DVD Review: 'Eureka, Season One'

Rick Porter
Zap2It.com

July 3 2007

Part "Northern Exposure" and part "X-Files" but mostly its own thing, "Eureka" was a pleasant surprise on the Sci Fi Channel last summer. Its appeal holds up well to repeat viewings, too, even if most of the bonus material on the show's first-season DVD set is stuff fans have already been able to access.

A good bit of the show's charm stems from its relatively simple setup, in which an outsider (Colin Ferguson) moves to a town where the best minds in America work in secret on next-next-next generation technology for the government. The interaction between Ferguson's Jack Carter, a federal marshal who becomes the town's sheriff, and the eggheady townspeople provides most of the show's humor.

Yet it's not so simple that it becomes repetitive: Carter doesn't just stare blankly when someone launches into a detailed scientific explanation (though that does happen), and neither are Eureka's citizens so shut off that Carter's real-world knowledge always saves the day (though that happens too). Creators Andrew Cosby and Jaime Paglia have struck a decent balance between the two, such that we believe Jack and his daughter, Zoe (Jordan Hinson), would actually come to enjoy their new home.

Cosby and Paglia have also taken care to populate Eureka with a fairly deep ensemble cast that includes Salli Richardson-Whitfield as a Defense Department liaison/love interest for Carter, Joe Morton as the town's genius-of-all-trades, Debrah Farentino as a therapist with an agenda and Matt Frewer as a batty Aussie cryptozoologist. The writers have taken the time to create well-rounded characters for all of them, and others too, which allows them to shift their focus in any number of directions, thereby keeping the show fresh.

A number of the DVD set's extras have appeared elsewhere, though there's something to be said for aggregation. Cosby, Paglia and Ferguson offer new thoughts on the movie-length pilot, but the other commentary tracks existed first as podcasts on SciFi.com. Ditto for the fake "Made in Eureka" infomercial snippets and a series of webisodes featuring a mysterious creature stalking the woods outside town.

Other new material includes a handful of deleted and extended scenes, some of which are decent but don't exactly leave you aching that they were cut, and a couple of amusing outtakes, including one of Frewer munching on some prop food.

A featurette on how the show conceives and builds its new technology might have been a nice addition; perhaps that will come on the season two DVD. For now, fans will have to be satisfied with having all the first-season material in one place.

EXTRAS: Audio commentaries, deleted scenes, outtakes, webisodes, "Made in Eureka" ads
PRICE: $39.98