I’ve always been a fan of science fiction, fantasy, and horror.  Oh, I like to read and watch a wide variety of media, but SF/Fantasy/Horror is always what I return to.  This season I have a lot of genre shows to take in, and now that we’re a few weeks into the new season a few are starting to become favorites. 

Threshold:  I will admit that I wanted to dislike this show.  Brannon Braga’s stewardship of the Star Trek franchise has been less than stellar, culminating with the first season in a very long time without some form of new Star Trek on television.  That’s OK, though.  Star Trek needs a rest and hopefully some better stewards will come along.  That being said, Threshold has really started to grow on me; in fact, it is fast becoming my favorite of the new genre shows this season.  What sets it apart, in my opinion, is that it’s obvious the writers and producers have put some thought into the show.  There’s a background and history developing that shows they’ve put some work into developing the plot.  The cast is also great.  Carla Gugino as Molly Anne Caffrey, the woman who designed the Threshold Scenario, a scenario designed to plan for an alien invasion of earth brings realism to the show and has developed excellent chemistry with the entire cast.  The rest of the cast, including Brent Spiner of ST:TNG, is excellent.  Threshold has not exactly drawn stellar ratings, but I hope CBS keeps it on long enough for us to see how things turn out.

Invasion:  I liked this show at first.  I thought the concept of an alien invasion (yes, another one!) in the midst of a hurricane was intriguing, and at first they really seemed to carry it off.  However, recent episodes have shown a lack of planning on the part of the writers and producers.  Unlike Threshold, you get no sense of background or history.  Moreover, the cast really doesn’t mesh all that well and, quite frankly, it’s too large.  Invasion’s real problem seems to be in ratings.  It loses a major chunk of Lost’s audience, but it also has major competition with CSI: NY and Law & Order.

Surface:  Like Threshold, this is a show that is really starting to grow on me.  I find myself very intrigued by the undersea monster aliens at the heart of the show.  Again, like Threshold, Surface benefits from a great cast, great writing, great production quality, and a real sense of history and background development.  Like Invasion, Surface also has a large cast, which can make the episodes a little choppy, but each group has a specific role to play in the development of the plot and the interaction between those various groups is great, especially when circumstances require they cross paths.  Some might say Surface is little more than an episodic B-movie creature feature, but as this plot develops it’s growing into so much more.  Again, the ratings are not stellar, but Surface regularly beats CBS’ former Monday night juggernaut and that has to be something for struggling NBC.

Ghost Whisperer:  Ah, the guilt pleasure of my Friday night.  This show is little more than a touchy-feely version of the The Sixth Sense mated with Touched by an Angel, but it works well.  Granted, Jennifer Love Hewitt is not exactly an acting powerhouse, but the stories they’ve aired so far have had real touching moments and even Hewitt’s mediocre acting can’t hurt it.  Ghost Whisperer is a show I can take or leave.  I enjoy watching it, but if something else is on, I’ll watch that (hey that’s why I have TIVO); and if it gets cancelled, I won’t cry about it.

Night Stalker: A re-imagining of the 1970s classic show that inspired the likes of X-Files creator Chris Carter, this 21^st century Night Stalker is still too new to judge.  Only two episodes have aired and while they show great potential for the future I’m still unsure.  The ratings are certainly sucking so I doubt it will last – even with the excuse that it’s on one of the toughest nights of television with CSI on at the same time.  I think this show would be better suited in the X-Files old Friday or Sunday night time slot.  Friday night at 9:00 PM is a veritable waste land of nothing to watch and I think it could really compete against CBS’ mediocre Numb3rs.  I will say this:  Stuart Townsend is a great actor and brings a lot to the show, including great chemistry with Gabrielle Union.

None of these shows can match the drama or intensity of Lost or Battlestar Galactica, but several are still good – Invasion is the only real dud so far.

URL: House GOP may try to weaken bill on torture

Democrats should be getting ready for a fight on this issue.  It’s a knock-out win whatever happens.  There is no reason – none – a Republican can give for embracing torture.  Torture will not stop terrorism, it will inflame it.  Torture would not have stopped the attacks on September 11 and they will not stop future attacks.  Torture puts the men and women serving our country in greater danger of being tortured themselves. Torture belittles the sacrifice made by Americans to secure the very freedoms terrorists hate.  Torture is wrong, and if Democrats can’t band together to fight this, then they are doomed to minority status forever.  Granted, Republicans will keep Dems out of the conferences like they always do, but there is still a PR battle than can be waged and won.  Fight, damn you, fight!

URL: Sources: Rove told Bush he wasn’t involved in CIA leak

But, whether he was involved or not (and I believe he was), isn’t it the job of a president’s Chief of Staff to give him (or her) plausible deniability?  Of course, Rove would tell the president he wasn’t involved in the leak.  That way, if it comes out, then the president can feign surprise, ask for a resignation, and move on.  A Chief of Staff wears many hats, but a big part of his job is protecting the president.

URL: Oprah helps nab fugitive sex offender

I’m no great fan of Oprah’s, but I will admit that when the woman sets out to do good, she does it.  No one can deny the part she played in getting this man behind bars.  Special kudos should go out to Jean Rosenthal, the Moorhead, MN woman who saw the picture and called the police.  A true hero.