War of the Worlds

The show is a continuation of the 1953 film The War of the Worlds, itself a loose adaptation of H. G. Wells' 1898 novel, and incorporates elements from the film, the radio adaptation, and the original novel into its mythology.

George Pal, producer of the 1953 film, had envisioned a TV follow-up as early as the 1970s, but the series was not realized until the late 1980s, produced by Greg Strangis.

The series was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Three of the first season's episodes ('The Walls of Jericho', 'The Good Samaritan', and 'Epiphany') were credited to pseudonyms based on 1953 film characters Clayton Forrester and Sylvia van Buren, because they were written during the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike and the writers wanted to avoid being accused of strikebreaking.

Ann Robinson reprised her role as Sylvia Van Buren from the original 1953 film, now portrayed as a woman who developed precognitive abilities to sense the aliens.

John Colicos played the rogue alien Quinn, a role noted as reminiscent of his earlier performance as Lord Baltar in Battlestar Galactica due to the character's power-hungry, middleman nature.

Singer Alannah Myles appeared in the 20th episode of season one, airing less than three weeks after the release of her platinum-certified eponymous debut album.

The second season introduced Adrian Paul (later famous for Highlander) as mercenary John Kincaid and featured the first onscreen appearance of Mia Kirshner.

Between the two seasons, most of the creative team was replaced, with Frank Mancuso Jr. taking over for season two while also producing Friday the 13th: The Series, leading to major retooling of the title sequence, music, and tone, including the removal of much black humor and Biblical references.

The Region 1 DVD release of season one has been criticized for poor image quality and for omitting the alien hand animation from the opening credits that had been part of every broadcast episode.

A novelization of the pilot episode, written by J. M. Dillard, included characters from the 1953 film and scenes not present in the final broadcast version, while exploring the aliens' political motivations in greater depth.