Monday, July 16, 2012

Eureka--July 18 2006-July 16 2012

EUREKA! Once upon a time just something Archimedes said upon discovering water being displaced but for the past 6 years has been a cute and fun series on the Sci-Fi (syfy) network. A California police officer is driving his fugitive teenage daughter home when they accidentally enter a small town in the middle of nowhere. The cop, Jack Carter (Colin Ferguson) and daughter Zoe (Jordan Hinson) quickly learn that this is no ordinary town. You see Eureka is "unique". It is a secret town set up by the U.S. Government as a place to make new discoveries. The citizens of Eureka are all geniuses, they are all scientists, each one a master in his/hers field of study. For all 5 seasons there was Dr. Allison Blake (Salli Richardson-Whitfield). Allison started out as a D.O.D agent who would become the director of Global Dynamics (GD is at the center of the town and the building where all the scientist work) she will also marry Jack in the final season. Then there was Douglas Fargo (Neil Grayston) a junior scientist who gets no respect from his peers until he became the new director of G.D. during a futureistic storyline to be explain later. Next is Josephina "Jo" Lupo (Erica Cerra) who began as a tough Eureka cop who enjoyed her firearms and would become head of security at G.D. and would later fall in love with a government criminal turned new G.D. good guy and head of Sector Five Zane Donovan (Niall Matter). Then there was Henry Deacon (Joe Morton) who is as smart as the rest, if not the smartest man in town and can do anything he wishes but when we first met him he was just a guy who owned the town's garage and the mechanic who fixed Jacks car upon his unexpected arrival. Later Henry will be married to Grace (Tembi Locke). Rounding out the original cast is S.A.R.A.H. the smart house where Jack and Zoe will live once he becomes the towns new sheriff.

When Carter becomes Sheriff the real story of Eureka Begins. As smart as these people are every day something goes wrong in their town and although all the characters are involved  the sheriff, the one man with an average IQ, seems to be the one man who can truly save the town. Whether it was buildings floating, new objects made at G.D. not working the way they were intended, going to space or as I have already mentioned going back in time (where we learned the origins of the town and met Dr. Trevor Grant a recurring character played by James Callis), sheriff Jack Carter was there to help figure out the problem, fix it and make Eureka safe for its citizens once again. Yes it is odd to think that the only one who really knew what was going on was the only non-genus in the town but that was what the series was all about.
Let's not forget the other characters that made up Eureka. There was Dr. Nathan Stark (Ed Quinn) who was one of GDs top scientist, never got along with Carter and had an on again off again relationship with Allison who had his daughter Jenna after his death R.I.P. Speaking of Allison's kids she also had Kevin Blake who was played by two different actors (Meshach Peters season 1-3 and Trevor Jackson Season 4-5) was a autistic savant until the timeline got switch and he became the teen who liked to skateboard and took care of his sister that we see in the final seasons. There was Vincent (Chris Gauthier) who was the owner and chef of Cafe Diem a popular Eureka hang out and Deputy Andy ( Ty Olsson) who took over for Jo when she got her new job and was actually an Android who knows everything about the town. And Dr, Holly Marten (Felicia Day) who was sent to Eureka to help out on the space mission known as Titan and would fall in love with Fargo. The wonderful Wil Wheaton as Dr. Isaac Parrish and Matt Frewer as Dr. Jim Taggart also appear along with many others.

 Eureka you were a cute, fun,strange, little show. Every time I tuned in I had a delightful visit to your unusual town and I wish I was smart enough to live there. It sucks that you were canceled with no reason or advance notice but you were one of a kind and I will never forget you!

GREAT JOB TO THE CAST AND CREW!
May Eureka forever have a place in our hearts and wherever TV shows go when they die.\\

You can watch the final episode tonight at 9 and 11 on SyFy.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

The Newsroom

I have to start by stating that I have been a fan (more then a fan he is someone I inspire to be) of Aaron Sorkin since the first episode of SportsNight 14 years ago and have watched every series created by him since (including the short lived but wonderful Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip). Mr. Sorkin also wrote one of my favorite films The American President, first came to Hollywood with A Few Good Men and won the Oscar for adopting The Social Network and nominated again for co-writing Moneyball. That being said The Newsroom is Aaron Sorkin at his best! As in The West Wing the characters speak at a rate in which a normal person may be incapable and do so while walking and preforming other tasks at the same time. Mr. Sorkin writes about what he knows and cares about and is not afraid to have his characters speak for him (which can get one into trouble sometimes).

The Newsroom takes place in our recent past (the series opens in April of 2010). The first scene has the central character Will McAvoy played by the magnificent Jeff Daniels in the middle of a talk show having what can only be described as a breakdown live on TV. A week later he returns to his news show only to find that most of his staff has left him for another time slot including his producer. He is now in a office with just a handful of people that he does not know by name including his assistant (who quickly gets promoted) Maggie (Allison Pill) and his blogger Neal (Dev Patel). That is when Will's boss Charlie (Sam Waterston) hires him a new executive producer Mackenzie MacHale played by Emily Mortimer and she brings along her own co-producer Jim Harper (John Gallagher Jr.). Early on the viewer learns that Will and Mackenzie has had a past romantic relationship information that spills out to the rest of the office. Olivia Munn also stars.
Speaking of spills as I said this series begins about two years ago. Just as this new news team are re-vamping their show the news about the BP oil spill breaks and they move into action. Mr. Sorkin's genus also appears here when actual footage and people are used to tell the story. Although we know what will happen next and how the events (including the Arizona papers please act) all turn out it is still amazing to watch. After all this is the news show we as a public want and deserve!

If you want to watch a smart, witty, fast pace, well written, well acted and just all around GOOD series then tune into HBO on Sunday nights at 10 for The Newsroom.