diff --git a/src/args.jl b/src/args.jl
index 35ccb6c5..78e3c59f 100644
--- a/src/args.jl
+++ b/src/args.jl
@@ -138,8 +138,8 @@ _seriesDefaults[:y]               = nothing
 _seriesDefaults[:z]               = nothing           # depth for contour, surface, etc
 _seriesDefaults[:zcolor]          = nothing           # value for color scale
 # _seriesDefaults[:surface]         = nothing
-_seriesDefaults[:nlevels]         = 15
-_seriesDefaults[:levels]          = nothing
+# _seriesDefaults[:nlevels]         = 15
+_seriesDefaults[:levels]          = 15
 _seriesDefaults[:orientation]     = :vertical
 
 
@@ -284,6 +284,9 @@ end
     :foreground_colour  => :foreground_color,
     :regression         => :smooth,
     :reg                => :smooth,
+    :nlevels            => :levels,
+    :nlev               => :levels,
+    :levs               => :levels,
     :xlim               => :xlims,
     :xlimit             => :xlims,
     :xlimits            => :xlims,
diff --git a/src/backends/gadfly.jl b/src/backends/gadfly.jl
index ee6beb43..84e8847e 100644
--- a/src/backends/gadfly.jl
+++ b/src/backends/gadfly.jl
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ function getLineGeom(d::Dict)
   elseif lt == :vline
     Gadfly.Geom.vline
   elseif lt == :contour
-    Gadfly.Geom.contour(levels = d[:nlevels])
+    Gadfly.Geom.contour(levels = d[:levels])
   else
     nothing
   end
diff --git a/src/backends/plotly.jl b/src/backends/plotly.jl
index 9f9482c3..00db4c62 100644
--- a/src/backends/plotly.jl
+++ b/src/backends/plotly.jl
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ function plotly_series(d::Dict; plot_index = nothing)
     d_out[:z] = d[:z].surf
     # d_out[:showscale] = d[:legend]
     if lt == :contour
-      d_out[:ncontours] = d[:nlevels]
+      d_out[:ncontours] = d[:levels]
       d_out[:contours] = Dict(:coloring => d[:fillrange] != nothing ? "fill" : "lines")
     end
     d_out[:colorscale] = plotly_colorscale(d[lt == :contour ? :linecolor : :fillcolor])
diff --git a/src/backends/pyplot.jl b/src/backends/pyplot.jl
index 46806d70..bdd5af27 100644
--- a/src/backends/pyplot.jl
+++ b/src/backends/pyplot.jl
@@ -333,32 +333,33 @@ function _add_series(pkg::PyPlotPackage, plt::Plot; kw...)
   # do the plot
   d[:serieshandle] = if ishistlike(lt)
     plotfunc(d[:y]; extra_kwargs...)[1]
+
   elseif lt == :contour
-    # NOTE: x/y are backwards in pyplot, so we switch the x and y args (also y is reversed),
-    #       and take the transpose of the surface matrix
     x, y = d[:x], d[:y]
     surf = d[:z].surf'
-    if d[:levels] != nothing
-        handle = plotfunc(x, y, surf; levels=d[:levels], extra_kwargs...)
-        if d[:fillrange] != nothing
-          handle = ax[:contourf](x, y, surf; levels=d[:levels], cmap = getPyPlotColorMap(d[:fillcolor], d[:fillalpha]))
-        end
+    levels = d[:levels]
+    if isscalar(levels)
+      extra_args = (levels)
+    elseif isvector(levels)
+      extra_args = ()
+      extra_kwargs[:levels] = levels
     else
-        handle = plotfunc(x, y, surf, d[:nlevels]; extra_kwargs...)
-        if d[:fillrange] != nothing
-          handle = ax[:contourf](x, y, surf, d[:nlevels]; cmap = getPyPlotColorMap(d[:fillcolor], d[:fillalpha]))
