The first of this fall's three alien invasion dramas, CBS's "Threshold" (9 tonight, KDKA), kicks off with a snoozer of a two-hour premiere. This one has more light-hearted moments than the other two but also more technobabble, so it should come as no surprise that one of the executive producers is Brannon Braga of "Star Trek" shame ("Voyager" and "Enterprise").

	Jaimie Trueblood, CBS Carla Gugino as Molly Caffrey investigates alien activity on "Threshold," which premieres at 9 tonight on CBS. Click photo for larger image.

Filled with characters running, jumping and shooting, "Threshold" stars Carla Gugino as Molly Caffrey, a contingency analyst who created a plan (nicknamed Threshold) to respond to first contact with aliens.

No aliens are seen in the premiere, but they do send a signal that messes with the minds of crewmen on a ship at sea. The government calls on Caffrey and assembles a team of experts to put Threshold into action.

She eventually deduces that the aliens aren't invading -- rather, they're downloading "a program into the indigenous population" to make them more like the aliens.

Caffrey and two other Red Team members get their own dose of alien weirdness when they listen to a videotape (a la "The Ring") that shows the aliens' three-armed symbol.

The series features a strong supporting cast, particularly Brent Spiner and Peter Dinklage, but in this premiere 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.

See Sunday's Post-Gazette for a feature on the season's big trend (it's not just sci-fi shows) plus reviews of NBC's "Surface" and ABC's "Invasion."

'Twins'

In this era of lowered sitcom expectations, it may not mean much to say "Twins" (8:30 tonight, WCWB) is the best sitcom on The WB since "Reba." Granted, "Twins" is not in the same league as say, "Seinfeld" or "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," but we're living in a time when millions of Americans think "According to Jim" is comedy gold.

Mitchee (Sara Gilbert) and Farrah (Molly Stanton) are the kind of twin sisters you only see on TV. Not only are they different, they're absolutely nothing alike. Mitchee is smart and practical; Farrah is dim and beautiful. Mitchee designs underwear for her family's company; Farrah models it.

Consequently, Mitchee is the butt of jokes about not being beautiful enough or girly enough; Farrah gets verbal smackdowns for her lack of intelligence.

Gilbert, in particular, makes the script rise above the pedestrian. She often stole the show on "Roseanne" and she does here, too, with her deadpan sense of humor. When she's amused by a co-worker, she declares, "I'm not really a laugher, but I want you to know I think that's funny."

Their parents reflect the same division as the girls: Dad (Mark Linn-Baker, "Perfect Strangers") is smart and mom (Melanie Griffith) is dumb. (You really can't get much more opposite than Linn-Baker and Griffith, can you?)

Kwaku Alston, The WB Molly Stanton, left, plays Farrah and Sara Gilbert is Mitchie in "Twins." Click photo for larger image.

Despite the cliched sitcom trappings -- "Twins" was created by Max Mutchnick and David Kohan of "Will & Grace" fame (these days, perhaps the better word is "infamy") -- it's an amusing, if slight, diversion.

New looks

KDKA settled on baby blue as its dominant color scheme, reflected in both a tweaked set and new graphics that feature an updated font that no longer looks like a throwback to 1983. But I'm not yet convinced the new look, which debuted Monday, is cutting edge either. These graphics are cleaner and appear to complement what's on CBS News programs, but somehow KDKA's revamped look remains a little stodgy. Or maybe it's just that the KDKA theme music and announcer haven't changed and my visual intake is being thrown off by the same old aural cues.

KDKA's 9 to 11 a.m. newscast on WNPA got off to an inauspicious start Monday as 14 seconds of dead air played over video of hurricane destruction from the Gulf Coast.

"Oh my ... someone gonna talk to us?" anchor John Cater could be heard saying on an open mike.

After a rocky start, the morning news on WNPA was a solid effort. In-studio traffic reports (on both WNPA and KDKA) by newcomer Jim Lokay are an especially welcome improvement and Lokay has a nice presentation style. He seems genuine, whereas anchors Cater and Sonni Abatta are still settling into their pairing.

Abatta proved herself to be an effective anchor on KDKA's morning news for the past nine months. Teamed with Kelli Olexia, it's clear KDKA management moved her to UPN to help support Cater while the return of uber-smooth anchor Keith Jones on KDKA will benefit Olexia.

Cater seems to be trying too hard, particularly in an 8:50 a.m. unscripted (and sometimes nonsensical) anchor chat about daily newspaper headlines. The pair did three minutes off the cuff Monday (the time devoted to the segment was mercifully cut in half Tuesday) talking about the fourth anniversary of Sept. 11. Abatta did herself no favors among newsies who resent her youth -- a pointless grudge given that she's a better news reader than some of her more seasoned colleagues -- when she recalled, "I was in school, actually," on Sept. 11, 2001.

Katrina's aftermath

KDKA sent reporter David Highfield to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and WTAE sent anchor Mike Clark to Orlando, Fla., not to report for Channel 4, but to help a sister-station in New Orleans knocked off the air by the storm. Hearst-Argyle, owner of WTAE, also owns WDSU in New Orleans. The station, now broadcasting news in New Orleans, Houston and Baton Rouge on alternate channels, is cobbling together newscasts from Jackson, Miss., and Orlando, Fla., where Hearst owns WESH.

Clark and assistant news director Matthew Hilk were in Orlando Sept. 4-10 helping to keep WDSU's newscasts on the air. Clark anchored newscasts with a WDSU anchor and meteorologist.

Clark said he was trying to learn New Orleans geography on the fly as he and another anchor handled live coverage extemporaneously for hours on end.

"I was a small cog in a huge wheel, but it was neat to play a part where the viewer came first," he said,.

Although no one in New Orleans proper could see the WDSU telecasts, viewers in outlying areas and evacuees in other cities got to see the news.

"What I liken it to is if Allegheny County flooded out, but we'd still have viewers over the air in Greensburg, Butler, Washington and Indiana counties, ..." Clark said.

"I felt like we as a station group cared about employees, cared about the viewers in an extraordinary way. It kind of boosts your spirits in this age of downsizing and corporations treating employees like things."

In addition to Clark, reporter Jennifer Miele and photographer Lenni Todd have been in Houston for a week telling evacuee stories for both WTAE and WDSU. And producer Amy Schussler has been in Jackson for almost a week producing WDSU programming from Hearst station WAPT.

Channel surfing

Can't wait to see the "live" "Martha" episode a day later on KDKA? Tune in weeknights at 6 p.m. on TLC to see the episode that originates from New York that morning ... Discovery Channel's "The Flight That Fought Back" was watched in 7 million homes Sunday night, the highest-rated program on the network this year ... Pittsburgher Cynthia Wallace will be a contestant on "The Price Is Right" (11 a.m., KDKA) Tuesday ... The "CSI" season finale directed by Quentin Tarantino will be rebroadcast from 9 to 11 p.m. Wednesday, bumping the season premiere of "CSI: NY" to Sept. 28 ... The second episode of "Reunion," pre-empted last night by a presidential address, will air Sept. 22 ... The multi-network fund-raiser "Shelter From the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast" raised $30 million for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

TV Q&A

This week's TV Q&A responds to questions about anchors pairs, "The Daily Buzz" and, er, uh, my name. Read it online only at www.post-gazette.com/tv.