letterten 2005-06 fall preview | cbs

CBS Friday 9pm

debuts September 16, 8pm (2 hour premiere)

concept from	When a freaky alien object wreaks havoc on a Navy ship in the North Atlantic, the world's sexiest risk analyst (Carla Gugino) puts into action her "threshold" contingency plan for first contact. She assembles a team of eccentric geniuses (Brent Spiner, Peter Dinklage, Rob Benedict) to investigate. "Not exactly Charlie's Angels, are they?" quips their covert-ops escort (Brian Van Holt). What they see, even on video, makes their noses and ears bleed and invades their nightmares, maybe even their DNA.
stars	Carla Gugino, Charles S. Dutton, Brent Spiner, Rob Benedict, Brian Van Holt, Peter Dinklage
producers	Bragi Schut, David Heyman, David Goyer, Brannon Braga, Marc Rosen
studio	Paramount Network TV

i opine...

Is it me or are there a LOT of aliens in primetime this year? They've all got a vaguely similar concept, as if the folks who created each of 'em (this, NBC's "Surface," and ABC's "Invasion"; it's like Fox didn't get the memo) were all in the same inital meeting and then makes tweaks here and there. "Threshold" has assembled a decent cast, it's the premise I'm concerned about. It's all about just how much the mythos is accepted. I have a feeling these three shows will get somewhat confused with each other. Carla Gugino is rather fetching, and that's a good thing.

the breakdown
	This makes my Top 3 list for Potential First Victim of The Season. It's clearly no longer your father's CBS, because this show wouldn't ever been NEAR the sked, no less on it. Even with the soft slot, Friday isn't the greatest night to launch, except for scifi. A little show called "CSI" started in this slot many DBs ago. CBS' Paramount is the studio; that could give it a longer leash.