Friday, August 25, 2006

Eureka

I'm actually regularly taping a show so I can watch it later. I haven't done this since The West Wing. Eureka airs during my writing group, and I make it a point to tape it so I can watch it when I get back, even though I know SciFi will re-air it later that night and on Friday afternoons. I don't want to take the chance that they won't re-air it.

The concept of the show intrigued me: average guy is the sheriff in a town full of mad scientists. The pilot was a bit busy as they tried to pack a lot of the "townies" and the culture into the two-hours in addition to the basic show plot. That and the actors either mumble a lot or the show doesn't do a whole lot of voiceover in post. But it was still pretty fun.

The next two episodes were even better. We're slowly getting to know other elements of the town and the characters, and the story of each episode is a good mix of fun science and sleuthing. I really enjoy watching the characters interact. Especially Henry. Actually, that might be more the actor than the character. I've loved everything this guy has been in that I've seen. He brings such an honesty to his roles. Eureka's also done a great job of twisting the "computer as character" gimmick that Star Trek started. In Eureka, the computer is the sheriff's house, and she's very needy as well as a bit too helpful.

I'm still on the fence on the whole "Section 5" series arc/plot that they're developing. There are times it seems intriguing and times it seems a bit over the top or cheesy or just beyond the rules of the world they've set up. But it does keep the conflict going from episode to episode, so it's working on some level.

My only confusion with Eureka is the show that airs just before it, actually. SciFi has done so little promotion for Dead Like Me. It seems like a fun enough show from the little scraps I catch before Eureka. It really makes me wonder why it got such a raw deal. They don't even promo Dead Like Me during Eureka or during the SciFi Friday lineup. Very confusing.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

It probably has something to do with "Dead Like Me" being "old" - it premiered and had 1 and a partial season on...I think it was Showtime, before they just up and decided to cancel it (idiots). I'm glad to hear someone else picked it up, and if they decided to continue it...I'll have to get cable, no way around that. I own the full first season, and I have designs on the second. It's very tongue-in-cheek, and an absolute riot. *-*

Kellie said...

I had wondered if it was a re-air from a previous life. It was just handled so strangely compared to the other new shows and even the re-airs like Firefly last year and Dark Angel this year.

Unknown said...

Our issue with the show's premise is the assumption that the "regular", law-abiding, non-scientist folks are the only ones competent enough to reign in these bright but obviously "immature" scientists. Ugh.

Kellie said...

I didn't get that at all. Seemed to me that Joe and the former sheriff were uber military-types and that's why they were the law in the town (which makes sense given the top secret nature of the town and its business), and that the only reason the average Joe became sheriff was that he was "simple" enough to see the easy answer when the smart guys went overboard with their smarts and made things more complicated than they were.