Once a bad guy...

As the 4th season of Eureka appraches its start, life does not look like it will be improving for Sheriff Carter. Matter of fact, things are getting worse by the hour.

For those that are not yet fans of this science fiction comedy, located on the otherwise unwatchable SyFy Channel, I will recap a bit.

Sheriff Carter (Colin Ferguson) is the better than average good natured former Fed, that watches over the town of Eureka. The town is an ultra-secret think tank for the greatest minds in America. They have AI, fully functional green energy technology, basically the next closest thing to Star Trek techology on the planet. The townspeople also have a penchant for nearly destroying the planet via plagues, meteor storms, climate manipulation, mini suns and so much mmore. Thankfully Sheriff Carter, the dumbest man in town, comes to the rescue generally with common sense answers that the eggheads never consider.

Along the way Carter has the joy of raising his teenage daughter (Jordan Hinson), which any parent will state is as difficult as trying to avert a planetary collision. Add to that the difficulty of getting a date.

Carter's first love (Allison - Salli Richardson-Whitfield) interest wound up getting back with her ex-husband, who has only grudging respect for Carter. The ex (Stark - Ed Quinn) winds up dying saving the planet - try to compete with that - on his wedding day after he and Allison had become pregnant. Talk about hurdles to jump. Then his next love interest just disappeared from the storyline. His 3rd (Jaime Ray Newman) just left the show on a trip to Australia for years unknown.

All of this, comically done to near perfection, might be the best of times for Carter. Because in season 4 Baltar is coming to town.



James Callis, known for his great portrayal as Gaius Baltar in the revisioned mess that was battlestar Galactica, has joined the cast of Eureka. Already we have been made aware that his character is no ray of sunshine.

Callis will be Dr. Grant. Now given that Callis is loved as the devious, maniacal, virtually unrepentant, self-absorbed scientific genius that led to the murder of virtually all humanity in Galactica, what do you think his character will be like in Eureka? You bet he will be up to no good, and quickly will be a thorn in the side of Sheriff Carter.

This is especially true since the writers are once again going to focus Carter on being with Allison. But Dr. Grant is a ladies man with eyes on her as well.

The best part of all of this is that Callis is continuing on as a bad guy. He did a wonderful job of being compelling yet unlikeable. The kind of villian you just have to watch even as you hope he get killed off. Few actors get such a character to play and even less can do it right. Callis nails it with a penache akin to Vincent Price.

Will season 4 of Eureka be the best yet? That remains to be seen. Though having a character we love to hate, and a love triangle where we know the couple we want to see work out, makes for enjoyable television more often than not.

Push: the television series

There is somethig about sci-fi on television that just makes you wonder. Occassionally you can get great shows like Farscape, Dr. Who, The Invisible Man, the original Battlestar Galactica, even The Six Million Dollar Man and Eureka fall into this category. But more often you get shows like Homeboys in Space (be happy you didn't see it), The Battlestar Galactica remake, Santuary, Demons, the V revisioned series and soon Push.

Push is the failed movie that most in the world never bothered to watch. It was a January 2009 release that can be summed up as a revisioned cross between X-Men and Firestarter. To say that it was a waste of time is to give the film credit.

But in Hollywood, where useless ideas and revisioning of anything someone else did is better than an original idea, a failed movie is exactly what television needs. Thus Push is about to become a television show.

So far there are no entertainers attached to the proposed show. Which is no surprise because I can't imagine who would need the money that badly if they are established. There is also no television network admitting they want the idea, broadcast or cable. My guess is that this will wind up on the SyFy Network, because they have proven they have no clue what good sci-fi is.

The plot is unknown but a couple of conclusions can be made. There will be omnipresent bad guys who are Government agents. There will be a young guy and woman that are being chased by the agents. There will be a huge world of pther people that are equally hiding from agents, mostly criminals, that will want to use the guy and woman as much as the agents do. At the end of each episode the duo will escape and continue to evade everyone, ala Bill Bixby at the end of every episode of The Hulk (the 70's television show which wasn't bad for the time).

Most likely the summation I just made will be more exciting and far easier to understand than the show will be. Because if you start with an inferior base, and then strip out the better qualities, you really get junk unworthy of anything put mindless goo. Which is not what sci-fi is about.

Could I be wrong about Push the television series? Sure, just as I was wrong about Demons (I hoped it would be new and different, but it turned out to be a rehash of Buffy the Vampire Killer). But betting odds are in my favor that this will be closer to the short-lived Mutant X (anthor show trying to score off of the X-Men movie craze) than Star Trek, Andromeda, Farscape, or even Ark II (based on the bad Damnation Alley movie, and something only those around since the 70's will have any clue about).

Television Review: Stargate Universe

It was coming and you had to say, 'Not another Stargate show'. It would seem that Stargate has a never ending run on SyFy Channel. But the question has to be, will this be worth watching?

