Colin Ferguson, Jamie Paglia, Niall Matter, Tembi Locke, and Debra Farentino took the stage Sunday for the “Eureka: What Would Carter Do?” panel in the Hyatt’s Centennial II-III ballrooms. There was much joking and bantering between the panelists and it was evident to everyone watching that these are people are used to spending large amounts of time around each other and know each other quite well.
Among the various questions asked were the usual ones about the panelists’ favorite episodes and such. However, Ferguson and Paglia, who is the creator of Eureka, were both asked about what they thought Jack Carter (Ferguson’s character), would’ve done if he’d had more time body-swapped with one of the female characters of the show. Ferguson replied that he thought Carter would’ve run around claiming, “This is awesome!” Paglia had a different approach to extending that scene if he’d had the chance to film it.
When asked what pranks were played on set, Ferguson replied that they weren’t a crazy prank set, despite his reputation of being a prankster, but that there was a lot of laughter on set. The one prank claimed by the cast apparently ended up in an injury, much to the dismay of the audience.
Locke was asked how working on a science fiction series was different than working on a typical drama, considering that Eureka was only her second science fiction series. According to Locke, working on a science fiction drama is much more expansive creatively and more fun because of the different elements that are pulled into the show at any given time. “I love the fantasy of it…the drama…” said Locke.
This cast and crew, despite their show being cancelled and not currently in production, obviously still spend time together and care about each other, which is a wonderful thing to see in today’s genre television. There is such an obvious amount of talent and intelligence in this cast and in the creator that bleeds through on screen, and it is truly a shame that this show is no longer has new episodes. Nevertheless, the actors still love and come out to see and answer questions for their fans.
