At the end of March
we informed you that CBS DVD and Paramount Home Entertainment had moved the release date for
The Invaders - The 1st Season DVD set from May 6th to
May 27th. We speculated at the time that the delay was to make significant improvements to the content, and now we've got the studio's own word confirming that this is indeed the case!
Paramount has released rear package art this morning, showing that the special features on this 5-disc set now include a new interview with show star Roy Thinnes, and episode introductions by him as well. Also, series creator Larry Cohen chimes in with an audio commentary track for the episode "The Innocent." But the best news for fans will be that the pilot, "Beachhead," will get a new extended 60-minute edit thanks to the help of fans who provided their own personal copies of the episode from their own collections. Sweet! Here's a close-up of the "Special Features" box found on the back of the box:
Fans have also wondered a bit about what we told you, about how there would be a box art change. Yet, as of this writing Amazon's pre-order listing still shows the old version of the cover art (with the "sombrero-looking" UFO chasing Thinnes' character). We've gotten recent confirmation from the studio that the new art, shown below (and which is a modified version of the DVD box art previously released in the U.K.), is indeed what you'll find on store shelves.
In fact, at the very bottom of this story you'll see a new three-page trade ad that CBS DVD just posted in the brand new issue of Video Business magazine. The ad touts to retailers how they should stock the CBS TV-DVD releases to increase sales, because these are "put on a pedestal" with "pristine picture and audio presentations, new special features, rare bonus materials and special packaging." One of the items pictured is The Invaders - The 1st Season, and you can see that it has the "no-UFO" version of the cover art.
Here is the rear cover art, the (correct) front cover art, and the mentioned trade ad (the bottom shows the two-page spread, and the angled page just above shows the lead-in from the previous page):
