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Oddly Inspired Science Fiction

image by Veronica V. Jones

A Rare Eureka Moment at the SciFi Channel

Eureka Poster
Colin Ferguson as Sheriff Jack Carter and Salli Richardson as Allison Blake
Neil Grayston as Douglas Fargo, Matt Frewer as Jim Taggart and Erica Cera as Jo Lupo.

Anyone at the SciFi channel who can remember real science fiction television must be very lonely and frustrated with their current programming. Between the wrasslin’ psychodrama and tired, fifth-generation clones of ‘reality’ tv premises, there’s precious little good Science Fiction going on at the scifi channel… with one shining exception: Eureka.

Tune in for the novelty of actual scifi on SciFi, including zany inventions and pretty special effects, but the real value here is found in the inspired mishmash of characters. The leads — Colin Ferguson and Salli Richardson-Whitfield — are doing a great job of providing structure to the series, injecting urgency and romantic interest as needed, but the supporting characters are the most fun to watch. Old timers Joe Morton and Matt Frewer yield explosive amounts of crazy fun, while relative newcomer Erica Cerra brings a more dangerous insanity with her bad attitude and love of futuristic weaponry.

The skiffy quality curse has killed better shows than Eureka, but give the SciFi channel one more chance to show that “Sci” doesn’t always have to stand for “psycho”.

October 4th 2006: Great news! Hollywood North Report notes that SciFi has picked up Eureka for a second season. Thanks to SFsignal for the alert!

Written by in September of 2006. Last edited September 2015.

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Comments

  • Mary Cherneski - July 5th, 2007 at 1:23 pm

    Alleluia…finally some good SciFi. Been waiting for some great stories…not monsters, war stories, vampires, etc. How about theses as mini-series: Pern, Foundation and Hyperion. Feature films would not work…too much story to tell. Also, Battlefield Earth…the movie was a joke; you need to tell the whole story. These are all great books if done properly would be fantastic television…let alone SciFi!
    I have read talk of Foundation and Pern becoming movies; but where do they stand now? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks! Mary