Surface

I have to admit that the acting and the CG special effects in Surface are both rather weak, but seriously this must be one of the best sci-fi shows at the moment. It's storyline is rather deep going, interesting, the character development is pretty nice, and since episode 1x12 it's got a very nice twist to it. Sure, it has its ridiculous moments as any other show has but after all it's quite captivating and always makes you wait for the next episode. Especially now that it's going towards the season finale things are getting more and more interesting.

Besides current shows like Supernatural with its magnificent cinematography and scary atmosphere or Threshhold which started out very well but ended in me cancelling it because of its ridiculous always-the-same per-episode story lines this show - Surface - must be on par with Stargate Atlantis. Both shows have weak CG and weak acting but in the end they got stuff to it that makes you really wanna see what's happening on next. And that - I say - is good entertainment.

I will review again after the season finale, but at the moment I can clearly recommend this show. Thumbs up!

"Surface" is a hit in several arenas: sci-fi, drama, thriller. I would highly recommend this on-going NBC-TV film. All episodes to date follow one another into a kind of "soap" but differing from a soap opera by the drama & intrigue offered by it's main male actor, Carter Jenkins (protraying the character Miles).

While the basis for the show is an unknown sea creature which Miles raises from the egg, other characters hunt what could be its mother which tops the scale larger than a whale. This program will keep you glued to the screen and is entertaining for the entire family. NBC has a big hit with this show. Personally, I'm over 50 yrs of age and wouldn't miss it. How about you??

There is no denying it. Sci-fi on TV is difficult. There are so many problems that the genre brings with it. Like the need for a good budget, solid writing, decent acting. Perhaps the budget and the script writing is the departments where i feel most attempts have failed. So does "Surface" succeed? Not completely, but more so than most.

The way i see it, a good sci-fi show doesn't really need a lot of CGI to work, nor does it need a ton of money. What it needs is the capacity to create a larger-than-life feeling. The feeling that there is more than meets the eye, something to make me curious and willing to try and figure out how it's going to end. Adding the pieces of the puzzle and sometimes saying "Aha!" is what makes or breaks a show like this one.

"Surface" had a couple of flaws. First of all it's basic premise is not as exciting as it could have been, nor is the revealed story as exciting (or daring) as i hoped in the beginning. Also the TV-feeling is very present much of the time. All the way from the crappy CGI (that ranges from decent to awful) to the rather shifting quality in the acting department. Also it feels sometimes a bit too family-oriented in that it takes the edge of sometimes and becomes almost cutesy. But aside from these flaws it's an enjoyable show. Maybe not as spectacular as some of the other sci-fi shows out there. But it manages to keep me interested the whole season and it offers a couple of nice cliffhangers between shows as well. The ending for me is not that appealing. I don't like shows that end without ending so to speak, leaving the story unresolved. It's especially unfortunate in this case since the show seems to be canceled after the first season (it is as of yet undecided).

HBO is to me the benchmark for quality television. Their series have the best actors, the best production values and above all the most solid writing. This is not HBO-quality, but it's good for what it is. Good enough to want another season without a doubt.

This is one of the better sci-fi series. It involves character development, a few really tensionate moments and reasonable episode scripts. As one other commentator said here, it looked as if it were a mini series, not a full blown series with filler episodes and low budgets.

The problem with the show, which in short is a Godzilla series, is that it started too big, with incredible monsters, fantastic science, then it all boiled down to local Americans doing stuff. Then, the show ended too soon, since the Olympics were coming and hey! a sci-fi show is a sci-fi show, but half naked athletic people running around aimlessly is much more important. So they only did 15 episodes instead of the expected 22. The audience was small, too, as people didn't really caught it on at 20:00. In the end the suits did it. Trust a marketing plan to destroy anything that looks remotely original and promising.

Conclusion: you have a show with good special effects, stuff like huge monsters killing people or destroying boats, then going into genetic engineering, transforming people, human clones, end of the world, tsunamis. Also, the only fillers are scenes with aggressive rednecks or other annoying people being killed for their stupidity. The down-side is that after 15 episodes that prepare something huge, the show ends. No real ending, no closure, just a bitter taste of cloth in one's mouth, as if you just swallowed a piece of suit.

I set my TV to record this show every week because I can't stand to miss an episode.

My husband and I are hopelessly addicted (and we take pride in the fact that there aren't many TV shows we like to watch).

My son, who is away at college, came home on a short break. I told him the main storyline, and let him watch the third from the last episode of the season. He made me promise to record the next two so that when he came home on his next break, he could watch the season finale. Needless to say, he is now an addict.

The choice of actors, how they mix, their acting ability, along with the storyline makes this series absolutely riveting! I feel like I know these people and I can't wait to find out what happens to them next.

I even love that computer animated little Nimrod. (Okay, he does remind me of our two 5 foot long iguanas, even though they are a lot friendlier than little Nim!)

I truly hope we do not have to wait a long time for next season to start. And I love that part of this show is filmed in Wilmington, NC. Isn't it beautiful!? (We live only two hours away and we love those beaches!)

I also hope that the writers don't change for next season. So many times, I'll like a show, and then the writers change, and I find I no longer have any reason to watch it.

Anyway.. This show is a 9.5! Great job!!!