Shedding light on my 'Total Blackout' experience

Jaleel White, courtesy Syfy

I am quite the fan of Syfy's competition series Total Blackout, hosted by Jaleel White (Family Matters, Dancing with the Stars). The half-hour show, which premiered April 25, involves contestants tackling their anxieties in a series of challenges - all of which take place in complete, impenetrable darkness.

So far the show, which airs each Wednesday at 10 p.m., has been garnering some great responses (including 1.4 million viewers for the May 9 telecast). I genuinely enjoy watching people get freaked out (and love the YouTube vids when a monster pops out of nowhere). It's cathartic to let your fears take over within a controlled environment, and just plain funny to watch others get scared by the same things that scare us.

But my fondness for Total Blackout might also be slightly subjective. Back in October 2011, I was selected as a member of the press to take part in a special dry-run of the show concept in front of an audience of reporters watching via closed-circuit TV in another room. Along with a couple other reporters, Colin Ferguson of Eureka took part in the segment right before me. None of us had ever heard the name of the show before and didn't know what we were getting into. We had no contact with other contestants after they took part, and weren't even warned that we'd be thrust into the darkness. In fact, it wasn't until I went into the light that all was reveled.

Anyhow, I wanted to share Colin's and my experience as part of Total Blackout. Perhaps after you watch, you'll understand why one Syfy executive humorously said that watching me was "disturbing" and that I'd "never be a contestant on this show."

-Aaron Sagers



And here's a clip from the May 23 episode of Total Blackout:

'Eureka' returns for beginning of end

In the timeless words of Boyz II Men (and by timeless, we mean the early '90s - and it was really George Curtis Cameron's words anyhow), "it's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday."

That's the feeling we're pretty much having over here at PPC as the fifth and final season of Eureka kicks off tonight at 9 p.m. on Syfy. For about six years since it's July 2006 premiere, the show about a town in Oregon filled with geniuses has been a quirky ride.

In fact, a series with a sense of humor and an overall optimistic outlook, Eureka has always felt a little like the American cousin to Doctor Who (the excellent Christmas specials even further forced that comparison). Instead of becoming an overly dark sci-fi show, Eureka maintained a "gee-whiz" attitude and frequently goofed on itself - all while building a world with continuity through developed characters and ongoing story arcs. Further cementing its place as a solid show dismissed before its time, Eureka really "got" the genre by neither over relying on irony nor by treating the sci-fi as too sacrosanct. And woo boy did they know how to cast guest stars that fans were ecstatic to see (talking to you, Wil Wheaton, Felicia Day, Matt Frewer, James Callis).

In short, Eureka has been science-fun-fiction, and its absence removes a little too much sci-fi from Syfy.

Super Syfy press tour - Imagine Greater all day

Monday marks another Syfy Digital Media Press Tour, and Paranormal Pop Culture will be taking part once again. The event will feature interviews and panels from all the biggest Syfy shows, including Being Human, Eureka, Warehouse 13, Face Off, Destination Truth and more.

We will also be talking to the cast of the original Peter Pan prequel flick Neverland. Stay tuned and submit questions, and follow along on Twitter for all the latest. Basically, if the Syfy motto is to Imagine Greater, join us to imagine greater all day.

'Eureka' canceled, Season Six scrapped

Entertainment Weekly broke news this morning announcing that Syfy has decided to end the long-running show about a town of geniuses after next year's 13-episode fifth season. This comes on the heals of last week's six-episode order, which are no longer happening.

The statement from Syfy about the cancellation:

After painstaking consideration, we have had to make the difficult business decision to not order a season six of Eureka. But Eureka is not over yet. There is a new holiday episode this December and 12 stellar episodes set to debut next year, marking its fifth season and six memorable years on Syfy. The 2012 episodes are some of the best we’ve seen, and will bring this great series to a satisfying end. We are very grateful to Bruce Miller and Jaime Paglia, their team of incredible writers, and an amazing cast and crew who have consistently delivered a series we continue to be very proud of. We thank the fans for their support of this show and know they will enjoy its final season in 2012.

At least with enough notice, the "satisfying end" mentioned in the statement is more likely, but this is still bummer news for fans of a show that have adapted quirky, compelling British science fiction stateside - especially after the series' best fourth season which saw a mind-bending parallel world storyline and some excellent guest appearances.

One final thought: Is Eureka enough of a fan favorite to create outcry and launch a "Save Eureka" campaign? If so, what will fans send in to Syfy to make their point (ala Tabasco for Roswell, peanuts for Jericho)?

'Tis a Syfy holiday season on Eureka, Warehouse 13

Colin Ferguson, left, and Matt Frewer. Photo Courtesy Syfy

Syfy kicks off its Christmas week tonight at 9 p.m. with themed episodes of Eureka and Warehouse 13.

After the jump, Syfy's Executive Vice President of Original Programming Mark Stern hosts a panel with Eureka's Neil Grayston and Warehouse's Allison Scagliotti to discuss the holiday specials. But first, here's what the fine publicity folks have to say: