in the open space: God & culture

ComingSoon reports that SciFi has greenlit another season of one of this blogger's favorite series, Eureka . A kind of "dramady," the series follows a community of genius scientists that live in a secreted community in the Pacific Northwest called Eureka (hence, the title). It's well-written, funny and engaging--plus it's dealt with a number of themes of interest to this blog, including what makes and goes into community and why it is so important to us. But recently, I've particularly enjoyed the second season (which is just concluding) because one of the characters, Allison Blake , is walking down a road that she knows is wrong for all the "right reasons." She wants to protect her son, who has somehow connected with and is being changed by an ancient or alien artifact. But in doing so, she's started to lie, decieve and make decisions she never would have a year before--and her actions are begining to hurt other people. Contrast that with ano...

As the result of one of those constant technological mishaps common in Eureka, in "The Ex-Files" several members of the community are seeing hallucinations of people from their past. Carter is seeing Stark, Allison is seeing Tess, and Grant is seeing a colleague from his past--who is encouraging Grant to work against his current colleagues. When Allison asks Grant who he is seeing, he conjures up a cover: Allison Blake: You never said who you were seeing. Charles Grant: Tall, leggy blond, slinky red dress. Of course, Battlestar Galactica fans geeked out at this as it is the perfect description of the Cylon model Six that only Gaius Baltar could see--Baltar being James Callis' role on BSG . BSG is also a SyFy series and references aren't unusual on Eureka , but this by far is one of the best. Must admit, I almost missed it--it was my husband who caught it first. Heh. (Images: Syfy)

As the 66th Annual Golden Globes approach and 2008 is receding in our proverbial rear view mirror, I thought it apropos to post my own list of top television shows that I found worth viewing last year. These are not necessarily the most critically acclaimed or the best drama/comedy/dramody/ect. on television, but they are the ones that engaged me. While not as critically acute or noble as those which are elected with votes for the Golden statues, in the tradition of this blog , here they are for what they’re worth (in no particular order): Battlestar Galactica . BSG got really dark last year but brought us hope just when we needed most . This series consistently tackles the complex dimension of man’s experience, and does so with intelligence and gripping characters and storylines. While it appears the spiritual aspects of the series may not have been thought through the way I expected , it still falls together in a way that hasn’t disappointed—so far. The series is in its last ru...

Lexxie Carter: Just because a guy wears a mask and a cape doesn't mean he's a dangerous lunatic. Sheriff Jack Carter: Yeah, it sorta does. --from the "Phased and Confused" episode of Eureka , where Sheriff Jack Carter and his sister are discussing "Captain Eureka," someone who dresses in a somewhat geeky superhero costume with some rather undependable tech tools who recently tried to "rescue" Lexie. You can watch the episode online here . Heh. Kind of demythologizes the whole comic-book hero thing, doesn't it. (Images: SciFi Channel) eurekactgy

Today is the opening of the The Dark Knight , the critically-acclaimed Batman Begins sequel that already has Oscar talk surrounding it. The film got four complete stars over at Christianity Today and is called a “powerful” and “solid superhero film” at Crosswalk . We hope to see it this weekend (if our babysitter comes through). Attached to The Dark Knight is the intriguing Watchmen trailer (above). I must admit, I don’t know much about the film or the Hugo-award-winning limited-series-comic-book-turned-graphic-novel on which it’s based. (Heh, in fact, I didn’t know anything about it until Peter Chattaway started posting on it ). If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that comic book films are of special interest , but this one is adapted from a series that takes a, urm, rather dark and unique view of the genre . Anyway, after watching the trailer, I ordered the graphic novel out of curiosity—but it’ll have to wait, however, until I can get around to reading Babylon ...

The other day, I was watching with my kids Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban and that got me thinking about all the things I'd love to do from the universes, lands and stories I've read and seen over the years. So, here's a Bucket List of 10 things I would like to do--if they were real, heh: 1. Ride a hippogriff 2. Go through a stargate 3. Learn to golf from Bagger Vance 4. Feast in Rivendell 5. Fly a viper 6. Learn to use a light saber—and the Force 7. Take a nap on a totoro 8. Own a sonic screwdriver (which, of course, would entail meeting the Doctor ) 9. Live in Eureka 10. Go through the wardrobe How about you? (Image: Buckbeak from HP & the Prisoner of Azkaban, Warner Bros. via Harry Potter Wiki )

Here are my 10 favorite small screen choices of 2007, in alphabetical order : American Idol . This was my first year watching this reality series for more than a few episodes—and I actually voted once . I’m not much for reality television. I watched the first two seasons of Survivor fairly religiously, but dropped interest when folks started figuring out how the game was played—and Christians started playing the game instead of living their faith. Heh, I’ve argued this one into the ground with some good friends who think otherwise, but hey, they're wrong. Anyway, with the writers’ strike, I’m actually thinking I’ll be watching this years’ Idol contest again. As a final note, my husband can't stand this series. Go figure. Battlestar Galactica . This dark sci-fi series still remains one of the best things on television. Last season’s opening episodes were some of the most powerful ever, and in the second part of the season I particularly appreciated the finale and the whole S...

YouTube has the latest Battlestar Galactica Season 3 trailer online , which premiered Tuesday night during the new Sci-Fi series, Eureka . Before you watch it, though, watch the earlier Season 3 trailer . If you have time, watch the trailer for the first season —both of which use the God-talk-type-language that will give you a hint as to why I TiVo this ser ies : Faith plays heavy in this century’s incarnation of Battlestar Galactica , and it gets quite a bit of air-time, both in the personal lives of the characters as well as a larger movement and motivation in the battle between the humans and Cylons. Not only does this show deal with faith issues often, but I think it frequently does a good job of it. As an added bonus, the series is actually critically acclaimed as well-written, acted and put together (it got nominated for three Emmys —costuming, camera and special effects—this year). You can catch up on the episodes and seasons by visiting Wikipedia or watching the Season 2 ep...

My most recent TV Guide and EW magazines arrived several days apart and both of ‘em outline what’s in store for the small screen in the next few months—and here’s some of the items going on my DVR’s record list (in order of their air dates). Law & Order (began January 2, 10/9c NBC): Now in its 18th season (wow), this series gets a couple of new characters—a new detective ( Six Feet Under’s Jeremy Sisto) and a new Assistant DA ( Batman Begin’s Linus Roache)—in addition to a new DA: Sam Waterston’s Jack McCoy is finally filling those shoes. Though I usually catch this series in reruns, I really like it; the writing is smart, the cases interesting, and its plots often stumble on thought provoking issues—all of which has the potential to bring God-talk into open spaces, even if it’s just your living room. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (premieres 1/13, 8/7c Fox). Starring Lena Headey and Summer Glau (whom this blog loved as River in Firefly and Serenity ). In the Ter...

I’m rather late on this, but here is a list of my favorite television series of 2009. As in years past, these don’t necessarily represent the best shows on television, but they are ones that I looked forward to the most—and ones that generally brought God-talk into these open spaces. Interestingly, half of them were either cancelled or went off the air. I’ll leave up to you as to whether that adds more fodder to my theory of why good television shows get cancelled or simply says something about my taste, heh . In alphabetical order: Battlestar Galactica . This four season science fiction epic concluded its run last spring. Its final season (playing out over the Springs of 2008-2009) represented some of the best as well as the worst of the series. At its best, a few key episodes plunged us into a dark exploration of love , faith , and what it means to be human —something at which this series excelled. At its worst, it revealed weakness in its storytelling and the downside of develo...