In a touching swan-song, EUREKA’s 5th and final season begins airing April 16th on Syfy. It has always been a quirky, funny show that only fine connoisseurs of television could truly appreciate. Fortunately, EUREKA’s fans have been there from the beginning and exactly how rare a gem it is. To reward those fans, and hopefully lure a few more before the show ends, creator and executive producer Jaime Paglia and his crack team of talent have whipped up a perfect concoction of science fiction meets drama and comedy that ventures into the extraordinary for the show’s final season. In a recent press conference call, Jaime Paglia and Colin Ferguson talked about what they have loved about EUREKA and what fun adventures lie ahead for our heroes.
What do we have to look forward to this final season of EUREKA?
COLIN: I just wanted to say right out of the gate, I’m usually the king of pessimism. I watched the first 3 episodes in the last couple days. I’m so proud of them from a production standpoint, from a writing standpoint, and from an acting standpoint. I’d put them up against anything, and that might be cocky and stupid. I’m so excited for this season to come out. It’s the best thing that we’ve done.
JAIME: Gee, I never even make Colin happy, so that’s high praise indeed! I do feel like these last two seasons, seasons 4 and 5, and if you want to call it 4.5 in there as well, that’s good. But I think that everybody has really done their best work. We just had the most amazing creative team, obviously from our cast and crew to the writing staff, and the level of work has really raised the bar once again I think, even after season 4. And what you’re sort of dealing with over the course of the back episodes are the ramifications of the experience that our people have during those first 3 upcoming episodes of the 5th season. So storylines will be spun out of the experience, not just psychologically of what’s happened to them on the character level, but physically what they’ve gone through and how that actually impacts individual storylines.
COLIN: And it’s some of the funniest stuff that we’ve done. I mean, there’s a smart-car episode, which is phenomenal as Jaime’s directorial debut, which is amazing. I watched that all the way. It really the show that we always wanted to make where it’s really character-driven and really fun. And I mean, they did such a great job of sort of knowing their cast — the writers did, of knowing their cast, “so this person does this and we’re going to let them fly, and this person does this and we’re going to let them fly,” and it’s really exciting for us.
JAIME: Yes, it was the most fun to make.
The show has so many interesting twists and turns along the way. Is this always where you thought it would be after five years, or are you really surprised yourself at where it is at this point? What during this journey has been different from what you thought it would be?
JAIME: Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect on the journey when we started this. It was my first foray into television, and after having done a few feature films that didn’t get made, giving that process and working with some amazing producers in the studios, it was really exciting to get to finally make something. And it’s such a different animal, making television, because you don’t have ten weeks to mull a script over and two years to turn it in. Usually you’re creating and putting it up on the screen in a very short amount of time, and I think that, like any show, we had the growing pains of just trying to figure out what the show was — all of us, not just us as writers or producers, but the cast finding the characters — and it’s an involving kind of creative process. And that kind of collaboration is something I really enjoy.
In the upcoming first episode, this time there are two enormous plot surprises at the beginning and at the end. Did you think there would be that kind of big plot surprises? And when you look at where the show is compared to where it was five years ago, does this all surprise you?
JAIME: I don’t know if “surprise” is the right word. It certainly excites me. We found different opportunities as our stories have evolved over the seasons, and there were things we did in season one that we weren’t able to I think fully complete in terms of some set-ups, like Beverly Barlowe and the Consortium and these sort of longer story arcs that had been part of the mythology that we had hoped was going to kind of continue. But due to a number of reasons, they kind of got truncated a bit in seasons 2 and 3, and so it was nice to be able to kind of come back around full circle and satisfy some of the things that we had originally wanted to do. A very quick example: we did the Astraeus mission, which Bruce Miller, my co-showrunner, that was really more of his passion. He really wanted to do an episode and a series of storylines about going to space. But we didn’t know where that would lead us, and I was very apprehensive about starting down a road that I didn’t know where the end was. But it actually forced our team to say, “Okay, what’s going to be the interesting twist? Where are we going to go? What’s going to happen?” And that was an incredibly exciting discovery for us.
