Eureka

I really like Eureka.

It’s about a town full of geniuses, where someone rather like Tony Stark (Ed Quinn, playing “Nathan Stark”) runs a secret government research lab. His ex-wife is the top administrative official (Salli Richardson), and she’s attracted to the new sheriff in town (Colin Ferguson), a well-meaning but not-too-smart former US marshal.

One of the best parts of the show is the way it plays opposite to prevailing TV stereotypes. The smartest guy in town (Joe Morton), a master-of-all-jobs who’s capable of anything, is a middle-aged black man. The weapons master is the sheriff’s deputy, a woman named Jo (Erica Cerra).

I wouldn’t care if we never saw the sheriff’s daughter again — she’s there to provide some humanizing family drama, but she’s a drip and the actress isn’t very good.

The show is clearly science fiction, but it combines intriguing plot concepts with character-based development. Next week is the last episode of the first season, and I hope we soon hear news of more to come.