The basis for the Series, a re-invasion of earth by the alien visitors, was developed in an ultimately non-confrontational way.  Instead of an all-out invasion, the dual concepts of an 'open city' and a 'frost line' allowed
for the ability to produce episodes that reflected some level of "normalcy" during the invasion.  The Series underwent two noticeable paradigm shifts, and several less noticeable shifts during it's 19 episode run.

By the end of the second episode (or first two part episode), it was very clear that the series would not provide the dramatic edge that the movies developed.  Although there were many 'hard to believe' episodes during the
two movies, some of the events in the Series were absolutely absurd.  The visitor "technology tree" seemed to be invented on the fly, almost at the whim of the writers needing something new to further the series.  The Visitors themselves are transformed quickly from a superevil and feared race to a group of bumbling idiots who couldn't find ice at the north pole.

The first major paradigm shift occurred with the arrival of Charles, the Leader's Special Envoy.  He assumes control of the invasion fleet and busts Diana down to third in command.  The series, to that point, suffered from
the lack of characterization (esp. with the Visitor hierarchy) that didn't mesh, and more importantly, story-lines that were weak.  The first episode with Charles involved the conversion of Ham Tyler.   What could be considered the best episode of the series concluded with the "assassination" of Nathan Bates.  After a bang-up episode, however, the series then slumped back into mediocrity, and after 4 episodes, Charles was killed off.

The second major shift occurred with the events culminating in the closing of the 'open city'.  From this point on, the Series took a very dark route; the resistance going into survivalist mode while the Visitors started to live a "soap opera" existence.   These episodes also saw the ditching of the Freedom Network for inexplicable reasons.

One of the striking events of the series run is when you compare the video and production quality of the early episodes with those toward the end of the series run.  Not only did the later episodes suffer from massive stock
footage, in some cases, sound effects and video production quality are markedly lesser.  Although all of the episodes were filmed (not taped), the quality of film used in the early series is far superior than that used in the end.  Obviously, the program producers and production crew was aware of the disappointing results of this Series and many cutbacks were made midstream to minimize losses.  Unfortunately, the Series was abandoned just when it may have turned the corner, and unlike series such as "Sliders", there was not a cable or syndication outlet willing to pick up the series and subsequent new run production.

Many of the early problems with the series were borne from many of the unbelievable events that caused the show to lose credibility amongst core and casual viewers.  For example, the following general nitpicks can be examined:

Ø    Although the Visitor home world was approximately 8 light years from Earth, oftentimes communications, personnel, ships, etc. would arrive from Earth almost INSTANTANEOUSLY.  For example, in episode weeks, Lydia left for the Visitor home world, discussed items with the Leader and Charles, and returned to Earth in 2 weeks!!!!!!!

Ø    The idea of a civilian government run by a solitary business interest in the face of an global alien invasion is absurd.  Furthermore, prior to the re-invasion, the idea of civilian control and administration of the most advanced piece of alien technology (e.g., the Mother Ship) is not realistic.

Ø    With the open supply of red-dust antitoxin for the 5th columnists prior to the re-invasion, the odds of the visitors NOT finding a supply and being able to replicate it is astronomical.
 

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