makes Darien invisible also acts as a cerebral disinhibitor, effectively driving him insane. This puts a severe price on the usage of invisibility, not to mention the fact that it is a perfect way to control him, since the only thing that stops him from going insane is a special counteragent, which only the agency Darien works for possesses. So The Official holds his sanity hostage, blackmailing him into performing missions for the agency only known as The Agency.

Another thing that is unusual is the hero-sidekick relationship between Darien and Hobbes. You'd think that Darien as the invisible man is always the hero and Hobbes is only second best. But that's not true. In fact, it is usually Hobbes, as the more experienced agent, who takes the lead and tells Darien what to do. And Darien is often the one who gets himself injured or captured. Of course, the fact that many people are interested in getting their hands on the invisibility gland does have something to do with that.

All in all, this show is very, very good. Unfortunately, it's also very cancelled. The unofficial fanclub, the Imaniacs, of which I am a member, have been campaigning for its return from the moment they heard this news. Their latest effort is Operation: Visible Ink, a full-scale media campaign to attract as much attention as possible to the wonderful little show that could, but never got a chance.

This is a show that never should have been cancelled.

~Muse

For some anonymous reason, the sci- fi channel decided to stop airing new episodes of their hit series "the invisible man", but that's not the point of this review. Turning invisible had always been a bit of a childish fantasy of mine and I was excited to see how they would work out the show. It turned it to be a superb job. The cast, especially Darian is great doing exceptional dark and sarcastic humor. Also, the narration by the main character sums up things quite well. The writers have out- done themselves by not creating a show simply about the ability but other things as well such as government conspiracy as well as sometimes romantic sub- plots. The show feels real, and instead of resorting to a cheap unbelievable gimmick for the protagonist to survive, it still stays true to realism. One other great thing is the special effects, once Darian turns invisible he has black and white vision but it's extremely cool to see things through his eyes. In some ways, it looks like the alien's vision from the 1998 movie "Pitch Black". Some minor flaws include too boring episodes or episodes that simply repeat, but everything else is exceptional. 9.5/10

The Invisible man is a show everybody s gotta love! It reminds me of the old school 80's series(a-team,airwolf,knightrider) The special effects are small but very effective!! but what is most important is the fun they had shooting this series. It really shows! the entire cast fit perfect in there roles and it looks like they can do whatever they want!! especially Paul Ben Victor and Vincent Ventresca. Ventresca really shines in this one! for me its unbelievable that an actor with so much sarcasm is his acting style Doesn't get a shot in a big movie (mr Tarantino this was the show you should have directed! instead of that major boring grave danger(c.s.i)) Get this show if you can. well worth it!!!

The Invisible Man is a demonstration of a great show built on a classic foundation. Wonderful characters, humor, plot, atmosphere, the works. It and the Sci-Fi Channel's other top series, Farscape, are great examples of how SF is at it's core about telling good stories, some old some new, with the twists of imagination only sci-fi can bring.