Starring: William Fichtner, Eddie Cibrian, Kari Matchett

What was it? A serial twist on a Bodysnatchers alien invasion premise, the show began with a hurricane that had unusual consequences for the inhabitants of the small town of Homestead, Florida. Those who spent the storm outside returned from it changed - and not in a metaphorical I’ve’-been-through-a-storm sort of a way. While essentially another Body Snatchers/Puppet Masters clone, the show was compelling and made supremely watchable largely due to the presence of William Fichtner as villain/anti-hero/alien/enigma, Sheriff  Underlay who stole the show and trod an ambiguous line throughout the story: part of the problem, or its solution?

What happened? The show opened in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, making its big opening set-piece less a selling point and more a liability. But its cancellation was the usual story of falling ratings: the opening audience of 17 million fell to half that over the season’s run, with viewers apparently turned off by the arc storyline in the early episodes and the show’s scheduling all over the place. Rumours that another network might pick up the show after ABC cancelled it sadly came to nothing.