CBS Announces Premiere of "Threshold" September 16th  8/25/05

"THRESHOLD," A NEW DRAMA SERIES STARRING CARLA GUGINO, EMMY AWARD WINNER CHARLES S. DUTTON, BRIAN VAN HOLT, BRENT SPINER, ROB BENEDICT AND PETER DINKLAGE, WILL DEBUT WITH A TWO-HOUR SERIES PREMIERE, FRIDAY, SEPT. 16 ON THE CBS TELEVISION NETWORK

"Trees Made of Glass Parts I and 2" -- Carla Gugino ("Sin City"), Emmy Award winner Charles S. Dutton ("Something the Lord Made"), Brian Van Holt ("House of Wax"), Brent Spiner ("Star Trek: The Next Generation"), Rob Benedict ("Felicity") and Peter Dinklage ("The Station Agent") star in the new series, THRESHOLD, which debuts with a two-hour series premiere event, Friday, Sept. 16 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. The suspense drama focuses on a team of experts who, after a strange phenomenon is discovered, must try to thwart the possible global threats that stem from it.

Dr. Molly Anne Caffrey (Gugino) is a government contingency analyst whose job is to devise response plans for worst-case scenarios. In a single instant, her life changes when one of those plans -- THRESHOLD -- is activated by Deputy National Security Advisor J.T. Baylock (Dutton). Armed only with her hypothetical strategy to address an unprecedented occurrence, Caffrey now finds herself thrust in the midst of a global crisis. Now, to help her investigation, Dr. Caffrey hand-picks a team of eclectic specialists to help execute her plan: Dr. Nigel Fenway (Spiner), a disillusioned NASA microbiologist; Lucas Pegg (Benedict), a brilliant but neurotic physicist; Arthur Ramsey (Dinklage), an expert in languages and mathematics who has a penchant for unpredictability, women and alcohol; and Cavennaugh (Van Holt), a highly trained covert operative with a mysterious past. Together, they are in a race against the clock to identify the source of the threat that could strike at any time, anywhere and to anyone.

In the premiere episode, Dr. Caffrey and her team must investigate a chilling situation on the Big Horn, a U.S. Naval cargo freighter, after its crew is terrorized by a signal from a mysterious craft that lands in the mid-Atlantic Ocean. Once it's discovered that most of the ship's men have perished or disappeared except for one, First Mate Gunneson (William Mapother), they observe him and study his strange behavior until he jumps overboard. Meanwhile, Dr. Caffrey, Cavennaugh and Pegg discover a video of the craft that emits a loud noise that causes them to have a severe physical reaction, and it is then that they realize they've made first contact with an unexplainable force and must now follow Caffrey's contingency plan to the letter.

However, Dr. Caffrey and her team realize that other missing crew might not have perished, just like Gunneson. Now, in order to contain the situation, they must find him and any other crew members to figure out what has affected them before it spreads to the rest of the population and creates a crisis situation.

Carla Gugino's television credits include her critically-acclaimed performance as the title character in the series, "Karen Sisco," based on the character from the Elmore Leonard novel, Out of Sight. She has also appeared in the series "Chicago Hope" on the Network, "Spin City," and has starred in many television movies, including the CBS Hallmark Hall of Fame movie "A Season for Miracles," "A Private Matter," "The Motorcycle Gang;" "She Creature," and the mini-series "The Buccaneers." Her feature film credits include "Sin City," her role in all three installments of the "Spy Kids" series, "The Singing Detective," "The Center of the World," "The One," "The Jimmy Club," "Snake Eyes," "Judas Kiss," "The War at Home," "Michael," "Miami Rhapsody," "This Boy's Life," "Son in Law," "Lovelife" and "Troop Beverly Hills," her first film. She will next be seen in the feature film "Jump Shot" and will soon begin work on the film "Rise." Gugino's theater credits include her Broadway debut in the Roundabout Theater's revival of Arthur Miller's After the Fall, for which she received an Outer Critics' Circle Award nomination and a Theater World award for Outstanding Broadway Debut.

