When it comes to television shows, my tastes tend to veer towards the sci-fi and fantasy genres with some action and drama to add a bit of variety (plus a hint of Lark Rise to Candleford, which I'll explain in a bit). As such, most of the shows I watch tend to be American in origin, they of course having a history of sci-fi shows that tend to outshine the UK's own stellar output. An admission here - I love a lot of the homegrown shows, and not just the usual suspects like Dr. Who and Blake's 7. There are fantastic shows such as The Box of Delights, Quatermass, Doomwatch and Star Cops. No, what I mean is that there tends to be a greater acceptance of sci-fant in the US, which combined with the greater number of television networks and distribution mediums, leads to a much greater number of shows. UK output, even when they do feature a sci-fant background, tend to be more reserved and I get the feeling that the genre as a whole is sniffed at by TV execs in general, so what is produced is either aimed at children or ends up going for the cerebral angle and winds up dour and somber. The aforementioned Box of Delights was a 1980's children's program that transcended its target audience. It also helps US shows that they tend to have a higher budget per episode.
This brings me to Warehouse 13, a US (Canadian produced) SyFy show that lasted five seasons from 2009 to 2014. The premise is that artifacts with unique attributes are collected and stored in a secret warehouse so that they cannot pose a threat to humanity. The Warehouse is governed by a group known as the Regents, who monitor the Special Agent in Charge and their team of agents as they scour the globe (usually the USA, which is always Canada dressed up a bit - think of the Dr Who/Blake's 7 quarry setting - it's amazing what you can do with a bit of set dressing) for said artifacts. Naturally, there are those who which to use those objects for their own gain/world domination/insert reason of the week here and the show did a very good job over 64 episodes to portray that.
Despite the serious sounding description above, Warehouse 13 was a light hearted show and could be very whimsical at times and it managed the duality of action and whimsy very well. That is due to the generally good writing (though there were some stinkers during its run) and the excellent cast. Saul Rubinek, always a joy to watch, inhabits the role of Arthur (Arty) Nielson with a warmth that comes across naturally, His occasional grumpiness and ever present heartfelt humanity combine to give a well rounded core to the show. This wouldn't work, however, if the two agents he manages were poorly cast, but they got that right too. Joanne Kelly nails it as the studious and serious Myka Bering, whilst Eddie McClintock very neatly fuses the "Pete Latimer - geeky man-child" with "Pete Latimer - former alcoholic ex-Marine". Indeed, McClintock is the comic heart of the show and Kelly is the perfect foil for this. There is also the almost obligatory "will they/won't they" angle which is addressed in the final season. Both characters work to each other's strengths and form a prefect triad with Nielson.
That is not to say the additional cast are any less good.. CCH Pounder is perfectly sphinx-like in the role of Regent Mrs Frederick. Initially a cipher, her character development reveals greater and more intriguing depths as the show progresses. Allison Scagliotti, as (an almost stereotypical) rock chick hacker Claudia Donovan could be one note at times but, on the whole, added a younger vibe to the show and the near paternal banter between Donovan and Nielson is a high point of the show. The same can be said for Aaron Ashmore's Steve Jinks, a late-comer to season three. I can see why the character was introduced (and is indeed handled well throughout season three) but you do get the feeling that at times, they didn't know what to do with him. Once embedded in the cast though, Ashmore visibly has more fun in the role and the natural chemistry with Claudia is a hoot. Less well handled, however, is Genelle Williams, playing Lena, the owner of the B&B the agents live in. Although a cast regular, her appearances are not and it is not until season four that her role becomes more significant.
Of the recurring cast members, mention must be made of Jaime Murray's Helena G Wells (yes, that Wells!). Although quite a wooden actress (her delivery is at times note perfect with a role she had in Dexter), you do end up liking the character and she plays the part well.
Guest appearances are something else and they pick actors liberally from other genre shows (Alphas, The Bionic Woman, Star Trek, Torchwood and Buffy the Vampire Slayer to name a few). There are always going to be genre favourite actors and when they do turn up, it's a nice bit of geekery to see. What is evident, no matter who appears, is that they always seem to be enjoying themselves - Anthony Stewart Head as Paracelsus gives a hint of what an older Giles (BtVS) would have been like and he gives it his all in a panto worthy turn, adding a nasty edge to the role just for kicks.
Tonally, as mentioned above, the show was mostly light-hearted and whimsical, playing well with the concept. There is comedy, drama and action. The show was never afraid of presenting adult themes and killed off more than one or two of the main cast. The warehouse itself was destroyed at one point but an artifact saved the day, a running theme throughout the show that even they referenced from time to time. There were also crossover episodes with Eureka, another SyFy show of the time but they were limited to Claudia and Fargo (from that show), so effectively just extended cameos.
