Surfing SF: Weekly Roundup

It’s July, OK? You don’t want to go outside. Due to that ongoing terrible natural disaster known colloquially as “the sun”, it’s way too hot. Like me, you want to stay in and watch TV. Unlike me, you most likely still have access to a television. The cable companies are fighting over who gets to deliver the cartoons and cooking shows to our wonder box, and as a consequence currently none of them are actually delivering anything. However, I will do my best to continue to bring you your SF TV updates, since, let’s be honest, it’s not as if any of us are going to get out and go to the park or something.

Normally I’ll do a bit here on my favorite episode from the past week, but really the only major show to actually do an episode this past week was Futurama, which, if you read my entry on it, you’ll know I was less than thrilled with. As a result, let’s just skip to your SF viewing schedule for the week ahead. Lots of great stuff here, with Season Premieres and the return of those shows that went on vacation for July 4. Remember, all times Eastern…

Tuesday

New

-If you never thought about how Moonlighting would be improved by steam-punk electric guns and mirrors that can capture your soul, then you may not have yet discovered the joys of Warehouse 13. The show’s Second Season debuts tonight on the SyFy Channel at 9.

Re-Runs

-To get you ready of for the return of Warehouse 13, SyFy will be showing the last six episodes from Season 1 from 3-9 today.

Thursday

New

-This week, Futurama takes on more exciting contemporary issues, such as whether “Robosexual marriage” should be legalized. I say yes. It’s on at 10 on Comedy Central.

Friday

New

-There are some shows that you don’t miss ’til they’re gone and you think, “I haven’t had enough science experiments go bad and threaten to destroy a town of scientists today. How can I fix this?” Well, your troubles are over, Eureka returns to SyFy Channel at 9 tonight with its Season 4 Premiere.

-And at 10, SyFy gives us Premiere of its shiny new series, Haven, very loosely based on a Stephen King short story, which means it’s set in a small village in Maine. It appears to be a good companion to Eureka, only substituting supernatural-y thing for science-y things.

Re-Runs

-If you’re a fan of Eliza Dushku, like the great Jase from Australia, you’ll want to check out TNT this morning. She’ll be appearing as the troubled Slayer Faith in an two-parter from Angel‘s first season from 5-7am.

Saturday

New

-Well, it’s new if you’re American. On Doctor Who this week, the TARDIS has issues (doesn’t it always?) and the Doctor must face the most terrifying adversary of all… life as a regular guy. It’s at 9 on BBC America.

Sunday

New

-Well, it’s been two weeks, and I still can’t get over that final scene from the last episode of True Blood. Tonight we see what the show can possibly do to top that, at 9 on HBO.

-Afterwards, see more of the same, really, but with a lot less sex and swearing and more…suburban passive-aggressiveness? At 10 on ABC, check out the latest episode of The Gates. This may be the first time I’ve seen a network show try so blatantly to mooch off the audience of a cable show.

Re-Runs

The best time to watch SyFy Channel might be in the middle of the night, when you never know what you’ll find. At 5am Monday you can find the Twilight Zone episode “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”, involving William Shatner freaking out over a gremlin on the wing of the plane. What? It’s the middle of the night to me.