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Battlestar Galactica Season 2 This Summer
jangobongo writes "SCI FI Channel announced that the second season of its hit original series Battlestar Galactica will premiere this summer with 20 new episodes, after earlier confirming their commitment to the show. Production will resume in March in Vancouver, B.C., with the entire ensemble cast returning, along with executive producer and writer Ronald D. Moore and executive producer David Eick. Averaging over 3 million viewers per episode, the series has quickly become SCI FI's highest-rated original series. No news on when a UK premeire might occur, but with Battlestar Gallactica ranking number 9 out of the top ten most popular TV program downloads worldwide, I don't think UK fans would have to wait long in any case." They're offering the first episode of the show for viewing in a no-charge commercial free venue on the official site.
But when will season 1 be out on DVD?
First they are going to release new episodes of Family Guy, and now this.
Slashdot usage may drop off unexpectedly.
(Not me, I was never a BSG fan... I was a TNG fan)
Check out the best P2P sharing website: MEDIACHEST.COM
They mean 'Original' to SciFi.
There's nothing Intelligent about Intelligent Design.
"Sir, we have about 100 out of work crewmen just now arriving on board, they say they are refugees from something called 'Enterprise.'"
I still can't believe you didn't know Starbuck was singular.
"Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus."
Or finally take advantage of online distribution and supply high-quality downloads themselves (of course containing commercials so they still have a revenue stream).
How about it's BETTER than the original. In almost every way. None of the reusing the same Viper effect 500 times per episode and plots that are thought provoking (like the whole human looking cylon deal). It is the best scifi on TV right now and in some ways better than alot of the scifi from the 1980's.
Gorkman
"Wanna say that word one more time? What's the deal? I mean you are aware this show is a remake right? I still can't believe they made Starbucks a chick."
It may be a remake, but it's so dissimilar to the original series I'm not sure it's even worth bitching about Starbuck being a chick. Believe it or not, this is one of those times they did a remake right. Watch it, you're likely to agree.
"Derp de derp."
Possibly the best scifantasy show thats been on TV in a long time, thankyou for giving it a 'full' season run this time round, and kudos to the creators for giving people the ability to download an episode legitimately - lets hope this leads to more!
For someone who watches roughly one hour of TV a WEEK (what's the average TV viewing for Americans now? Six hours a day?), I'm giddy as hell about this. Awwww yeah!!!!! Damn SciFi channel is going to have me planted in front of the TV again.
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts...for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang
Season 1 spoilers in this comment. Look away now!
So what can we expect in the Slashdot comments for this article?
If you're missing out on what is possibly the best Sci Fi series of our lives because you're still mad about the cancellation of a great show that was (and I say this as a huge Farscape fan) past it's prime, that's your problem.
But let me say: You're missing out big.
Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
Obviously these things are subjective, but I LOVED the new series. And the season cliffhanger... I knew what was coming, but still flinched!
Good stuff, in my book.
Wanna say that word one more time? What's the deal? I mean you are aware this show is a remake right? I still can't believe they made Starbucks a chick.
Starbucks is coffee.
"Those kind of decisions do not sit well with me."
Well, to be fair, Farscape had a huge budget but its audience wasn't growing. It's not that they just decided "welp, that's gone it's course", rather it turned into "we can't spend this much money". Yeah, it sucks and all, but TV is a business.
As for decisions that don't set well with me, how about Fox pre-empting Futurama and then cancelling it for ratings. Asses.
"Derp de derp."
The writer maintains a blog where he answers questions from viewers, such as why 33 minutes?
I found it very interesting.
That's where BitTorrent comes into play, a lot of the yankistanis where downloading BG within hours of it airing in the UK and the reverse applies, we're able to keep up with shows like Lost, Alias and Medium months before they air on the PPV channels over here.
That's 13 good episodes. No clip shows or mindless fillers to make 20 or 22 episodes.
Trailer Park Boys only has 6-8 episodes per season.
The original series was a lame tv rip off of starwars, with plots written on toilet paper, and complete with a cheap cardboard R2D2esqe friendly robot. The new series is far more original.
What if Tetris was invented by Nazis?
the show title is original. however the show story telling has been much different than the original 70's show (hair cuts are a big improvement). Still havn't seen them stop at a casino yet.. its only been a few episodes though here in the U.S and i'm to lazy to download season 1.
> "Where's the rest of Season 1?"
It is not unheard of for a show to get a half-season when its just starting out. It gives the TV companies a chance to test the waters.
Then there are cases like Buffy - which replaced a show mid-season and only got a half season as a result (then it got 6 full seasons and a spin off).
But hey, 20 more episodes ordered. Yippie.
"...like the whole human looking cylon deal"
Erm, you do know that is just a way to save money on special effects right?
#include <sig.h>
It was a teaser season - noone knew how well a BSG remake would do as a series, and since Scifi shows tend to be highcost per episode (as high as $1million an ep) they did a half season to test the viewing figures. Note how the second season is only 20 eps long, while most other show seasons tend to be 24 eps?
It can be hard to understand a word they're saying sometimes.
The scientist, the Commander and the President are always whispering their lines. That's a cheap way to try to carry drama - look how well it did for Captain Janeway.
Oh, and, cripes, get a steadycam for the handheld shots. Again, let the writing and acting carry the drama, not cheap tricks with cameras and microphones.
OK, one more, turn down the mix on the "Cylon in my head" theme. I get it.
So far, so good though. They do have me wondering how Starbuck can interface with the ship and what they'll do with a Cylon who doesn't know she's a Cylon. And based on the microscope scene there's a real possibility to do a human-cylon hybrid story arc.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Should we wait to start the petition-to-save-galactica now or wait another season?
Acting stupid isn't much fun when there's someone around who knows better
I can't figure out why BG is so popular, it's nothing like the orriginal (Which ROCKED).
Why can't BG be in danger of being dropped, instead of Enterprise? At least when you watch enteprise, you don't get dizzy from the camera shakes like that in BG.
What's with the "Reporter" type camera angles anyway? I can understand if it were only used in fight scenes, and outdoor pans, but if you think that it represents "Real world fee" you must be on crack! I don't shake that much! And I'm a sugar freak!
However, some of the chix on BG are very hot. But I'll take Hoshi, and Tupol anyday.
Later
This is very good news. The only problem is that SciFi couples it with Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis on Friday nights. So, when one should be out partying with an actual human girl, he is staying at home addicted to 3 hours of very good television. Last Sunday, I downloaded and watched the last 6 episodes of Battlestar Galactica. Last night, I saw the last episode of season 8 of Stargate SG-1. I am addicted to these 3 shows. I love every minute of them, and Battlestar Galactica is probably the best Sci Fi show since Babylon 5, maybe even better.
thats kinda what i expected to hear from a Trekie. you probably have a signed poster of rick berman on the wall in your parents basement.
...that's insightful, funny, informative or even trollish... but I will go on record as saying this about battlestar galactica going into a second 20 ep. season this summer...
HELL YEAH!
"why don't you just slip into something more comfortable...like a coma!"
When I read the list of changes they had made, I was horrified. It seemed as if they intentionally went out of their way to destroy everything that made the original. The trailers seemed to confirm this. I eventually persuaded myself to watch one episode to see quite how badly it sucked. To my utter amazement, I found it to be utterly superb. Other than the names of some of the characters, it has very little in common with the original, but it is far more thought-provoking and well written than even the best of the original. I hope they can keep it up.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Yeah space dawghs. this show is the shit. goes places where STNG used to go with a ST DSN Twist. Really good sci-fi and story telling at its finest
Balter is a fag
Dude, have you seen the chick he's seeing?
Chip H.
