Government agents Myka Bering and Peter Lattimer have been recruited by the mysterious Mrs. Frederick to retrieve objects with supernatural powers and deliver them to the enormous Warehouse 13 facility for safe keeping. The quirky yet wise Artie Nielsen is in charge of the warehouse and offers insight and guidance to Bering and Lattimer each week as they seek out and gather dangerous, trouble-causing objects.
We’re about 3 episodes into this new TV show on SyFy. Have you been watching it, too?
When I saw the advertisements for this show before it aired, I was reminded of the late 80’s TV show: Friday the 13th: The Series. The premise is essentially the same: a man and woman seek out cursed antiques under the guidance of an older, wiser man. After retrieval, these objects would be locked up in the safety of a vault inside of the antique store they were originally sold. I rather enjoyed that show back in the day.
After having seen a few episodes, the show does seem to be a super-charged rehash of Friday the 13th: The Series. This isn’t necessary a bad thing because that was an enjoyable show with a good, working formula.
The characters in Warehouse 13 are fairly TV-cliche: It has the good looking, bickering male and female leads (Bering and Lattimer) – both attracted to each other, yet not quite able to get along and full of witty conversation. Guiding them is an older, wiser character (Artie), who plays kind of a parental role to the two agents. Throw in the mysterious, seemingly all-knowing older woman with vast resources and influence (Mrs. Frederick) – a common sci-fi character type (sometimes portrayed by a male character). As the nature of network television goes, each show is basically the same – identify trouble spot, investigate, retrieve object(s), save the day and return to the warehouse.
In spite of the fact that the show really doesn’t bring anything new and innovative to television or sci-fi in general, there is much to like about it.
Personally, I love the whole retro-high-tech gadgetry utilized by the Warehouse 13 crew. From the computer Artie uses with an old-style typewriter-like keyboard to the video communication devices that look like they came right out of an old 40’s sci-fi serial – there are plenty of cool and unique “old” high-tech devices. I’d sure love to get my hands on that “Tesla” stun gun device. What a cool light show that thing provides! Real or not, I may need to add some of these items to my geek-collection if sold in stores or online… assuming they’re good, near-show quality replicas of them.
The writing is good, and characters well played by the actors. It’s fun to watch as they go about their business in adventures out of the ordinary. The show also boasts some impressive high-end special effects that are near (big budget) movie quality – icing on the cake for any good sci-fi themed presentation.
Warehouse 13 is good, lighthearted fun and provides plenty of entertainment in the form of drama, laughs, well done sight gags, adventurous action sequences, and plenty sci-fi coolness to appeal to my nerdy side. Mrs. H. and I both enjoy watching and hope the producers can maintain the shows production quality and fun-factor.
The official Warehouse 13 website
Are you a fan of this show, too? What’s your assessment of things so far?
I saw the pilot episode, but haven’t had the time to watch any of it since then. Coincidentally, I went to grade school with Eddie (Peter) – he did a mean Steve Martin and James Cagney impressions back then!
My wife and I have been enjoying the show since the pilot. We’ll be watching the latest episode later tonight via DVR. It’s a fun show, but nothing spectacular. If we miss an episode, no big deal.
So you knew Eddie in grade school, huh? My question is did he ever do Steve Martin and James Cagney doing the classic Abbot and Costello routine “Who’s On First”? lol Now THAT would be interesting to hear. heehee :)
Me and my SO saw the pilot of this and we set our DVR to catch all of the episodes. We have watched most of the episodes and have found that some are more fun than others.
That’s pretty much how my wife and I feel about it, Michelle. It’s a fun show, but nothing to write home about. As you pointed out, some episodes are better than others. I could do without the rather annoying “Claudia Donovan” character, but maybe they’ll rework her to be a tad less annoying next season (if there is one).
Im so mad that there canceling it.That stinks!