Eureka is an American science fiction television series set in a town inhabited almost entirely by geniuses. In the UK, it is known as A Town Called Eureka.

SCI FI had originally renewed Eureka for a third season of 13 episodes^[1] set to begin airing July 29, 2008.^[2] Due to the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike there will be a larger order than the original 13, co-creator and Executive Producer Jaime Paglia stated this was a way to "help offset the financial impact of the production push"^[3] and it was announced on May 16, 2008 that Eureka had been renewed for a third season of 21 episodes.^[4]

Synopsis

Eureka takes place in a high tech community of the same name, located somewhere in the Pacific Northwest (implied in various episodes to be Oregon) and inhabited entirely by brilliant scientists working on new scientific advancements for the United States government that frequently go disastrously awry. The town's existence and location is a closely guarded secret.

U.S. Marshal Jack Carter stumbles upon Eureka while transporting a fugitive prisoner ? his own rebellious teenage daughter Zoe ? back to her mother's home in Los Angeles, California. When a faulty experiment cripples the sheriff of Eureka, Carter finds himself quickly chosen to fill the vacancy. Despite not being at the genius level of most of the town, Jack Carter's ability to connect what others do not see repeatedly saves Eureka, and indeed the entire world, from one would-be disaster after another.

Characters

• Colin Ferguson as Sheriff Jack Carter, a U.S. Marshal who unwittingly ends up as Sheriff of Eureka. Jack is consistently dumbfounded by the wonders Eureka produces, as well as their propensity to produce things that often threaten the entire town, if not the world. Despite being an average man in a town full of geniuses, Jack's admittedly stupid ideas often save the day.
• Salli Richardson-Whitfield as Allison Blake, a Department of Defense agent who acts as the liaison between Eureka and the federal government, and later becomes the director of Global Dynamics. She is always at the forefront of any dilemma that might arise.
• Jordan Hinson as Zoe Carter, Jack's rebellious teenage daughter. Unlike her father, she is intelligent enough to keep up with the town's residents (her IQ is 157), yet like her father possesses the street smarts that most of the town's residents do not.
• Joe Morton as Henry Deacon, the town jack-of-all-trades. Henry's assistance is often invaluable in diffusing the situations the experiments in town create.
• Ed Quinn as Nathan Stark, one of Eureka's top scientists who is modeled after Tony Stark. He and Jack are frequently at odds, though both respect the other. He was formerly married to Allison, and they rekindle their relationship in the second season.
• Erica Cerra as Deputy Jo Lupo, another of the town's few average residents. Jo is a tough, no-nonsense cop who loves her gun collection.
• Neil Grayston as Douglas Fargo, an average scientist who more often than not ends up a victim of the disasters that befall the town.
• Debrah Farentino as Dr. Beverly Barlowe, the town psychiatrist who secretly works for a conglomerate of business interests that wish to exploit Eureka's innovations.
• Matt Frewer as Jim Taggart, a somewhat eccentric animal expert.
• Chris Gauthier as Vincent, the owner of Cafe Diem. He prides himself on being able to make anything his customers ask for.
• Niall Matter as Zane Donovan, a rebellious genius recruited in the second season after being arrested for fraud. He is said to have caused the stock market to crash; he denies the allegations.
• Frances Fisher as Eva Thorne, a corporate fixer hired to make Eureka more profitable, which she mainly accomplishes by downsizing. She seems to have an ulterior motive which has yet to be revealed.

Episodes

The episodes of season one were not aired in the order intended by the show's creators. This is suggested by the episodes' production numbers which are displayed on the SCI FI's Eureka website next to episode titles quite often. There are some small inconsistencies when watched closely, but such inconsistencies are minimal and were intentionally controlled. In podcast commentaries with the show's creators and star Colin Ferguson, they confirm that the production order is in fact the order in which they intended the show to air, but the network executives changed the order to try and place stronger episodes earlier in the run to help attract viewers. The creators were able to make minor changes in editing and sometimes dubbed dialogue in later episodes (for instance, they removed the explicit mention of Zoe's first day at school) to try to eliminate audience confusion.

