Carla Gugino stars in the alien-invasion thriller Threshold, airing Oct. 7 at 10 p.m. on CBS

There's no clear winner in TV's war of the worlds yet.

ABC's post-Lost Invasion, NBC's soggy Surface and CBS' Threshold are all holding their own -- meaning it'll take more than a flu bug to rid your small screen of this batch of beasties.

That's good news for Brannon Braga, Threshold's co-executive producer, who -- after 15 years of helping steer the Star Trek franchise with The Next Generation, Voyager and Enterprise -- relished the chance to beam out of the 24th century, even if he couldn't quite escape charting the voyages of more extraterrestrials.

"It's totally refreshing to be in the 21st century. I'd been in the 24th century for so long, I worried if I'd know how to write regular contemporary people," he tells the Sun.

"Star Trek was like doing a period piece set in the future. Everything was somewhat stylized. I'd been eager for a long time to write something set today. And also it was exciting to exploit real-life science. It's easier to draw on something that's real than come up with something that sounds amazing."

So far, Threshold has been averaging about eight million viewers -- not spectacular, but solid, considering it airs on the no-man's land of Friday nights.

Helping to distinguish it from the competition? A cast of recognizable, respected actors who add some heft to this tale of the goings-on of little green men.

Carla Gugino -- epitomizing sex and smarts -- leads an ensemble that includes gruff veteran Charles S. Dutton, Peter Dinklage of The Station Agent and Elf, and Brent Spiner, who Braga worked with when Spiner starred as intrepid android Data on Next Generation.

Gugino plays an expert in worst-case scenarios who dreamed up a protocol to initiate in case of alien attack.

The series follows her implementing that plan; in Threshold's case, the E.T.s are "unzipping" our DNA to "bioform" people into ... well, something else.

Along with Braga, the show is produced by David Heyman, overseer of the Harry Potter film franchise, and David Goyer, scribe of Batman Begins as well as the Blade trilogy.

"Carla read the script and really liked it," Braga recalls. "Even though she was not looking to do another series at that point, she really liked what she heard ... We did very little arm twisting ... We just lucked out. We're kind of astonished, really."

Not quite astonishing but possibly fascinating? That it was CBS and Paramount, which produces the show, which suggested Spiner as a potential cast addition.

"He's very happy now," Braga reports. "He's enjoying doing the show and things are to his liking. Having worked with him, I know he's a pretty harsh critic ... But he's got a wonderful character and he's really embraced it."

Threshold airs tonight at 10 p.m. on CBS and Global. and Global.