Tuesday, May 16, 2006

David McCallum Invisible Man


Over at Booksteve's Library he has an article talking about David McCallum from the Man From UNCLE and Navy NCIS. Now I have always like the Man from Uncle. I have not had the desire to see Navy NCIS but I am happy for Mr. McCallum that it is a hit for him. Perhaps there is hope that he can join that elite in American television actors who have starred or co-starred in 3 hit series. The article did remind me of a movie called the Watcher in the Woods that he co-starred in with Bette Davis. I don't remember it well so the less said the better on that. However, I do remember the short lived series from 1975. The Invisible Man aired on NBC. It started with a 2 hour pilot and spun off into 12 episodes. He played Dr. Daniel Weston. He worked for a company that was experimenting on molecular disintegration which had the side effect of turning things invisible. Of course they tried it on objects and animals and Dr. Weston decides to try it on people. The Dr. tries it on himself and for a short time becomes invisible and returns to normal. He wants to use it for medical purposes. His bosses want to sell it to the military. Of course he can't stop them so he uses it all on himself. However, it doesn't wear off this time. He in now stuck being invisible. He and his wife go to his friend Nick. He is a plastic surgeon and makes a mask for David that looks and feels like skin. With his former bosses after him he and his wife are on the run. The pilot was straight action adventure. The series that it spun off had some humor to it and I have read that Mr. McCallum didn't like the humor in the series. I was 14 years old at the time and I loved the show. Whenever things got tough and Dr. Weston had to disappear it was fun to see him shed his skin and there was nothing there. The show was not a hit with anyone other then myself. It was later replace by a similar series called the Gemini Man starring Ben Murphy fresh off of Alias Smith and Jones. The Gemini Man was about a secret agent who had a watch that could turn him invisible for short amounts of time. It was worse then the Invisible Man and also lasted only 12 episodes.
The above cover of the Dynamite magazine is from this e-bay auction site. That magazine deserves a posting of it's own someday. Posted by Picasa

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I was about the same age as you and I liked the show as well.

Rick L. Phillips said...

You didn't live in my neighborhood did you? The only people I ever met who liked the show lived a couiple of blocks from me. Most didn't like it. It is nice to know that there are others who did. Maybe they will release it on DVD someday.

Anonymous said...

I was 11 at the time, and I loved The Invisible Man too. I also remember reading Dynamite magazine. :)