Colin, what were your expectations when you first signed on with this show? How long did you see it going? What did you see it amounting to, and when did it meet your expectations or surpass them?
COLIN: When we signed on, Salli and I were shooting and we went downstairs and there was a psychic convention. We actually had our futures read when we went down, and she said, “It’s going to go. It’s going to go for a while, but it’s not going to be what you think it is.” And nothing could be more true. I mean, with the writer’s strike in there and the recession, and doing 20 episodes and then getting split over a bunch of seasons that was the hard bit of what went down that nobody could see coming. The amazing thing is to get to where we got to this year. It’s funny. To answer the question was I surprised, yes, I was stunned that we could do what we did, and it’s only in the sci-fi genre that you can. In other genres when you reinvent the wheel, it’s you bring in a new character; you bring in an evil twin; it’s sort of standard stuff. But it’s a testament to the imagination of the writers that we could get: going back in time and there’s a new EUREKA in one season. And in this one all of a sudden there’s the (spoiler) and it’s the greatest plot twists that only this genre can afford, and it was a joy to marry that sort of structure change which I feel lucky to be able to do with the unbelievable character stuff that they were writing for us. So I never saw this coming. I’m stunned with what it’s become. I’m so proud, particularly watching those episodes, so I guess that’s my take on the last bunch of years. I never saw this coming.
JAIME: Let me just add to that, besides Colin, we’ve had this amazing cast too. And I think Colin’s gifts as both a dramatic actor and as a comedian lends it for us to be able to write essentially anything. I mean, these are our cast members who can take a scene and have you in tears in one moment, and then have you laughing through your tears in the next, and that sort of magical chemistry is very rare I think, and you see a lot of shows struggle with it. We’ve been really unbelievably blessed with the group of people that we’ve had to write for.
As far as what to look forward to in this season, it’s very bittersweet, but any special guest stars? You certainly have brought in some great people over the years.
JAIME: Well, we’ve got Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton back for a number of episodes. I’m thrilled that we’re able to bring back Wallace Shawn as Warren Hughes, and even more was excited that I got to direct him in the episode that I did. We’ve got a couple of surprises that I don’t want to spoil because they might be at the very end, but you will see Matt Frewer. You might see him in that final episode. There might be a surprise there, so yes. And there might be another surprise there in the final episode as well.
Once you found out that this was going to be the final season, did you need to make a lot of changes to your original plan for the season in order to make sure things got wrapped up properly?
JAIME: Well, yes. I’m sure that you all probably remember all the sort of publicity debacle about having gotten picked up for a 6th season, but it was only going to be six episodes. And that was one week, and then we were actually on the final day of prep for the season finale, which was a huge cliffhanger that was going to set up what season 6 was going to be. And originally we had actually hoped, and everybody at the network, we were all on board with wanting this to be a full season order for season 6, so it was already a little bit of a surprise that it was only going to be six for budget reasons. So we thought, “Well, okay, we can truncate some of those storylines and get it down to six episodes.” But then on Monday I think at five o’clock we got the phone call that there was not going to be a 6th season and that was it. But Mark Stern called Bruce Miller and I personally to give us the news. Of course it’s impossible to course correct the script at this point. And this would be just this giant cliffhanger and there would be no resolution for the characters, much less the storylines. So is there any chance that we could have one more episode? And he said that he would support that, that I would have to write an email to everybody, because obviously with the Comcast merger it was not going to be a single unilateral decision. So I wrote a long email. It took 24 hours before we got the answer that we could have one more episode, so when we went in to tell the writers that following Wednesday, it was basically, “The good news is we have the last episode. The bad news is it cuts tomorrow.” So normally what would be basically a two-month process of breaking the story, writing an outline, getting notes on an outline, writing the first draft, getting notes on that first draft, polishing it, it’s a two-month process. So I think it was really a testament to our creative team that — obviously it was disappointing, but nobody really even blamed anyone– they just said, “Well, let’s get to work.” And we broke the story in two days. I had different writers writing pieces of the outline, and I started writing the script as soon as we had the notion of what we were going to do. We finished it. Basically I wrote the episode in three days over the weekend, and we started prepping it. We only had a four-day prep instead of seven, that following Monday. So we’ve had to try to do that with the full lot. Obviously that was never going to be planned that way, but I think given the sort of constraints that we were under, and the pressures to really wrap up a lot of especially character storylines, I’m proud of the episode that we actually ended up delivering.