I agree. I was skeptical at first -- Starbuck being a girl and all. But now I really enjoy the show, the premise is the same, and many character names are the same, but that's all. The cylons are far more devious and crafty than in the original series. The plot is interesting and there are many interesting subplots. This is not your father's Battlestar Galactica.
And I think the Starbuck character is attractive, in a tomboyish sort of way.
Remember the kid with the robo-dog?
"The entire ensemble cast returns."
I guess that clears up the season cliffhanger. I didn't think it was likely that they would kill off any of the major cast members. (I won't say who it was because I'm too lazy to put up spoiler warnings)
That's cool, they can feel however they want. However, I will continue to remind people that the same network behind this show is the same one that makes these kind of decisions.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
The greatest thing about this new series is how subtle the entire show is. The most subtle thing about this is that the only big difference between the old and the new Starbuck is anatomical.
*Spoiler warning to plot points ahead*
If you notice, the original Starbuck was brash, vulgar (well at least for 1979 TV standards), and even hedonistic. The original Starbuck was a ladies man, but this new one had this fling with Apollo's brother before the war which was passionate and even a bit unwise. They are making it a bit more of a plot point than a character trait but there are ties. Starbuck in both series doesn't give a rats ass about the chain of command except when it really counts. Both are excellent pilots, and both take wild and crazy chances.
I also noticed in the pilot episode, when starbuck is saving apollo in that really crazy manner, Apollo asks her "Are you sure this is going to work?" She replies something along the lines of "Ummm I dunno! I hope!" I don't remember the words but I remember her face. It reminded me so much of same kind of face the original Starbuck would make when ever he had a crazy idea that someone asked him about, it was uncanny.
Okay and I did lie, there is one other important difference. The original series, despite trying to be serious, was still camp. It was network TV after all. This new series is grittier and darker and is less about the quest than it is the individual relationships and the personal journies everyone is taking in trying to survive. It's easy to lose site of the similarities between characters when the over all theme of the show is radically different.
"All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"
I could swear that was the building where I bought my morning coffee! :-)
:-)
It's really weird for me watching the Occupied Caprica scenes. They keep showing shots of downtown Vancouver and I keep going "But that's not an alien world! Hey, that's the building I work in!!"
The worst cog-diss was in the pilot at the Market scene. That was the AQ of my alma mater, Simon Fraser University. Nothing ruins the mood of an alien world than locating the benches you used to take naps on between classes.
Do you guys in NY and LA have the same cognitive dissonance when watching your towns subbing for other parts of the world?
The bitter lessons of a veteran coder: http://bitterprogrammer.blogspot.com
I believe a wise man said this thousands of years ago.
Earn a free iRiver
Since the story didn't even bother linking to the online episode and there are no obvious links anywhere that I could find...
http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/33_full_episode/
24 episodes? Well, maybe ten years ago. Now most are 22. Way back when, it was 26 episodes, which works out about perfectly to have a rerun of each episode, but that didn't leave room for specials. Of course, the show "24" has 24 episodes. So they are going two episodes shorter than most series are doing now, but it's not a huge shortfall.
--I still can't believe they made Starbucks a chick--
I saw a local prodcution of "It's a Wonderful Life" where the angel Clarence was portrayed by a female rather than male. She was the hit of production!
Your statement really highlights how small minded and obtuse people can be.
Q: I am short, useless and provide no value. What am I? A: a sig
That's funny, I thought it was a way to create tension in the show. I mean, they have plenty of CG already, would a few more scenes with some big, metal cylons really be that much more expensive? Besides, they could just dress up actors in shiny suits and save even more on CG costs...
All Your Memory Are Belong To Java
It's a great show and all, but i want a disk with just the hott blonde cylon chick in balthazar's head. .max
p.s. she's hot.
The whole thing with the imaginary nympho Cylon "queen" is crap.
The dual storyline back on Caprica is pointless.
It's odd that you specifically mention those two points, as those are two of my favorite parts of the story.
On the first, I particularly liked it (though it looks like they're getting away from it) how Baltar would be in two seperate conversations, one w/ the Cylon chick and one w/ someone else, and he'd respond to both w/ the same statement, which had very different meanings in each conversation. I thought that was rather clever. I'm not sure why she's a nympho, but her being in Baltar's head is part of what makes him so interesting. IMHO, the series would not be as interesting w/o him, though I think they're all great (not enough shows have truly human [flawed] characters).
On the second part, I've been enthralled w/ what's happening on Caprica. The guy's a rat in a maze, and the Cylon's are just observing him, studying him. I look forward to the 5-10 minutes each episode that they cut to Caprica.
Just my feelings on the series.
They do show them, every now and then. Usually when I'm at work, and usually in a big marathon block.
Earn a free iRiver
Maybe this time they'll be smart and release the show at the same time around the world.
I know I personally had already finished watching the whole of session 1 when it was barely even starting on Sci Fi.
I wonder how many viewers this cost Sci Fi.
Technology, the cause of and solution to all of life's problems.
"Well, aren't you a fucking Renaissance Man."
Nah, I just don't have TiVo yet.
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts...for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang
For those of you who like MOD music, here's an interesting link:
/ D/djr_bsgt.zip
http://www.modarchive.com/cgi-bin/download.cgi/AP
It's a remix entitled "*BattleStar Galactica-(attention2)".
Last year in September or so, if that's any indication, then fire up your bittorrent app of choice in about 6 months. Not that long a wait between seasons, really, if you've just started watching it.
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
Really? They seemed to take a lot more killing than the originals. One shot with a laser pistol and one of the old ones was dead. The new ones can take several hits and keep coming.
No Imperious leader.
Yes, a guy made of paper mache was really intimidating.
No Lucifer.
Oh yes, flashing lightbulb head really made the Cylons seem scary...
Balter is a fag.
I think many of the women (and at least one female Cylon) in the series would disagree with this assessment...
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
SciFi always makes that distinction b/c their highest rated show (or at least it used to be) is Stargate SG-1. That show was originally aired by another network and the SciFi channel took it over later in its run.
Having grown up with the original, and seeing the new, it has only changed with the times. An all male hot-dogging pilots just doesn't fly (pardon the pun) in todays world of equal rights and excessive political correctness. So having a female Starbuck really isn't that surprising in this day and age.
The concepts of the Cylons now having evolved beyond the silver armored, red side2side eye, robots is a needed differenation between the old and new. Now that they can look and act human (similar to what we saw in Terminator), opens up the "trust no one". Again similar to the times now, as the so called "war on terror", one doesn't really know who the enemy is.
It's refreshing to see something new in the SciFi arena. BSG hasn't hooked me to the extent that B5 did (with out a doubt my favorate TV sci-fi series.) I'm still enjoying it, and try not to miss an episode.
I personally welcome a second sesason.
Cheers,
Xyst
Sci Fi is turning into quite the network.
You have two hands and one brain, so always code twice as much as you think!
And things like this are really a matter of opinion.
I don't think they are.
I saw that shot more than a few times back when Starbuck was a man.
I agree. I was excited at first, but the endless bimbo scenes whispering into the dorky ear of that ponderous scientist guy is just getting really, really old. Nothing ever happens on this show. It's just drudgery. I keep waiting for something to happen, but it's the same old dark-dank story-line (no story-line) ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.....
But there are also shows like family guy that get a half season, then get bumped around to diff time slots for 2 seasons, then get canceled even though it was clearly a terrific show in all respects. Thank our lucky stars that the DVD was popular and Fox was actually willing to conceed that the made a mistake in killing it.
-kaplanfx
Visualize Whirled Peas
Generally the first season is shorter, but heres a list of recent shows that had 24 or more episodes per season - I was surprised to see it wasnt as large as I initially thought.
