Have you checked out Sci-Fi's newest series, Eureka? Oh, it's good; it's really good!

Colin Ferguson is US Marshall, Jack Carter, who winds up in Eureka -- located somewhere in the United States -- while trying to return to LA with his delinquent daughter. After a car crash, the two are stranded in the bizarre, little town when things start going awry. Carter becomes involved when the sheriff is put out of commission, and does a fine job of filling-in for him and helping a quirky cast of regulars get to the bottom of what's going on.

Now that's a pretty generic synopsis of the two-hour series pilot, but I don't want to give anything away with a bunch of spoilers, because they've rerun it literally 6 times since it premiered (it's on as I type this review, in fact... and was on yesterday afternoon as well as Sunday morning from like 3-5 AM) and Sci-Fi had it showing for broadband users at the link above, so if you're really interested, you shouldn't have much problem checking it out.

The reviews are in, but let's be honest, these are TV critics -- not cool sci-fi geeks, like myself -- and we all know their trip: half of them wouldn't know a good show if it kicked them in the shins (which, by the way, is one reality show I just might watch), so let me give you the run down:

Eureka is a great show with a great feel and real electricity. Like I said in an earlier post, I've never really gotten into the Sci-Fi Channel until lately (after MST3K was cancelled, that is -- and before then, MST3K was the only thing I watched on it), mainly because most of what they showed was pretty trite sci-fi -- Star Trek, basically (and I never got into Star Trek... ever).

And most of the reviews I've read seem to take issue with the fact that Eureka is a light-hearted, quirky, family-oriented sci-fi show. I can't tell Stargate: Miami from Battlestar Galactica from Star Trek: The New Galaxy from CSI: Episode I, but these reviewers seem to think that's a good thing?!

Whatever!

Science fiction doesn't have to be "hard sci-fi" to be good, and given the avalanche of "hard" everything in our modern-day society, you'd think even die-hard fans of such fare would be looking for something new once in a while -- even if just as a drink of water to clear their pallettes.

And the endless Northern Exposure comparisons also drive me batty, because -- unlike that show (and its slew of imitators) -- there is actually a reason the residents of Eureka are "quirky": they're all geniuses! (Geniusi?)

Aside from reality-TV and ultra-violence, there's hardly anything on TV that isn't just this side of hardcore pornography, and a network finally comes out with a show that is not only interesting but intelligent, and half the reviewers busy themselves comparing it to every other show they can remember and slamming it for it's freaking wholesomeness!

Regardless, the writing is good, though not always solid -- the last half-hour, in particular, seems pretty haphazardly slapped together (almost as though someone decided at the last minute that this 2-hour made-for-TV movie would make a good series) -- and the characters are broad and general (this much is true). But what a lot of reviewers fail to mention is that this is necessary in an on-going series to allow for character development! Not to mention that the characters introduced in the pilot fill the specific "sci-fi regular" roles: the "tough guy" -- gal, in this case -- the "tinkerer," the "super-genius," the "normal" liaison to the "normal" world, and the clever but slightly disbelieving lead. Look at any sci-fi series with a group of regulars and you'll see these same roles filled in various ways because they are as much staples of the genre as the spaceship and the ray gun.

But Eureka's real strength is in the acting. Ferguson, specifically, is wonderfully understated in the lead role, and his comedic facial expressions and reactions are right up there with Bea Arthur's deadpan camera-mugging and Betty White's double-takes on Golden Girls -- simply priceless. And both he and the woman who plays Jo, the tough-as-nails deputy, have such perfect timing and delivery that any line can become a punchline. And everyone is gorgeous, which never hurts.

Eureka is a smart, funny, interesting, family show with smart, funny, interesting characters and plots that -- while certainly not ground-breaking -- are smart, funny, and interesting to watch. I just hope the rest of the season is as fun as the pilot was and Sci-Fi chooses to make more shows like this one and put ECW somewhere it fits a little better... like Spike Lee's station, where it used to be. Or Lifetime.

Eureka airs 9PM Eastern/8:00 Central Tuesdays on the Sci-Fi Channel