ABC

Do You Remember: Invasion

By Rueben | April 4, 2017

There was an ABC TV series that aired for one season during the 2005-2006 TV season that was actually affected by a devastating natural disaster.

What was that disaster? Hurricane Katrina

And what was that TV show? Invasion

While the series Invasion debuted on September 21, 2005 – a full month after the devastation of that horrific hurricane – the sci-fi drama told the story of the aftermath of a hurricane in which water-based creatures infiltrate a small Florida town and begin to take over the bodies of the town’s inhabitants through a cloning process, first by merging with and then unknowingly replacing them (somewhat similar to Invasion of the Body Snatchers).

Hurricane Katrina, obviously, wasn’t the reason the show only lasted one season (the network blamed ratings, of course), but it sure did have an effect on the promotion of the series; in fact, early on-air ads were quickly pulled by ABC because the hurricane that caused the problems in the series hit too close to home for most of the country. Naturally, the advertising switched emphasis completely to the alien invasion aspect, while the hurricane received no mention.

The cast of Invasion included William Fichtner (Prison Break and Mom) as Sheriff Tom Underlay; Eddie Cibrian (CSI: Miami and Rosewood) as Russel Varon; Kari Matchett (Covert Affair) as Dr. Mariel Underlay; Lisa Sheridan as Larkin Groves, Tyler Labine (Reaper and Deadbeat) as Dave Groves; Alexis Dziena (Entourage and the box office film Fool’s Gold) as Kira Underlay; Evan Peters (American Horror Story) as Jesse Varon, then child actress Ariel Gade as Rose Varon and Aisha Hinds (Underground and Under the Dome) as Mona Gomez.

There were also some very interesting guest and recurring stars throughout the one and only season of Invasion, including the following:

James Frain, who has starred in The Tudors, True Blood and Orphan Black
Elizabeth Moss, who starred in Mad Men and will soon be seen in The Handmaid’s Tale
Rocky Carroll, who has starred in the #1 drama NCIS since 2008
Edwin Hodge, who starred in the new drama Six and has appeared in this season’s Sleepy Hollow
Anne Dudek, who starred in House and Covert Affairs
Valerie Cruz, who starred in Homeland and The Following
Jon Huertas, who starred in Castle and is one of the ensemble cast of This Is Us

The show was produced by former 1970’s TV star (The Hardy Boys) and singer Shaun Cassidy and Warner Bros. Television.

Invasion aired 22 episodes on ABC from September 21, 2005 through May 17 2006.

Do you remember Invasion?