Closet Sci-Fi Geek

Apparently this is the season of alien invasion television. CBS leads the charge with “Threshold,” appearing on Friday nights from 9 to 10 pm. (ABC and NBC are due out with “Invasion” and “Surface” respectively.)

I got a chance to catch the two-hour premiere of “Threshold.” Lately, I’ve been underwhelmed by many new sci-fi shows (see my upcoming post about the new “Battlestar Galactica”) so I had extremely low expectations. Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised.

“Threshold” stars Carla Gugino, who was previously the short-lived “Karen Sisco.” As a woman, I am often picky about my female leads – if they are too young, pretty and perky, I find them highly annoying. If they are too much ball-busting ice queen then they become an annoying stereotype in the opposite direction. Gugino finds that happy middle; she’s pretty but not annoyingly so, she’s smart but not frigid. Mostly, she’s actually pretty human, which is a relief.

The only female annoyance factor is actually the handsome midget (little person?) who is constantly sexual harassing her. (Sigh.) He may be a little person, but he’s a hot, womanizing, gambling little person. He’s one of what I’ll call the three mad scientists on the show who are part of the “Red Team” that go in first to identify the nature of the alien threat.

One of the other team members is played by Brent Spiner (our beloved Data from Star Trek), and it’s great to see him in a new role. Unfortunately, his voice is so distinct I have a hard time not imagining that it’s Data responding to all the dialogue. I suppose I’ll get used to it.

With a fairly strong cast, the show has a solid foundation on which to grow. In my opinion, sci-fi shows often either make it or break it depending on how really likeable or interesting the main characters are. Remember “Space: Above and Beyond?” Have any real remembrance of the crew? Ehhhh, kind of. I think there was a guy who was a clone or something and you could tell by the belly button on the back of his neck. Whoop-de-doo. And I would go out of my way to watch that show again…umm…rarely if ever. See my point?

I read a review of the show in the LA Times that complained about Threshold’s over-the-top characters, but I think the author really doesn’t get sci-fi. Sci-fi is *supposed* to be bigger than life. What would “Star Trek” have been without Scottie’s Scottishness or Kirk’s magnificent alien womanizing?

Beyond the cast, Threshold provides a sci-fi “movie-of-the-week” story line, including a possible fourth-dimensional alien invasion, mutations that respond to sound waves, and crop-circle-like patterns that show up everywhere the aliens have been. Fun stuff!

Nothing mindblowing, but all in all, highly entertaining fare, and interesting enough that I’ll be following this one to see what happens.

September 19th, 2005 | Category: Uncategorized | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL