Threshold

Of the three new "Sci-Fi" dramas, Invasion, Surface, and Threshold, I have decided that Threshold is, hands down, the best. Invasion has the better pedigree (Sean Cassidy did create American Gothic, after all...), Surface instills more awe and wonder, but the one that I must watch every week is Threshold. It has learned that most important of lessons from the X-Files: keep 'em guessing, but give a little bit up every now and then. It doesn't try to keep you in the dark all the time. And on the subject of casting, I believe that this show has some of the best choices going. Carla Gugino is, as usual, brilliant. Beautiful, sexy and oh so smart. Charles S. Dutton does the best he can with a limited role. Peter Dinklage will be a favorite as soon as the writers figure out what to do with him. But the biggest surprise is Brian Van Holt as Cavennaugh, the muscle. In what should have been the obvious gimme role in the show, the guy who shoots, Van Holt has proved to be multi-faceted. Yes he is a true believer, but he has a soul, too. Not what I expected from the pretty boy with the gun. All in all, great show. Will be very upset when it gets canceled.

I couldn't disagree more with the previous poster. I thought this show was fantastic. It held my attention for the entire two hour premiere, and I felt there was film-quality direction and editing. I like the premise, and I enjoyed the (pseudo?)science. There were a couple of times it scared the heck out of me. I enjoyed most of the cast, and it's nice to see Brent Spiner back in the public eye. However, if they're not careful, on a weekly basis at least a couple of the characters - Spiner's and Peter Dinklage's character - could become annoying and one-note. The writers need to work on keeping those characters surprising and fresh. I will definitely continue to watch this show.

I am NOT a sci-fi nut and only watched because a friend recommended it, but the two hour opener was simply MESMERIZING. The show has flavors of several hits of the past and present, including "X-Files" and "The 4400", but has a style all its own. It was well-written, brilliantly directed, and managed to blend suspense, drama, and humor extremely well. I was very pleased with the casting. Peter Dinklage steals the show as he did in "The Station Agent", you just can't take your eyes off of him. Brent Spiner (Star Trek Next Generation's "Data") and Charles S. Dutton ("Roc", "Rudy") are the big names in the fine supporting cast. Rob Benedict is wonderful as computer geek Lucas and Brian Van Holt has the SWAT/military hero role nailed.

Was not a fan of Carla Gugino before, but she plays the lead role Dr. Molly Caffrey to perfection. She somehow manages to pull off intelligent, self-assured, and vulnerable all at the same time. She is a striking woman but manages to be believable in this role. You don't feel as if they inserted the requisite starlet in the lead, she's THAT good.

This show works on so many levels that I would be shocked if CBS didn't have another hit on its hands. The music was effective without being intrusive. Even the digital imagery was interesting and I generally HATE computer generated stuff..it only added to the overall texture. This show is similar to "24" in one way; you don't waste time questioning every single plot twist, (like the previous IMDb reviewer did) you just sit back and enjoy the ride.

The two hour premiere was a barn burner. Let's hope they can keep up the same level of suspense, drama and creepiness from that. What appears to be the best thing is the unusual ensemble cast, with Peter Dinklage and Brent Spiner stealing scenes and making the best of well written one liners. With a great premise and off to a good start, let's see if they can keep the momentum. Since science fiction is a difficult thing to do well on television ( the "X Files" not included on this ) it will be interesting to see how the story unfolds. The advantage is having the wonderful Brannon Braga at the helm of the writing, who I consider one of the best scifi writers in the business today. Friday nights not be the best time for this series to find an audience, but if CBS is wise, they will give this show the chance it deserves.

Threshold is a pretty decent scifi show. I won't say it's brilliant, because there are flaws in the storyline which I'll come to in a moment. But it does entertain and has characters you actually like.

The basic premise is that aliens are trying to re-engineer human and animal DNA into their own vision - essentially making us into them (as the show would have us believe). It's an interesting concept (although I doubt it's new to scifi) and works surprisingly well with the "enemy within" mentality. Normally I dislike shows which do this as it is usually a cop-out because they don't have the budget to do anything flash. But here it works well.

If I have one gripe about the show it's that the aliens (although apparently having access to the memories of the hosts they infect) show a singular lack of imagination when it comes to finding ways to spread the disease. The internet is the most obvious medium, yet so far it seems to have gone unused apart from one half-hearted attempt.

But apart from this, the show is good fun and entertaining. The characters are fairly diverse, although they all fit into the usual stereotypes - expert, soldier, geek, scientist etc. But at least they all have charisma, though I suspect poor old Brent Spiner is being typecast as the scientist/doctor now.

Anyway, worth a look. There are far worse shows out there.

EDIT (15.12.05) Just heard this series is cancelled. Good one CBS! Gotta love the networks' slavish attention to viewing figures. Bah!