The final episode, is it going to be an absolute and definitive end to the season, to the series, or is there a possibility that there could be some kind of Christmas special or anything else in the future?
COLIN: My death scene is one of the most moving death scenes you’re ever going to see. No, there’s no death scene. Jaime, how about you take it? [Laughter]
JAIME: There are no plans right now for that. I think that the realities of having taken down all of our sets would make that definitely challenging. There have been discussions about potentially doing a spin-off to the franchise, and I’m open to that and the network is certainly open to that. I’m not pursuing it right at the moment, mostly because I think everybody probably wants to just feel some resolution with this series before we’re off to the next one. So I certainly would not say that it’s definitively over and that we couldn’t do another either spin-off or actually shoot it as a movie, and we could use different sets and then that would help with that aspect of it, but no hard plans at the moment. And it would be really hard, because we eviscerated Carter in that last episode, so, drawn and quartered by robot horses. [Laughter]
COLIN: I still think, though, that we could do like the team goes elsewhere. The team is called to Chicago, because there’s a problem in Chicago. Like that definitely as a movie. I’d love to do that, like some sort of two-hour thing. That’d be fun to do.
JAIME: Yes, and that’s one of the other possibilities, there’ve been lots of people who have talked about that. So I think that that would be…
COLIN: What am I thinking? No, there’s a horrible problem in the Bahamas. That’s where the problem is.
JAIME: In the Bahamas. On Hawaii.
COLIN: Yes.
JAIME: Okay, yes. All of Colin’s favorite destination spots are going to somehow make it into the storyline. [Laughter]
Is there anything you can kind of tease or you can talk about?
COLIN: Oh, okay. Well, yes, we can definitely talk about the (spoiler) and then the (spoiler), and then I mean there are residue effects. I mean, that’s the great thing about how these guys write, is that things don’t just go away. They always have residual effects and residual sort of ramifications that go through it, the specifics of which I think would be more spoilery, particularly with how the third upcoming episode ended. So I don’t feel comfortable addressing that, but just know that things don’t end right there. They continue to resonate through the rest of the series.
How do you think your character has evolved from the very beginning of the show, and this season coming up, where do you see it going?
COLIN: I love what they’ve done with the character evolution. I mean, the funniest thing about looking back on the whole experience is — the writers are always down in LA, and we were up in Canada — and it’s funny to sort of see a lot of commonality and with what Jaime was going through and what I was going through and trying — and with what Jaime was trying to do and what I was trying to do — we were always given sort of marching orders, like, “This needs to be more standalone type episodes.” But Jaime in his way was always looking for, “Well, okay, but can we put more drama in? Can we put more jokes in?” Always looking for different ways to add things in all the way up in production lab. I was doing the same. So with that sort of being the model of what happened, I’m really proud with what we pulled off. [Jack Carter] started as a guy who was a bad father, very closed-off to people and very all about work, and by the end of it had really embraced not only his daughter and his family but a community of scientists and people, and really life, in a sense. As many times as maybe he’s saved EUREKA, I think ultimately EUREKA saved him, and that might be the most poignant salvation of all of it for me.
JAIME: Yes, I couldn’t top that. That was perfect.
COLIN: That’s not bad, huh? Whew!
JAIME: Not bad, man.
COLIN: I got lucky.
What will the two of you miss the most about working on EUREKA?
COLIN: Oh, so much. You want to go first?
JAIME: Yes, for me, honestly it’s the people that we got to work with. I mean, the creative process is great. I love writing. I love making the show, but we have I think a really unique group, and on the writing, producing staff, post-production department and our visual effects guys and our cast and crew, and we like each other. We like to spend time together and we would frequently get the comments from other, writing staffs that they’ve never seen a staff that actually voluntarily goes to lunch together instead of wanting to get the hell away from each other after being in the writer’s room all day, or spend time with cast and crew on the weekends when you have down time. The people that we have on the show have just been amazing people as well as creative talents, and that is something that I’m definitely going to miss having every day. I’m looking forward to building the next show so that I can try to build some semblance of that again.
