terrible... so disappointed.

A Disappointing Continuation

The first must-see film of the year.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

I've always loved the Broadway Show Damn Yankees and if you watch Ray Walston on My Favorite Martian, the characters are very similar.On Damn Yankees Walston played the Devil and made many commentaries about the human race especially in the song "Those were the Good Old Days". He is also frequently seen making commentary about the human race on the TV show as well.The character Joe Hardy is given super normal baseball powers when he makes a deal with the devil. Tim O'Hara in My Favorite Martian is not given super normal powers but he takes advantage of what the Martian character can do for him. Ray Walston frequently points this fact out on the show.Also as the Devil in Damn Yankees, Walston possesses extraterrestrial like powers as he does in My Favorite Martian which in my opinion made him perfect for the part.I looked at some of the commentaries, and I did not notice anyone seeing this similarity of character.I would welcome any thoughts on what I think.

By the early 1960s, as Americans and Soviets orbited the Earth, and the race to place men on the Moon was everyone's favorite after-dinner topic, television had produced a variety of space-oriented shows, mostly stodgy adventures of square-jawed heroes facing the cosmos in fanciful rockets...yet the series that would achieve the greatest popularity didn't feature a human, at all, but a Martian in a crashed 'flying saucer', attempting to 'pass' as human while repairing his spacecraft. Similar in concept to Gore Vidal's "Visit to a Small Planet", "My Favorite Martian" was a sweet-natured comedy with low-budget FX, often silly scripts, but one of the most engaging stars in television history, Ray Walston.At 49, Walston was well-established on Broadway ("Damn Yankees") and had enjoyed success as a character actor in film (SOUTH PACIFIC, TALL STORY, THE APARTMENT), but, despite guesting on television for ten years, he had never starred in his own series, primarily because he didn't have a traditional leading man 'look'. Small, slender, with a mischievous smile and thin grayish blond hair, he was a hard actor to 'type'...which made him the perfect choice to play an extraterrestrial! "My Favorite Martian" was a wonderful showcase for his many acting skills, and, when teamed with young Bill Bixby, cast as 'Tim O'Hara', a reporter who grows to love his 'Uncle Martin' enough to keep his secret, and offer him a cover and sanctuary, there was a magic that almost leapt from the screen. Bixby, at 29, had been a regular on "The Joey Bishop Show", but seemed doomed to blandly pleasant supporting roles, until "My Favorite Martian" displayed his remarkable comic timing, and, more importantly, his 'likeability' to television audiences. The series would serve as a springboard to a very successful career on the small screen, that would continue until his tragic death from cancer, at 59, in 1993. As the series grew in popularity, the role of snooping but endearing landlady Laura Lee Brown (Broadway/movie veteran Pamela Britton) would be enlarged and softened, eventually becoming a romantic interest for Martin, and a new regular, Detective Bill Brennan (character actor Alan Hewitt), a veteran cop suspicious of the O'Hara's, and also enamored of Mrs. Brown, would be introduced. Both actors were great fun in their roles, and provided some very memorable moments, during the second and third seasons.Among Martin's 'powers' were invisibility (whenever he raised the mini-TV antennas in the back of his head), reading minds, and levitating objects with his finger, as well as limited abilities that would appear and disappear whenever he became ill, ate the wrong foods, etc. But his greatest gift was an understanding heart; despite an occasional aside about the human race's primitive nature, he truly loved our planet, and enjoyed watching us 'mature' over the ages. For an alien, he displayed remarkable humanity!While Walston enjoyed making "My Favorite Martian", he was not devastated when the program was finally canceled, after three seasons. With some of his finest work still ahead of him (THE STING, "Stephen King's The Stand", "Picket Fences", "Star Trek: The Next Generation", and the classic FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, just to name a few), he would be revered as one of the entertainment industry's most beloved and respected actors when he passed away, at 87, in 2001."My Favorite Martian" transcends the silliness of it's scripts with the talent and charisma of the remarkable cast. It was, and remains, a well-deserved audience favorite.

I first saw this series when I was 12 years old and I have dearly loved it ever since because it's full of good laughs and is a great deal of fun to watch. Uncle Martin is hilarious with his Martian antics as well as Tim as the newspaper reporter who took him in after his space ship crash landed on Earth. It's always highly enjoyable to watch their adventures together. It's easily one of my favorite TV comedies of all time.

Even as a young kid back in the 60's I knew this was bad. But a lot of years have passed since watching this back to back with "Gilligan's Island" on weekday afternoons, and after having recently re-discovered this on cable's TV Land, it's not as bad as I remember. Okay, it's still bad, who am I trying to kid. But, compared to what I see on prime time today, this show is actually holding my interest.For example. In a recent episode, next door neighbor Mrs. Brown was complaining about the flowers in her garden wilting and dying from the current heatwave. So, the Martian (Ray Walston) does that little thing with his finger and makes them all fresh again and erect. I would much rather see this than "Early Edition's" Kyle Chandler trying to rescue victim #981 from a piano crashing on his head.Again who am I trying to kid. I changed the channel after watching the flowers come back to life. I'll check out the next episode.