"Zeitgeist," as in, "It's in the zeitgeist," is the word of the tour so far, used to explain everything from the sudden flowering of science fiction series to the fact that there are apparently two shows in development that turn on a 13-year-old girl's desire to meet her sperm donor father, who naturally turns out to be an undesirable.

Still, it was a little spooky to learn about the death of "Star Trek's" James "Scotty" Doohan moments before a press conference for CBS' "Threshold," one of a number of new shows that involve an alien invasion.

Executive producer Brannon Braga, whose credits include "Star Trek: Enterprise" and "Star Trek: Voyager," described Doohan as "a very charming man and a wonderful actor."

"Star Trek: The Next Generation" veteran Brent Spiner, who'll play a NASA microbiologist on "Threshold," said, "I didn't know Jimmy really well [but]...he was a very lovely guy and I'm sad at his passing."