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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)
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"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.
> "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)
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/
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.
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
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.
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Death will come, and will have your eyes
-- Pavese
He's not gay, he's just British.
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.
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