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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
"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!
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.
The writer maintains a blog where he answers questions from viewers, such as why 33 minutes?
I found it very interesting.
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?
> "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 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
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
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 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
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/
--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
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.
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
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!
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
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.
In a Sci-Fi show, death isn't that big an obstacle to coming back. Heck, Jimmy Smits returned to NYPD Blue.
"Look, Rimmer, death isn't the handicap it used to be."
Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
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?
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).
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
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.
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.
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."
He's not gay, he's just British.
...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 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 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.
Well, that's the thing, you see. It doesn't have to be dead time. "Six Degrees of Separation" (the BSG episode, not the movie of the same name) included a whole, lengthy scene with two characters having a conversation between urinal stalls. And it was great, because the director had the balls to shoot it all from outside the stalls, just letting the actors play it with their voice performances, and, believe it or not, their feet. It's a great scene.
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.
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 (=
Am I the only one who remembers the older, better series.
Yes. The rest of us remember the older, crappier series.
Les Miserables Volume 1 now up with my reading of
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
So basically, all we have to do is hac^H^H find a technical solution that will boost the Nielson ratings of our favourite shows!
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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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.
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.