Posted on 07/21/2006 7:09:52 PM PDT by KevinDavis
SCI FI Channel took one giant step toward expanding its original series offerings on July 18, with the 2-hour series premiere of Eureka drawing over 4 million viewers. The new series earned a 3.2 average household rating, tying the July 2004 premiere of Stargate Atlantis but exceeding it in viewers.
Eureka is now the highest rated series telecast in SCI FI Channel history, the network boasts. The premiere was also the most-watched cable program on Tuesday, and the highest-rated and most-watched premiere telecast of a cable original series in Tuesday prime time so far this year.
Starring Colin Ferguson ("The Opposite of Sex") as Jack Carter, Eureka is set in a small, seemingly ordinary Pacific Northwest town that is actually a community of scientific geniuses assembled by the government to conduct top-secret research in various fields (story). SCI FI has ordered an initial season of 13 hours (including the 2-hour pilot).
Stargate SG-1 guest star Salli Richardson-Whitfield ("Drey'auc") co-stars in the series. Actors Maury Chaykin (Stargate's Nerus) and Garry Chalk ("Colonel Chekov") also guest starred in the pilot.
Eureka airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. Eastern/Pacific on SCI FI. The pilot will reair this Friday at 7 p.m., and several more times in the days following.
Boy, you're pinging away tonight! Your night to FReep? :)
I saw it and recommend it. It's very intriquing.
I missed it, I missed it, I missed it. So will try to catch it again if it repeats this weekend. Did it live up to your expectations?
It's a two hour that could have been done in one hour.
I've just sat through 75% of this because of this thread posted and it was just OK so far IMO.
OK, I'll crochet while I watch. I can always tell if it's a keeper if I get anything done. I see they are bringing the Night Stalker redo to sci-fi.
I saw it tonight...not too bad
The New Night Stalker was bad because the scripts were pathetic.
The actor was great in it though.
Stuart Townsend
We loved the old series, Darrin McGavin was perfect for the role.We were also fans of Special Unit 2 and The Chronicle. If they go to DVD I'm buying.
You're right, it could have been done in an hour and should have been. It's okay; not good, not awful.
i thought it sucked. The premise was good, but it needed better writing. The best line was when the kid asked the deputy ('Maya' from Battlestar Galactica) if she had a hot date (while she was loading bullets).
The ratings were high because the season 3 trailer to Battlestar Galactica premiered during that show. BTW, Col. Tigh looks like a pirate or mountain man with the beard and eye patch. He's the only 'real man' in the series.
I enjoyed "Eureka," although even a little bit of the snarky teenage-daughter thingy is quite enough for me. I recognized the SG1 guest stars (enjoyed seeing them again) and liked the premise, and the Marshall (Jack Carter) is great. I suspected all of the characters of being "the bad guy" except for the one who actually was - so, since being fooled is fun, I liked it.
They could have made the series even funnier had they been more accurate (the premise being that reality is often funnier than fiction). It would have helped to have a writer familiar with the military. That way they'd have known (G.I. Jane notwithstanding) that there have been, are, and will be exactly zero women in Special Forces, or the Rangers. They need a better background story for "Deputy Bob"...she is a cutie though!
Psyched is funny, but it will have a long way to go in order to catch Monk.
Like you, I could have done without the snarky teenager. I guess they threw her in to get the teenage audience, but I found her a distraction to the story--similar to how I felt about the "Kim" character in "24."
At times, watching Eureka, I was reminded of an older show on SciFi, trying to remember the name of it--something like World News Weekly (or Daily? Or Monthly??) about a tabloid which had stories like Bat Boy that were actually true. Not really "deep" but fun--and that's kind of how Eureka strikes me.
You can see her on Battlestar Galactica as well. She plays 'Maya', the adoptive mother of the hybrid human/cylon baby of 'Helo' and a copy of 'Sharon Valari'. The woman who was from the DOD is also on Galactia. She plays 'Tory Foster', aid to former President Roslyn.
At this time, i couldn't hazzard to guess the target demographic of the show. Frankly, i'm not optimistic about the show's survival.
"The Chronicle" -- and personally, I like "Eureka" a bit better. I don't hold out much hope (I'm waiting for BSG in October and "The Dresden Files" in January), but I'll watch while it's around.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.