COLIN: And that’s exactly right, I think. That comes from Jaime. I’m sure you’ve got a bunch of guys that have met him at this point. Jaime’s a phenomenal human being and he sets that tone in the room, and so that trickles down to set. That trickles down through the writer’s room, and that’s exactly what he’ll do on his next show, is build that same structure again. And I know that room will be just as happy and just as good a place to live and work. For me, I’m going to miss — gosh, probably the process as well. I mean, I’m so proud that this is our swan-song. If we could do this show, this final season forever, that would be amazing. This is always the show that we struggled to make. I’m so happy that we got to make it on our final season. I have a lot of fond memories and a lot of dear, dear friends that have come out of it, and it’s nice to meet up with them socially now. You know what I mean? Like, Jaime, we’re going to Phoenix, are we?
JAIME: We’re going to Phoenix Comic Con coming up. Yes, it’s over Memorial Day weekend, and then I think we’re going. I haven’t heard yet. I’m hoping all of you can throw in your urging that we would love to have a swan song at San Diego Comic Con this year to say goodbye. And then I know we’re going to be going to Dragon Con as well. So, yes, I’m looking forward to that.
COLIN: Yes, so it’s the people and it’s the process and it’s the luxury of being able to shoot how we shot with the level of talent, and being able to do scenes that have drama and comedy and you earn a level of autonomy after five years, and it’s starting at square one is hard. And we’re all in our various ways doing it as we speak.
JAIME: Thank you, Colin. You’re far too kind.
COLIN: Well, it’s true though. I mean, it’s really true. That whole thing stems from how you run a room and how you run a show, and that’s I think something you should be really proud of, you know.
JAIME: Thanks. Appreciate that.
As far as looking back on the series, do you have any favorite plot lines or stories? Anything for you that stands out during the course of the run of the show?
COLIN: Yes, I have my favorite episodes. This is probably my favorite plot line twist, the one that’s coming up. The (spoiler) was just an amazing. I pushed so hard in my own ineffective way to — I wanted this premiere to be attached to the season finale of last season because I loved the plot twist so much. That’s probably my favorite plot twist. My favorite episodes are probably actually the one that Jaime directed. What’s that one called, Jaime?
JAIME: That’s “Jack of All Trades.”
COLIN: “Jack of All Trades,” I loved. “Smarter Carter,” I loved. “Up in the Air,” I loved, and “Your Face or Mine,” which was my directorial debut, which will always be a phenomenal place in my life, and also the first time Erica got a big plot line. To be there for her was amazing, to be there for Alexandra, our script coordinator’s first episode was amazing. How funny! All of my favorite episodes are someone’s directorial debut.
JAIME: It’s true.
COLIN: It’s the best. You can’t top it. How about you?
JAIME: You actually named a number of my very favorite episodes, and it’s true I think that, like “Your Face or Mine,” the reason for them I think in some ways, and it’s funny, they did a little featurette for our season five DVDs, and they were talking about the making of the episode that I directed, and Colin is giving me a hard time for having written a small character episode, but the truth is those are the stories that I love the most, and for Colin’s directorial debut I wrote him a small character episode, “Your Face or Mine,” and I think that he and I both and all of us really just love what you can do when you have the time, where the world is about to explode, that the stakes are smaller from the danger standpoint, but for the characters they’re higher. I think from season one my very favorite episode still is “Once in a Lifetime,” the season one finale. I felt like that was the episode where we found the right balance of real, true emotional drama and humor. And that was kind of the benchmark going forward for us, and “Founder’s Day” will always also be a favorite, just because we were getting to create a new world with a new time, and that had been an idea that I’ve had since season one, wanting to go back to the origins of the town, and we were never able to afford it for various reasons, mostly because of the standing sets that you would have to build. But we managed to pull it off, and I think that Matt Hastings, who directed it, and Robert Petrovicz, our producer who actually physically managed to coordinate and make that production happen, along with my co-show runners Bruce Miller and Todd Sharpe who have been amazing partners these last couple of seasons, just creatively being able to get that stuff done. That was definitely a turning point for all of us. . . It’s funny. I think there are certain kinds of episodes or concepts that I’ve wanted to do for a really long time, and one of them was an animated episode, and also for the same kinds of reasons that we haven’t gone back and done the “Founder’s Day” episode, the cost is so extra prohibitive when you’re not using the sets that you already built and paid for and all those things. I was so thrilled that we got to do an animated episode, and we got our own director for the animation stuff, and Matt Hastings, again, who directed that episode, just did such an amazing job pulling it off. I think our cast had the most fun doing those voices.