TV Show - Episodes per seasonVoyager - 26
Deepspace 9 - 26
Enterprise - 26
24 - 24
West Wing - 24
Friends - Hovered between 23 and 25
EXACTLY!
I was watching the other day, and thought to myself "we haven't seen the cylons in 2 episodes".
There really is nothing REALLY going on - just the hullucinating doctor and these love triangles with "Boomer".
#include <sig.h>
Yeah, SciFi fridays make up the bulk of my TV viewing time per week.
I'm glued to the TV from 11 PM to 2 AM (EST) watching Stargate, Stargate Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica.
Other than that, only times I watch TV are if I manage to catch The Daily Show during the weekdays, or if there's something interesting on C-SPAN on Sundays (I'm a history/political science major, go figure).
This always bugged me, why was the first one so good? Was it the cheezy acting? The way the characters always seemd to be perfly joined together like puzzle peices? The little kid and that damned robotic whatever-it-was? The completly pointless reason why the cylons attacked humanity? Or was it the way they took THE GENOCIDE OF THE HUMAN RACE so passivly? They all seem like good reasons, what's your favorite?
I don't get it.
Are there any differences between the US and UK showings? I was told the themes were different and some of the shots. True? Why?
Why does this show air in the UK before the US if it's made in America?
(Please browse at -1 to read this comment.)
It's standard practice in the US to order reduced 1st Season runs of shows, purely because if the show bombs, you havn't lost as much money pulling it as you would if you had commissioned a full 20+ episode run. 13 episodes is around the standard for a first season - obviously there are a few exceptions, where you can safely assume the premise will be a hit or have the capital to risk. Interestingly, here in the UK most seasons are actually limited to 6, with only the really major dramas getting longer runs (typically 13). I guess that could be because the soap operas in the UK are far more popular than high budget dramas.
The first season of Battlestar started at during the second half of Sci Fi's lineup (at least in the US). SciFi's other original series like SG1 and Atlantis start during the summer, then break for several months, and then restart for a second half around the beginning of the new year.
Yeah, even my dad who is a die-hard battlestar fan (the first one) is coming around to the new show.
I don't get it.
Apparently the intro to the US version is different from the UK version:
= 22 471
http://www.mediablvd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t
The vocals in the UK theme are the Hindu Gayatri Mantra.
AUM BHOOR BHUWAH SWAHA,
TAT SAVITUR VARENYAM
BHARGO DEVASAYA DHEEMAHI
DHIYO YO NAHA PRACHODAYAT
Translation:
Oh God! Thou art the Giver of Life, Remover of pain and sorrow, The Bestower of happiness, Oh! Creator of the Universe, May we receive thy supreme sin-destroying light, May Thou guide our intellect in the right direction.
I don't understand these knee-jerk mods. The parent has an opinion. It's not "flamebait". It's not a troll. It's on topic. Maybe it shouldn't be +5, but why slam it like this?
I'm near San Francisco. How many times have we seen it get obliterated in movies? "The Core" was one, and "10.5" was another one that comes to mind.
And why don't any *good* movies blow up San Francisco? God, 10.5 was awful... at least "The Core" was reasonably entertaining on some level...
It's about frackin time!
record them, watch them on monday.
Of course, then you would have no excuse for not having a date.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I saw that shot more than a few times back when Starbuck was a man.
You realize that's an instantI saw that shot more than a few times back when Starbuck was a man. ~ lucabrasi999
SOILENT GREEN IS PEEOPLEEE! IT'S PEEEEOOOOPPPPLLLLEEE!!!!
Yes, it's all in caps. That's because I actually am yelling.
I really like the fact that the first episode is freely available on their website so UK viewers can get a taste of the series.
This is a bit off topic, but it would be nice if the last episode of Enterprise could do something similar. I understand the "Save Enterprise" project has raised about $18,000. It'll never get Enterprise saved, but it would be fantastic if the money raised was given to Paramount who would then legally Bittorrent an HDTV copy of the last episode.
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I was a bit surprised that even though the Cylons are the "aliens" (they're actually robots) in the show, almost all the characters look exactly like humans. Not even wrinkled forehead or spotty skin in here.
Looks like I'm already picking up language habits from the show.
:)
I recently started using the term "frack(ing)" as a substitute for the notorious four letter phenomenon. I really had no clue where I picked it up and assumed it was a popular term.
Anyway, I was reading the blog and to my utmost amazement, here's what I found:
Why "frack"? Where did the idea come from to make this the new F-word? Not that I don't like it, I find it amusing."
It's straight out of the original series. I dropped many other terms from the old show like "centon" (a unit of measurement) and "yahren" (year) because I felt they distracted from the mood I was trying to create and they sounded a bit silly to my ear. There was something elegantly lovely about "frak," however. There's nothing like being able to say my favorite four letter word on TV over and over again and I salute Glen Larson for giving the joys of frakking up, frakking off, not giving a frak, and frakking-A to the masses.
Well, now I know where I picked it up, and now I know not to say it too much in public
That makes it my #2 favorite SciFi word (after grok).
Being about 15 at the time, I recall thinking how silly, derivative and completely embarrassing the "orignal" series was.
No, they just rip off newer material including current events.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
"SCI FI Channel announced that the second season of its hit original series Battlestar Galactica will premiere this summer..." Last I checked the word original meant something new, something not done before, something creative. Am I the only one who remembers the older, better series.
"I don't need drugs to enjoy this, just to enhance it" - Otto
you can be a fan of both. Not that you have to, but this I like this, so I don't like that crap on /. is getting old.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Not physically being in the US I couldn't comment on the themes being different, or some of the shots. But:
... We're still not part of the States just yet! :) .
It's made in Vancouver
Sky One funded half the first season's episodes. One of their conditions for doing so was the right of first showing in the UK.
Actually this fact is quite important to mention, because there have been delays in broadcast and contract negotiations in the past over here, even when dealing with parts of the same network.
Case in point: one year Sky One couldn't show the latest season's episodes of Voyager on time when it turned out Paramount couldn't agree a suitable price with Sky One's media buyers. Totally embarrassing for the latter network, especially as they had already hyped it up in their promotional advertising and had viewers frothing at the mouth for the opener. They had to explain it on air at the last minute, and IIRC it fucked them up for two or three weeks.
========================================
Death will come, and will have your eyes
-- Pavese
Don't do this to me. Is Commander Adama gay? Or were you referring to President Laura Roslin?
It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
The human looking cylons actually have done more harm than good by making far too many obvious plotholes. The first one being: why bother with Baltar to begin with?
...and whining about the effects is pretty low.
The original had humaniform cylons.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
I haven't watched any sci-fi since they cancelled quark.
That will show them, those TV bastards!
heh.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I'm not sure how the portion of this comment that states that BSG has become SCI FI's highest-rated original series can be true
Stargate Atlantis - #2 most downloaded show on the net
Stargate SG-1 - #5 most downloaded show on the net
Aren't both of these original series be SCI-FI? SCI-FI claims they are
Not trolling - just questioning the poster's facts
HallmarkOrnaments.Com
...howabout sympathetic characters.
Sure, the original was 90% cheese but they had characters that gave you some impression that humanity was at least partially worth saving.
This is what Star Trek, SG-1 & BSG78 all had that BSG04 does not.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
In one of the best Brazilian Trek sites (Trek Brasilis) many people often mention "why don't ... ever use the bathroom?".
And I think it's a stupid question, it would be dead time and must be done only if it has a good conection to the rythm of the scene. And it's false. The bathrooms in the Enterprise-D (TNG) quarters are shown often (normally with Berverly or Deanna coming out of it and brushing their hair), in ENT the artificial gravity fails while Archer is taking a shower, Hoshi is shown doing the 22th century equivalent of brushing her teeth in the "catwalk", besides the other examples already mentioned.
