'Falling Skies' Picked Up for a Second Season

Watch out, skitters: "Falling Skies" is coming back for a second season!

TNT has had a great deal of success with its new sci-fi summer series so far, prompting them to renew the series for another season even though only four episodes have aired thus far.

"Falling Skies" debuted to 5.9 million viewers in mid-June, which gave it the #1 spot among cable series debuts this year. If you add in seven days of DVR and on demand views (Live+7), those ratings jump up to 8 million total viewers and 3.9 in the 18-49 demo. Not bad for a sci-fi show with one star (Noah Wyle) and a cast of (albeit very talented) newcomers and character actors, eh?

But that's the power of good storytelling. "Falling Skies" fits perfectly into the summer programming ideal, offering an escapist story that mixes action and sentiment. And rather than attempt what shows like "The Event" did by forcing plot twists and keeping audiences hooked with unanswered questions, "Falling Skies" tells a straightforward story: us versus them.

The renewal is great news for fans, as it will definitely take more than one season to cover a story this epic in scope and scale. The survivors in 2nd Mass still have to find out how to get those darned harnesses off, much less figure out how to destroy the aliens.

The 10-episode order for season two will premiere next summer. In the meantime, check out our recap from the latest episode.