Kavan Smith and the production design of the Venturi Brothers really added to that premiere. Would you like to talk about either of their works helping to bring that episode to such a different level?
COLIN: Oh, I love to talk about Kavan. Can I hit Kavan first?
JAIME: Yes, I was going to say, jump in. Yes, go ahead.
COLIN: Like, Kavan’s so good, it’s amazing. He wasn’t the original Sheriff Andy, and that’s a testament to the strength of our team, where we had someone else — I think it was Ty Olsen who was doing it, and the fit wasn’t quite right — it was just like he was busy. The days weren’t working out. And then Kavan came in as his replacement and just knocked it out of the park. I mean, that character blossomed in a way because Kavan does stuff and then Jaime can write to that, and then whatever Jaime wrote Kavan could then take to the next level. I mean, I absolutely adore working with Kavan, and the levels that he brought into the premiere are just really, really impressive. He constantly impressed me.
JAIME: Yes, you see the level of his ability in that premiere. I mean, for me, when I fell absolutely in love with Kavan in the role, and that was a big challenge for him, because Ty had been I think a really great draft creating that character, and we couldn’t work out the dates, so he was stepping into a role. Obviously there were certain expectations for what it was, and he also wanted to be able to try to make it his own, and we wanted to give him the latitude to do that. After we did I think “Lift-Off” last season, and at the end of that episode, at the end he comes in. . . Dramatically I think in “Lift-Off” was just truly astonishing. It was a great. We’ve put a whole lot on Kavan’s shoulders to pull that episode off, and that, as Colin said, he knocked it out of the park. And then the Venturi Brothers, Paulo and Vaik are phenomenal. They had been and are key members of our art department and design team under Lance King, who had been doing our show up until season five, and then it was great because Lance decided to retire and the Venturis got to take over. We’ve always tried to come up for our show in all departments, when people earn it. And people really step up, and they have just brought an unbelievable level of quality to the production design for the final season. I mean, the show just has continued to never look better.
COLIN: And there’s another aspect to that that I want to sort of hit. It’s when FRINGE came on the scene we lost a bunch of our crew, and what happened with that is we lost Dave Warner, who was always the gaffer under Rick McGuire, who was our DP. When Warner left, Warner had worked with Robert Petrovic for a decade or plus at that point. So when Warner left, Ricky got to choose his own lighting department, his own crew for the first time, and that was season four. So if you notice the kick-up in lights in season four was due to Ricky having sort of like his own toy store. And I think the lighting in season four and season five and like I was even commenting on it watching the first three episodes, just phenomenally well done, like all the blow-out lights and how sharp it was and the colors, versus the real world. It was really – I mean, it’s such an unbelievable bonus for the show. He can light anything so quickly.
JAIME: Yes, and Mark for Dave Warner and did a phenomenal job too, and he was great to work with.
What are some of your plans for the future? Are there any upcoming projects in the works for either one of you?
JAIME: Colin’s going to go be a giant sitcom star now. Go on and talk about your new show with Bill.
COLIN: Yes, I’ve known Bill Lawrence for a while. He did SCRUBS and SPIN CITY and COUGAR TOWN, and we just finished shooting a pilot last week called LIKE FATHER. I guess it’s through Warner Brothers for Fox, and we’ll find out in a month whether it’s going to go or not, but I was – it was really fun sort of doing, you know – talk about easy. We had seven days to shoot 30 pages. So that was really great and really fun, and Jaime, as – you’re doing BOSTON CORPORATE, yes?
