On July 18th of 2006, The Sci Fi Channel aired the pilot episode of a quirky little show called Eureka which garnered some of the highest progam ratings The Scifi Channel received for that season and the series became an instant hit for them. Tonight, The Scifi Channel will air the 3rd season premiere of Eureka with an episode titled Bad to the Drone and will introduce Frances Fisher as the new and ruthless head of Global Dynamics.
Eureka takes place in a top secret high tech community that is supposedly located somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. Being the kind of community it is, Eureka is mainly inhabited by highly brilliant scientific minds from all branches of the sciences who have come together to work for a company called Global Dynamics to create new technological and scientific advancements, some of which sometimes go wildly out of control.
Keeping the community of Eureka safe from outsiders and from itself, is Sheriff Jack Carter [Colin Feguson]. Carter, who is charming with a streetsmart edge that often comes into play when genuis runs things into trouble, had stumbled onto the secret town when he was working as a U.S. Marshal transporting a prisoner, his own daughter Zoe Carter [Jordan Hinson] and was recruited to replace the former Sheriff who was crippled in an accident and Carter’s quick thinking ‘common sense’ saved the day.
Ecipse Magazine had a chance to catch up with cast member Colin Ferguson, at Comic Con 2008 to get the low down on the 3rd season of Eureka and some of the things that have changed since last season.
One of those changes that Colin Ferguson lamets is the dropping of the storyline of the romance between his character of Jack Carter and dry cleaner owner Callie Curie [Sonja Bennett]. “I loved that plotline,” Ferguson says with a quick smile. “I liked how it was going and I loved the idea the sort of ‘every guy’ ending up with the dry cleaner.”
Ferguson says that one of the problems he saw with the initial romantic interplay between Allison Blake [Sallie Richardson] and Jack Carter was that it didn’t seem to fit together well with this ‘every guy’ ending up with this head of a major corporation. “But this season with Allison being a bit more disenfranchised it makes the dynamic between them more accessable,” Ferguson says about the changes in the situation for the character of Sallie Blake as a new head of Global Dynamics takes over.
The biggest thing coming up for Colin Ferguson in season 3 and for which the actor is very excited about is his chance to direct an episode of Eureka. “I couldn’t be more ready, prepared and calm,” he says eyes gleaming in anticipation of the upcoming opportunity to stretch himself in another direction creatively.
Ferguson says the main thing that has given him the initiative to feel comfortable taking on this challenge is his familiarity with working on Eureka. “I have the drill, I know the set and the actors.” Having seen new director come on the show and work things out, Colin Ferguson feels he is ready to take on the task of directing episode 3.10 of Eureka which will allow him to do his prep work over the brief hiatus the series production will be taking before coming back to begin filming the back half of the 3rd season.
Because his character of Jack Carter will also play a role in the episode that Ferguson is directing he says that he will be relying on the crew a lot to help him out with this duel aspect of directing and acting in the same episode. “They know what to do anyway and they are just a great group of guys.” Ferguson says that one of the reasons he trusts that the crew will help him out is because they are the ones that usually come up to him during the filming of an episode and point things out to him.
Ferguson, smiling widely, imitates the laid back advising style of the crew in question. “Aw buddy you want another take.” This is something he says he fully appreciates and knows he can rely on when it’s his turn to direct.
Colin Ferguson says the one thing he really enjoys about working with the cast and crew of Eureka is that because of the fast pace of the production schedule, there is no room for egos to get in the way. “When things do go a bit wrong, we don’t have time to get upset about it,” he says speaking affectionately about his work with cast and crew. “We just say ‘who cares’ and move on. There is just too much to do to dwell on it and I love that pace.”
Even with enjoying the fast pace, Ferguson says that the hardest thing on him with Eureka is the long working hours he puts in. “I’m first in and last out at the end of the day,” he says with an expression of tiredness marring his handsome features as he talks about the long days filming. “Towards the end of a filming season, you just hit this level of exhaustion that has you wanting to run into a corner yelling ‘time out, time out’.”
In season three of Eureka, Ferguson says that some of the workload has been shifted of off of his character of Jack Carter and some of the other characters have been given more time in the storylines. What he likes most about this change besides the break it gives him from the extremely exhausing filming schedule but that it allows the show to build itself around more than just one or two characters.
Ferguson feels that this will help the longevity of Eureka to have this kind of focus on other characters as well. “We want to make sure that this thing can go on for many, many years.”
Season 3 of Eureka premieres Tuesday, July 29th at 9PM on the Scifi Channel with the episode Bad to the Drone in which a drone used to test anti-aircraft guns ‘decides’ it doesn’t want to lose anymore and goes on a rampage against the town of Eureka.
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Colin Ferguson as Sheriff Jack Carter on Eureka