New Battlestar Galactica series is very good

[El Gallo]

And now that Starbuck is a hot chick there's easily 300 percent less homoeroticism!

I learned everything I know about being a man from watching Dirk Benedict's characters on TV as a child.

[Riggswolfe]

A quick question about the first season of the series, do we get to find out more about the Cylon's pseudo-religion? I found the hints in the mini-series fascinating but also was left with alot of questions.

[stray]

What Rasix said...Some people are "geeks", while some just have geekish tendencies. I'm not saying one is better than the other, except as it pertains to me. I believe that whatever you do, you should be happy and proud of it. So don't think I'm trying to throw out insults or anything. Yeah I'm a little rude, but all I'm really saying is it isn't me.

I'm pretty far on the scale as a film geek, a music geek, and a gamer geek, but I know fuck all about half of the stuff a lot of geeks are talking about. I may have 700+ posts on f13, but I haven't read one Dragonlance novel in my entire lifetime, I think Tolkien sucks, and only have sat through like 3 anime cartoons. God knows what else. Everyday I stumble across weird ass shit that only the real geeks seem privy to -- I'm totally uncool as far as geeks go.

Besides, the reason I have settled on f13 (or Corp, Lum, etc., etc.) is because they tend to be the least geekiest (and dare I say "mature") of gamer sites. I like reading about games, but really, what's my alternative? You may have the occassional Furry, but everything else is a pretty good diversion from work.

Where else am I going to find a Boog, a Haemish, or a Lum, and not a thousand fanboi's frothing at their mouths over Lara Croft pr0n or how much Halo 2 "roxxors"? And God forbid I even gauge these people for ideas. God forbid that I mention, say...that Infinium Labs is a hoax. God forbid even more that _random dev_ would even post there and try to have a real discussion with other gamers. God forbid I tell these people how much Battlestar Galactica is "geeky". I'm almost sure I'd take a heavier beating there.

EDIT: Damnit. I may not concede to being a geek, but I am a jackass. We've had this conversation before, Ardent. I shouldn't have written any of that.

Oh well, sorry for the derail people. Consider it my tribute to f13...or something.

[Reg]

Yes there's a Baltar focused episode that brings up the Cylon religion and a few other references to it as well.

[Abagadro]

One of the main guys in this new BSG was a major script writer/producer for both S:TNG and DS9.

Ronald B. Moore

Bio

To tie in with Boog's post, he also is an exec. producer and wrote an Ep of Carnivale.

[Rasix]

Do you really base your TV watching decisions on what other people will think of you? Honestly ... nobody else in society gives a shit.

No, I don't. That was mainly just me making a distinction between mostly mainstream sci-fi like Firefly or ST:TNG and more geekish sci-fi channel stuff like FarScape.  There is a distinction, some are more socially acceptable, but, I don't really care one way or another.

[Reg]

In case anyone's interested http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/ has added BSG to its lineup. Hopefully, they'll be adding in recaps for the first season over the next few weeks.

[WayAbvPar]

In case anyone's interested http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/ has added BSG to its lineup. Hopefully, they'll be adding in recaps for the first season over the next few weeks.

Are they covering Tilt? That show should make for some fun recappage.  Although it might take someone conversant in poker to properly skewer it.

[sidereal]

Interesting review of http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=lovinger/050118">Tilt here.

I haven't seen it yet.  Apparently everyone's afroth over whether or not the poker is realistic or not.  Lovinger suggests there have been 3 hands of consequence, and all of them involved the protagonist(s) beating huge odds with crap hands.

[schild]

I haven't seen it yet.  Apparently everyone's afroth over whether or not the poker is realistic or not.  Lovinger suggests there have been 3 hands of consequence, and all of them involved the protagonist(s) beating huge odds with crap hands.

This falls under - who gives a shit. It's a TV show. With Michael Madsen. Isn't that enough?

[HaemishM]

After seeing Species based on Madsen's appearance, AND watching both volumes of Kill Bill, no, no it isn't.

[schild]

After seeing Species based on Madsen's appearance, AND watching both volumes of Kill Bill, no, no it isn't.

You do know, I had completely blocked those 3 movies out of my memory. You're sick. SICK I tell you.

[HaemishM]

I am a complete bastard and proud of it.

[Ardent]

I love TWOP, but sometimes their choices of shows to recap mystify me. They choose to recap BSG and Enterprise, but not Farscape? Desperate Housewives and American Idol, but not The Wire or Deadwood?

It's amazing to me that Michael Madsen has stretched one scene of cutting off a guy's ear into a career that refuses to die.