Eureka was originally planned as an animated series.^[5]

Ratings and critical reaction

The series' premiere garnered high ratings, with 4.1 million people tuning in. Eureka was also the top rated cable program for that Tuesday night, and was the highest-rated series launch in SCI FI's fourteen-year history.^[6] The season two premiere drew 2.5 million viewers, making it the top-rated cable program of the day.^[7]

Critical reaction was mixed, with general praise for the premise, but overall middling reaction to the writing of the pilot.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

It's all very quirky. Too quirky, maybe, for an audience that is used to spaceships, robots, and explosions. Though every episode promises an "aha!" moment based in quantum physics and obscure scientific laws, this world is relatively flat, conceptually speaking, in comparison to the complexity woven into series such as Stargate SG-1 and Battlestar Galactica. This does not mean Eureka is a complete waste of time. Not at all. The characters are fun, Ferguson is believable and pleasant, the script is solidly constructed, and the visuals are slickly produced. All in all, it's a sweet series and probably not long for this world.^[8]

The New York Post:

3 out of 4 stars

The New York Daily News:

With its playful new series "Eureka," set in the Pacific Northwest and telling the story of an outsider who comes to explore, and settle in, a remote town full of eccentrics, Sci-Fi Channel isn't just inviting comparisons to "Twin Peaks" and "Northern Exposure." It's demanding them. But co-creators Andrew Cosby and Jaime Paglia hold up to them pretty well. "Eureka" has a premise, a cast and a plot that make it one of the TV treats of the summer. The folks at Sci-Fi Channel clearly intended to reinvent the summer TV series here, and come up with something breezy and fun. And "Eureka" - they've done it!

Awards

Eureka was nominated for a 2007 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series. The other nominees were Battlestar Galactica (the winner), Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, and Rome.^[9]

Production notes

The stunt coordinator was David Jacox.

Filming locations

• Chilliwack, British Columbia^[10] – Downtown Wellington Avenue on April 12, 2006
• Duncan, British Columbia
• Ladysmith, British Columbia^[11] – Downtown First Avenue
• Nanaimo, British Columbia – Ney Drive, Biggs & Townsite Roads
• Surrey, British Columbia – (Sullivan Heights Secondary School, Fraser Heights Secondary School)
• Victoria, British Columbia
• Port Moody, British Columbia – (Heritage Woods Secondary School) Exterior shots of Global Dynamics. The interior of the school has also been used as the school that Brian Perkins attends, on May 3, 2007. This school's interior has also been used as the school that Zoe Carter attends as well (in the episode, "Duck, Duck Goose"). The roof of the school was also used as the location of the astronomy tower (also in the episode, "Duck, Duck Goose").
• Ashland, Oregon – (City Hall) Interior and exterior shots of city hall
• Burnaby, British Columbia – Vancouver Film Studios^[12] for the majority of the Global Dynamics building interiors, cafe interiors as well as the home of Sheriff Carter.

International distribution

DVD releases

Season One

Season One
	Set Details			Special Features
	12 Episodes 3-Disc Set 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio Languages: English (Dolby Digital 5.1 Stereo) Subtitles: English (No subtitles available with the UK release)			Audio Commentaries - with various Cast and Crew Members Deleted Scenes - with Audio Commentaries Podcasts - with various Cast and Crew Members Webisodes Mock Infomercials Outtakes - with Audio Commentaries: "Pilot" "Once in a Lifetime" "Returns in July" TV Spot
	Release Dates
	July 3 2007	March 24 2008	Unknown

Season Two

Season Two
	Set Details			Special Features[13]
	13 Episodes 3-Disc Set 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio Languages: English (Dolby Digital 5.1 Stereo) Subtitles: English			Deleted Scenes Podcasts - with various Cast and Crew Members Webcasts Eureka PSAs Gag Reel Inside the Writers' Room
	Release Dates
	July 15 2008[14]	August 18 2008[15]	Unknown

Original Soundtrack

On August 26 2008, La La Land Records released Eureka: Original Soundtrack From the Sci-Fi Channel Television Series.^[16] Composed predominately by Bear McCreary, the album consists of 28 tracks from the show's second season. It also includes two variations of the Mark Mothersbaugh and John Enroth composed main theme, as well as two songs -- "Let's Get Hitched" and "EurekAerobics", written by Brendan McCreary and Captain Ahab, respectively.^[17]

References

External links

• Official Eureka site at Sci Fi.com

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