ABC has renewed INVASION for the full season. This means that so far two of the three "alien invastion shows" this season have survived…SURFACE will resurface for a back-nine, but CBS hasn’t decided if they’ve hit their threshold of THRESHOLD though they have ordered three scripts. The script order doesn’t mean much. I’ve been on shows where they’ve ordered more scripts — SEAQUEST and SPENSER FOR HIRE come to mind — and we still got cancelled. Scripts aren’t that expensive. The alphabet net (that’s Variety-speak for ABC) hasn’t decided whether it wants more of THE NIGHT STALKER yet.
NBC has ordered three additions scripts for the ratings-challenged E-RING, but hasn’t yet pushed the button on shooting nine more episodes.
INVASION is very, very good. Great cast. Solid filmmaking every week so far. That it follows LOST is amazing. That’s a great two hours of TV.
THRESHOLD is a good show with a strong cast. Brent Spiner and Peter Dinklage are particularly wonderful in it. I can’t imagine CBS booting them. It’s Citizen Kane compared to SURFACE, which is cliche-ridden and generic.
THE NIGHT STALKER is a mess. I really wanted to like it because I was an X -FILES fan, but there is zero chemistry between the male and female leads. And ALIAS won’t help it much lately. That once great show has been a mess this year. I love Vaughn taking two bursts of automatic weapon direct to the chest from close range, and being able to talk to Syd in the hospital. That’s insanely bad writing.
I like SURFACE. Maybe because I lived most of my life by the ocean and believe there are monsters there, I can relate.
I don’t know if THRESHOLD will continue to interest me. I like the characters, but not that much. I think that once we learn about the aliens, it will be boring. And if they don’t tell us soon, I’ll get annoyed and quit watching.
INVASION is well done, but it just hasn’t hooked me. I’m getting annoyed about the unanswered questions, instead of being intrigued (which I assume is the writer’s intent).
“Maybe because I lived most of my life by the ocean and believe there are monsters there, I can relate.”
Emphasis on “believe” because there are no monsters there.