MovieChat Forums > Threshold (2005) Discussion > SURFACE/THRESHOLD/INV ASION

SURFACE/THRESHOLD/INV ASION


All three shows came out at the same time and were very similar. And unfortunately all three shows were cancelled after the first season. But which was the best?

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Invasion. Without question. It was a great, slow-burning show with characters that went beyond the caricatures that seemed to dominate the other two shows.

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Well I didn't see Surface, but of the other two Invasion was better, no doubt, and I agree with the comments of the previous poster.

When Threshold finished I was disappointed but not bothered. When Invasion finished I was b****y furious. I really wanted to see where it was going. A great pity.

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Agreed. 100%. Invasion. The first five episodes were pretty slow, and I think that lost the audience. After that, the pace REALLY picked up, but then ABC decided to keep putting it on hiatus for a couple weeks for specials, then a mid-season replacement, etc. and people couldn't find it again.

Definitely needs to be watched if you like sci-fi. The characters were really three-dimensional. Just when you thought you had someone figured out, they'd reveal something that surprised you.

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I've got to say that I was more interested and into "Threshold" in the beginning.. CBS pulled that show way too fast. "Invasion" would be second and finally "Surface".

I watched all three series that season and if memory serves... "Threshold" was the first to go (I think it was pulled from CBS and ended up airing its finally episodes on Sci-Fi channel or some other cable station) ... then "Surface" and finally "Invasion".

I believe "Invasion" got a complete season and by the end of that season it had gotten very good. "Threshold" had the most interesting storyline for me.. I was into it from the beginning and couldn't wait to see what would happen next and right from the beginning, it was easily the most intense and fast paced of the three series.

I kept waiting for something compelling to happen in the "Surface" storyline but I thought it was pretty boring relative to the other two shows.

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Invasion--really sorry it got canceled!

Threshold was intriguing also, if not quite as good, but Surface left me cold.

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Threshold was by far the best show of these 3, Invasion was good also but it was hyped up over here and given a better time slot. I still managed to discover Threshold thow it was aired on friday nights around midnight. Now I find out it's canned and I was hoping to see a another season this year... my kids enjoyed Surface so I'd record it for them it aired immediatly after Threshold.

"People say that you're going the wrong way when it's simply a way of your own"

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Threshold--Kinda reminded me of the X-files and Invasion of the Body Snatchers but for crying out loud, it had Charles Dutton and Spiner.

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1. Invasion- This was a truly terrific series. The whole first season played out like one feature-length film, and I was completely gripped from beginning to end. Great cast and great storytelling. It even managed the look and feel of a movie.

2. Threshold- Another good sci-fi series that had the potential to be excellent. I'm ranking it below Invasion because the episodes did occasionally start to feel like a "stop the threat of the week" syndrome.

3. Surface- It wasn't terrible, but I didn't really like any of the characters and if there was any reason to keep watching, it was because Leighton Meester was a total hottie (who wasn't even in the show nearly enough).

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Thanks for bringing up Surface and Invasion. I'd never heard of those until I read this thread. I just bought both series.

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Surface was awesome. And I really enjoyed Threshold. I thing the biggest problem all 3 of these shows had is that none of them lasted long enough.

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It is a shame. WIth a lot of series season 1 is usually the weakest. It's generally an introduction to the characters and plants the seeds for the major stories that will be set in motion for following seasons. SO by cutting it short after one season, we never really get an idea as to how great any of these shortlived series could've been. Just think of how many great series in past history that would never have happened if networks had been so trigger happy to pull the plug on everything after a season. But now more than ever, shows just don't get a chance

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Surface, first. Why? The writing. The story. It reached one climax, and left you wanting more. There were still questions to be answered - answers that NBC initially promised to answer after the 2006 Winter Olympics and/or in Season 2. There remains an active petition to see this show back on the air

Threshold next. Here again, we got CBS screwing a speculative fiction drama/narrative - much like Jericho. The ending to this leaves me unsettled as well.

Invasion last, if only because it always struck me as derivative and the overall story0line weak. The characters never seemed to grab me.

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I ABSOLUTELY disagree; Surface's writing was par at best, Threshold in the middle and Invasion up front because ITS writing was incredible. I think if Surface was different (having the creatures pre-date man, not be created by us) it would have been the best of the 3, but nope, it wasn't. They all had certain potential but the networks just had to cancel them. If you ask me, the networks can't handle great shows; they're always canceled. For example, Firefly; one of the best sci-fi shows ever created, canceled half-way through the first season. Dollhouse; a wonderful sci-fi action series canceled two seasons in. Daybreak; an intense action thriller series with a sci-fi twist canceled not even half-way through the first season. I just think that someone, outside the regular networks, needs to step up and bring back some of these shows that never got resolved. Hell, ask the community/fans to help donate money to fund and finish these wonderful and incredible shows, no matter how long it would take; i know i'd help out

Hogarth, you stay. I go. No following.

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Of the two I've seen, this and Invasion - Invasion is miles above this.
Threshold isn't horribly bad, but compared to Invasion it lacks staying power. I still think it sucks they pulled Invasion.

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Invasion. It had a more interesting and cohesive story and the cast just seemed to mesh really well and there was also a great atmosphere about the whole production. It was also pretty creepy I thought, which made it compelling.

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Invasion had the most involving characters. The premise is weird, and the setting is unique. I loved it. Really interested to see how it would all develop. With those expectations, it would be really easy to not meet them, so I guess we are lucky to not have a season 2.

Surface had the most wacky idea, but also the most believable. I would love to see what happens after the end of season 1. The cast can be really annoying, and a lot of time is spent on characters that I don't really care for. Oh well. Still thumbs up for the idea alone, and the setting.

Threshold has an awesome idea, the most rational one for what an alien visit would actually be like. Also it has Carla Gugino. I am struggling to finish Threshold though, 3 episodes left and not sure whether I want to see them. Threshold suffers a bit of being too lab-based.

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Threshold was the best, IMO - very different premise, well-written, and a great cast. Ten years later and I'm still pissed that it was cancelled in the middle of it's first season. For second place, I'm torn between Invasion and Surface, frankly. The characters in Surface were intensely annoying, and the "science" was sketchy at best, though the effects were pretty good. Invasion had better characters and writing, but the pacing on it was so damned uneven that it just never really grabbed me.

I do have all three series on disc, though, and have watched each of them multiple times.

It was so disappointing to have three good science fiction series premiere on broadcast TV in the same season, only to be swiftly and unceremoniously axed.

Cum simioli e culo meo volent.

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