Surfing SF: And So It Begins

Oh man, do I love SF TV. I don’t just mean the best stuff, the Battlestar Galacticas and Buffys of the world, I mean that I can be thoroughly entertained by an afternoon of re-runs of Highlander, Special Unit 2, and that SyFy Channel Flash Gordon series. Possibly I need help, but instead of that, I’d like to welcome you to my new blog/column here at Geek Life.

I call it “Surfing SF”, and we’re going to keep track of your favorite sci-fi and fantasy TV shows on a weekly basis. Also we’ll point out particularly strong episodes of shows you might not be watching. When I see a great episode of a show I love, the first thing I want to do is go online and see what everyone else is saying about it.

There are some great TV critics writing about their immediate reactions to the latest episodes of top series right now, and you can read them at places Tuned In, HitFix, Cultural Learnings, and the A.V. Club. But usually these critics only cover one or two of the best SF series, along with their roster of critical drama hits like Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and Friday Night Lights. Those are great series that are worth watching, but I get more excited for fun SF series like Warehouse 13. None of those other shows have swords that can make you invisible.

Seriously, I love SF because in my opinion it tells better stories than your average gritty crime drama. There is more room for cool literary term stuff like metaphor, allegory, and the ever-popular deus ex machina. These days, SF TV sees season and series-long arcs as a professional requirement, while most TV is still very episodic. And it has the huge advantage of NOT being grounded in real life. This lets the imaginations of writers run wild. We’re in middle of the so-called summer TV doldrums, that ever -shrinking slow period between the late finales and early premieres, and yet just this past week I saw possible the weirdest vampire sex scene of all time on True Blood, robot clones dealing with the memories of their flesh counterparts on Futurama, and Vincent Van Gogh fighting an invisible monster on Doctor Who. Top THAT, CSI: New York.

So this is going to be your place to come and discuss your favorite shows the morning after. This site is about celebrating the diversity of the geek community, but I still think the weekly TV series is one of the biggest things geeks have in common with each other. This isn’t just about what I think; it’s really about what you think. I can’t wait to get started Surfing SF with all of you.

With that in mind, here’s your SF TV schedule through the end of the week. (I think I’ll regularly update the schedule on Mondays) It’s the July 4 holiday this weekend, leading to possibly one of the slowest TV weeks of the year. Note that because of the holiday there’s no new Doctor Who or True Blood (or The Gates, but you probably don’t care) this week. Here’s what there is (all times Eastern):

Wednesday

Re-Runs

-SyFy is running episodes from the last season of Eureka from 9 am to 4 pm, if you don’t, you know, work.

-If you missed the start of the season, HBO is re-running the year’s first three episodes of True Blood from 8-11.

Thursday

New

-Futurama has an episode that appears to be about all that fun internet stuff that happened since the last time the show was on the air, titled “Attack of the Killer App”. It’s on Comedy Central at 10pm.

Saturday

Re-Run

-BBC America is re-running that weeping angels two-parter guest-starring Alex Kingston in place of a new episode this week. You can see it from 8-11pm, and if you haven’t yet, you should.

Sunday

Re-Run

-SyFy’s July 4 birthday gift to America is apparently 20 straight hours of The Greatest American Hero. I am not making this up. Apparently some of these episodes haven’t been seen since the show’s original run, so if you’re a fan of circa-1983 cheesiness, you may want to drop in.