The first season of the American drama television series Falling Skies commenced airing on June 19 and concluded on August 7, 2011.

The group, known as the Second Massachusetts (an allusion to a historical regiment from the Continental Army), is led by the retired Captain Weaver and Boston University history professor Tom Mason who, while in search of his son Ben, must put his extensive knowledge of military history into practice as one of the leaders of the resistance movement.

[2] Development officially began in 2009, when TNT announced that it had ordered to pilot an untitled alien invasion project.

[11] Falling Skies was created by Robert Rodat, who is best known for writing the Oscar-winning film Saving Private Ryan, which was directed by Steven Spielberg.

"When we were working out the initial stuff, the thing that excited [Spielberg] was the idea that adults are killed if they're a threat, and kids are captured for whatever reason and changed or altered.

Spielberg previously explored the idea of enslaved children in the 1984 film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

He shaped the script, cast the pilot, watched all the dailies, made the editing suggestions, worked on the post and on the aliens and spaceships.

Series lead Noah Wyle emphasized Spielberg's presence on set by stating "Anytime he gives an anointment to a project, it steps up the pedigree.

"[15] One of the things that was most attractive about it was shooting 10 episodes as opposed to 24, which affords me a bit of quality-of-life and allows me to have a presence in my kids' lives.

[18] He also decided to do it as he could relate with his character, stating "I identified with Tom's devotion to his sons, and admired his sense of social duty."

He had wanted Wyle to appear in his 1998 film Saving Private Ryan but due to scheduling conflicts, he was unable to star.

[13] In July 2009, Moon Bloodgood, Jessy Schram, Seychelle Gabriel and Maxim Knight were cast as Anne Glass, Karen Nadler, Lourdes and Matt Mason, respectively.

"The whole process went on for quite some time, and then towards the end, it was down to me and one other guy, and we were literally waiting for the word from Steven Spielberg 'cause he had to watch the two audition tapes and give the okay.

As part of the promotional campaign, a vehicle, with the TNT logo and called Falling Skies Technical was released as a free gift in the social networking game Mafia Wars on June 14, 2011.

[29] The first season was released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 5, 2012, in North America,[30] on July 2, 2012, in the United Kingdom[31] and on August 29, 2012, in Australia.

Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter wrote "...the entertainment value and suspense of Falling Skies is paced just right.

"[36] Ken Tucker from Entertainment Weekly gave the series a B+ and wrote, "A similar, gradually developed, but decisive conviction makes Falling Skies an engaging, if derivative, chunk of dystopian sci-fi."

He continued, "...Falling Skies rises above any one performance; it's the spectacle of humans versus aliens that draws you in.

"[37] In the Boston Herald, Mark A. Perigard gave the series a B grade, writing "Don't look now, but Falling Skies could be a summer obsession.

"[38] In Variety, Brian Lowry stated that he enjoyed the action sequences but that "the soapier elements mostly fall flat", and called the series "painfully old-fashioned".

[39] Mike Hale, from The New York Times, called the series "average" and "good on the action, a little muddled on the ideas".

[40] The Washington Post reviewer Hank Steuver criticized the actor portrayals, writing that "the show is slowed by so many wooden performances, Wyle's included".

"[42] Garvin singled out the performance of Sarah Carter as the only exception, and added that Spielberg has "bottomed out" with this family drama series.

[1][3] The eighth episode was watched by 4.31 million viewers and scored a 1.5 ratings share among adults 18-49 and became TNT's highest-rated series in target demos.