It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
Just a WAG here, and I haven't seen any episodes that haven't been broadcast on SciFi yet, but I'm willing to bet that Baltar is a Cylon himself. That's why he always has the one lady in his head all the time, it's part of the whole Cylon communication system or something. I think he's one of the Cylons that don't realize they are a Cylon.
That's rich coming from someone who's asking for any version of Star Trek to come back, particularly Enterprise. Hasn't Trek set some kind of all time television record for number of old storylines ripped-off? Even when it's good it's maybe the most predictable stuff you can find on television.
Aside from that feel free to think it stinks. I happen to think it's some good stuff but then I also enjoyed this season of Enterprise which has been cancelled just when it was starting to get good. Pity I can't have more of both.
Appended to the end of comments you post. 120 chars.
Actually, "33" and "Water" had aired in the US before you got "Kobol's Last Gleaming" part 2.
I can't figure out why BG is so popular, it's nothing like the orriginal (Which ROCKED).
I loved the original BSG... when it was first on and I was a kid... and in fact, I think I saw it in reruns.
But when you look at the original now, you have to just shake you head and think... who wrote this garbage? A lot of the episodes just made no sense (I know, I'll send wave after wave of suicide cylon fighers to attack the Galactica, and when they succeed, I won't follow it up with another attack to finish it. Brilliant!), and others were just blatant ripoffs of standard drama show storylines.
The only good thing about the original is that it existed and could be reworked into the very good show that's on now.
If you haven't noticed, this isn't the same show, so I'm not sure how it's revisionist.
By far, the most common arrangement these days seems to be networks purchasing seasons of 13 episodes, with the so-called "back nine" (or some roughly similar number) option: if the show performs well, a further nine episodes are purchased, for a total of 22 episodes per season.
Sean Daugherty "I have walked in Eternity -- and Eternity weeps."
Dudem have you seen the penis she has?
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
He's not gay, he's just British.
The bottom line is that sci-fi can't make money like other shows can. That's why they are relgated to channels like sci-fi who are dedicated to sci-fi only... the definition of their channel is the only reason why they take the risk.
First of all, just because they are highly downloaded doesn't mean you are making money. networks make money off of commercials that you have to view. Everything computer geeks try to do often guarentees they don't make money in the current TV model. I'm not saying it's "wrong" or "illegal" to download or record BSG, but when you do that you render the nielson ratings useless because you aren't watching them the normal way. Since all the networks seem to care about is the nielson ratings, these shows die because you aren't being counted as a watcher of the show.
Again NO, I'm not saying go out and watch the commercials to keep BSG alive. Put your flamethrower away. I'm just saying...
Second, sci-fi costs more than reality TV shows, sit-coms, and police/courtroom dramas. There are no special effects, no special sets, and often no need for imagination. Every show is either been done before or is "ripped from the headlines" as Law and Order does waaaay too often now. This cuts into costs. You could do a cheezy show on friday which only gets you half the income (before cost) of enterprise, but if you only have to pay one tenth of the production cost of enterprise to get it on the air, your instantly making more profit.
"All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"
You have a problem with love triangles with Grace Park?
Her interview is also interesting.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
In a close knit military community where there are a large number of close family members involved, you would EXPECT a certain level of tightness.
...now as far as the "reaction to genocide" thing goes: If anything, it's the humans in the remake that are taking things passively.
At the start of the original series pilot, there were 4 members of the Adama family serving on board the Galactica. Even the Pegasus had that father-daughter thing going.
If any iteration has a lame justification for the genocide of man it was the new series. The original series was an OBVIOUS cold war analogy. They pretty much hit you over the head with it (like the whole 911 thing in the remake).
The Cylons didn't want the moralizing humans around to try and liberate their subjects.
The private security guards on the rising star were also a nice (and realistic) touch missing from the remake. The same goes for Sire Uri.
Where are the great and near great amongst the survivors, the sorts that would take advantage of the situation? There's far too little political intrigue going on at this point.
Where's the opposition party? Why aren't they bringing up the subject of a timetable for civilian normalization and elections.
The new BSG thinks it is something that it's really not when in the end it's the same old space opera with some "lets frown because we're head bangers" window dressing.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
...howabout sympathetic characters.
Sure, the original was 90% cheese but they had characters that gave you some impression that humanity was at least partially worth saving.
This is what Star Trek, SG-1 & BSG78 all had that BSG04 does not.
Being a inhumanly idealistic does make them sympathetic. Being a real person dealing imperfectly with problems makes someone sympathetic. A sympathetic character isn't some paragon of virtue.
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
I couldn't find anything about what country order they're releasing it in. Will the US get it first round this time or will we have to wait for it? What possible reason do they have at this point (considering its success stateside) for delaying?
"Oh, they cancelled Farscape!". Yeah, look, I liked Farscape too. That's in the past.
People just miss the muppets.
I miss them too... remember how eveyone felt cheated when Yoda didn't look like a muppet? It's Jim Henson's ghost...
Maybe Kermit could get a cameo in some alien swamp or something? That might calm them down.
You can't take the sky from me...
Maybe it follows the same general premise as the original because it's a REMAKE of sorts? ;)
But, I doubt you've seen the whole season...
What Cylon "queen", for example? Her interaction with the male cylon on Caprica would indicate that she's his subordinate.
The Caprica plot was merged back with the main plot in the last few episodes - I won't mention what happened to avoid spoling it for you, since you obviously haven't seen it and seems to be _key_ to the entire story thus far.
Far from useless, it's _damn cool_.
dahlek (will you squirm when you are pecked
I think the new Battlestar stinks - especially as it's nothing new (more of a cross between the original series and the books).
Actually, you should forget the original series or the books ever existed. They were used to provide inspiration for this show, and not too much else.
Ron Moore realized that the thing keeping most science fiction shows from true greatness is an over-reliance on technology to drive stories and solve problems (e.g., "Captain, I redirected the proton flux through the transdynamic warp core shunt and used temporal simulspacing to realign the cosmic strings into a cross-dimensional pan-galactic wormhole and ejected the plasma cascade into it!"). He intentionally reworked the basic premise and the characters to provide the most opportunity for character-based plot development and interesting conflicts.
In the original show, Baltar was a one-dimensional villain, and a clown at that. Starbuck and Apollo had a safe and non-threatening relationship, and were generally bland (outside of the humor Starbuck's womanizing occasionally generated). Colonel Tigh was a boring second-in-command, and Commander Adama was a Moses figure--beyond reproach and able to command enormous respect without doing anything to really deserve it.
By contrast, the new Baltar is a seriously flawed human, but not a pure villain. Apollo and Starbuck have a very contentious relationship, which is flavored by their memories of Apollo's dead younger brother, and also the inevitable sexual tension between them. Colonel Tigh is a great officer, but a lousy person, and his interactions with Adama and the crew reflect that. Likewise, Adama's a grizzled veteran and a smart man, but he's not perfect and he's got a lot of emotional baggage.
I like the new show, and my wife and I can't wait for each new episode to appear. She's a bigger addict than I am. She'll be thrilled when I tell her the news.
And of course there is this game from 1985 (BBC version is original, by Orlando M. Pilchard a.k.a. Nick Pelling).
Personally, I like the handheld camera approach to BSG. It makes the whole show feel more candid and immediate. Also, their decision to do "handheld" CGI space battles is a stroke of genius. It makes all of the CGI feel a lot more realistic than it deserves and it cuts better with the rest of the show. I'm definitely excited about a second season of this innovative series.
Thanks for clearing that up, I *really* didn't feel like watching the show to do the research.
