It's time once again for Big Boulders and Wild Weather as NBC airs two new miniseries -- Meteor and The Storm. "Wait," you say, "haven't I seen these before?" Well, yes and no. You'll get a different cast, flashier special effects and grittier language, but you'll see the same old storylines.

What's a recipe for a disaster made-for-TV movie?

• Start with a few celebs.
• Add some rocks or water falling from the sky.
• Put a city (or the entire planet) in peril.
• Turn the stars into intrepid heroes.
• Make the heroes race against time to save humanity from impending doom.

Since Part 1 of Meteor aired Sunday and Part 1 of The Storm premieres in two weeks, it's a good time to take a look at the top five TV movies/miniseries about meteorites and storms so you can see just how formulaic these disaster flicks really are. Before we begin, there are just a few rules:

• No theatrical films. That's right, "Armageddon," "Deep Impact" and "The Perfect Storm" aren't eligible.
• Fictional stories only. Triumph Over Disaster: The Hurricane Andrew Story isn't eligible either.
• For storm movies, lots of little things have to fall from the sky -- rain, hail, snow, nanobots -- which rules out most stories about tornadoes and damaged dams.

Now on to the two Top-5 lists...

Really Big Boulders Falling From the Sky

TV Movie or Miniseries (Network, Year)	Who Are the Stars?	What Rocks Are Hurtling Toward Earth?	Who's in Danger?	How Much Time Do They Have?	Who Are the Reluctant Heroes Everyone Ignores at First?	How Do People Try to Fix the Problem?
Without Warning (CBS, 1994)	Jane Kaczmarek; Sander Vanocur	Meteorites...Sent by Aliens	The Entire Planet	Minutes	A Scientist	Nuclear Weapons (In the Air)
Asteroid (NBC, 1997) watch the trailer	Annabella Sciorra; Michael Biehn	Fragments from an Asteroid	The Entire Planet	Minutes to Hours	An Astronomer and a FEMA Director	Lasers Mounted on Air Force Fighter Planes
Meteorites (USA, 1998)	Tom Wopat	Meteorite Shower from a Comet	Leroy, Arizona	Hours to Days	A Science Teacher and an Ex-Bomb Squad Professional	The Residents Panic, Run and Hide
Polar Storm (SCI FI, 2009) watch the trailer	Jack Coleman	Fragment from the Comet Copernicus	The Entire Planet	Days to Weeks	An Astrophysicist	Nuclear Weapons (Underwater)
Impact (ABC, 2009) watch the trailer	David James Elliott; Natasha Henstridge	Fragments of the Moon...and Then the Entire Moon	The Entire Planet	39 Days	A Team of Astrophysicists	Nuclear Weapons (On the Moon)

Wild & Deadly Storms

TV Movie or Miniseries (Network, Year)	Who Are the Stars?	Who Started the Storm?	How Bad's the Weather?	Who's in Danger?	Who Are the Reluctant Heroes?	What Do the Heroes Do?
Hurricane (ABC, 1974) watch the promo	Larry Hagman; Martin Milner	Mother Nature	Category 5 (Hurricane Hilda)	Cassler, Mississippi	An Air Force Pilot and a Recreational Boater	Warn and Help Citizens
Storm (Fox Family, 1999) watch the trailer	Luke Perry; Martin Sheen	US Air Force	Category 5 (Hurricane Elizabeth)	Los Angeles	An Inventor and an Air Force Officer	Use a Plane to Move the Weather-Generating Device to Sea
Path of Destruction (SCI FI, 2005)	Danica McKellar; Chris Pratt	StarkCorp	A Superstorm of Nanobots	The Pacific Northwest	A Reporter, a Scientist and a Colonel	Use a Plane to Deliver an Electromagnetic Pulse
Category 6: Day of Destruction (CBS, 2004) watch a clip	Nancy McKeon; Thomas Gibson	Mother Nature	Category 6 Superstorm Over Chicago	North America	A Meteorologist, a Reporter and a Utility Employee	Warn and Help Citizens
Category 7: The End of the World (CBS, 2005) watch the trailer	Gina Gershon	Mother Nature	Category 7 Superstorm Over Washington, DC	The Entire Planet	A FEMA Director, a Storm Chaser, a Scientist and a Military Man	Warn and Help Citizens

Contributions from: Mike Vicic.