Eureka at Comic Con

“Eureka” panel – The extraordinary show where everything is possible, including a 4th season!

The word “eureka” means “I found it!” and for the TV show “Eureka” is aptly named as it invites audiences to discover a quirky, charming little town of Eureka, along with the wonderfully inventive and quirky individuals that populate the town.  The premise is a government-owned town that recruits the world’s best minds and scientists in order to foster an environment of discovery and invention, which provides the show a limitless landscape of story-telling.  And not surprisingly, it was last year’s most watched show on  Syfy.  It has disarming way of charming the audience with its seeming simplicity that lures us into watching all their escapades and adventures.  And in the innocuous words of Sheriff Jack Carter, “it is just your normal small town with small town stuff.”

Creator Jaime Paglia enthusiastically shared with the 2,500 plus attendees at the panel for “Eureka” at Comic-Con that the 2nd half of “Eureka’s” 3rd season offers some very big surprises, includes a new threat, returning characters (Taggart!) and a new character as a potential love interest for the handsome Jack Carter.  Jaime also shared that secret of “Eureka’s” success is the delightful, heart-warming characters, as they are “characters [he] likes and wants to spend time with” and he feels “it’s like having a big toy box to play with.”

Another further reveal was the minor story hick-up after learning of Salli Richardson-Whitfield’s pregnancy. However, Jaime was quickly intrigued and  rewrote her character’s story arc to include Salli’s pregnancy and it turned out to be a “happy accident” which allowed them to find a new way for Allison and Carter to reconceive (no pun intended) their relationship.  For Carter immediately stepped-up as Allison’s birthing coach and vowed to be a part of the baby’s life after Stark’s fatal sacrifice in order to save the entire world.

Salli also happily recounted how funny it was that that every time Colin (as Carter) touched her belly while filming scenes for the show, the baby would kick and Colin jumped back in surprise every time.

The EUREKA gang face another odd day in a small town. / copyright SyFy

Answering the question:  where was Colin?  Jaime and Allison shared that Colin Ferguson is currently filming “Lake Placid 3” in Bulgaria.   In order to not exclude Colin from the festivity of participating on the panel, and at the urging of Syfy executive Mark Stern, Colin was contacted by phone in Bulgaria so that he could say a few words for the crowd.  Then almost immediately, he asked Mark, “Have we been picked up for a 4th season yet?”  Put on the spot, Mark Stern,  the Syfy executive who had been previously unobtrusively sitting in the front row in order to observe the panel, got up  and confirmed to Colin and everyone else that, “yes, Eureka is getting picked up for a 4th season.”  The roar of elation around the massive room was deafening.  This was just what the devoted and ecstatic fans had wanted to hear; and the cast were no less obviously delighted with this phenomenal news.

As the excitement and roar subsided to a manageable level, the panel returned to the Q&A and Joe Morton, who plays Henry, took a moment to share his views on how Eureka as the most dangerous place in America to live, needs  Sheriff Carter’s to save the scientists from themselves.  Carter is the grounding force in a sea of invention and unexpected consequences.   Carter is the “everyman” who sees what is really going on, when everyone else is over-thinking the problem.

When queried about how much of her character is like her in real life, Erica Cerra shared that her character Deputy Jo Lupo is a mirror reflection of the girl she was growing up as she was the one mostly likely to beat up the boys and was very much a daddy’s girl.  Erica further elaborated that now that she is older that she likes being more feminine and feels less inclined to physically pummel the opposite sex.  But that is not to say that she does not appreciate that she gets an extra 2 hours of sleep each day as her character Jo does not need so much time in the hair and make-up trailer!  Erica has really loved the opportunity to portray such a tough and intelligent character.  She is especially drawn to parts where there is a lot of controversy to play and hopes that there will be an exploration of possible compromises in Jo’s relationship with Zane.

Neil Grayston as Douglas Fargo on EUREKA / copyright SyFy

Neil Grayston, who plays both Fargo and provides the voice of the smart-house S.A.R.A.H., reacted quite funnily to being told that the network had provided the moderator with a note that he could be “quick on his toes.”  Though not able to determine if they meant he was literally a great dancer or if it meant he was good with the quick quips, Neil conceded that given the seemingly innocence of his character Fargo, that perhaps Fargo would ultimately turn out to be the show’s “big bad guy, maybe it’s all an act” while winking at the audience.  If that indeed turns out to be true, then that was the scoop of the day!

