EUReKa came back to the airwaves this week, and it's another of my favorite programs with it's great mix of comedy, sci fi geeks and some progressive thinking. Of course, it really doesn't hurt that sexy Colin Ferguson (who plays the very down to earth but so out of his element Sheriff Jack Carter) is originally from Montréal and has that home boy appeal. Carter is the great "straight man" to all of the zany characters in the government/corporation think tank of a town. EUReKA is one special little town, and I love seeing the mixture of "what if ?" and all those wacky inventors as we all know there is a very fine line between genius and insanity.The current season zipped out of the gates at light speed this year and followed up nicely from where things were hanging at the end of last season. The special effects budget looked better in the season opener and the chemistry was still there with all the characters. It's kind of funny that they have changed their protagonist from last year (red headed Dr. Beverly Barlowe) to " The Fixer " (red headed Eva Thorne) and I wonder if the red hair is any indicator of being good or evil. Not that it looks completely natural on either of them or anything. Anyways ... the story was a great one to start off the season and it had some nice comedic moments balanced with the touching ones and it left me all warm and fuzzy inside. Just like a good TV show should.
I can't say that I have been as impressed with the return of Stargate Atlantis over the past couple of weeks. Yes, I know that I bitched non stop last season about how they had the Samantha Carter character brought in for no apparent reason last year ( except to replace Dr. Weir, who I still miss). Last season sucked for me, and even the changes they have done so far this season with having Carter removed and Woosley brought in to replace her (and believe me I love Robert Picardo), it's still not doing it for me. The team of characters don't have the same chemistry as they did before, not since the loss of Weir and the apparent re-animation and re-departure of Doctor Carson Beckett. I am still in shock that I have seen the guy that plays the Chairman on Iron Chef as a character a couple of times on the show (Tyre) and keep expecting him to pull out some secret ingredient. That would have been way more interesting than that sad story line with Ronon. If they get back to some hot chemistry between Ronon and Doctor Keller they might make something interesting out of both characters but at this point things are not that interesting. Teyla is slowly getting back to duty after having the baby (congrats) and for some reason they are pushing her towards some kind of techie role. Like I said -- I don't understand what they are doing with the characterisation on this show or if the writer's have a clue.I am glad that they have started doing some changes, but as the last remaining Stargate Show on the air I am still hoping for better cohesion and some better stories or this franchise might be over quicker than expected. At best, it's still testing my patience.
I did get a copy of Stargate: Continuum and am happy to say that if follow up nicely the franchise and it was great to see so many of the characters again.It was a great time travel story (and who doesn't love a great one of those?) and in our alternate time line we get to see bad ass Vala (still one of my favorite new characters) and an unsettling vision of how things could have been if the Stargate Program hadn't been put together.
Seeing all of the originals and their great chemistry together was like welcoming old friends in to your house and things were like old times. I hope the direct to DVD movie is enough of a success that they will churn out a few more as I want to see more of this gang, and would have preferred if they had stayed on the tube instead of the gang in Atlantis. But as we all know, you don't always get what you want when it comes to programming and the TV graveyard is full of "Brilliant but cancelled " shows.