-        end
+      error("Only numbers and vectors are supported with levels keyword")
+    end
+    handle = plotfunc(x, y, surf, extra_args...; extra_kwargs...)
+    if d[:fillrange] != nothing
+      extra_kwargs[:cmap] = getPyPlotColorMap(d[:fillcolor], d[:fillalpha])
+      handle = ax[:contourf](x, y, surf, extra_args...; extra_kwargs...)
     end
     handle
+
   elseif lt in (:surface,:wireframe)
-    x, y, z = if isa(d[:x], AMat) && isa(d[:y], AMat)
-      d[:x], d[:y], d[:z].surf
-    else
-      repmat(d[:x]',length(d[:y]),1), repmat(d[:y],1,length(d[:x])), d[:z].surf'
+    x, y, z = d[:x], d[:y], d[:z].surf
+    if !ismatrix(x) || !ismatrix(y)
+      x = repmat(x', length(y), 1)
+      y = repmat(y, 1, length(x))
+      z = z'
     end
-    # x =  isa(d[:x], AMat) ? d[:x] : repmat(d[:x]',length(d[:y]),1)
-    # y = isa(d[:y], AMat) ? d[:y] : repmat(d[:y],1,length(d[:x]))
-    # z = isa(d[:x], AMat) ? d[:z].surf : d[:z].surf'
     plotfunc(x, y, z; extra_kwargs...)
   elseif lt in _3dTypes
     plotfunc(d[:x], d[:y], d[:z]; extra_kwargs...)
diff --git a/src/backends/supported.jl b/src/backends/supported.jl
index e474b762..6558877c 100644
--- a/src/backends/supported.jl
+++ b/src/backends/supported.jl
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ supportedArgs(::GadflyPackage) = [
     :legendfont,
     :grid,
     # :surface,
-    :nlevels,
+    :levels,
   ]
 supportedAxes(::GadflyPackage) = [:auto, :left]
 supportedTypes(::GadflyPackage) = [:none, :line, :path, :steppre, :steppost, :sticks,
@@ -154,7 +154,6 @@ supportedArgs(::PyPlotPackage) = [
     :legendfont,
     :grid,
     # :surface,
-    :nlevels,
     :levels,
     :fillalpha,
     :linealpha,
@@ -414,7 +413,7 @@ supportedArgs(::BokehPackage) = [
     # :legendfont,
     # :grid,
     # :surface,
-    # :nlevels,
+    # :levels,
   ]
 supportedAxes(::BokehPackage) = [:auto, :left]
 supportedTypes(::BokehPackage) = [:none, :path, :scatter] #,:steppre, :steppost, :sticks, :heatmap, :hexbin, :hist, :bar, :hline, :vline, :contour]
@@ -480,7 +479,7 @@ supportedArgs(::PlotlyPackage) = [
     :guidefont,
     :legendfont,
     :grid,
-    :nlevels,
+    :levels,
   ]
 supportedAxes(::PlotlyPackage) = [:auto, :left]
 supportedTypes(::PlotlyPackage) = [:none, :line, :path, :scatter, :steppre, :steppost,
@@ -550,7 +549,7 @@ supportedArgs(::GLVisualizePackage) = [
     # :legendfont,
     # :grid,
     # :surface
-    # :nlevels,
+    # :levels,
   ]
 supportedAxes(::GLVisualizePackage) = [:auto, :left]
 supportedTypes(::GLVisualizePackage) = [:contour] #, :path, :scatter ,:steppre, :steppost, :sticks, :heatmap, :hexbin, :hist, :bar, :hline, :vline, :contour]
diff --git a/src/utils.jl b/src/utils.jl
index d8880e6e..56b14539 100644
--- a/src/utils.jl
+++ b/src/utils.jl
@@ -190,6 +190,16 @@ end
 
 isijulia() = isdefined(Main, :IJulia) && Main.IJulia.inited
 
+istuple(::Tuple) = true
+istuple(::Any) = false
+isvector(::AVec) = true
+isvector(::Any) = false
+ismatrix(::AMat) = true
+ismatrix(::Any) = false
+isscalar(::Real) = true
+isscalar(::Any) = false
+
+
 
 # ticksType{T<:Real,S<:Real}(ticks::@compat(Tuple{T,S})) = :limits
 ticksType{T<:Real}(ticks::AVec{T}) = :ticks