I don't get it.
I like the Caprica stuff, but the Cylon in teh head is too similar in premise to what Farscape did for me to enjoy it too much. We'll see how it plays out though to see if there are enough twists to make it interesting.
http://www.popularculturegaming.com -- my blog about the culture of videogame players
In that production, did they call the female angel "Clarence"?
They do bring up the subject of elections later as well as the opposition party. Furthermore there is a 'terrorist' figure who does make most of the situation to gain supporters. Methinks you haven't watched it past the initial few episodes.
It is the best scifi on TV right now
I would have agreed with you two weeks ago, but I've also been watching Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (Cartoon Network). Now that the story is coming together, it is OMFG-level sci-fi goodness. Still, BSG is quite awesome, and I'm just very very happy to have so much good stuff showing right now, compared to the dearth of stuff that existed back when SG1 was only on Showtime, and we only had Star Trek: Voyager on TV... Blech!
I just enjoy coping with my boner every time they show full-body shots of Tricia Helfer.
That, and my wife is a blonde (who looks quite similar to Ms. Helfer, IMHO). She doesn't watch the show, but is wondering why I've been so much more "amorous" these past few weeks...
I have something in common with Stephen Hawking...
Well, theres nothing wrong with that is there... you just happen to be in the minority.
Now us guys get to drool over Starbuck the way the ladies did back in the 80's.
"I'm not impatient. I just hate waiting." - My Dad
Maybe in the UK they've broadcast all 13 episodes... but in North America we've only had 6 or 7 (Can't remember which it is) broadcast so far. The last one aired was where Number 6 manifested as someone people could see and accused Baltar of treason.
Bring back Erin Gray in her youth on Buck Rodgers (VERY tight gray spandex body suit...oh baby) and MAYBE I'll watch that "I'm an alien 'cause I have something glued to my forehead" channel.
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
The glowing-spine thing is just a visual plot device. It's not real. It's just TV magic.
At least according to a source I have inside the production. He might be pulling my leg. I pass this information on solely for amusement.
None of the reusing the same Viper effect 500 times per episode
Actually, there's an inside joke about that in the first episode, "33." The opening of that episode (what they call the "teaser" in TV-speak) recycles several VFX shots that Zioc did for the pilot. Yes, technically this was to save some money, but it was also a little in-joke among the crew. You'll notice that after the opening credits, all VFX shots in season one are original.
It seemed as if they intentionally went out of their way to destroy everything that made the original.
Bingo. There's an old quote, I think it was Michelangelo who said it. He said that you're through with a sculpture when no more marble can be chipped away. The guys who make BSG aren't great artists, of course, but they used the same approach. They knew they were ready to start working on the new show when there was nothing more of the old show that could be chipped away. I love that.
There was really lousy cop show that came out a few years back called "Houston Nights" or something along those lines. I don't watch cop drama but like a lot of people in Houston Texas I watched it when it first came on just because it was filmed here. The experience was actually pretty funny.
Houston's not like a lot of the older big cities in the US. Sure there's a downtown but compared to the inner city in most other towns this size it's tiny. The majority of Houston is spread over a huge flat coastal plain (it's been remarked that you could stand on a beer can and see for miles) and nothing is close to anything else. It's urban sprawl at it's worst. The only night I ever watched Houston Nights they got in their car (downtown) and started driving. On their way from the police station to wherever it was they were going they passed several landmarks that are a good twenty miles apart from one another. They were in the car having a conversation and one second they were driving by the Astrodome, two sentences later they were down by the Johnson Space Center, seconds after that they were driving through the museum district and the Galleria.
If I had their car with it's amazing powers I'd never fear rush hour again!
I thought this must be a little taste of what people in LA, New York, and Chicago get when they watch movies filmed in their towns.
Appended to the end of comments you post. 120 chars.
The guy's a rat in a maze, and the Cylon's are just observing him, studying him.
... that's not all they're doing.
No spoilers here, but
BSG will be one of the biggest series this year in the UK.
BSG will be cancelled in the US due to low ratings.
Why low ratings in the US? Because everyone who is interested has already downloaded the UK versions 3-4 months before they air in the US.
Why can't the networks think globally?
If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. - James Madison
If you call can that coffee.
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
I'll hate FOX forever for that. As Roberto would say, "I'd like to stab those FOX execs with my stabbin' knife. Hahaaa, Hahaaa."
--In that production, did they call the female angel "Clarence"?--
Yes
Q: I am short, useless and provide no value. What am I? A: a sig
I think yours is the best post so far. The guy who played the original Baltar seemed to be riffing on Lost in Space's Doctor Smith. He was a sniveling traitor, only seeking power and advancement even though there would be nobody but big toasters to share it with. It wasn't even depicted as a revenge fantasy for him, he was just a weasel with as much depth as a Dukes of Hazzard villian.
This Baltar is shallow, vain, brilliant and contemptous, but when put in his shoes, you wonder if your own character would be great enough to not act as he does. I know plenty of opportunistic slime in my professional life that I know would do EXACTLY what Baltar is doing. Hot pussy for life, king status, a religious transformation figure, all play to the massive ego that drives a lot of people. Many people I know are sociopaths underneath, they don't care about humanity, they care about themselves and their family and pretty much see everyone else as expendable. Those people would gladly remake humanity in their own image, as this Baltar has been given a chance to. To become Adam, to undo all the problems of society and start over and "get it right".
I think it's a pretty telling indictment of the old show that the worst, most wooden and unbelieveable actor in the new series is Richard Hatch. I mean, he sucks. It's hard to see how such an uncharismatic guy could be a revolutionary leader. This guy makes Lenin look like Robin Williams.
Making Tigh a srunk and his wife a social ladder climbing slut was great tv. As for the Boomer on Caprica subplot, it's meant to show how cylon AI comes apart at the seams once ideas like love and humanity become too embedded into the programming. She's so messed up, she thinks she really is in love, and once she gets preggers, she snaps. And the BSG Boomer actually is a sleeper agent and resists her programming and unsuccessfully attempts suicide, and requires a reboot at the cyclon base ship to get her assassination program back on track.
The only weakness is Adama. Everyone seems to love Edward James Olmos whispered delivery. I hate it. I've met a few U.S. Naval commanders and one admiral. None of them acted like that. They had command presence. Olmos does not. Olmos seems weird, and his reactions to things seem sometimes random. At times he's always prudent and avoids risk, until mid season when he gambles everything to take on the Cylons in a sneak attack. He gets pissed at Starbuck for telling him that she passed his son through basic and got him killed because she loved him instead of comforting her. But then, he comes to her rescue. I guess he's supposed to be conflicted, but instead he just seems bipolar. He's happy when he shouldn't be, mad when he shouldn't be - compared to Lorne Greene who was, in the perspective of time passed, a really 3rd rate actor, he's okay. But he's not walking around with the kind of presence even Patrick Stewart had as Picard. It's hard to see how he would have made his rank.
I agree with your observation that tech is used to drive plot in sci-fci, when it should be incidental to it. Tech should never save your ass at the last minute because only when faced with death did you figure out how to reconfigure the gizmo to save the day. That's not real life, and it never has been. In real life, under extreme duress, people fall back on only those things that have been drilled in.
A lot of movies are filmed in Charlotte, NC, but always portrayed as some other city, or just a nameless city.
Not exactly. They reuse the shot of the Vipers launching from the Galactica several times. The camera is moving from right to left and is does a snap zoom in on the point where they're coming out. Can't miss it.
Make me a friend and I'll mod you up
The SciFi Channel is excited about Battlestar Galatica being their highest rated show with 3 million viewers?
Star Trek: Enterprise was cancelled because it had only 2 million viewers.
