The 4400: X-Men Without Costumes?

I'm a regular listener of the Slice of SciFi podcast. On a recent episode, the hosts were raving about The 4400 series on USA and had an interview with the executive producer, Ira Steven Bahr (who you may remember from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). Michael likened the 4400 characters to the X-Men and I was intrigued enough to rent the first season DVDs. I was a bit bored during the first half hour and then something happened (to guest star Michael Moriarty) that really caught my interest. It's about a group of 4400 who were abducted (by some mysterious force) from different time periods. They all arrive back in Seattle in 2004 and slowly discover that each of them possesses a unique gift. I do like it and hope to get the second season today. It has an interesting structure for an episodic serial, at least in the first season. In most episodes, the writers focus on one of the 4400 and how they are using or abusing their power. But instead of denegrating into a monster-of-the-week thing, they also have a recurring cast of characters with continuing sub-plots that advance each week. When I first heard about this series, I passed, because I thought it was another UFO/X-Files type of show. That's not the case at all, if anything it's about how people would react to extraordinary abilities. It probably shares more in common with the new NBC show (coming out this fall) called Heroes. I think The 4400 is worth watching just for Billy Campbell's excellent portrayal of a millionaire who is out to ensnare the 4400 for his own agenda. I can only hope Seasons 2 and 3 will surpass the first. Nuff said.