JAIME: I’ve got a project that we’ve set up over at Universal that Eric Watchford is actually the creator of the show, a writer out of AFI, and a producing partner of James Middleton who was an executive producer who he was actually the guy who developed the last couple Terminator movies, and he developed TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES. So he and I have been partnering on that, and I’ve got a number of other projects that are in development with some other producers and companies, and we’ll sort of see I think which one goes first as far as – this part of the process is a little bit of a waiting game. I think it’s interesting, this is actually the first time that I’ve been free. This will be seven years of EUREKA being on the air when you count the split seasons for three and four. And then it was two years of development prior to that, that it was pretty much taking over my life. So I might actually go and work on someone else’s show for a while if I find a show that I really like that makes sense and is a good fit. It would be really fun I think to try to do something in maybe a different capacity, as well as create something new. So I’m keeping a lot of options open.
Colin, in the episode “In Up in the Air,” where do you find inspiration for that type of performance? Where do you kind of get that inspiration?
COLIN: I’m a bit of an idiot. We always try to push it as far as we can push it, and the funny ones are frequently the ones that go too far, where you just take, and then you’ll hear from behind the monitor, “No.” Tone it back a bit. But it’s really fun when one of them sneaks in like that where all of a sudden it’s sort of appropriate and it can fit there, and I’m so glad you enjoyed that. That makes me so happy. We have a really goofy sense of humor. Where does it come from? I don’t know. We enjoy having a good time. I’m just really grateful that it plays and that it makes the cut, and it’s recorded for posterity.
JAIME: I’ve got to pay Colin a compliment here too, which is I think that he is kind of a rare actor who, first of all as I said, can do both the drama and the comedy and the physical comedy. I mean, it’s one thing to be really great with a one-liner and have that kind of timing with other actors, but to be able to be that funny in the physical comedy is another sort of extra gift, tool that he has in his voluminous box of acting tools. But it’s also I think a rare actor who is not afraid to look like the most macho-guy in a moment, and to be afraid and to show that and to go to the larger comedy moments and not be worried about, “How does that speak about my character?” And he is fearless about doing anything in the scene that will maybe work, and he gives us a whole range of colors to choose from. So we can go more broadly if we want to with the comedy, or not, and it’s really fun when you’re editing the show to be able to have all those options. So I’m going to miss you, Colin.
COLIN: It sort of spiraled up. I mean, it was one of these things where Jaime would write something, and it comes to set, and you’re like, “Oh, we’re going to do that? All right, well, let’s see how far we can push that.” And then Jaime watches that and goes, “Oh, you pushed it, there? All right, well then I can see if I can write this.” And it’s sort of, “ I’m going to do that, but then I’m going to make it dramatic, and then we’re going to …” It was a really fun exchange over the years to sort of see how far we could push the different boundaries of things, and obviously, make us laugh along the way.
JAIME: Yes, I think that process is, especially when I was lucky enough to be able to be up there for a lot of the shows that I had, written and be able to work with our cast and directors, but to be able to kind of work through some turns of the scene, just talking them through with Colin and our other cast members, was like, “Okay, if I can have this there, I can make that turn.” And then Colin is like, “You know what? I’ll figure that out. I got that. I know what I have to do.” And then but that’s part of the creative process that it’s a surprising operation.
Twenty years from now how do you want people to remember EUREKA?
COLIN: By this last season. I want them to remember by season five. I want them to remember it by the end of our journey, where we got to, the growth that we all went through, how our stories got tighter, our acting got better, our lighting improved. It’s been a great journey, but I’m so proud of the end of the road that I’d love them to look back on that and remember us for that.
JAIME: Yes, I hope that people remember the town and miss the town still and wish that they could be a part of it. I think that, for me, the part of the show that always resonated the most was this sort of NORTHERN EXPOSURE aspect to it. I grew up in a very small town in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. And there was the dynamics of those people and the kind of characters that you meet, that’s what I love to write, and that’s kind of what I love to watch too. And I watch a lot of things, but that’s one of the things, and so when people started talking about how they want to move to EUREKA, even though you’re just dying on a weekly basis, that’s a good thing to have created. So I hope that it’s sort of remembered fondly that way.
