One person's creepshow is another's idea of family viewing

Every showrunner talks about his or her series being a family affair.

"Freddie," premiering Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 8:30, is about a guy whose sisters and grandmother move in with him. Selling that as as a family show seems plausible. (Selling it as a good show, less so.)

What's really happening on "Invasion"?

"Invasion"? That's a tougher pitch, but creator and executive producer Shaun Cassidy tossed it out anyway. "I come from a complicated family," he told critics this morning. "I like family, but I think they're a microcosm for all that's good and bad in the world."

And in this series, which premieres after "Lost" at 10 p.m. on Sept. 21, Cassidy explores goodness and evil from the perspective of two broken families who survive a hurricane in Homestead, Fla. The trick is, the parents and children have yet to discover that this natural disaster is connected to a deluge of lights falling into the ocean.

"Invasion" is a subtle program. While the title implies a show about aliens, Cassidy was loathe to link the series to extraterrestrial beings.

"The invasion is the hurricane. The invasion is the new stepfather in my home," he said. "The invasion is the baby in my body. The invasion (is) the orange things in the water. The invasion is change and how we acclimate and how we respond and how we survive against pretty formidable odds."

OK, a person might envision parents and kids settling down together for a show like that. But "Night Stalker"? I don't know.

Stuart Townsend plays Carl Kolchak and Gabrille Union plays Perri Reed in the new "Night Stalker."

First off, it's called "Night Stalker."

Secondly, although it's a remake of the cult series "Kolchak: The Night Stalker," it's much harder than the original ever was. In the premiere (which comes to air 9 p.m. Sept. 29) there are reporters and cops talking -- not showing, but talking -- about a pregnant victim whose fetus was ripped out of her.

Feel free to bring the kids!

Still, "Night Stalker" writer and executive producer Frank Spotnitz defended that as perfect for all ages.

"Kids love to be scared," he said. "I loved to be scared. I was 11 years old, and let me tell you, the original 'Night Stalker' movie was pretty scary...You had cocktail waitresses being killed by a vampire, blood taken out of their bodies. It was pretty gruesome.

"...I don't think the way to deal with fears is not to dramatize them," Spotnitz continued. "I have strong feelings about how you depict violence on television. I don't believe in showing any more than is necessary."

You know, he has a point there. Leaving horror to the imagination is a noble device.

In fact, his defense makes me remember bedtime stories my mother used to tell me when I was little. "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful, pregnant princess. And she was dragged out her castle, ripped to shreds, and her unborn child --"

...Sorry, Frank, but I wouldn't count on many invitations to family dinner.