'Falling Skies': TNT serves up solid sci-fi entertainment

Sure, things are pretty bad right now. The economy is terrible, people are out of work, we're fighting I-don't-know-how-many wars, and "The Real Housewives" franchise is still thriving on Bravo.

But at least earth hasn't been overrun by murderous aliens who have wiped out most of the planet's inhabitants and have the rest of us on the run while they try to kidnap and enslave our children.

That's the kind of light-hearted fare you'll find in TNT's ambitious new summer science fiction series, "Falling Skies," which debuts this Sunday.

Actually, it's somehow not as depressing as the plot makes it sound. Even though all that stuff I mentioned is going on, the post-apocalyptic doom and gloom is framed in a compelling story that's tinged with a sense of hope. And it's highly entertaining.

The series, executive produced by Steven Spielberg, stars Noah Wyle ("ER") as Tom Mason, an American History teacher who has joined a resistance movement in Massachusetts to fight the aliens -- they call them Skitters -- and to try to restore some semblance of normal life and stability for his three sons.

I'm not usually much for science fiction or aliens, but I found "Falling Skies" engrossing, with more of a focus on characters than on special effects. So I guess if you geek out over amazing CGI and dazzling special effects, you might be disappointed on that point.

That's not to say there are no special effects. The story begins six months after the alien invasion, but we do get to see the offending Skitters -- a lot, and up close. And as far as I'm qualified to say (again, I'm not a hardcore sci-fi aficionado) nothing looked overly fake or cheesy. I found the Skitters creepy and terrifying, and the robot "mechs" who do a lot of the battling for the Skitters were menacing in their fatal efficiency.

Also, while "Falling Skies" is naturally full of its share of death and misery, it's not particularly graphic or gory.

This is as good a place as any to mention that it often reminded me of AMC's excellent zombie series "The Walking Dead," but "Falling Skies" is way lighter and lacks the acccompanying nausea. Both series have that post-apocalyptic struggle for survival as the central theme, but there's a sense of hope in "Falling Skies" that you don't feel with "The Walking Dead."  

One reason for that hope is Mason's frequent reminders to his bedraggled compatriots that the Skitters are not indestructible and that there's a precedent for prevailing over them. Another reason for that sense of hope is that whenever "Falling Skies" ventures into darkness, it quickly retreats and reminds the viewer of the humanity at stake. Nearly every episode (I've seen 7 of the 10 series hours so far) features a heartwarming moment between Mason and his sons, or some kind of life lesson about perseverance and the importance of family or faith.

So yes, there are a few awkwardly placed Hallmark moments, but it thankfully never quite veers into corny.

Overall, it's a solid, entertaining summer series that should appeal to sci-fi fans, but one that's also accessible to those of us not completely versed in the genre. So even if (or maybe especially if) you don't have the "Battlestar Galactica" box set on your shelf, "Falling Skies" will have something for you.

The series also stars Moon Bloodgood as the camp doctor, Will Patton as the commander of Mason's resistance movement, and Drew Roy as Mason's oldest son. There's a memorable guest turn from Steven Weber, and Collin Cunningham plays one of the show's most interesting recurring characters, the leader of a band of marauders who feels the alien invasion is the greatest thing to ever happen to him.

"Falling Skies" begins Sunday night on TNT at 9 p.m. with a special two-hour premiere. The normal timeslot will be Sunday nights at 10 p.m. and the series plays out over eight weeks.