Have you ever been watching a new show that seems to have a great start then find out it was canceled? I have felt this struggle multiple times for different shows and much of the time these good characters and stories never see the spotlight they deserve because of the short life span of the show. I wanted to start a series about those one season wonders and showcase the good, the bad and the potential of these shows. It also helps that because these are new season shows they are also very bingable!
The first show I wanted to tackle in this series is “Threshold.” Its a 2005 sci-fi horror series with a pretty impressive cast and fascinating twist on the alien invasion genre.
This cast includes Peter Dinklage from “Game of Thrones” as full of himself master linguist Arthur Ramsay, Brent Spiner from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” as the closed-off expert Biologist Nigel Fenway, Rob Benedict from “Supernatural” as the young slightly naive NASA engineer Lucas Pegg and Carla Gugino from “A Haunting at Hill House” starring as the brave and strong lead strategist for the entire operation Dr. Molly Anne.
Just from those names alone, it can be plainly seen this show is a gold mine of acting talent and it shows within their performances as everyone really does give it their all in the 13 episodes this shows life had.
The plot of the show is when a pulsating alien craft descends in the ocean, a nearby boat sees the disturbance and the craft sends out a noise signal that either kills you or turns you into one of them. A team of the best minds is formed to create Threshold, a secret government operation aimed at stopping the alien outbreak and saving the world.
Yeah, cool right? Though I don’t want to spoil this show too much because I urge people to watch it themselves I can say the plot and the writing are pretty solid throughout. Each episode is set up like a crime show would be, each episode handles a certain way the aliens are planning to spread their signal and the team has to find a way to stop it before it’s too late. Throughout these smaller stories, there are quite a few character arcs that each character goes through giving the amount of time they had, each of the main cast members feels like they have a place in their universe and contribute in their own way that is unique to them. The dynamics between the characters are also done very well, with love and friendships forming to bond these people together as they struggle with the invasion and it affecting people they hold dear.
I own the DVD copy and the creator’s commentary does give you a lot of insight as to where the show would have gone if they were renewed. It was only planned to have 3 seasons and each season was going to have a different name, similar to how “Gotham” did their season name structure. The plot would have tackled different threats each season as well.
So, what went wrong? If this show is so good why did it get canceled? Well, I believe it was a number of things. One big problem was the time it came out, it was 2005, one of the best years for tv shows, so many shows came out at the same time that it became very much sink or swim, if you got even a little fewer views than another show, you were out. Many shows were born that year but many more were cut short. So in the ocean of sci-fi dramas Threshold did not have a chance to stand out. Another issue was it is not a fast show. It’s not an action show, it’s a lot of talking and figuring things out, so it’s harder for the traditional 7 pm audience to digest than other shows at the time.
I spoke with Brent Spiner about this show last year at Galaxycon Richmond and he remembered the set life fondly, everyone got along and many of them are still in touch. He talked about how much potential it had and how it was one of the harder projects he had worked on to let go.
So that is threshold, again I want to avoid the plot because I really highly recommend it and I don’t want to spoil anything for you guys, but it was definitely gone too soon.
Written by Julie LaRue
