EUREKA

And I can’t think of a clever title…Eureka doesn’t seem to be inspiring clever titles, although I think this season is much stronger than the last and very well written. The acting has been consistently good over all three, although I will still put in an I miss Taggart plug. Maybe he’s tracking Beverly?

This week — still not enough Jo. I guess more Zoe means less Jo. Glad they realized Zane fits in better with the high schoolers than the grownups. Liked the Captain Eureka thing. Lexi is a good add; someone needs to give Carter that kind of a backboard for patter. Fargo’s around too much. Henry and Alison solving problems is good. Thorne plot line creeps along with very little zing. This season seems to be an exploration of the heroic. Will Thorne make the hero switch like Henry did last season?

Anyway, the score ++Carter uses technology and logic to conquer, -arbitrarily putting Zoe in danger so he can do the Dad big hero thing, – lack of Jo, +excellent writing, +for Chuck, +for Eva Thorne’s hair (don’t ask, it’s late — is one of the Eureka points all redheads are dangerous and hey, who’s the town therapist now and does Eureka have a bar? Has anyone had a still yet? Eureka moonshiners, there’s a thought, Eureka plus Dukes of Hazzard — rocket cars!). Where was I, oh the score: 4.5, I think on the EM scale of -6 to +6. Now, if we’ve finished leaving main characters behind in the time stream or etched onto a diamond, can we have some fun?

Good night.

“I NEVER BUILD STRIP MALLS”

And if you’ve never watched the pilot episode of The Middleman that will make no sense. Go watch it now; I’ll wait.

There, had a good laugh? Dancing with Middle joy? Wondering where the next mutant, evil scientist, or confrontational conceptual artist will strike? Good.

O.K., the Pilot Episode Sanction score — wrote pluses and minuses on little blue post its scattered across the top of my computer so let’s take them in order: +black and white interludes, + location titling, + for “as is department”, +for “I never build strip malls” and other dialogue you actually have to listen to, + (always) for Noser, + for the art scattered around the illegal sublet, – Kesslar’s good, but in some parts, especially the beginning the dialogue just goes too fast, + Avengers reference, – for bad gorilla body double on the gunman, + for the Middleman’s “I have issues with authority”, + for the totally poised hero run, +for gorilla art…

And that’s only the blue post it tip of a larger comedy iceberg. Score on the EM scale (-6 to +6), well, +6 — how can you not give a perfect score to a reprise of the night you fell in love. Something about The Middleman just leaves me with a grin and in a dancing mood, possibly square dancing or at least country line dancing though I don’t have the boots. I think Middleman is vying to take beach bum off the top of my future career list, ahead of choreographer and media mogul.

So watch ‘em and if you happen to be a media mogul– I have yet to get my multi million media mogul spurs — pick the darn show up.

THE MIDDLEMAN

O.K., SciFi pick it up if ABC Family sticks with teens in turmoil.  We want our second season of svelte sidekick and square jawed hero.  Season finale very very well done, if lacking quite so many laugh out loud moments.  Bonus for the Shadow reference and excellent lighting in Middle Apocalypso Land.  Lacey wasn’t as sexy as the preview articles claimed, but it’s hard to outdo hot on the track of everything anti-art Lacey.  Noser with a gun showed a new side…answer the man, d*&n it, or get blown away.  Makes you wonder what your palindromic double would be like.

So, the score:  pluses for middle hog striding dude, excellent acting job; pluses for serious tension, pluses for glass puzzling, plus for multifunction Ida, plus for villian twist, plus for spray on soup, minus for still smarmy Pip, minus for banal art at the end — why not an eyepatch, tatoo or stubble, minus for cutesy Tyler stuff, plus for all being right with the world.  Total on the EM Index 2.0 with its -6 to +6 scale:

The Middleman season finale:  +4.5

Somebody pick up the show and when is the DVD coming out?  And can Season 2 involve more Sensei Ping?

EUREKA VS. THE MIDDLEMAN, ROUND VMT

Wow, not a funny week, but a great week.  The Middleman not as laugh out loud funny, unless you are the sort who automatically laughs at ventriloquists and their dummies — isn’t shuddering in horror a more natural reaction?  Good Noser insight, excellent Lacey, but we should save that for the scoring round. 

 

Eureka — wow.  Very well done.  Travel is a hard loop to roll and they did it.

 

So the score in Round VMT, Vampires mangle Time:

 

Middleman:  plus for Lacey/Pip sex dreams; plus for less Ida (she has been increasingly obtrusive), major plus for the Middleman of mystery thing, minus for the Noser’s hot instructor — unless she actually is a vampire; plus for vampire puppets, plus for some je ne sais quois that made me think this is a good episode.  Talley:  4.5

 

Eureka:  plus for excellent writing matched by excellent performances; plus for gripping tension, plus for banana milkshakes calming monkeys, plus for Stark the Hero, plus for so many excellent and different readings of the same lines, minus for Thorne villainy (she’s not at Beverly levels yet, where’s the subtle poison), but on the whole a great episode for any series.  Score:  6

So, the total on the EM scale of -5 to 5 is The Middleman hitting a high with a 4.5, but Eureka putting it out of reach with an unexpected 6.  Now can we go back to uproariously funny?

EUREKA + ROUND 3 Score

OK, good week for fun scifi shows, but between that and the Olympics I’m not getting to my rented animated Hellboy movie. For Middleman comments see recent Middleman entry. As for Eureka, very enjoyable.

Eureka: plus for random, crazy, mad science(and scientist), plus for robot dogs, plus for actually bringing back some of the characters from Season 2 for local color, plus for mucus (double plus), great to see so much Cafe Diem activity, minus for a little bit of plot fumble at the end, plus for tunneler, minus for awkwardness of Thorne-Henry-Carter brewing intrigue, plus for no Zane, minus for Jack and Zoe being so considerate of each other’s feelings for 2 episodes in a row, minus for Allison’s dress not being foofy enough…I think that adds up to a 4.5 on the EM Scale (-5 to 5), so this week’s result is a close win by Eureka, continuing their hot streak.

ROUND 3: The Middleman (finally in the positives!)3.5; Eureka, 4.6(the more I think about it, the better it gets)

THE SCORE: EUREKA VS. THE MIDDLEMAN

Eureka — pluses for Frances Farmer, Stark in suit, Martha; still no Spencer — no fair trading him for Zane and Larry; boo Allison accepting Stark but yeah return of chemistry with Carter.

The Middleman;  pluses for excellent early flirting, but minuses for dance; minus for Cecil, worse villian yet, pluses for Roxy appearance, middling for Ida, not a good Dubby episode, tuba not as amusing as I thought.  

 

SCORE (This week only, on a scale of -5 to +5):  Eureka +2, The Middleman -1/8

EUREKA VS. THE MIDDLEMAN

I need my goofy, square jawed hero, tons of puns, possibly a brunette stops by science fiction content so this week is a test — which show will I look forward to?  The Middleman jarred the sentiment to humor ratio last night by focusing on Lacey and The Middleman while at the same time lacking the hyperkilter zap  of the evil dictator boyband or trout craving zombie episodes; …we’ll see what Eureka does for its third season.  The Middleman is becoming my “hmmm, that might be good music to try” source. OK, just checked out The Middleman webpage and apparently people want Wendy and The Middleman to get together — NOOOOOOOOO.  One of the best things about it was that there was none of that Moonlighting once we go we go wrong tension between the two leads; leave it for the roommate.