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Threshold
SERIES: CBS, Friday 9:00p (60 minutes)

Threshold
Critic Score
Metascore: 64 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.2 out of 10
based on 26 reviews
read critic reviews
how did we calculate this?
based on 50 votes
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rate this tv show

Starring Carla Gugino, Charles S. Dutton, Brent Spiner, Rob Benedict, Peter Dinklage, and Brian Van Holt

This sci-fi drama with a sense of humor follows a team of scientists and military personnel who deal with an alien invasion on Earth.

GENRE(S): Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
CREATED BY: Bragi Schut
Brannon Braga
David Goyer
David Heyman
FIRST AIR DATE: September 16, 2005
LAST AIR DATE: November 22, 2005

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100
USA Today Robert Bianco
Convincingly smart, realistically unsettled and sexy as all get-out, Gugino radiates so much TV star power, it just might be visible from outer space.
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90
Variety Brian Lowry
Crisp, smart and spooky, this cerebral sci-fi drama is the best of the new "Something's out there" series.
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90
Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan
The most exciting new show of the fall TV season.
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88
New York Daily News David Hinckley
It has everything you want from such a show: quirky characters, gifted actors, a captivating central story - and questions that leave you not only wanting more, but hungry for it.
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80
Cleveland Plain Dealer Mark Dawidziak
Like "The X-Files," a series it resembles in both look and tone, "Threshold" is as much a horror show as it is a science-fiction program.
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80
Kansas City Star Aaron Barnhart
A violent, hair-raising combo of “The Ring,” “War of the Worlds” and “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” with a dash of official conspiracy.
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80
Orlando Sentinel Hal Boedeker
Of the three [alien invasion series], this CBS series boasts the best light show. It has assembled the strongest cast. Above all, it establishes the most involving story and the one most likely to bring viewers back the following week.
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80
Salon Heather Havrilesky
May be the most riveting and the most haunting drama to air this fall.
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80
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Melanie McFarland
Considering all that it has going for it, "Threshold" has a more formidable foe in Friday night apathy. Out of all the shows that could possibly conquer that, though, you couldn't place your faith in a better choice than this excellent proof of intelligent TV life.
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75
San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman
Dinklage is particularly good here and the whole idea of trying to hide from the public the fact we've been invaded is intriguing fare.
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70
The Onion A.V. Club
It's only one good episode away from turning from intriguing to addictive.
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70
The New York Times Alessandra Stanley
"Threshold" holds back more than it reveals, and that is the right contingency plan for a successful science fiction thriller.
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70
San Jose Mercury News Charlie McCollum
"Threshold" seems to have a lot going for it. A good bunch of writers. Classy production. One of the season's quirkiest and most appealing casts,... Whether all these high-quality ingredients result in an intoxicating sci-fi stew remains to be seen.
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70
Hollywood Reporter Barry Garron
Sci-fi purists might find it the taste of CBS' "Threshold" disconcerting, but for the rest of us, this is scary fun and suspenseful dramedy.
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70
Miami Herald Glenn Garvin
The cynical and cerebral Threshold is the darkest of the three new space-alien shows, so much so that the producers seem to be wondering if the human race is even worth saving.
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60
Time James Poniewozik
The cast is startlingly good... given that the actors have to deliver lines like "I think we're looking at a four-dimensional object--in three- dimensional space!"
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60
LA Weekly Robert Abele
This is a series about whip-smart heroes, with an outbreak to contain each week, usually involving quick action, rapid analysis and fast wit.
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58
Entertainment Weekly Gillian Flynn
With all of its bad-guy chases, Threshold feels like a fantasy series that's been focus-grouped into a cop show.
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50
New York Post Linda Stasi
The premise is fun, but if this is CBS' attempt at "Lost," then they are, if not totally lost, certainly in need of a map. And a new writer. Some of the dialogue is laugh-out-loud bad.
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50
Los Angeles Times Robert Lloyd
"Threshold" is a comic book, and passable as such.
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40
Newsday Diane Werts
The first hour manages to feel both mechanical and manipulative, without feeling truly exciting or even grounded anyplace.
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40
Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert
When the show isn't creeping us out with its grim atmosphere and effects, it's undermining its own potential with a self-consciously cutesy gang of heroes, ill-advised humor, and illogical situations.
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40
Slate Dana Stevens
The show's focus remains frustratingly narrow.
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40
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen
There's too much emphasis on fictional scientific theories and not enough character development to make the few scares in "Threshold" worth a two-hour commitment.
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30
PopMatters Bill Gibron
Even with all its CGI trappings and somber Washington, D.C. setting, Threshold feels minor, an amalgam of The Abyss and maybe Dark Skies.
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10
Philadelphia Inquirer Jonathan Storm
There's nothing inviting about the ponderous Threshold. Portentous music plays. Scared smart guys, rounded up by the government to figure out what's really happening, say smart-guy stupid stuff.
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What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this tv show is 8.2 (out of 10) based on 50 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jennifer G gave it a10:
This was a great show. Is it going to back on air? I seen it on the sci fi channel toward the end of 2006

Karl D gave it a10:
great show best scifi since xfiles. Is it coming back?

Adam C gave it a10:
the only show anywhere that could quiet my crowd down hope it returns soon or it'll be rowdy here again w/o

murdock gave it a10:
I've watched all 13 episodes and I want more....CBS were the wrong company to be supporting this. Lets hope another station will pick it up. One with a good reputation...

[Anonymous] gave it a10:
This is a really good show, great stories, great characters and shouldn't be cancelled

Joanne C gave it a10:
it is a gr8 show and i hope it cums bk on.it is 1 of my top fav shows

pam k gave it a10:
what was cbs thinking? like abc and the night stalker they never give the good ones a chance and replace them with crappy new shows. change days and time slots and maybe these great show will survive. no wonder they are struggling in the rating games.

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