This week marks a major premiere week for the SyFy network. There are three returning amas and a brand new series. Eureka returns from its mid season break to wrap up the fourth season. Warehouse 13 begins its third season and Haven returns for its sophomore season. The new kid on the block this year is Alphas. And there will be one returning reality series and a new one to add to the 'What was that!?!' line up. Ghost Hunters International returns and SyFy introduces the new show Legend Quest, a promised mix of 'Indiana Jones-type adventure and Davinci Code-style puzzle solving'.
It has been an interesting year for sci-fi shows in general. SyFy got the sense that there wasn't a hole that needed to be filled after BSG ended and pulled the plug on SGU after hardcore SG fans left it behind in the car on a hot summer day with the windows rolled up. Same goes for the decent Outcasts over on the other side of the pond. Not the same network, I know, but it looks like gritty is gone for now and SyFy has been bulking up on what I like to call 'frolicking sci-fi'. "Let's go out and have an adventure. Oooh, yes, let's". That isn't to say that I don't like this lineup. Of the three returning shows I do like two of them and Alphas does mark one of the strongest series debuts I've seen in a while for the network. Monday nights are a very good night for the network with Eureka, Warehouse 13 and Alphas invading the prime time slots!
Alphas - The premise of the show goes like this. Humans with amazing abilities are called Alphas. One Dr. Lee Rosen has assembled a team of these Alphas and they work for the Department of Defense tracking down and solving crimes committed by other Alpas. The team starts with Gary Bell, a highly functioning autistic who can see bandwidth and use it right out of thin air; Bill Harken, a former FBI agent who can increase his adrenaline and gain super strength; Nina Theroux, a beautiful woman who can do Jedi Mind Tricks; and Rachel Pirzad, a sheltered Persian girl who can focus one of any of her five senses to pick up clues. In the premiere they will add another- Cameron Hicks, a former Marine sharpshooter with supernatural balance and aim. Alphas was created and written by Zak Penn - I'm dead serious when SyFy included that he wrote The Avengers and X-Men: The Last Stand in their notes. Personally, that isn't the kind of thing I would want out there, in public knowledge - and Michael Karnow. The premiere at least had a nice balance of action and humor. Really nice, actually. There were a few surprises and twists in the first episode and if things keep the same pace and level this could be another promising series for the network. Dare I say it, Alphas could fill the gap for those looking for something to replace Heroes after that show went tits up. Alphas premieres this Monday, July 11th at 10pm ET.
Eureka - This show really grew on me this year. The first ten episodes of this fourth season with the time travel story arc was the best the writers have ever had so here is hoping that they do not lose any momentum know that that arc is all but wrapped up and the core characters have all resigned to live in this alternate Eureka for now. The second half of season four kicks off with a chain of events that will set the town of Eureka abuzz with activity. A promising development in space travel has all eyes on the little town; both good and bad. A familiar foe returns and for once I really wished they hadn't. A couple seasons ago, yes, I said what I thought the show needed was something dark and ominous in the background, always threatening the peaceful little town, but now I am getting leery of the same face(s) always popping up now. Regardless, Eureka is one of my favorite shows because of its light entertainment value and excellent humor. It has been nothing but consistent throughout these four seasons and is always reliable. Eureka returns this Monday, July 11th at 8pm ET.
Warehouse 13 - When last we left our collectors of the weird, wacky and wonderful, Myka had left Warehouse 13 after H.G. Wells unveiled her sinister plot and betrayed Myka's trust. Oh no, what is the team going to do? Never fear because Aaron Ashmore is joining the cast this year as ATF agent Steve Jinks. Look, this is a serial comedy drama, you and I both know that Myka is going to return. So however Aaron's stay is with the Warehouse 13 team is, I don't know, but the addition is a good one. Warehouse 13 has been SyFy's most successful series, ever. So they must be doing something right. The comedy elements are great. Rewriting history to add a mystical or supernatural element to create artifacts is a lot of fun too. It is a formula that has proven to be very popular with viewers and the third season premiere shows no sign of that changing. Everyone is in top form and the show continues to entertain. Warehouse 13 returns this
Monday, July 11th at 9pm ET.
Haven - I'm not going to pretend that I stuck it out for the first season of Haven. For reasons that I haven't decided on yet it didn't resonate with me. But for the sake of this preview I did watch the season two premiere and there will be developments in this first episode I'm sure fans of the show are going to love. And it has Stephen McHattie as the fundamentalist preacher Rev. Ed Driscoll [Father of Seattle's Mars Hill Church Mark Driscoll?] and another Canadian veteren of stage and screen Nicholas Campbell blew up at the end of the first season. Other than that though there isn't much else that I can say about the show. Haven's second season starts this Friday, July 15th at 10pm ET.
Reality Bites - Ghost Hunters International goes to Thailand in the first two episodes of its third season. In the premiere, 'Rising From the Grave: Trinidad', the GHI team travels to a cocoa plantation once owned by a ruthless slave owner, who haunts it to this day. The following week the team concludes their trip to Trinidad when they visit a haunted former leper colony then they travel to Argentina to investigate a haunted meat packing plant. I do not get a lot of mileage out of these Ghost Hunter shows but have found that I appreciate the International version more because of just that. International. I am more interested in the countries and places they visit. Variety counts for something even if I don't worry about things that go bump in the night.
As far as Legend Quest goes, again, mileage varies. Archaeologist and explorer Ashley Cowie runs willy nilly around the globe hunting for acient aritifacts like the Ark of the Covenant, Excalibur and the Holy Grail. In the premiere episode he attempts to track down the Ark only to come up against a brick wall. Literally. He goes from country to country, chasing down symbols of two headed eagles only to be stymied by a brick wall at the top of a stairwell beneath a church. His second adventure in the episode is to track down the Mayan Talking Cross, a cross that the gods used to speak to the Mayan people with. Supposedly it was taken into the jungle by a group of men and children never to be seen again. While there is no debating Ashley's enthusiasm a show like Legend Quest is merely pulp. It is nice to have an adventure and dream a little dream but I doubt he is ever going to find anything. I tell what I do 'find' interesting about the show. Kinga Philips. GHI and Legend Quest start their seasons this Wednesday, July 13th at 9pm and 10pm ET.
So there you have it. It is going to be a busy week for SyFy shows leading into a full Summer. Monday nights are rammed for me for sure.