2021/06/24

15 years ago, In the summer of 2006, July 18th, when the Sci-fi channel really had great programming, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Battlestar Galactica, they also brought a quirky little show called Eureka, and with little I don’t mean low production costs and values because that sure wasn’t the case. Eureka certainly is not Stargate or Battlestar Galactica but it was a fun show, it was SCI-FI but on the lighter side as the previous mentioned shows.

It also wasn’t set in space but on Earth. It was in a town called Eureka, most residents of Eureka are scientific geniuses who work for Global Dynamics. An advanced research facility responsible for the development of nearly all major technological breakthroughs since its inception. Basically it was a town full of nerds! All eggheads except the town sheriff, Jack Carter. He was dumbed down a bit! And although he wasn’t the smartest in town, somehow he was the one who solved most of Eureka’s many incidents!

Sheriff Carter, played by Colin Ferguson, he is spill of the show, he’s the one who must take care of all the dangerous incidents and there are many! Even Alison, who is played by Salli Richardson-Whitfield, in the first seasons talked a bit disparagingly to, and about him on more than one occasion and she wasn’t the only one. Same you can say about his deputy Jo Lupo (Erica Cerra). I have to say, as a viewer, that bugged me now and again. But all in all Eureka is a funny show and certainly there is drama, there is action but it’s always with a dose of humor which is okay with me. My favorite character in this show probably is Nathan Stark, played by Ed Quinn. He had an obvious aversion to Sheriff Carter, because he had an interest in his ex-wife Alison, he did not hide his aversion. Nathan Stark was a strong character, sometimes a bit annoying but he played it well. It really is a shame he stepped out of the show in the third season.

It’s no secret that Eureka was very successful, it ran five seasons and probably would have continued a few more seasons if the costs weren’t as high as they were to create a new season because the creative execs at Syfy loved the show.

My favorite storyline definitely is in season 4 when Carter, Alison, Jo, Henry Deacon and Fargo transport back to the 1940’s. Those for me are the best Eureka episodes. Although only the season 4 opener and the midseason finale show the actual time travel back to 1945, what follows (episodes 2-9) is then repercussion because of what has changed because of what happens in the season 4 opener. I really enjoyed those episodes because it was different from the normal “routine” kind of episodes. It messed everything up a bit. I think season 4 as a whole is my favorite season. It started out with this time travel storyline but also episodes like “Liftoff” where Fargo and Zane are being fired into space by accident. “Omega Girls” where Alison is subjected to mind control, “One Small Step” where deputy Andy is stuck on Titan. And “One Giant Leap” where the launch to Titan is in jeopardy because of black holes.

Eureka also is rich with its recurring characters and guest appearances. To name a few: Wil Wheaton as Dr. Isaac Parrish, James Callis (BSG2003) as Dr. Trevor Grant, Felicia Day who plays Holly Marten and Edward James Olmos who did the one-off voice of Ruby the Sled Dog!

There also were a number of cross-overs between Eureka and Warehouse 13. Which means these two shows are set in the same universe. Global Dynamics researcher Douglas Fargo (played by Neil Grayston) from Eureka traveled to South Dakota to update Warehouse 13's computer system in the Warehouse 13 episode "13.1". Warehouse 13 computer wizard Claudia Donovan (played by Allison Scagliotti) subsequently traveled to the town of Eureka, Oregon to check out the technological marvels at Global Dynamics in the Eureka episode "Crossing Over". Fargo again appeared in the Warehouse 13 episode "Don't Hate the Player" when Claudia, Lattimer, and Bering traveled to Palo Alto, California to find Douglas beta testing a virtual reality simulator with the aid of a dangerous artifact. Additionally, Hugo Miller (Rene Auberjonois) spent some time in the town of Eureka, departing with Douglas Fargo at the end of episode "13.1"; he returns in "Love Sick", commenting that, "every week [there] something seems to go 'boom'!" His presence there is off screen. (wiki)

Home media releases & In other media:

Of course Eureka has been released on DVD and even on Blu-ray! In 2014 Eureka was released on Blu-ray in Germany! Six year later Eureka was released on Blu-ray in US, 5 seasons on 12 discs, the German set has 18 discs. It is fairly obvious that if you are considering purchasing it on Blu-ray, in terms of quality, the German set is preferable to the US set (review US set).

What I did not know myself is that a soundtrack has been released by La La Land back in 2008, composes by Bear McCreary. 28 tracks from the shows second season. I checked on La La Land, currently is soundtrack is no longer available there. In early 2009, Boom! Studios produced a comic book based on storylines provided by Andrew Cosby (who is also the co-founder of the comic publisher), written by Brendan Hay, with art by Diego Barreto. This was followed by a second issue called Eureka: Dormant Gene written by Andrew Cosby, Jaime Paglia and Jonathan L. Davis, with art by Mark Dos Santos. There also have been released 3 Eureka novels! All written by Cris Ramsay. First one is named Substitution Method (2010), second one Brain Box Blues (2010)  and the last one Road Less Traveled (2011).

Final Word:

Well Eureka is a fun show, is has a lot of interesting characters, that’s for sure. For me there are too many episodes which I find so so, okay but not great. Still it remains a favorite of mine, not in the same league as Stargate, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica or Babylon 5 though. For some reason it would not surprise me if it ever would be reboot or something because Eureka was popular when it aired on the SCI-FI Channel, what of course later became the Syfy channel. It’s only a gut feeling, nothing more because everything is rebooted nowadays and Eureka, I believe, is still popular.