Please save Enterprise, SciFi Channel, I beg of you!
Curently, my Friday night consists of watching: Enterprise, SG-Atlantis, Battlestar Galatica, and SG-1. Back-To-Back, 4 hours of non-stop SciFi! I will be very upset to only have 3 hours of non-stop SciFi!
... and in the DRM, bind them.
lol
**Spolier** Nope ;) but good guess.
He's just a horn dog that is being manipulated. And wait till you see the final episode, Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part 2 :)
Executive Officer, second in command.
They haven't given into PC -- people still smoke, and Starbuck, although now a girl, still smokes a fat cigar. Wow, wanna talk about your phallic symbols...
Dude, have you seen the chick he's seeing?
I dunno -- he keeps saying he's dating some hot chick, but I have yet to meet her; I think it's all in his head.
Jay (=
I genuinely don't understand the fetish some people have for the first series.
It was awful, in every possible way. Am I alone in thinking this?
The new series took the general concept and redid it strikingly well, but I can't imagine why anyone is attached to the old series, beyond general nostalgia.
Your statement really highlights how small minded and obtuse people can be.
;-)
Stop berating them. They are allready devastated that the guy they wanted to be when they grew up turned into a chick as it is, there's no need to make them feel worse
You can't take the sky from me...
I wish they had provided more than one format for watching the first episode from their website. It only has Real Player format and I no longer load that one after the many problems I've had in the past.
Of course, they know that everyone doesn't use Real, they just want to force us into the collective of monopolistic media players. There must be a cylon/borg/ms cheap shot in here somewhere.
Sigh.
this is not a sig
What bothers me about this series the most is not the actors or the overall plot, just the way it was employed. What do i mean by this? Everything about this series is so close to reality, it barely warrents the term scifi. First, we have the plot device of the week, whose still beating bloddy heart was ripped from last weeks headlines. Witness: Heroic Woman has Breast Cancer and Copes! See: The Justified moral Terrorist! I mean can't we be a little more subtle than THIS?
Moving on from the weak plot, we have a series that is, for all intents and purposes the movie Wing Commander. Go on. Rent it sometime. The similarities are uncanny, and that's not a good thing IMHO. Add on to the fact that the technology is BARELY removed from todays capabilities, asidefrom the hyperdrive element. Fighters with reactionary manuuvering systems? The aircraft carrier in space? I mean hell, it's like a real life aricraft carrier (and i've worked on one). There is just NO suspension of disbelief here and there this series is TOTALLY divorsed from the orighinal Galactica. If they had named this show Wing Commander: the series, it'd be more acceptable, given the heritage, the name is nothing but a thinly veiled attempt at using a franchise name to get viewers.
Now I will give credit to the characters and the mood the writers created. They do a good job in their roles, and the writers have the dark, oppressive atmosphere nailed down perfectly. Again, if this were Wing Commander, it'd be just about perfect. Sadly, this highlight in an otherwise mismatched series goes to waste.
Frankly, I can't stand it, but then, I couldn't stand Stargate when it first began and absolutely love it today.
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If they wanted to save even more money they could make the Cylons invisible! Then they wouldn't even have to pay the actors. Why not make all the actors invisible! Then we could stare at a blank screen for an hour while imagining all the cool stuff that's happening that we can't see. It would have to be better than the screenplays that they use for the current show. Talk about predictable and lame. Let's beat a dead horse to...err, uhhhh...death...
It is a good thing no one cares about your opinion.
-Mark
Dovie'andi se tovya sagain.
But I don't dig this show that much. Some of the characters are neat but the main plot line of a new breed of "religious" robots just never made sense, though I suppose that's part of the point. Furthermore the implanted cyclone spies generate no sympathy. They should have *never* told you who they were. Now that you know, it's just impossible to feel anything for them or the people surrounding them. In fact, their lack of knowledge of what they are is infuriating and the protectiveness of the real humans they know is too drummed up.
Generally it's just a big soap opera just in space. I'm not sure how to fix it but I know that I like Sci-Fi that tried to underscore philosophical issues, conflicts and approached itself with a prinicpled core. This is just situational surviving, which rarely is principle centered but is often when you need it the most. Apollo is the only one who appears to follow that.
The next remark is false. The previous remark is true.
I seem to recall that that shot was only re-used in "33." I may, however, be mistaken.
http://www.tvtome.com/BattlestarGalactica_2004/
Lots more info there along with episode list and synopsis of the entire first season...
Almost anything would have been better than the original. It has just started here and so far seems so good I almost don't think it should carry the same name. As for spoilers I don't care ... I get more pissed off when I think of really good plot lines that don't occur in the series.
Had a bad flash back to the old series when someone mentioned the kid, ewwwww ... remember the 'dagget' ?
Bitter and proud of it.
I agree it's a great series, but am I the only one that has a problem with the label "original series"? Sure they made some changes from the original show, but it's still a rehash of an old series. They didn't come up with the idea for the series, so I don't consider it to be "original".
:-)
BTW, I also have a problem with the labeling of "reality series" since the ones I've seen are as far from "reality" as you can get!
I think this story is showing the age of the / crowd. The original series was every 12 yo boys dream come true. (well I lie, I also liked BuckRodgers .. and StarTrek..Blake7..and what was that british one on the moon?).
Anyway, the one thing I clearly remember from the original was that bl''dy same viper FX shot.. every show... 20 times... Grrrr..
Glad they now have the technology for no repeat FX
46137
Glen A. Larson had some part in the original Knight Rider series and the original BSG series and might explain the scanning red beam-eyes.
weird, cos i'm not a trekkie (or trekker)
#include <sig.h>
Agreed. It's a sure sign that a show is going to be rubbish when all the women look like Barbie dolls.
I was conned by an old man in a cloak. It turns out those *were* the droids I was looking for.
Oh, there was sexual tension between Apollo and Starbuck on the original series. You just needed to know what to look for. And then there was the banned lost episode where they got stuck on a desert world and decided to explore their sexuality. But I've said too much... ;-)
But seriously... this new show has people I know who generally don't like SF tuning in. It makes me want to slap around the whining fanboys of the original and put dirt in their hair. Yes, television *can* cause violence! :-)
Anyway, you should send your anlaysis here to Ron Moore and see if he'll post it on his blog. It's an excellent compare and contrast.
Should have called her Clarice
Well I've wrestled with reality for thirty five years doctor, and I'm happy to say I finally won out over it.
I have been enjoying this show too (it's just started in Australia), but MAN I am VERY, VERY tired of the fake handheld pan and zoom effect in the CG space scenes... Used once or twice (like, once or twice a Season) it can be effective... but EVERY SINGLE shot in space has the damn "whip zoom, jiggle, centre" type shots in it, and it's gets VERY annoying... it basically smacks of complete lack of creativity in the direction of these scenes... there is a time and a place for all things, and there can be a lot of nice, steady shots done people... it CAN work... watch some good Sci Fi movies, or even some good war movies to see how to do it... and STOP the damn effect.
I am a big sci fi fan like most of you and have followed several series through the years. I gotta say I think bsg75 is one of the best. For those who can't or don't get 'sci-fi channel' (like me) - I can tell you that the first season was available several months before it was out in the us. I believe it was aired on a (british?) satellite network called 'skyone'. A friend of mine finds torrents for these episodes and brings them over. For those who said the first season was short, keep in mind that the first 3 episodes appeared seperately in the form of a 'mini-series'. One curious note - I don't believe that the us version of the show goes to the 'BSG 75' emblem on the way in and out of commercial breaks. I am not sure what BSG 75 refers to, anyone know? Also, the 'chorus vocals' that are in the tribal drumming part of the intro song (on the skyone episodes) is missing in the us theme - kind of weird. That's all I have - check the show out, its great.
