There has been a lot of hype surrounding the latest TV project from Steven Spielberg. This isn't the first time Big Steve has taken aliens to the small screen. Back in the early 90s, Spielberg brought forth two ambitious TV projects in the forms of SEAQUEST and EARTH 2. 
Both were no where near the quality they should have been and both had an identity crisis soon into production.
Spielberg is back full tilt in TV production again with FALLING SKIES and FOX's upcoming TERRA NOVA, both are budget busting sci-fi extravaganzas that are looking to push the envelope. FALLING SKIES with its aliens and TERRA NOVA with its dinosaurs.
Having seen the first two episodes of FALLING SKIES I can say Spielberg actually waited for a fully thought out plot this time before he stamped his name on it.
The series stars former ER alum Noah Wyle as Tom Mason, a single dad who is just trying to keep his three sons alive after an alien invasion rips through the Eastern US. The Mason clan joins a rag-tag band of rebels led by Will Patton who believe in strength in numbers.
The pilot shows that this series is very focused on keeping it as realistic as possible. Scavenging for food, man vs. man, army vs. civilians and just trying to survive is a daily struggle for these people. It is reminiscent of JERICHO and more recently WALKING DEAD in trying to maintain the realistic grounding.
Wyle is stoic as the dad and you can just see the hidden pain and exhaustion on his face in every scene. This truly is a fully realized character.
The action sequences are intense like BATTLE LOS ANGELES but because the series is based in reality, you also have teens and younger taking up guns against the invaders. The Mason family dynamic reminded me a lot of Tom Cruise's struggle in Spielberg's WAR OF THE WORLDS.
The aliens are also quite impressively designed and put most movie aliens to shame. Somebody actually thought about how the aliens should be designed. I thought it was really cool when one of the survivors asks why the aliens outside of their mechanized robots have six legs but their robot armor only has two. The answer, to appear more human.
I hope the series can maintain a sense of hope and not float into Battlestar Galactica territory where it is so depressing. You want the characters to win but you don't want a struggle that will never lift. It is a fine balance. Time will tell.
Falling Skies premieres on Superchannel on July 6. Watch for it!
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