Surface: The Complete Series

Surface lasted all of one season (2005-06) on NBC for good reason: the primetime series resembled nothing so much as a mediocre rip-off of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, gussied-up with contemporary TV's requisite conspiracy subplots about secret government agencies and technological shenanigans. The sprawling storyline takes place in different locations on the planet, where a variety of people have similar experiences: namely, they're bumping into sea monsters emerging from the bowels of the earth. Lake Bell stars as an oceanographer whose submersible is jostled by one of the critters; Jay R. Ferguson plays an insurance salesman who sees his brother dragged off by another; and Carter Jenkins costars as a 14-year-old boy who adopts a baby monster as a pet. Eventually, national security, trying to hush up the phenomenon, puts the lid on everyone, but these folks are too driven to stay down for long. Unfortunately, Bell's and Ferguson's characters are simply unlikable people, making it hard for us to care about their mission or their safety, for that matter. The computer-generated creatures are nicely rendered, but the full story about how they got into the ocean in the first place is a genuine bore. Finally, Surface just isn't sure of its audience—adults or 12-year-olds?—and wanting to appeal to both ends up satisfying neither. DVD extras include deleted scenes and a behind-the-scenes look at the first season. Not recommended. (T. Keogh)