TNT's "Falling Skies" a modestly successfully alien invasion drama

Though I admired many bits and pieces of TNT's "Falling Skies," premiering tonight at 9, while watching the pilot episode, one thought kept recurring in my head: it's sort of like "The Walking Dead," but with aliens. Not only does it have the same basic concept -- a ragtag band of survivors unite against a seemingly unstoppable force that's destroying the world -- it has the same earnestness and the same long-boring-stretches-of-dialogue-punctuated-by-tremendous-violence pacing.
And the musical score isn't nearly as good. Still, "Falling Skies" is a decent bit of summer entertainment, and certainly above other recent attempts at alien invasion dramas, such as "V" (which I checked out of after two episodes).