A S:AAB remake would be better IMO.
But that's just me... Does anyone else remember Space: Above and Beyond?
Screw Farscape. They cancelled MST3K for, IIRC, "Black Scorpion."
At least farscape was cancelled for something WATCHABLE.
The key to the enjoyment of pop music is to replace any instance of "love" with "C.H.U.D."
You mean the cool one that lets him bang all the other chicks??
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But ... this is space opera. I like to read a few good space operas every year. But it's largely 1940's or earlier type stuff. Not even up to the best of Golden Age SciFi. A top-notch presentation of space opera, for sure. But space opera is not the top of the SciFi universe. The plot and characterization here doesn't come close to Heinlein, Zelazny, Dick, Robinson, Wolf, Gibson....
In many respects the sets give the feel of being in a World War II movie. Again, this is stuff I'll watch, gladly. But when will we finally have a SciFi series as brilliant as the best of the genre, and less wedded to the conventions of a military command structure somewhere, or even the conventions of those fleeing/fighting a military command structure somewhere? Like, wow, here we get both!?
"with their freedom lost all virtue lose" - Milton
So this is some more the that un-technobabble they supposedly are not using so they dont have to explain all the gaping plot holes.
Well I've wrestled with reality for thirty five years doctor, and I'm happy to say I finally won out over it.
He does have apoint about viewer levels IMO.
Enterprise, on a network that isnt even carried in all markets (someone said about 60% of all non cable markets get UPN) and is often bumped or ditched for sports manages t get nearly as many viewers as BSG, and BSG in on all cable/satilite networks, many as a basic chanel.
I would have thouhgt it would be doing twice as good.
Well I've wrestled with reality for thirty five years doctor, and I'm happy to say I finally won out over it.
Hmm, I have the whole first season on my computer and watched it all over the course of about a week, so re-occurances of certain shots stuck out for me. While it would take a bit of work to find all the occurrences, I'm pretty sure they use that shot whenever they scramble Vipers. It happens in at least two or three of the episodes in the first season.
Make me a friend and I'll mod you up
Um. What's the deal, are you just a troll? I looked at your posting history. You haven't posted a single interesting, or even meaningful, comment in this thread.
I think you're just a troll. I wish I'd known that before I wasted my time explaining the history of motion-picture cameras to you.
It's entirely possible you're right. I watched each episode once on Sky, and lately I've been watching them again each Friday on Sci Fi.
The only weakness is Adama...
I mostly agree with your comments - but have to disagree with your analysis of Edward James Olmos. I think the character's tension with the president, closing of the tribunals, invasion of Colonial 1, etc.. has been fantastic. I think the idea fits well with the character. He was slated to retire - this was his last command. I see him as someone that was had a fantastic career, but has become obsolete. Between losing his son, new technology reducing his usefulness (this is addressed in early episodes) and the decomissioning of his ship he has become a little unstable and strange. Deep down he's a great man and everyone respects him because of his history, but he's not really the best person to be leading the remnant of humanity on their quest for a new home. I think Olmos lends an incredible humanity to the character.
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What I find interesting is the number of people in this thread defending BSG as a really good show. When Enterprise began, the reaction was really lukewarm, but I don't remember there being as many people trying to defend it. There weren't even that many ENT apologists in the "Enterprise is canceled" threads. Go to someplace like TrekBBS, of course, and the collective opinion will be radically different. But threads like this, I think, give a much better indication of whether or not the general sci-fi audience likes a specific show.
Add on to the fact that the technology is BARELY removed from todays capabilities, asidefrom the hyperdrive element. Fighters with reactionary manuuvering systems? The aircraft carrier in space? I mean hell, it's like a real life aricraft carrier (and i've worked on one).
Galactica was intentionally built to be low-tech. They explained why in the mini-series.
Galactica was built to defend against an enemy that could override computer systems and disrupt electrical systems. That's the reason it survived the initial Cylon assault and nearly every other human ship did not. All the modern ships (like the Vipers in the mini-series) had their systems taken over and shutdown.
Let's not forget where he was assigned - to an out-of-date Battlestar that was being commissioned. He was never supposed to be a great commander or even a good one. If he were, he wouldn't have been where he was.
Galactica is the Siberia that the cruft of the military were assigned to. Thus the alcoholic XO, their best pilot can't respect authority, crew members sleeping with subourdinates, etc.
Some editing changes were made to the UK version. The obvious one that sprang to mind was in '33' in the Ready Room where Starbuck is addressing the pilots with Boxy as straightman - the UK version had Starbuck's masturbation references removed.
-EvilMagnus
Get a grip loser. levity is next to brevity
I bet the guy to whom you replied would be pissed to find out that Peter Pan is traditionally played on stage by a girl.
I keep trying to find BG torrents but I can only find ones for the last eps of Season 1. Seems like nobody captures the eps from the Sci-Fi channel and I need to see eps 4-13.
Any recommendations on how to get those episodes? btefnet definitely is not a good source for BG eps, and neither is the Torrent Reactor site.
Thanks.
By contrast, the new Baltar is a seriously flawed human, but not a pure villain.
My absolute favorite Baltar moment of all time comes from the pilot. Six has just told him everything, that she's a cylon, that she put a back door in his avionics program, the whole thing. He doesn't believe her at first, but then she convinces him. He jumps up from his chair, and the very first thing out of his mouth is, "I've gotta call my lawyer."
That's great writing, right there. The old cliché is, "Show, don't tell." That's the perfect way to show the audience that Baltar is a malignant narcissist: when informed that the world is literally coming to an end, have him ask for his lawyer. Brilliant. Just brilliant.
And of course you get the sweet, juicy irony of Six, the inhuman "machine," having to explain to him that he doesn't need a lawyer because by sundown, there's not going to be anybody left to charge him with a crime.
My problem with the new Starbuck is that she's written so butch, and butch looking, she may as well have been a male. You lose some male bonding dialogue with casting female. I'm inclined to beleive they merely miscast with a weak actress. Or the writers/producers really overdid the Starbuck-as-female concept to the point they couldn't see how it would affect the entertainment quality of the show.
They're okay with eye-candy. They have the blonde Cylon and Boomer. They could even stick in the black chick more. Grace Park would be too much of a chick to be Starbuck, but you get the idea that
"you can have an intense job, and still be a chick" could have been better executed.
And yet the new BSG still rocks. Its smart that you stayed an AC, idiot.
There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
-------- In Soviet Russia, we have only one political party.
In America, it's the reverse.
In America the political party has you?
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
and what was that british one on the moon?
Are you thinking of UFO?
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
she's a nympho, because it's the best way to manipulate men. The cylon has successfully "hacked" Baltar, and tried and failed to hack Adama (maybe it was that prostate surgery a few years ago?).
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
Or no, you probably meant Space: 1999, since this had a Moonbase Alpha.
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
You must be thinking of that other Capra movie, It's a Wonderful Lamb. Every time you hear a bell ring, it means Dr. Lecter is eating an angel's kidney.
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
OK I am giving up mod points to ask this, what does everybody see in BattleStar Galactica?
The mini-series was on in OZ a couple of weeks back and I wasn't entirely convinced. For the first night I was wondering why nobody had noticed that the Cylons had destroyed that Human Cylon meeting place/station. Shouldn't they have detected them on radar? Alerted the fleet? Or ar we to believe that that single ambassador was the *only* person on the entire station? If the station had no importance, they why include it? Just to let the viewers know that a Cylon attack was coming? We already knew that!
