Threshold
CBS | Release Date: September 16, 2005
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
9
Negative:
2

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
USA TodayRobert Bianco
Season 1 Review: 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. Read full review
90
Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Season 1 Review: The most exciting new show of the fall TV season. Read full review
90
VarietyBrian Lowry
Season 1 Review: Crisp, smart and spooky, this cerebral sci-fi drama is the best of the new "Something's out there" series. Read full review
88
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 1 Review: 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. Read full review
80
Cleveland Plain DealerMark Dawidziak
Season 1 Review: 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. Read full review
80
Kansas City StarAaron Barnhart
Season 1 Review: A violent, hair-raising combo of “The Ring,” “War of the Worlds” and “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” with a dash of official conspiracy. Read full review
80
Orlando SentinelHal Boedeker
Season 1 Review: 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. Read full review
80
SalonHeather Havrilesky
Season 1 Review: May be the most riveting and the most haunting drama to air this fall. Read full review
80
Seattle Post-IntelligencerMelanie McFarland
Season 1 Review: 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. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman
Season 1 Review: 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. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron
Season 1 Review: 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. Read full review
70
Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin
Season 1 Review: 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. Read full review
70
San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa TimesCharlie McCollum
Season 1 Review: "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. Read full review
70
The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley
Season 1 Review: "Threshold" holds back more than it reveals, and that is the right contingency plan for a successful science fiction thriller. Read full review
70
The A.V. Club
Season 1 Review: It's only one good episode away from turning from intriguing to addictive. Read full review
60
TimeJames Poniewozik
Season 1 Review: 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!" Read full review
60
L.A. WeeklyRobert Abele
Season 1 Review: This is a series about whip-smart heroes, with an outbreak to contain each week, usually involving quick action, rapid analysis and fast wit. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyGillian Flynn
Season 1 Review: With all of its bad-guy chases, Threshold feels like a fantasy series that's been focus-grouped into a cop show. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd
Season 1 Review: "Threshold" is a comic book, and passable as such. Read full review
50
New York PostLinda Stasi
Season 1 Review: 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. Read full review
40
Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Season 1 Review: 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. Read full review
40
NewsdayDiane Werts
Season 1 Review: The first hour manages to feel both mechanical and manipulative, without feeling truly exciting or even grounded anyplace. Read full review
40
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
Season 1 Review: 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. Read full review
40
SlateDana Stevens
Season 1 Review: The show's focus remains frustratingly narrow. Read full review
30
PopMattersBill Gibron
Season 1 Review: Even with all its CGI trappings and somber Washington, D.C. setting, Threshold feels minor, an amalgam of The Abyss and maybe Dark Skies. Read full review
10
Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm
Season 1 Review: 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. Read full review
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