Well having seen the opening episode, the answer is unclear. This is just another in a long string of Stargate spinoffs. But it has elements of something new and better (than the pervious Stargate spinoffs) as well. Not a lot of them, but some.

The show is focused on remnants of a dozen other sci-fi television shows and movies. Like most things from Hollywood these days, this is unoriginal rewriting of what you have already seen.

Obviously there is a huge reference to Stargate SG-1. Add to that a general feeling of the recent revisioning of Battlestar Galactica. A touch of Star Trek, a dash of Lost In Space (the television series and not the movie) too.

The show is focused around a group of people forced to run to an alien ship "several hundred billion light years from Earth". The people are a mix of techs, soldiers, mid-level bureacrats, and miscellaneous others. In total we start with 80 people and are down one before this episode ends.

The reason why they ran to this ship is unimportant. Suffice to say they beamed up to a ship on automatic pilot, that is on a mission of exploration of the Universe. They have no control over what the ship does, other than opening and closing various doors and looking at a schematic. Oh, and asking it for help.

The ship, called Destiny once translated, is 1000's of years old. It has been through a ringer, and as such has various holes in it - mostly bloclked by sealed doors and a force feild. It has air, though its air filtration system is broken after milenia of constant use. And we hit the first snafu in logic as well as the initial problem that must be resolved.

If this thing is as old as they say, and it has been constantly running, with a constant leak, how is there any air left? And how ironic that it is just enough to keep these 80 people alive for just a couple of hours before someone makes the ultimate sacrifice. Which was supposed to be dramatic and pull at your emotions, but winds up being just another plot device that you really don't care about.

But logic is not a big requirement in most sci-fi shows these days. Which is funny as that should be the most important thing in a show of this nature. Setup rules by which viewers can understand how things work in this entertaining fluff, then stick with them. But back to the program itself.

Skip to the characters. This is sort of like Gilligan's Island. We have a professor - who happens to be the morally ambiguous twin of the revisioned Giaus Baltar (Battlestar Galactica). We have a Maryanne - the daughter of a Senator. We have a Gilligan - Eli the kid who won a trip that he was never ready for. We have a Skipper - the Colonel that will run things (actually he is more like Adama from Galactica). The rest have yet to be sorted out yet.

The acting is bland at best. You really don't care about any of these people at any point in the show. You never get a sense of imminent danger or doom. If they all died you wouldn't care, and you know they won't because this is only episode one.

The writing for the show is basic. Even with lots of speeches by the major characters, you never hear anything that grabs you. The lines are by and large forgetable. Which matches the tone and acting.

The scenery is a nice Star Trek-ish warp speed rip off. And you get multiple chances to see that as the show moves along. Beyond that it is basic as well. Big box rooms with some gadgets here and there. It could easily be the extra sets of Galactica, and/or several other sci-fi shows and movies.

This has a lot working against it. But as I watched the program and caught problem after problem, I admit that I kept watching. More than once I was waiting for someone to get killed, usually because they were messing around with some alien device they did not know or wandering somewhere that has a function they don't understand.

The inclusion of Eli (Gilligan) is perhaps the most vital character at this stage. He is the viewers that haven't watched every episode and spinoff of SG-1. And thus he is told various vital items that a viewer at home would love to know. Though he also takes all of this very well considering he just found out about spaceships aliens and being on the other side of the universe in about 48 hours.

I suppose that is one of the reasons I kept watching. To see what Eli would do next. That and waiting for Baltar.. excuse me, the proferssor - Dr. Rush - to screw over everyone in the pursuit of exploration and science.

There are 2 seperate love stories in the series. There is a bunch of political and leadership issues. There are a surprising number of women, and a bit of diversity in the cast. So most general factors are covered.

Basically I think this show needs to pick up on everything by episode 3 or they will lose whomever is left after this preimere. The slow pacing, the copied characters, the overall blandness and boring acting just aren't enough to capture viewers.

Eureka is back at SyFy Channel - even if my review is late

So I didn’t have a chance to discuss the new season of Eureka when it came out. But it is a show that I really enjoy, so I watched it again. And I find the new season off to an interesting start.

When last we left Sheriff Carter, he had just lost his job. A situation that meant he would have to leave this secret town of big brains. Plus it meant that he would have to leave Dr. Blake, whom he should be with.

We pick up the show with Carter interviewing, a task made harder by the fact that he cannot make any reference to his duties at Eureka. Basically he has to interview under the basis that he was just working in a simple small town. Which makes me wonder why there was no device (kind of like the one used in the 2nd season opening episode) used to remove his memory and ensure that this super-top secret is not leaked to anyone.

But as the job hunting at the Department of Homeland Security is on-going, we see that Dr. Blake has progressed quite a bit with her pregnancy. Something that is odd considering the lack of time from the prior season ending.