Were there issues with the show? Yeah, a couple. One was episode count. Respectively the seasons contained 12, 13, 13, 20 and 6 episodes. The elongated fourth season permitted two villain arcs but the truncated fifth was ordered just to give the show a send off after cancellation was announced at the end of season four. At least this was better than Eureka where cast and crew had to be hastily re-assembled in order to complete a final episode to be tacked onto what turned out to be the shows final season. The short fifth season does mean character and story arcs are a tad rushed but they still nailed the landing.
Aside from pacing issues, there was what can only be described as the bane of TV shows portraying the wider world - back-lot and set-dressing to hide the fact they were still in Canada. The most obvious of these were the 19th Century London set episodes following the backstory of HG Wells and Warehouse 12. It always seemed to be the same three buildings and a street corner. I am also sure that the "Moscow" streets were also "Paris" later in the same series, but hey-ho, it's all about illusion, though the portrayal of "Watford Racecourse" and the b-roll footage of "Paris" with a UK National Lottery ticket pod did raise chuckles.
Then there was the CGI. Now before anyone gets up to say that they only had a TV budget, I get it. You can only have so much money to show what you want on-screen but, like its stablemate Eureka, Warehouse 13 relied a lot on CGI: some of it decent, some of it terrible. Looking back, it adds a certain charm to the show even though the sheer naffness of it at times destroys all sense of disbelief. Then again, that's never harmed Dr Who throughout the decades.
The thing about Warehouse 13 is that was meant to be fun and funny, and it was both of those things. Whether you got the geeky references or the historical bon mots detailing the background of the artifacts, WH13 gave you 45 minutes of easy watching television and there are times when that is all you need. That sense of fun was no less apparent than in the establishing location shots. They must have had great fun deciding what each one would be. one favourite of mine is the establishing shot of Boston where the S in Boston kicks the T into the Charles River.
I was going to list a few of my favourite episodes but there are more than just a few and that could get a little tedious so I'll tell you about two episodes, both from the final season, that neatly sum up WH13.
"Savage Seduction", fourth of the season's six episodes, switches between two plots. Claudia and Steve investigate a campus where an artifact splits people into two so they can study and party at the same time (Steve, being gay, gets split into campy and straight versions of himself, the results of which are hilarious without falling into the stereotypical pit hole). Pete, helping his former girlfriend whose grandmother is trapped inside a Mexican tele-novella, is joined in there by Myka and Arty and the results are even funnier. It's in Spanish, so the cast's reaction to hearing themselves speaking Spanish is brilliant. Embracing the tele-novella format, the acting is so OTT that it reaches pantomime levels of absurdity, especially when the cast switch between their own persona and the tele-novella persona - the Mariachi band blaring away and the wind wafting across their faces at each transition never gets old. Indeed, the transitions get more exaggerated each time and I am sure Pete's mustache is insured by PETA. The OTT theme encompasses the whole episode, from the little Mariachi band during the opening credits to the revised theme during the closing credits. This episode shows the entire cast and crew aiming for the boundary and knocking it out of the park with ease.
"Endless" is the season (and show) finale, so what do they do? They do a clip show. For those of you who don't know, clip shows are used to fill an episode where the producers want to save money or there is a production strike or whatever. They re-use a ton of clips from previous episodes with the bare minimum of new scenes to tie it all together. They are cheap fillers. A classic example for those who have seen it is Star Trek: The Next Generation's season two episode "Shades of Gray". It is diabolical. They ran out of money for the season so produced the only clip episode in TNG's run and it did not go down well, to say the least. Anyhoo, back to WH13 and they finish the show on a clip episode, yet they play with that. Yes, it has the format of a clip show but they are all new clips, subverting the formula. They saved up for this one and boy, does it show! Starting off with a fantastic tap routine (42nd Street), they riff off Fantastic Voyage before ending with a sense of closure for the cast and a brief glimpse of the future. It is slightly forced (they could have used a feature length show for this to be honest) but they did a good job and I have seen far worse series endings. I felt quite sad the last time the credits rolled.
Alongside Eureka, Warehouse 13 is damn good light science fiction television. That it got 64 episodes is kind of a blessing and for me, it could have continued on for at least another couple of seasons. Having said that, going out when you at the top of your game is no bad thing.
Oh, and Lark Rise to Candleford? I watched the show a couple of years ago upon the recommendation of my better half and I quite enjoyed it. As a BBC period piece, it was a tad too twee for me but it was something relaxing to watch. For those of you who have seen it, may I pose a question? Wouldn't the set up lend itself to a period detective show in the style of Murder She Wrote with Postmistress Dorcus Lane as the sleuth? No? Just me then. Oh well, I'll save that for the fan fiction.