When was the decision made to go that “dark” for this next season?
JAIME: I can’t say that we made a decision to go “dark,” but it felt like the show has always sort of been this evolving thing, and the idea of this mission was (spoiler). . . I just thought it was a really interesting concept, but when we started to break down what does that actually look like for (spoiler), it had to be kind of shocking. It had to have them back on their heels so that they don’t notice (spoiler). And so that really allowed for some interesting dramatic moments. . . . If you believe those things, then that’s going to resonate with you for a while. . . . It’s that kind of thing taken to the nth degree. So we wanted those first three to be a trilogy of sorts, where we’re resolving the (spoiler) and that the experience is impactful enough that it will definitely resonate for those characters and their relationships with each other for the rest of the season. That was a really rich place to start drawing new storylines from, and what we just draw from them is often very, very funny. I agree. I think that we think we’ve actually done a couple of the funniest episodes that we’ve ever done. The one that Colin was talking about, the one that I directed, I think for a number of reasons, one because of the sci-fi trope that we’re using lends itself to it, and to the strengths of our actors as well. But you don’t have to worry about being stuck in the “dark” for the entire season. Trust me, you have a lot to laugh at.
COLIN: Well, that’s why I was so proud of it, was because the first three are as dark as we’ve ever gone, but then there are definitely two, maybe a third one that are as funny as we’ve ever gone. So we’ve really made it darker and then funnier and like the extremes are better. Like, it’s a really, really fun ride this year. And there’s some really funny episodes.
JAIME: Yes, I think that one of the great things that the concept of our show has afforded us is exactly that. I mean, we have the ability to kind of do anything, and I’m sad that we won’t get to continue to do that. I think we have a lot more great concepts that were already mapped out for season six, and I wish that we had gotten to do, but I think that the upside of this is that we are kind of going out, I think, Colin and I both feel, on a high note. I think it’s our best season yet. Our audience has grown every year for the last six years, and this will be our seventh year now. I hope that they find this on the new night and time, and they make this continually one of the highest rated shows that the network has ever had.
Doing the DVD commentaries, is that kind of the last thing you have to do kind of as a group other than kind of the promotional things like this and the conventions and so forth? Is there anything else that’s kind of planned for you guys to get together and do?
COLIN: I hope that we do get together to watch some of them. That would be great. But for me, you summed it up: that’s the end of the road for me. How about you, Jaime?
JAIME: Yes, that is for me as well. I just gave like the final notes on some of the DVD extras that have been in post-production, so I’m almost done with that. I delivered the series finale a couple weeks ago to the network, so I think that really it’s going to be that we’ve got the summer press day coming up, where I get to see Colin and Salli together there. We’ll go do that together, and then it’ll be probably I think the various conventions. One way or another, I will have a series finale party for everybody to view and we’ll probably have a screening room for that, so when we get closer to that date, we’ll do that because I feel like we need to have a sort of a reunion for that last episode.
COLIN: That’d be great. I’d really like that.
Is James Callis going to be making a return as Dr. Grant?
JAIME: I think you should make sure that you see every episode. James was great to work with. He’s one of the many unbelievably lovely people that we have been fortunate to have on our show and our guest cast, just a great human being as well as obviously a phenomenally talented actor. So we always had hope that we were going to have a lot more of his character Trevor Grant in season six, so I think that you might keep your eyes open for him, maybe potentially showing up somewhere along the way in season five. 
EUREKA has surprised and delighted us and provided the most amazing home-away-from-home on television for all of us. So be sure to tune in for its 5th and final season starting Monday, April 16th at 9PM on Syfy. (10PM on Space in Canada)
Tiffany Vogt is the Senior West Coast Editor, contributing as a columnist and entertainment reporter to TheTVaddict.com. She has a great love for television and firmly believes that entertainment is a world of wondrous adventures that deserves to be shared and explored – she invites you to join her. Please feel free to contact Tiffany at Tiffany_Vogt_2000@yahoo.com or follow her at on Twitter (@TVWatchtower).