Sanctuary (SPACE: network debut October 9, 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT; Syfy: second-season premiere October 9, 10:00 PM ET/9:00 PM CT) has trod a long road to get to basic cable in Canada.  It comes to SPACE this season from The Movie Network.  Tracing the show back to its source, Sanctuary originated as a web series.  Sanctuary is on Syfy in America, currently one of Canada’s best-known exports.

Hell, Sanctuary was even nominated for a technical Emmy this year.  At this point, star/executive producer Amanda Tapping can write her own ticket.  Diversifying from Stargate Atlantis will do that to you.

At first glance, Sanctuary is Torchwood with intelligent cryptids, or “Abnormals,” in place of aliens.  The 150-something Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping) is a non-glib, female Jack Harkness.  Werewolves and vampires feature, since they’re kinda neat.

I don’t call Sanctuary an own-brand Torchwood, even though this is the first episode of Sanctuary I’ve seen.  Frankly, the show’s more Primeval than Torchwood.  Sanctuary needs LGBT themes to be even close to Torchwood.

The acting, as is so often the case in Canada, ranges from good to bad.  Agam Darshi is surprisingly tolerable as new girl Kate Freelander.  Christopher Heyerdahl is uneven as Abnormal jack-of-all-trades Bigfoot, yet excellent as space-time hopper/ex-serial killer John Druitt.

On the flip side, Jonathon Young annoys me in his recurring role as half-vampire/inventor/smart-ass Nikola Tesla.  Young is given a few one-liners and a flippant attitude, a character archetype played straight.  Henry Foss (Ryan Robbins) and Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne) are generic and uninteresting characters, even granting Foss’ werewolfism.  Compared to Magnus, Foss and Zimmerman seem like warm bodies attached to subplots.

Amanda Tapping’s British accent fluctuates over the course of “End of Nights (Part One).”  At the same time, Tapping is better than Torchwood‘s John Barrowman in that she’s more forceful and believable as the head of a clandestine organization.  They’re all business, no lesbian kissing down at The Sanctuary.

Sanctuary hovers around the upper echelon of SPACE’s offerings.  It’s better than Primeval, which is like saying that mild nausea is better than having your face run over by a motorcycle.  Sanctuary isn’t better than Rabbit Fall (there, I said it) or Watchmen: The Motion Comic, but it’s not bad.  It’s too easy for a show on SPACE to eclipse the heights of Total Recall 2070, Defying Gravity and Star Trek: Voyager.

The main problem with Sanctuary is that it’s no better than competent.  It’s a campy show that isn’t overly ambitious.  Sanctuary isn’t insultingly bad, like Tripping the Rift, but “End of Nights (Part One)” doesn’t make me want to check out Sanctuary‘s first season.

Sanctuary looks fairly cheap, with much Vancouver location shooting.  I actually prefer the unreal look of the CGI to the very real shots of darkened corridors, bannisters and dilapidated-looking buildings.  I tend not to care about a sci-fi show’s special effects unless they’re Adventures of Sinbad levels of inept, but Sanctuary looks chintzier than it actually is.

Sanctuary makes for a good time filler, but there’s not much to the show beyond this.  ”End of Nights (Part One)” is all bla bla Cabal, bla bla Abnormals, plus a poorly-realized car chase.  I might watch another episode of the show to see if I’m missing something, but Sanctuary isn’t sucking me in at this time.

Stargate Universe (SPACE: two-hour premiere October 2, 9:00 PM ET; in regular timeslot starting October 9, 10:00 PM ET) surely needs no explanation.  Stargate is the pre-eminent science fiction franchise of the 2000s.  Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis have ensured that the franchise will be a syndication staple for at least a decade, so why not add another chapter to its history?  It’s the thinking that has birthed Stargate Universe, as profitable franchises can be flogged for as many spinoffs as they can bear.

I am not impressed with the first part of “Air.”  It starts off well, with people being launched out of a Stargate and onto an abandoned Ancient spaceship.  That remains the strongest visual for me after watching the show’s first two hours, which means “Air” has blown its load in its first five minutes.  The first hour, despite a well-made battle sequence, is boring overall.

Eli Wallace (David Blue) is a nerd stereotype – lives with his mother, obsessive gamer, dumpy-looking.  Eli solves a riddle encoded into the Prometheus video game.  After Eli disbelieves that the Stargate Program wants anything to do with him, he is sent to the George Hammond battlecruiser and coerced into helping it.  Eli’s an ascended fanboy played straight.

Sure, Eli went to MIT, but I can’t believe Stargate Universe actually goes this route with a character.  Blue does what he can with the material he’s given, but his character is not overly convincing.  There is no reason to get behind Eli Wallace until the second hour, when he’s shown as overeager and naïve as regards military protocol.  Eli’s not as annoying on second viewing, but he’s in danger of becoming Wesley Crusher.

Dr. Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle) is either a Dr. Gregory House-type genius or the downfall of The Icarus Project, the Stargate Program being fond of ominous names.  Carlyle anchors the show, and is its obvious star.

Rush does have his tender moments, yet he’s usually detached from all but his work.  If someone accidentally dies on his watch, so be it.  Rush has the potential to be an interesting character, more due to Carlyle’s acting than anything else.  In lesser hands, Rush would be the stock misanthropic genius, although he does seem cribbed from House M.D.

Stargate Universe feels like a gestalt of borrowed plots and characters from Popular Shows, even when it’s not trying to be.  The first part of Stargate Universe is Sliders all over again.  Instead of Quinn Mallory and company making a second jump before completing the first, the Stargate fucks up before it can dial the ninth chevron to Earth.

Parallel dimensions are replaced by Red Dwarf, I mean a decaying Ancient spaceship.  SGU takes the Lost tack of telling its story in both flashbacks and real time.  Eli Wallace is a variant of The Last Starfighter.  References to prior Stargate shows are a given.

Somehow, Stargate Universe is meant to be edgy as Stargate military personnel shag in the first hour.  Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper spend so much time proving how unlike the previous Stargate series SGU is – hey kids! fucking! – that original storytelling is placed on the back burner.  I almost expect a statue of Seshat to figure in the show’s mythology.

The second part of “Air” is better, as less time is spent focusing on Wesley – er, ah, Eli – and more of the main characters get airtime.  Louis Ferreira is a standout as Colonel Everett Young, who is situated as Rush’s dramatic opposite.  He isn’t in “Air” for a long time due to his being badly wounded, but I can at least emotionally invest in his character.

Senator Alan Armstrong (Christopher McDonald) and his daughter Chloe (Elyse Levesque) are given meaty roles, although Alan’s role is limited to sacrificing his life as he prolongs Destiny’s life support systems.  The Senator is not evil, though he does resort to pulling out a gun in the second hour of “Air.”  His character, in the end, is there for sacrifice and to define Chloe’s backstory.

Stargate Universe takes from more successful shows and wads everything it can into the Stargate mold.  I can understand the move to “edgier” storylines – a franchise can’t cater to the same fans forever, lest the show find its inner Rick Berman and go shit.

At the same time, Stargate Universe is a reboot of a reboot.  In addition, Wright and Cooper were responsible for Stargate‘s initial reboot.  While I’ll give SGU time to find itself, Wright and Cooper should have handed the reins to someone else.

Maybe a Robert Smigel-helmed Stargate series?  Think about it: wormholes, the X-Presidents, Doug Dale in a major role.  Damn it, this has to happen.  For the good of television, this needs to happen.  Until then, I’ll put Stargate Universe on the back burner.