The 4400

The 4400 pays homage to a number of different science fiction shows, but manages to consistently put its own unique and original spin on the story lines week after week.

The tone and the atmosphere of the show hit just the right notes. The acting is good all around with standouts Billy Campbell playing a totally different kind of character than in "Once and Again" and Conchita Campell convincingly playing equal measures of cute and creepy.

After seeing the first couple of shows in Season 2, I am looking forward to seeing where the 4400 is going to take us.

The 4400 is a very interesting story that I have not seen before. What happens after a person has been abducted by ETs and returns a number of years later. They find their loved ones dead. The neighborhoods they knew are gone. Their family had assumed they're dead and moved on. What would the readjustment be like? That is the story of this very fascinating miniseries is about. I will be sure to watch the rest of this series to see what happens. I'm sure some people will learn how to cope and some will not. But is there something more sinister going on? The 4400 is the cure for the summer boredom. I wish the networks would stop putting on one idiotic reality show after another and have shows that are at least have some ambition to them. Why does junk like The Simple Life and Fear Factor stay on the air and shows with ambition are banished to cable. That's where the viewers should go. Watch this show.

I actually quite enjoyed the first series. I was compelled to watch through to the final episode to see the characters story arc's develop.

Yes there are the typical Sci-fi clichés (maybe 4400 by the time the show is finished?). But I would say that this is a Sci-fi show and not a Sci-fact show, and by it's very nature it's a work of fiction, thus real world science doesn't really matter or nessecarily apply.

The scene the first post was alluding to was (I'm sure) not intended to be a dazzling display of the script writers grasp of near and outer orbital rocket science, but a characterization of both the governmental paranoia and hopeless desperation that humans can exhibit when faced with seemingly futile situations.

Personally, I don't think the acting is too bad, yes it does smack of countless other Sci-fi shows and draws heavily on many common themes running through all Sci-fi series, but what shows don't? There is little originality in Sci-fi these days, but the premise of this show is at least relatively unexplored.

How many shows do you know that effectively try to portray the multitude of challenges that face abductees when they try to re-integrate into a society that seemingly doesn't want them, can't understand them or are jealous of them?

Comparisons are inevitable, but when you're subconsciously thinking "Mulder and Scully" or "Rouge and Wolverine" while you are watching supposedly new characters then as a script writer you've got to try to distance yourself from what could easily be considered as stereotypes. This is probably my greatest (and only real) criticism.

If the script writers were just a little less derivative, and a bit more adventurous then I think we have a winner.

P.S. Oh, and they need to stop the re-caps at the start of every darn episode, the fast forward button on my Tivo's getting worn out as it is.

Mqark.

This is an extremely ambitious but well-written and well-acted sci-fi story. The key is that it is not just about weird goings-on but rather, what people might do under weird circumstances. The answers are touching and thought-provoking. There are drawbacks and potential drawbacks. The show is not over yet; we don't know what it will look like when it is over, but so far, very good. I wish they had a larger budget so they did not have to skimp on special effects. But then, like early X-Files episodes--which this most closely resembles, the show relies more on the viewers imagination than on special effects.

Man I hope it's not just me, but Season 3 was terrible, and even though Season 4 just started my hopes that it would be better this year have been dashed so far. It's not just me that thinks that is it? The 1st season was great (mini-series included) and even the second was pretty good. But now it just seems to be lost! I don't know what the hell the deal is with it, but it seems like the writers are snoozing or maybe they are off on other more important projects, I don't know. It is a real shame because there is nothing else to watch during the summer. I really wish they would get with program and make it enjoyable to watch again. If this keeps up, I doubt we will see a fifth season.