Eureka (2006 TV series)

Did You Know?

• In the pilot episode, Eureka was located in Washington, and in the episode 'Best in Faux' the origin of a diamond was shown as Eureka, California.
• The show is known as A Town Called Eureka in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Syfy, though it airs under its original title on BT Vision.

Cast and characters

Sheriff Jack Carter, played by Colin Ferguson, is a U.S. Marshal who becomes Eureka's sheriff reluctantly. Though often bewildered by the town's advanced technology, his simple ideas and intuition frequently resolve crises. His rebellious teenage daughter Zoe Carter, portrayed by Jordan Danger (credited as Jordan Hinson in seasons 1–3, recurring in seasons 4–5), is intelligent enough to keep up with the town's geniuses and possesses street smarts.

She hopes to attend Harvard Medical School and become a physician, which she later does in an alternate timeline. Dr. Allison Blake, played by Salli Richardson-Whitfield, is a Department of Defense agent who becomes head of Global Dynamics. She is the mother of Kevin, who has autism; in an alternate timeline his symptoms improve due to high-tech cranial implants. Dr. Henry Deacon, portrayed by Joe Morton, is a brilliant scientist who works as the town mechanic due to ethical objections to Global Dynamics' research.

His help is often crucial in resolving dangerous situations. Dr. Jim Taggart, played by Matt Frewer, is an eccentric animal expert working in geophysics. Vincent, portrayed by Chris Gauthier, owns Cafe Diem. Dr. Nathan Stark, played by Ed Quinn (seasons 1–3), is a top scientist frequently at odds with Jack, though they respect each other; he is romantically involved with Allison on and off.

He is modeled after Tony Stark from Marvel Comics. Dr. Beverly Barlowe, portrayed by Debrah Farentino (seasons 1–2, recurring in seasons 4–5), is the town psychiatrist who secretly works for the Consortium, an organization seeking to exploit Eureka's innovations. Deputy sheriff Josephina 'Jo' Lupo, played by Erica Cerra (recurring in seasons 1–2, regular in seasons 3–5), is a former U.S. Army Ranger with a love of firearms.

Production

Andrew Cosby and Jaime Paglia created the show, with Universal Media Studios handling production. The executive producers were Paglia, Charles Grant Craig, and Thania St. John. Mutato Muzika provided the music for the first season, while Bear McCreary took over from season two onward. Filming took place in British Columbia: Chilliwack’s downtown Wellington Avenue served as the Cafe Diem exterior for all five seasons, Ladysmith’s downtown First Avenue and Roberts Street were used, and Burnaby’s Vancouver Film Studios housed most interiors for Global Dynamics, Cafe Diem, and S.A.R.A.H. The series shared a universe with Warehouse 13 and Alphas, with characters crossing over between all three shows.

On August 17, 2010, Syfy ordered a 13-episode fifth season. The show was canceled after season five, announced on August 8, 2011, though an extra episode was added to wrap up the story. The final season premiered on April 16, 2012.

Reception

The pilot episode of Eureka pulled in 4.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched cable show that night and the biggest series debut in Sci-Fi's fourteen-year run. Its second season opener attracted 2.5 million viewers, again topping cable for the day. Over the 2008 calendar year, the show averaged 1.42 million viewers in the 18-to-49 demographic. The third season premiere had 2.8 million viewers, while the season 3.5 debut drew 2.68 million after a time slot change.

The fourth season opened with 2.5 million viewers, and the fifth season premiere matched the previous season's finale with 1.8 million. The series closer, "Just Another Day," brought in 1.58 million. Critics were split: they liked the concept but found the pilot's writing only so-so. The show earned a 2007 Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series.

On August 21, 2010, the Independent Investigations Group gave Eureka an award for its scientific and critical thinking content, which head writer Ed Fowler accepted.

In other media

All five seasons of Eureka have been released on DVD in Region 1 and Region 2; seasons 1–4 have been released in Region 4. Seasons 3 and 4 were released in two separate sets each in Region 1 and 2. In 2014, Universal released a region-free 18-disc Blu-Ray box set for the German market (titled Eureka: Die Komplette Serie or Eureka Gesamtbox), which retains original English audio and allows English menus. In 2020, Mill Creek Entertainment released a 12-disc Blu-Ray box set for the American market, though it lacks two extended episodes from the 2014 set and has reported video quality issues.

A soundtrack was released on August 26, 2008 by La La Land Records, containing 28 tracks from season two and two variations of the main theme by Mark Mothersbaugh and John Enroth. All five seasons are available on-demand on Amazon Prime Video for American Prime members and on The Roku Channel for Roku owners. In early 2009, Boom! Studios published a comic book series based on storylines by Andrew Cosby, written by Brendan Hay with art by Diego Barreto, followed by a second four-issue series titled Eureka: Dormant Gene.

Three novels by Cris Ramsay were published by Ace: Eureka: Substitution Method (August 2010), Eureka: Brain Box Blues (November 2010), and Eureka: Road Less Traveled (March 2011). In 2011, Colin Ferguson appeared on Disasterpiece Theatre discussing a Michael Bay version of Eureka; in 2012, Niall Matter appeared on the same podcast discussing Eureka as a romcom. In May 2012, Ferguson appeared on Tabletop on Geek & Sundry, discussing his experiences on the show.