Dark Skies (1996-1997)
Plot
Dark Skies is an American UFO conspiracy theory-based sci-fi television series that aired from the 1996 to 1997 season for 18 episodes, plus a two-hour pilot episode. The success of The X-Files on Fox proved there was an audience for science fiction shows, resulting in NBC commissioning this proposed competitor following a pitch from producers Bryce Zabel and Brent Friedman. The series debuted September 21, 1996 on NBC, and was later rerun by the Sci-Fi Channel. Its tagline was "History as we know it is a lie."
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 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 Kim Sayers becoming possessed by the Hive 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" or major planning document. 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 multi-legged 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 which show varying degrees of the infection. 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 minority of humans are incompatible with the Ganglions' biology; these have been dubbed "Throwbacks". There are several cases where a group of people were abducted and taken over by Ganglion parasites, but a Throwback in the group wasn't infected and simply returned, often because it would be too conspicuous to kill them. 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're 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 Reed College linguistics professor Matt Pearson.
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
Eric Close ... as John Loengard
Megan Ward ... as Kimberly Sayers
J. T. Walsh ... as Frank Bach
Tim Kelleher ... as Jim Steele
Conor O'Farrell ... as Phil Albano
Charley Lang ... as Dr. Halligan
Jeri Ryan ... as Juliet Stuart
Guest real-life 1960s characters
James F. Kelly ... as Robert Kennedy
Hansford Rowe ... as President Harry Truman
Mike Kennedy... as Allen Dulles
Don Moss ... as Hubert Humphrey
Jack Lindine ... as Jack Ruby
Paul Gleason... as Nelson Rockefeller
Joe Urla .... as Carl Sagan
Don Most ... as Dr. Timothy Leary
Arell Blanton ... as General Nathan Farragut Twining
Leon Russom ... as Admiral Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter
Wolfgang Bodison... as Colin Powell
Gunther Jenson ... as Captain Norman Schwarzkopf
Marilyn McIntyre ... as Dorothy Kilgallen
Art Bell ... as William S. Paley
Wayne Tippit ... as J. Edgar Hoover
Gary Lockwood ... as Earl Warren
Susan Griffiths ... as Marilyn Monroe
Dennis Creaghan ... as J. Lee Rankin
Sam Whipple ... as J. Allen Hynek
Robert Carradine ... as Lonnie Zamora
James Lancaster ... as Kenneth Parkinson
Carey Eidel ... as Brian Epstein
Jerome Patrick Hoban ... as Ed Sullivan
Carmine Grippo ... as Ringo Starr
Tim Michael McDougall ... as Paul McCartney
Rick Anthony Pizaria ... as George Harrison
Joe Stefanelli ... as John Lennon
Brent David Fraser ... as Jim Morrison
Peter Van Norden ... as Henry Kissinger
Episode Guide
1 "The Awakening (Part 1)" Tobe Hooper Brent V. Friedman & Bryce Zabel September 21, 1996
1960-1962: Congressional Aid 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 Hooper Brent V. Friedman & Bryce Zabel September 21, 1996
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.
3 "Moving Targets" Thomas J. Wright Brent V. Friedman & Bryce Zabel September 28, 1996
November 23, 1963: The assassination of JFK sets the backdrop as John and Kim visit Jesse Marcel and discover the origins of how Majestic 12 came to be in July 1947.
4 "Mercury Rising" Tucker Gates James D. Parriott October 19, 1996
January 30, 1964: When Kim has visions of an astronaut being abducted by the Hive, she and John head to Florida as Ranger 6 prepares to send NASA the first close-up pictures of the lunar surface.
5 "Dark Days Night" Matthew Penn Story by: Brent V. Friedman & Bryce Zabel
Teleplay by: Brent V. Friedman & Brad Markowitz October 26, 1996
February 6, 1964: While in New York, John and Kim discover a Hive plot to hijack the Beatles' broadcast on The Ed Sullivan Show and activate their latest agenda for world domination.
6 "Dreamland" Winrich Kolbe Steve Apsis November 2, 1996
Early March 1964: Following a lead to Las Vegas, John and Kim are tasked by none other than Howard Hughes to help stop a Hive invasion of Area 51, also known as Dreamland.
7 "Inhuman Nature" Rodman Flender Melissa Rosenberg November 9, 1996
April 11, 1964: In Wisconsin, John and Kim discover that recent episodes of cattle mutilation may be masking a Hive plot to create the perfect genetic weapon. Airing out of order, this episode takes place chronologically after "Ancient Future".
8 "Ancient Future" Lou Antonio James D. Parriot & Gay Walch November 16, 1996
March 27, 1964: When The Good Friday Earthquake reveals a 2,000 year old spacecraft buried in the Alaskan wilderness, John and Kim must make a deal with Majestic 12 to prevent Armageddeon.
9 "Hostile Convergence" David Jackson Story by: Brent V. Friedman & Bryce Zabel
Teleplay by: Javier Grillo-Marxuach December 7, 1996
April 24, 1964: Lonnie Zamora's claim of a close encounter in Socorro, New Mexico puts John and Jesse Marcel on the trail of secret UFO blueprints one step ahead of Majestic 12.
10 "We Shall Overcome" Jim Charleston Bryce Zabel December 14, 1996
June 21, 1964: Amidst the Mississippi civil rights workers’ murders, John meets Mark Simonson (Raphael Sbarge), his former supervisor from Congressman Pratt’s office.
11 "The Last Wave" Perry Lang Melissa Rosenberg January 4, 1997
July 21, 1964: John and Kim go to Los Angeles for the funeral of an old college friend and discover a Hive plot to contaminate the water supply which they stop with the help of a young Jim Morrison.
12 "The Enemy Within" Jim Charleston Story by: Brent V. Friedman & Bryce Zabel
Teleplay by: Brad Markowitz January 11, 1997
13 "The Warren Omission" Perry Lang Brent V. Friedman & Bryce Zabel January 18, 1997
14 "White Rabbit" James A. Contner Brent V. Friedman February 1, 1997
15 "Shades of Gray" Perry Lang Brad Markowitz February 8, 1997
16 "Burn, Baby, Burn" Steve Posey James D. Parriott March 1, 1997
17 "Both Sides Now" James A. Conter Melissa Rosenberg March 8, 1997
18 "To Prey in Darkness" Thomas J. Wright Brent V. Friedman & Bryce Zabel March 15, 1997
19 "Strangers In the Night" Michael Levine Brad Markowitz May 24, 1997
20 "Bloodlines" Perry Lang Brent V. Friedman & Bryce Zabel May 31, 1997