The second night ended unexpectadly for me, it seemed it was building up to a climax that never happened. Was the climax the destruction of a ship with ~1300 people, where the only connection we had with that ship, that loss, was one little girl who we saw for 30 seconds? Or was the climax the reporter who was left on the ammo dump who turned out to be a Cylon?
A couple of nights ago I saw the first episode, and from what I had heard the series is better than the mini-series. I didn't think so. I was left wanting to like the show but not seeing much that grabs my attention. To me the acting seems a little wooden, but I can overlook that, the actors are after all still settleing in to a new role/show. Likewise I can accept that the story has a burdon of setting up the setting for the rest of the season. But at the moment I haven't found any attachment to the characters. the ship or anything.
I am surprised though that they managed to resist inserting some half-assed excuse for Starbuck to be stripped half naked (aka T'Pol and almost every episode of Enterprise). I have watched a fair amount of sci-fi in my time and found things to like in most (if not all) but I just can see what the appeal is in Battlestar Galactica.
Please tell me I missed something, please tell me it gets better...
The only problem is that SciFi couples it with Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis on Friday nights. So, when one should be out partying with an actual human girl, he is staying at home addicted to 3 hours of very good television.
Don't forget the all-new episodes of Andromeda - that makes a total of 4 consecutive hours of SciFi every Friday night.
And there are some very hot chicks on that show.
What's funny is that I think the Starbuck character in the original series was written to be too effeminate. So maybe it all balances out in the end.
But seriously, other than the plot point about Starbuck's relationship with Zach Adama, the character could be played by an actor of either gender. (and maybe even including the relationship with Zach. Maybe homosexuality is not frowned upon on Caprica.). Is that your point?
If so, then the performance by Katee Sackoff is realistic. I've worked in a number of trades that would normally be associated with "high testosterone", and the females that excel are the ones that tend to be able to be "one of the guys" during work. It's not that you forget they're female, it's that that fact just doesn't enter into it much.
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
I'd have to look at the old series again to see it. Dirk Benedict did sorta have a "pretty" boy air to him; not sure if it was DB being swishy for an actor, or that you're correct about the writing.
Nope, thought didn't occur to me, although now it does, with Zach not appearing particularly passionate with the ladies. (Originally, I just wrote him off as the miscast red-headed bastard Irish child of someone of Spanish descent. And not particularly a good actor either, unless the writers/producers wanted to capture the original Apollo's wooden, dorkish, petulant character.)
I tend to look at TV/movies like visual art. (And no, I don't claim to have an eye or affinity for museum art.) I watch it, and if I like it, I presume its good. But I'm kinda weird with watching cinema -- while watching something, I can step out of myself, and pick out details and break it down with a clinical eye, still have the viewer/emotional end running in the background, and still enjoy the picture.
So, a major character is a chick and a lot of minutes is devoted to her. To myself, the definition of sucessful performance is that I like watching the actress act, and that my impression of entertainment quality is that he/she was indispensible to the work.
From a producer/advertiser/me point of view, her writing/casting was a failure. She didn't give me a chubby, she wasn't easy on the eyes, and I didn't really want to spend lots of minutes watching her. She was the epitome of plot machinery to me. Good to great actors have to stand out. They have to make you give a damn about them. Or, have to execute the requirements of the supporting actor role so incisively (and not necesarily stand out or give a damn) that you can only marvel at the performance.
Her performance wasn't anything markedly unrealistic. I find it fascinating that the old BSG centered around two characters that really made up the center of the show. Yet in the new BSG, those two characters seem the least relevant to the plot on the show. Still, if I'm less than happy, its a flaw in my book. I don't claim that my opinion should be the standard upon how all cinema should be judged. I'm just describing how I evaluate quality.
While I agree that women who excel are able to blend in with the guys, I disagree that they always have to be camoflaged to be sucessful. To me, the sucessful ones do not trigger sexual stereotype impressions, but know when to use whatever advantage they can, when they need to.
There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
I have to correct you that West Wing has regularly had 22 episodes per season since it's start back in Sept of 1999. The only deviations have been "Specialty" episodes (like interview show with actual former WW staff & inhabitants). And 22 was the magical number in my other obsessive TV show, Babylon 5.
You're referring to the much-hated "Battlestar: 1980" spin-off series. That was different from the Original Series by many degrees.
Starbucks isn't coffee; Starbucks is a brand of coffee (I won't argue whether one can legitimately call it coffee, though some of us will).
Actually, there's more that's wrong with what was said than just that.
How about stating it thusly:
Starbuck is the name of a character in Moby Dick, used also in Battlestar Galactica. In the original BG series, the character was male, and in the revision, the character is female.
Starbucks* is a trademark name for a company which produces coffee-based beverages for sale at premium prices in bookstores, kiosks, grocery stores and stand-alone coffeeshops across America and around the World, with emphasis on overt reimagining and trademarking of coffee-serving- related terminology (venti frappucino, anyone?).
* Indicates trademark of someone else. Used for reference and not as any sort of challenge to said trademark. Go figure.
weird, cos i'm not a trekkie (or trekker)
Your very denial proves it. That's pretty funny. Only a trekkie would try to make that distinction.
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
Changes for Season 2:
- Starbuck and Boomer are re-cast as male characters, but stay in touch with their feminine side.
- The Cylons turn out to be a race of sophisticated robots who were only pretending to be clones. To intimidate the humans they develop chromium armor and start speaking in metallic voices.
And I think the Starbuck character is attractive, in a tomboyish sort of way.
I think she's attractive in a "bend her over a chair-ish" way.
Slashdot quality declines as the number of hot grits posts decreases. - Provolt's Law, Apr-09-2005
Now if Fox would make the same connection over Futurama.....
"I don't get it." -- ObviousGuy
Tivo. Or even the good old VCR?
Best Slashdot Co
To your "explanation of camera history" (it's kinda sparse so you did not use that much time). Please see my response.
The reason I replied to your post was about the whole post. How can it be a visual plot device (meaning it's essential to the plot) but be "not real, TV magic" Maybe I don't get what you mean but it seems a lot like the "I don't have to explain 33 because that would be technobabble thing. I view it as an anti-technobabble technobabble that does IN MY VIEW leave some holes that you need explained (more then just the why 33 issue, I agree with other posters about cylons drinking too much rolling rock). Your Mileage Obviously Varied. To me it looks like they are shying away from any technical explanation or science in things and calling attempts at such "technobabble". It's only technobabble when it does not mean anything or explain anything in a meaningful way.
As for the troll bit, I am a fan of both BSG shows, I am more critical of this new one, because frankly the old one is a dead horse and back in the 80's everyone got in about every useful or useless criticism I can think of. Another reason I tend to be a bit sarcastic is I am also a fan of enterprise, and I got a bit pissed off by morons who couldn't keep the BSG fanboyism out of the last few months of Enterprise stories. I'm not saying BSG should not be mentioned in discussion, but most people simply were in there to bash Enterprise and only say BSG is bestest ebber.
Well I've wrestled with reality for thirty five years doctor, and I'm happy to say I finally won out over it.
Didn't *Star Wars* derive inspiration *from* Battlestar Galactica?
I think even worse was the location where they filmed Episode 11.
The UBC Rose Garden and Chan Centre are prominently featured in this episode. With a majority of scenes at the Chan Centre both inside and in the hallway outside the main auditorium.
They also showed the grass divider down main mall. Canada flag missing from the flag pole.
The worse was when they suddenly "switched" back to Cylon-Occupied Caprica and they were showing Koerner library. One of my co-workers made a comment that I agree with and that was that it's not a military base it's the library with a heavy blue lens filter.
Nope, not pleasant when you walk by the library on your way to class and you're like: "That's where Helo killed a Boomer clone".
aiya ^^
Despite it all, I'm still in love with the show.