Last week Syfy delivered some bitter news. The network announced it would be subjecting fan favorite Eureka to a slow death, one that would pan out over nineteen episodes and two more seasons. The cast and crew are currently in production on a thirteen episode fifth season, but rumors broke out that Syfy also had plans to create six more episodes to run at a later date. The extra footage seemed like a good way to wrap up the loose timeline of events in the scientific town and to get in one last round of adventures. There were even some whispers Eureka might find a way to avoid cancellation completely, but like most of Syfy’s other programs with niche fanbases, Eureka seems destined to end without exhausting all its possibilities.
Monday, Syfy officially announced Eureka’s cancellation, noting there will not be six extra episodes created to close out the series. The network is still fully behind the 13-episode season ordered for 2011-2012. Eureka won’t be shutting down production anytime soon, and there should still be time to work out the characters’ storylines and to move toward a decently satisfying conclusion. The bad news is, Season 5 of Eureka has been in production for a while. If producers Bruce Miller and Jaime Paglia and the show’s team of writers were counting on those extra episodes, they might have to squish plotlines together at the end of the season to fit everything in.
According to EW, president of Syfy programming Mark Stern had been optimistic Eureka would continue into a sixth season. Maybe the six episode story arc was simply a leaked idea of a possible compromise. If so, negotiations proved futile, and fans of the program will have to contend with the final few episodes airing during the upcoming season. It could certainly be worse.