Things even get more odd when Deputy Lupo, next in line to be sheriff is passed over for the position. The person hired is such a surprise that everyone is amazed. He is Sheriff Andy (as in Griffith) and is a robot. A step that is not too far out for this town of science fiction made reality. But way too much for Deputy Lupo to handle.

Of course while all this is happening, everyone is saying their goodbyes. It’s definitely a sad tone to it all. Thankfully Zane is no where to be seen. Though Carter’s girlfriend (runs the cleaners) is gone. Whatever happened to her is something I never recall hearing mentioned. One day he is supposed to go on a weekend fishing trip with her, then she is just forgotten.

But its these little mistakes that fill this episode. We see things like a robot with a supercomputer brain, that can’t arrive at an accident scene faster than Carter who was told after Sarah (his house) mentions it to him, though Andy is hooked up to the internal web of the town. Andy seems incapable of making obvious inquiries, which Carter and Lupo do even though they have no authority to do so. And Andy is the obvious target of situations that seem so blatant that halfway through the episode you are guessing at who might have done it.

My guess by the way was the obvious choice, and wrong. Though the real culprit is just as obvious and has done similar actions before.

Basically this is the same series that we left. The characters are just as familiar and interesting. The relationships feel genuine. But this first episode is sloppy. Far more so than usual, and with far less explanations to cover the plot holes.

Plus a new arc is created by the end of the episode. One that seems to involve aliens, or at least something from space heading to Eureka. My guess is that it will be similar to Vjer from Star Trek: The Motion Picture (the first of the big screen adaptations – and after 30 years still better than the latest film). Which might be interesting if the writing improves.

This is not to say that I did not enjoy the episode. I’m glad Eureka is back, Carter, Blake, and all. The episode was entertaining, if a tad bit bland. I’m interested to see the birth of the babies, Zoey is growing up to be a cute intelligent young woman, and the suggested love triangle with Fargo/Lupo/Zane has me betting on Fargo. Plus we may actually see Carter and Blake finally get together as the fates allowed once upon a different dimension.

All of it has great potential still. But I get the feeling that the writing is slipping. That too much is being taken for granted. That the move to Friday nights signals the end is very near. That SyFy [or SciFi – the name change fits since they never had any respect for their supposed core audience] is still the same lying bunch of television executives that can’t understand anything more complicated than the same sitcoms we have seen since 1950. And the show may be winding down. Which would be a shame.

Yet, there is time. And everything seems as entertaining as it was before. Maybe even a bit of innovation in the writing too. Which means that if you are stuck home on a Friday night, this is an option to take.

Looking for a plot

Last night, while at my Monday 8-ball pool tournament, a discussion came up about movies. The differences between old classics and great films and modern films. This focused mostly on sci-fi films.

It all started with the horribly wrong movie Dragon Wars (please don’t see this, not on DVD or cable, its pitiful). It was part of a line up of ridiculous terrible sci-fi films from none other than the SyFy Channel on Sunday. Not that much more should be expected from that cable network.

But from there we discussed how movies these days, especially those in sci-fi, now rely on special effects as opposed to plot. This is most evident in the worst of sci-fi movies. Like the extremely low budget Raptor Island (starring Lorenzo Lamas – your first clue of how bad it was). It was a CGI rip off of Jurassic Park, with about 1/5th the budget and 1/10th the plot. Virtually every scene in the movie conflicted with some other part of the film. But there was plenty of bad CGI to try to keep you occupied.

Which is why it cannot compare to other films. In fact, those of us a bit older on the team, were recalling the first movies we ever saw. I had the original King Kong (1930’s), another teammate had Frankenstein, another was Nosferatu. Overall we could name several films from our formative years that we had seen and still remember. This was compared to our youngest teammate, who couldn’t recall any film older than Bladerunner, which he saw on television.

Because without a real plot, what is there to remember? Honestly, there is nothing to pay attention to. Movies these days are so dependant on CGI and explosions (which can be great things) that the concept of a plot goes out the window. Thus the increasing number of movies ripping off or revisioning older plot-driven movies. And each has almost completely been a failure.

Hell, even the remakes of slasher horror films have been complete let-downs. The budgets for films like Friday the 13th were exponentially larger than the original film, and the result was deplorable. Because acting, and plots, are substantially reduced in the new versions as opposed to the old – even in movies where little plot was involved.

Or the trend to have movies steal multiple ideas from successful movies, cobbled together in the hopes of making a passable movie. Like the latest John Cena movie, 12 Rounds. The pitch had to be something like ‘Take Cena, who is popular in wrestling, put him in a Die Hard situation with a bit of Speed and Terminator thrown in, and we have a great movie.’ Except movie-goers had the option of DVD’s and Tivo, both of which are superior to such efforts.

