Dark Skies

Last updated
Dark Skies
Genre Science fiction
Created byBrent V. Friedman
Bryce Zabel
Starring Eric Close
Megan Ward
J. T. Walsh
Tim Kelleher
Conor O'Farrell
Charley Lang
Jeri Ryan
ComposerMichael Hoenig
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes20
Production
Production companiesBryce Zabel Productions
Columbia Pictures Television
Original release
Network NBC
ReleaseSeptember 21, 1996 (1996-09-21) 
May 31, 1997 (1997-05-31)

Dark Skies is an American UFO conspiracy theory-based science fiction television series. It debuted on NBC on September 21, 1996, and ended on May 31, 1997, and was later rerun by the Sci-Fi Channel; 18 episodes and a two-hour pilot episode were broadcast as a part of NBC's short-lived "Thrillogy" block. The success of The X-Files on Fox resulted in NBC commissioning this proposed competitor following a pitch from producers Bryce Zabel and Brent Friedman. The series tagline was "History as we know it is a lie."

Contents

Series overview

The series presents the idea that 20th-century history as people know it is a lie. It depicts aliens having been among humans since the late 1940s, with a government cover-up concealing their existence from the public. As the series progresses, viewers follow John Loengard and Kim Sayers through the 1960s as they attempt to foil the plots of the alien "Hive". The Hive is an alien race that planned to invade Earth through a manipulation of historical events and famous figures, including most notably the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In addition, the pair must stay one step ahead of Majestic 12, a covert government agency that has mixed motives. The show depicted a number of real-life 1960s personalities in the plot, such as The Beatles, Robert F. Kennedy, Jim Morrison, and J. Edgar Hoover.

The series was cancelled before the end of the first season, due to low ratings. Although the last episode produced provides some form of closure for the series, with John Loengard meeting his son and the head of Majestic 12 being apparently assassinated, the show's creators had originally hoped to create five seasons, as indicated by the show's Bible. [1] According to Zabel and Friedman's original plan, the pilot and first season (given the overall title "Official Denial") would cover the period from 1961 to 1969, the second season ("Progenitor") 1970 to 1976, the third season ("Cloak of Fear") 1977 to 1986, the fourth season ("New World Order") would cover 1987 to 1999, and the fifth and final season ("Stroke of Midnight") would break from the decade-spanning format to encompass the apocalyptic final conflict against the invaders, taking place from 2000 to 2001.

The Hive

The series depicts the Hive as an alien species who are covertly invading Earth. They are a parasitic race of small multilegged, spider-like beings that can take control of host bodies, by attaching themselves to the brain. They do this by entering through orifices on the head, commonly the mouth, though they are also shown to enter by squeezing through the nose and ears, with great discomfort to the host. Due to the way they attach themselves to the brain's ganglion regions, the series' protagonists dub the creatures "Ganglions".

Various stages from Alpha to Delta occur that show varying degrees of the infection. [2] Initial symptoms of take-over include drastic mood swings, behavioral abnormalities, and nervous breakdowns, as the parasite adjusts to taking control of the person's mind. Past medical records of a nervous breakdown are a tell-tale sign that someone may have been taken over. The Gamma and Delta stages are where the Hive organism takes total control over the host, which becomes nothing more than a shell for the invading organism.

Not all humans make acceptable hosts for the Ganglions. Due to certain genetic factors, a few humans are incompatible with the Ganglions' biology; these have been dubbed "Throwbacks". Several cases occur where a group of people were abducted and taken over by Ganglion parasites, but a Throwback in the group was not infected and simply returned, often because killing them would be too conspicuous. Captured Ganglion parasites have been injected with the blood of Throwbacks, causing them to die in agony. The Hive is running various experiments to try to either eliminate Throwbacks or develop more humans who are easier to control, such as growing cloned human babies in cows.

Some time ago, the Ganglions invaded an advanced alien race, dubbed the "Greys"—the typical depiction of a Roswell Grey alien. The Greys were a race not unlike humans, though they possessed technology making them capable of interstellar travel. The Ganglion parasites invaded them in much the same way that they are trying to invade Earth now, and by the time they realized what was happening, it was too late. Thus, the "Grey aliens" seen abducting humans are really just as much a slave race or "shells" for the Ganglions as the infected humans are.

The Hive's language, Thhtmaa, was developed by University of California, Los Angeles, graduate student Matt Pearson. Pearson went on to become a professor of linguistics at Reed College. [3] [4]

When the Ganglions were evolving, apparently before they took over other animals as hosts, they had a natural predator — slug-like creatures called "buzz worms". They have actually brought samples of the buzz worms along with them with their ships, using them as a particularly gruesome means of executing their own kind.

Cast

Main

Notable guests, based on real-life 1960s figures

Episodes

  1. Zabel, Bryce and Friedman, Brent. 1995. Dark Skies Bible Archived 2022-07-15 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Byman, Chris. 1997. Dark Skies: The Official Guide to the First TV Series. London: Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN   0-340-70784-4. pp. 117–8
  3. Conley, Tim and Cain, Stephen (2006). Encyclopedia of Fictional and Fantastic Languages . Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. ISBN   0-313-33188-X. p. 38.
  4. "Curriculum Vitae - Joel Matthew Pearson" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-03. Retrieved 2017-03-02.
  5. For What It's Worth: Bryce Zabel Post on DVD Status Archived 2007-02-24 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "TV Shows on DVD: SONY Gets Cold Musical Feet". Archived from the original on 2012-09-14. Retrieved 2021-11-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. http://www.brycezabel.com
  8. "Dark Skies finally being released on DVD". Archived from the original on 2010-08-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
1"The Awakening (Part 1)" Tobe Hooper Brent V. Friedman & Bryce Zabel September 21, 1996 (1996-09-21)
1960–1962: Congressional Aide John Loengard is drawn into an investigation of Project Blue Book and finds himself confronted by its shadowy architects, known as Majestic 12.
2"The Awakening (Part 2)"Tobe HooperBrent V. Friedman & Bryce ZabelSeptember 21, 1996 (1996-09-21)
1962–1963: Now on the run from Majestic 12, John and his girlfriend Kim Sayers contact President Kennedy and reveal an alien race known as "The Hive" are conspiring to take over the world.