Surfing SF: Weekly Roundup, or The Devil Makes Everything Better
This week there were fun cliffhangers on the two big vampire shows, body-switching on Warehouse 13, the return of some interesting faces from the past on Eureka, and another hilarious Futurama. I hope you liked it, because next weekend is Labor Day and several of your favorite shows are skipping the whole “new episode” concept. Yes, that means you have to wait an extra week before the True Blood finale, which is particularly evil, I agree.
If you were on vacation or your TV broke or something, this is the one episode from this week you should go back and watch. It’s my… Pick of the Week!
This week I’m going with Warehouse 13, for the episode “Merge With Caution”. Yes, there were big doings on Being Human and True Blood, but both of their episodes this week were wildly inconsistent and weirdly paced. Warehouse 13 may have done an episode about Pete and Myka switching bodies this week, but it also showed that it has reached a point where our enjoyment of the show transcends whatever silly plot is going on at the time. Plus it was a lot of fun to watch Joanne Kelly trying to pull off Pete’s expansive mannerisms.
This week’s schedule is a little thin due to the holiday, but there are still some major highlights, including one installment of Futurama you won’t want to miss. Remember, all times are Eastern.
Tuesday
New
-It’s goin’ down this week on Warehouse 13, as Artie’s awesome Cold War past comes back to haunt him. Also HG Wells is back! It’s called “Vendetta”, and it’s on at 9pm on SyFy.
-There’s a new-in-America episode of The IT Crowd on IFC at 10:30pm.
Wednesday
Re-Runs
-See Tricia Helfer on Supernatural today when TNT re-runs “Roadkill” at 11am.
-At 2pm BBC America is showing the introduction of my favorite Russell T. Davies Doctor Who companion, Martha Jones. It’s rather lamely called “Smith and Jones”, but it features a hospital being transported to the moon by rhino aliens.
-Chiller has Forever Knight, which is sort of the Highlander of vampire shows, all day today. By that I mean that it predates when this sort of thing was cool and that is part of the appeal. The marathon runs from 8am to 5pm.
Thursday
New
-The highlight of the week might be the 100th episode and Season Finale of Futurama. The title is “The Mutants Are Revolting”. All I really can tell you about it is that Devo is in this episode. Yes, the band. It’s on Comedy Central at 10pm.
Re-Runs
-Jeremiah is one of those pretty okay series that’s just not good enough to go back and revisit and thus has fallen into utter obscurity. After a disease has killed all the adults, the kids grow up and try to rebuild. It was on Showtime before being on Showtime was cool. You can see a marathon of the show on SyFy today from 8am to 4pm.
-TNT’s daily dose of Supernatural today features the classic “Hollywood Babylon”, in which the brothers investigate the set of a horror film when the script turns out to be a little too realistic. It’s on at 11am.
-Chiller re-runs Millennium on a daily basis at 6pm. If you love the X-Files episode “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space”, you should make time to see “Jose Chung’s Doomsday Defense” today.
Friday
Re-Runs
-SyFy is showing the series finale of Jericho at 5am. A lot of people are really big fans of this show, but it never really caught my imagination.
-The best Angel episode being shown this week is probably “Destiny”, at 6am on TNT today. I’m not even sure how to describe this episode, though it does feature the biggest Spike/Angel fight ever, over this epic golden chalice…
-At 8am on TNT you can watch that episode of Charmed in which our gals are trapped in a reality show. On most shows, this would be a pretty definitive low point. On this one…
-At 8pm BBC America has “Data’s Day” from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Watch an android struggle with human emotions and nearly mess up someone’s marriage. It is actually pretty cute.
-The CW is re-running last year’s completely epic season finale of Supernatural, “Swan Song”, at 9pm.
-Catch up with the past four episodes of Haven, if you dare, on SyFy starting at 11pm.
Saturday
Re-Runs
-Chiller is showing pretty much every episode ever produced of Brimstone, about a guy who was allowed out of hell in order to track down escaped souls. In my experience any show that features the Devil as a regular character is usually worth checking out. It’s on from 8am to 2pm.
Sunday
New
-Labor Day cannot deter The Gates. Maybe this is the week to jump back on? This week’s episode is called “Little Girl Lost” and is written by Robert Hewitt Wolfe, who was a producer on Deep Space Nine and Andromeda. It’s on ABC on 10pm.
Re-Runs
-Sure, you could have a life, but you could also watch a ST:TNG two-parter about Klingons. This choice is easy. Both halves of “Unification” are on BBC America at 12:30pm
Monday
Re-Runs
-Both halves of the Supernatural Season Two finale are on TNT starting at 10am today. “All Hell Breaks Loose” is seen by many as the moment the show was bumped up to a higher level.
-BBC America’s run of Star Trek: The Next Generation comes to “Clues”, where Data realizes that some time has disappeared or something. It’s one of those interesting ideas that might be a trope now but TNG did it first. You can watch it at 8pm.
Until next week, holmes.
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