Why are there so few films that are compelling these days? Ultimately that was the question being asked last night. Simply because there is no plot in films anymore. And without that you have nothing more than a string of explosions and CGI graphics strung together in a hodge-podge that even a cartoon can do better.

[Oh, for those wondering. My 8-ball and 9-ball teams are leading our league, likely to win both with room to spare. My match last night took 15 minutes total; 4 games with each game taking one turn of me and my opponent. Essentially I ran to one ball or the 8 and then he ran the table and it was time to rack in each game. Talk about 2 players being on fire.]

NBC tries a touch of honesty with SyFy Channel

Somewhere around 16 years ago there was a buzz on the internet. People were excited about a new cable network. Finally there would be some respect and attention paid to the tens of millions of fans (in just the U.S.) of science fiction. It was called the Sci-Fi channel.

That anticipation quickly became boredom and apathy as the line up of the channel was far from what most expected. Much of the original line-up of shows were unintelligent, unimaginative and low-budget at best. Still an early hit for the channel was the Lexx series. So they held on.

The channel went on to create another growing success called The Invisible Man, with a new and unique take on the original movie concept. Still a low-budget enterprise, it too had a following, until they dropped it suddenly. First Wave also had a following. In fact I think at the time First Wave was the biggest hit the Channel had. The addition of Traci Lords didn’t hurt ratings either.

Through this entire time the management of Sci-Fi was in a battle. They knew they needed something to generate some buzz. They needed something new and fresh. They needed to make an impact with the fanbase responsible to comic book, Star Wars, and other conventions. The fans of science fiction were diverse, intelligent, and remarkably more inclined to spend money in the genre than just about any other. Yet they had no idea what sci-fi was, let alone good science fiction. But they did get lucky.

Thus came Farscape. A series that literally put Sci-Fi on the map. They grew their viewers and raised money for advertising. They were able to cross-promote other programs on the network that before never had notice. In fact the channel gained so much attention that they were bought by NBC.

Which brought the company solidly back into the realm of brain-dead, poll oriented, lowest common denominator programming. And one of the first blows in getting to a level where fans of watching grass grow could be on par with people that prefer the X-men, Terminator, Star Trek, and the X-files was the removal of Farscape. Because the management didn’t get it, and thought they were smarter than the core audience.

Thus began the now endless rotation of retreads, rip-offs, and anything but science fiction at the Sci-Fi channel.

Since that time the channel has brought on the over extended Stargate SG-1 series. A show that previously failed at 2 other networks. But it was the best and only sci-fi show they had – that they could wrap their small brains around. And that show created a spin off that no one I know has seen. And that will spin-off yet another show. Essentially the same show, just different locations and actors. How innovative.

But to fill the rest of the time slots, the NBC executives that were at their best with comedy shows based on nothing (Seinfeld) or delusions (Friends), decided to go with shows based on interpreting dreams, a scam artist that speaks with dead people, guys that moonlight as ghost hunters in rigged scenarios, a bad rip-off of Candid Camera, a reality contest based on video games, wrestling, and an unlimited supply of made-for-tv movies that are blatant copies of good/bad theatrical movies [ie. Alien Apocalypse was the horrendous copy of the new Planet of the Apes and Independance Day - a mix that did not work yet Sci-Fi called it their highest rated movie ever]. The alternative to a poorly scripted copy of a movie is the giant animal film (usually snakes, sometimes spiders) or nature-gone-wild films (a trip to the 1970’s, just done worse).

Suffice to say they accomplished one thing. They abandoned the core science fiction audience, with the exception of Eureka (which is original and decent) and Battlestar Galactica (an abysmal rendering of someone’s Cliff Notes version of the original popular series).

The final nail in the coffin is the news that Sci-Fi Channel will now be changing their name. It’s about time. They long ago stopped giving a crap about the purpose of the channel in favor of just another broadcast television channel on cable. They have some of the least intelligent, worst acted, rushed productions on television today. There is no cohesive theme to the channel. But they damn well reached the bottom of the barrel in terms of lowest common denominator.

So I’m happy to say that the channel will get a new name. Sadly it sounds the same as the old name, just spelled different. SyFy. I’m not sure who this is supposed to fool, or what they hope to inspire. But I’m not in the lowest denominator category so I’m sure it’s not meant to get my attention.

If I were them I’d call the channel – BDOA (Brain-dead On Arrival), or CPH (Couch Potatoe Heaven). Maybe the last one could have the slogan – “no need to think or act”.

So now the search will go on. One day there may be a channel among the over 500 that actually gets sci-fi fans. Maybe it will respect the intelligence of the fans. Maybe it will reward their support by keeping its word and programming that actually has something to do with its theme. We’ve gotten a glimpse of what that channel could be, so maybe one day.

At least NBC has stopped lying to the public and themselves and changed the name. Now if they could just go away altogether I’d be happy.