He also explained that he got the opportunity to voice S.A.R.A.H. after the first table read in the pilot episode where he jokingly started saying S.A.R.A.H.’s lines in a girly voice.  Hence, the line from a previous episode where Carter says, “Is that you, Fargo?” upon hearing S.A.R.A.H.’s voice and Fargo cryptically says, “no-o-o” (with a hint of hidden laughter in this voice).  Jaime also shared that it was initially his wife’s idea that Neil should do the voice of S.A.R.A.H.

When asked about the amazing special effects portrayed in the show, Jaime explained that Zoic (who did all the astounding “BSG” special effects) also does the special effects for “Eureka.”  He also employs actual science advisors to check his ideas on what is conceivable or not before allowing it on the show.  He wants to steer clear of anything that might appear as “magic” and instead wants to focus on “science-next” — what kinds of things are we on the verge of discovering and using in the world today.  Another person who likes to keep the science grounded and real is Joe Morton, who will take each script and research for himself the science behind it to make sure it is something he understands opposed to just lines he espouses as his character on the show.  Otherwise, as Joe said, “it is just a bunch of goobly gook.”

When jokingly asked, “and why did you create Skynet,” Joe responded, “this is Henry’s second life!”

A couple of miscellaneous questions from the fans were:

Salli Richardson-Whitfield as Allison Blake / copyright SyFy

(1) Will there be a musical episode?  Yes, according to Mark Stern and which was enthusiastically embraced by Salli, but Colin said that he would appreciate a smaller role in that episode and even Erica who was just so wonderfully spotlighted singing in last week’s episode, said that she would prefer to let others do the heavy-lifting for a musical episode.

(2)  Will Fargo’s new girlfriend Julia be back?  Yes!  Though Jaime admitted there are some physical challenges as the actress who plays Julia recently moved to Los Angeles and they have to work out the geographic logistics.

(3) What was one of the funnier behind the scenes moments from this season?  Salli shared that for the birth episode, the cast and crew had put a Stark-beard on the baby and that sure surprised her quite a bit.

(4) Will the writers ever go back and address the scene where Zoe and Carter drive past theirselves in the pilot episode?  Jaime responded, “never say never” and that they would certainly like to address that hanging storyline, but he cannot envision when that might be yet.

(4) Will any of the other cast be directing any of the upcoming episodes?  Yes, in addition to Colin Ferguson who directed “Your Face or Mine,” Joe Morton is taking a turn at directing and will direct the episode in which Taggart returns.  When asked what it was like to direct, Joe said,  “it is a joy to build a world, rather than just being a part of the puzzle.”

(5)  Where did the red dress come from that Jo wore in “Your Face of Mine”?  Erica said that while the dress was initially a size 10, it was refitted to fit her size 2 lithe frame.  She also choreographed her own moves for the piano scene.

(6)  Whatever happened to Kevin, Allison’s son?  Salli responded with an exclamation of, “What kind of mother am I?  I have no idea!”  But Jaime explained that due to the intense restrictions on working with child actors, it is just about impossible to have them in all the episodes — especially since they regularly work 16 hour days while filming episodes.

(7)  What happened to the Fargo stand-up cut-out at the mock-up “Cafe Diem” across the street from the convention center?  Neil responded that he had not heard it was missing, but hopes that his poster self is getting a chance to see the world.

Finally, Jaime spoke about how the elements of enthusiasm are deeply imbedded into the core of the show, through the use of colorful visual imagery, upbeat musical scores, and characters with irrepressibly optimistic viewpoints on how everything is possible.  Jaime said that like the Greek inventor Archimedes who figured out how to determine if the king‘s crown was made of pure gold, “Eureka” is all about the excitement of discovery.  But at the same time, he likes to infuse a bit of darkness underneath to provide real consequences to both the dark history behind Eureka and potential negative repercussions in the future for all these extraordinary inventions and how misapplication can lead to abuse.  But for now, “Eureka” remains a delightful little show that is conquering the sci-fi version on Syfy and thrilling fans for yet another season!

Catch a new episode of “Eureka” tonight on SyFy at 9/8c.