DVD Review: 'Warehouse 13: Season One'

From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman

Can it be a coincidence that the network formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel changed its moniker to the inane Syfy the same day “Warehouse 13″ premiered? I think not.

“Warehouse 13,” which rivals its channel’s name for inanity, steals its premise from the final shot of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and adds cheese to the proceedings. You’d feel bad for the actors forced to deliver some of this dialogue if they actually possessed a fraction of the charm the show ascribes to them. The second season premiered this week on Syfy.

Secret Service agents Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) and Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly) are working in Washington, D.C., protecting the president one minute but transferred to a storage facility in South Dakota the next. It looks like a demotion, but warehouse curator Artie Nielsen (Saul Rubinek) explains that their skills are desperately needed for the top-secret assignment.

The warehouse is filled with thousands of “artifacts” — potentially dangerous objects that possess mysterious or supernatural qualities — and Pete and Myka are charged with collecting more from all around the world.