Charles S. Dutton is an accomplished film, television and theater actor, as well as producer and director. He won an Emmy Award in 2002 for his guest role on "The Practice" and one in 2003 for his guest role on CBS's "Without a Trace." Dutton's feature film credits include "Against the Ropes" (which he also directed), "Get On The Bus," "Mimic," "Crocodile Dundee II," "A Time To Kill," "Mississippi Masala," "Alien 3," "The Distinguished Gentleman," "Menace II Society," "Rudy", "Surviving the Game," "Low Down Dirty Shame," "Cry The Beloved Country," "D-Tox," "Random Hearts," "Cookie's Fortune" and "Secret Window." On television, Dutton appeared in "ROC" (for which he also served as executive producer), "The Practice," "The L-Word," "Ed," "The Sopranos," "Homicide: Life on the Street," the television movies "Something the Lord Made," " DC Sniper," "Zooman," "10,000 Black Men Named George," and in the mini-series "The Murder of Mary Phagan," "The '60s" and "For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story." He directed the mini-series "The Corner" and the television movie "First Time Felon." His theater work includes "The Piano Lesson" and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," for which he received two Tony nominations, and "Joe Turner Come and Gone."

Brian Van Holt has several television roles to his credit, including "Sex and the City." His feature film credits include "House of Wax," "Black Hawk Down," "Windtalkers," "Basic," "S.W.A.T.," "Confidence," "Man of the House" and "Whipped."

Brent Spiner's television credits include "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "Star Trek: Enterprise," "Joey," "Friends," "Frasier," "The Outer Limits," "Mad About You," "The Twilight Zone," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Night Court," "Cheers," the television movies "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge," "Jack," "The Ponder Heart," "Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long," "Crazy from the Heart," "Family Sins," "Manhunt for Claude Dallas," "Crime of Innocence" and the mini-series "Robert Kennedy & His Times." His feature film credits include "The Aviator," four "Star Trek" films, "Independence Day," "I Am Sam," "Stardust Memories," "Dude, Where's My Car?," "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut," "The Master of Disguise," "Phenomenon" and "Out to Sea." Spiner's theater credits include "A History of the American Film," "Sunday in the Park with George," "Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," "The Three Musketeers," "Life Times Three" "Little Shop of Horrors," and "1776," for which he received a Drama Desk Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical.

Rob Benedict is best known to television audiences for his role as Richard Coad in "Felicity." His additional television credits include "NCIS" and "Chicago Hope," on the Network, "Alias," "Medium," "Birds of Prey," "NYPD Blue," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Snoops," and "Beverly Hills 90210." Benedict's feature film credits include "Kicking & Screaming," "Not Another Teen Movie," "Two Days," "The First $20 Million is Always the Hardest" and "My Dinner with Jimi."

Peter Dinklage is best known for his starring role in the in the 2003 Sundance Audience Award-winning film "The Station Agent," for which he was nominated for Best Actor in the 2003 Independent Spirit Awards. His additional feature film credits "Elf," "Human Nature," "Safe Men," "Never Again," "13 Moons," "Surviving Eden, and his role as 'Tito' in "Living In Oblivion." He recently wrapped the films "Find Me Guilty" and "Lassie," and will be seen in the upcoming feature films "The Baxter" and "The Little Fugitive," and is set to star in "Mendel's Dwarf," "Fellini Black & White," "Little Green Men" and the "Affair of the Sorcerers" franchise. His theater credits include "I Wanna Be Adored," "Imperfect Love" and "Evolution," "Hope Leaves the Theater," and "Richard III" at New York's Public Theater, for which he was nominated for a Drama League Distinguished Performance Award.

THRESHOLD is produced by Paramount Network Television. David Heyman, David S. Goyer and Brannon Braga are the executive producers.

Carla Gugino……... Dr. Molly Anne Caffrey Charles S. Dutton J.T. Blaylock Brian Van Holt Alice Doherty Brent Spiner Dr. Nigel Fenway Rob Benedict Lucas Pegg Peter Dinklage Arthur Ramsey Diane Venora Angela Hatten William Mapother Gunneson Scott MacDonald Captain Colin Campbell Grady Joel Steingold Fry Traber Burns Chef Josh Cruze Secretary of Defense James Mathers Secretary of Homeland Security Matthew Sigloch Seal Commander Raymond T. Williams Navy Seal #1 Dotan Baer Navy Seal #2 Mitchell Edmonds Chief of Naval Operations Lucas Ford Navy Seal #3 Charles Howerton Military Official Charles Emmett Navy Pilot Dominic Fumusa Cal Mark Berry Agent Hargrave Seamus Deaver Agent Detoro Kevin Durand Crewman Sonntag Richard J. Chacon Blue Collar Man Alice Lo Chinese woman Tay Blessey Young girl Rick Scarry Businessman Chris Freeman Tall man Zale Morris Skittish man

RATING: To Be Announced

Official CBS website:  http://www.cbs.com/primetime/threshold/