And we don't know if they're from outer space. "I can't answer that," said executive producer Jonas Pate. "You'll have to watch the show."

Predictably, the characters in "Surface" include civilians who accidentally come across the creatures, government officials who want to keep it quiet and a teenager who brings the egg home. (The cast includes Lake Bell, Rade Sherbedgia, Jay R. Ferguson and Carter Jenkins.)

Also predictably, the producers aren't telling us much about where they're going — except that they know where they're going. "Our focus is big, family, popcorn adventure that an 8-year-old can watch with his grandfather," Josh Pate said. "It's about awe and wonder."

Whether the premise — which is set up rather intriguingly in the pilot — holds up over an entire season, let alone seasons, remains to be seen.

THRESHOLD (two-hour premiere tonight at 8 on CBS/Ch. 2) tries real hard to make its aliens different from all the other aliens. Which it does.

But what it doesn't do is create a show unlike a lot of things we've seen before. This looks like science-fiction-by-the-numbers.

The "Threshold" in the title refers to a plan cooked up by Dr. Molly Anne Caffrey (Carla Gugino) that's put into effect when first contact with aliens is made. Her boss, the deputy national-security advisor (Charles S. Dutton) pretty much kidnaps a group of geniuses (Brent Spiner, Rob Benedict, Peter Dinklage, Brian Van Holt) who aren't happy about it and don't much like each other.

They investigate a weird intrusion by what they believe are aliens from another dimension. Bugs crawl in circles; fish swim in circles; humans die; creepiness ensues.

"It's more 'Signs' than 'Independence Day' " executive producer David Goyer said.

Which is fine, but "Threshold" seems sort of ho-hum for a show about something that (apparently) threatens the entire planet. The big challenge may be to make us care who the aliens are and what they want before we change the channel.

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com