Eureka-ka-ka-ka-ka!

Well, this one's been kept quiet. From me at least. Eureka is a weekly 45 minute US sci-fi drama of the type I tend to watch regardless of whether or not it's any good (see 90% of Smallville, more on that later). The premise is thus: After the second world war the US government, frightened by how close they came to losing the atomic race, decided to institute a center for scientific research as a place to house all the finest minds at their disposal. Rather than put them in a bunker under a mountain (a safer bet some would say) they enlisted the world's great architects, planners, and designers, to build a typical small town in the Pacific North West of the USA. Into this town were moved the world's great thinkers, scientists, psychologists etc. 60 years on, this town is still thriving, yet isolated from the outside world, and doesn't appear on any maps. From the Wiki: "Its residents are responsible for almost every leap in science known to humanity over the past fifty years. However, with experimentation inevitably comes failure, and over fifty years worth of trial and error they have had a number of experiments go awry (global warming is mentioned as one of these).

Though Eureka's residents suffer many of the same problems that ordinary towns do, having a town full of geniuses and virtually limitless resources tends to make their problems a much larger concern than those of a regular town. While transporting a fugitive back to Los Angeles, Jack Carter gets himself tangled up in the town's latest mishap, and soon ends up its new sheriff after the old one is injured on the job."

There, that's easier than summarising it myself.

Anyway, it's an interesting idea. The pilot and first couple of episodes proper are pretty good. Unbelievably the words "pretty good" have just been used, by me, in connection to something produced by the Sci Fi channel. Not surprisingly, Eureka is the highest rating show they have ever produced because even as a Sci-Fi fan I can admit that almost everything on the Sci-Fi channel is utter, utter toss. The script writing is a bit scetchy, but nowhere near as bad as previous efforts. There's even some convincing and likable characters, although one of the best is written out in the pilot to make way for the male lead.

Now here's a problem, and it's a general one with all kinds of TV. Characters names. The male lead here is played by Colin Ferguson and he does a good job. The character is likable enough, and provides a good outsiders perspective in this weird little community. The character, however, is called "Jack Carter". Jack fucking Carter. Why not Max Power? It's clear the writing team did actual research to find what is scientifically the most manly name possible, and Jack Carter came third (the first two were, of course, Chuck Norris and Jack Bauer, and therefore taken). This irritates me. I'd like to see a good looking, heroic TV male lead with a name like "Morris Gibbons". It'll never happen. The problem runs right through the cast. Nathan Stark? Fuck off.

Anyway, enough of that. This is well worth watching, and goes in the what to watch over the summer folder. The pilot and episodes 2 and 3 have been aired, so you know what to do. Plus, if you have cable it's on the sciffy channel.