Colin Ferguson is used to getting beat up on “Eureka,” the Sci Fi network’s most popular original series.
But what he went through for the Season 3 premiere, called “Bad to the Drone,” has him worried about what the writers and producers are thinking. A fighter drone called Martha begins to operate on her own — bypassing her own programming. In one scene, the drone squares off against Ferguson’s Sheriff Jack Carter, eventually blowing out the windows of his jeep.
“[The special effects guys] say ‘OK, stand next to the jeep, now … everybody put in earplugs,’ ” Ferguson said during a recent conference call. “And there’s like 50 people around with earplugs and face masks on and they tell me to get closer [to the jeep]. And ‘It’s going to be loud.’ “
Martha isn’t the only new foe that comes to Eureka, a town populated by geniuses who work at Global Dynamics, an outfit that does top-secret research for the government. Corporate efficiency expert Eva Thorne, known as The Fixer (guest star Frances Fisher), comes to Eureka to make Global Dynamics a more profitable place.
Sounds pretty serious, but according to Ferguson and “Eureka” executive producer Jaime Paglia, the show will continue its delicate balance of comedy, drama, sci fi and absurd humor. And Ferguson’s portrayal of the street-smart-yet-always-bewildered Carter is largely why the mix works so well.
He’s no genius, but he’s smart enough to fix the town’s problems — even if that means taking a lot of falls in the process.
“I see Carter as a character in this way: In a town of minds, he takes the body,” Ferguson told me at San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend. “So I do take the punches.”
And although Ferguson said it’s getting harder to get up off the ground, he wouldn’t change a thing about the action sequences.
“I love it, love it, love it.”
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CWWAGNER@TRIBUNE.COM