[Rasix]

I love TWOP, but sometimes their choices of shows to recap mystify me. They choose to recap BSG and Enterprise, but not Farscape? Desperate Housewives and American Idol, but not The Wire or Deadwood?

They have a lot of female recappers, not a lot of male ones. You tend to get a lot more of coverage and more willingness to stick with the more female oriented/friendly shows.

[Reg]

I think they run on a shoe-string budget too and since they actually pay their recappers can only afford to cover so many shows.

I also get the impression that the poor Enterprise recapper is praying for the series to be cancelled at this point. And after the latest episode I can't say that I blame him.

[Margalis]

I love poker, and I can't think of anything more boring than a fictionalized poker-based TV show.

[Shockeye]

I love poker, and I can't think of anything more boring than a fictionalized poker-based TV show.

"Lucky" was a much better series than "Tilt" will ever be.

[schild]

I love poker, and I can't think of anything more boring than a fictionalized poker-based TV show.

"Lucky" was a much better series than "Tilt" will ever be.

Agreed. But we have Tilt now. Lucky's gone. Suck it up.

[Shockeye]

Agreed. But we have Tilt now. Lucky's gone. Suck it up.

I'll just go back to staring at Rose McGowan's chest on "Charmed".

[Ironwood]

Agreed. But we have Tilt now. Lucky's gone. Suck it up.

I'll just go back to staring at Rose McGowan's chest on "Charmed".

Yeah, that actually whiles away the hours for me too.

[daveNYC]

After seeing Species based on Madsen's appearance, AND watching both volumes of Kill Bill, no, no it isn't.

You do know, I had completely blocked those 3 movies out of my memory. You're sick. SICK I tell you.

There were some parts of Species that were worth remembering.  They had nothing to do with the plot though.

[Lum]

I'd try to catch that first episode though, it's one of the better ones in the season. Not that the rest isn't good, but it really hits home the whole "lost and alone against impossible odds" thing. Then hits it home some more. Then clubs you in the head with it repeatedly. But in a good way.

[Shockeye]

I just finished watching "33" and "Water" and although it isn't the most active television out there, it was interesting and worth watching. At this point I still prefer "Firefly", but then I have a man-crush on Adam Baldwin.

[Evil Elvis]

Wow.  The finally episode hit the net, and it doesn't disappoint.  I had a genuine "oh shit!" moment at the end, which doesn't happen for me often.  Heads should roll if the series doesn't get picked up for next season.

[Reg]

That's for sure. I just finished watching the download myself and they totally caught me by surprise. To say anything more would be spoileriffic. :)

[Ironwood]

Heh.  Don't you guys have TV's ?  I think the producer or director wrote an open letter to the fan community asking them to stop bloody downloading and watching these things, since he needed the ratings...

Anyways, I watched the final episode on Sky last night and, as Lum pointed out, the whole 'shit, things just keep getting worse don't they ?' tone was carried right to the very end.

What a finale.  The usual plotholes that you could drive a bus through, but nothing that detracts from a damn good episode.  Oh, and naked chicks.  End of Season episodes should always have naked chicks in em.

[Jayce]

I haven't watched it in detail (caught it on NBC while also playing WoW) but it seems to me that SciFi in this case was able to tone down its tendency to pander to the worst geek stereotypes.

At least some characters are conflicted, and the space scenes somehow benefit from the jump-cut and zoom methods they use.  The fighters also move in ways that one might move in space, not like the airplane-like physics that pretty much all space shows to date have used.

So yeah, it's no DS9 so far, but there is promise.  Anyone who remembers the story arc of the original - does it follow, or are they going a different direction?  I really can't remember personally.

[Windurst]

Unfortunately, the idiots at Sci-Fi changed the theme music in the intro.  The original UK version sounded sad and depressing... which matches the apocolyptic theme of the new Battlestar Galactica series....

the new US theme has a military drumbeat and just sounds out of place.

If you have broadband,  click on this address to watch the original UK entrance.

http://www.galactica.tv/index2.shtml

[Big Gulp]

I've only caught the first four episodes, so maybe you guys can help me out here...

Now don't get me wrong, there is no one who hates Star Trek (space hippies is basically what that series amounts to) more than me, so I was happy to see how relatively low tech everything was.  However, why are they still using white boards?  Why when they were searching for water were they forced to use the ice instead of the saltwater?  What, you've got FTL travel down pat, but a desalinization unit is just beyond your scope?

Doesn't make sense to me.  Other than that, yeah, great series so far.

[Windurst]

I've only caught the first four episodes, so maybe you guys can help me out here...

Now don't get me wrong, there is no one who hates Star Trek (space hippies is basically what that series amounts to) more than me, so I was happy to see how relatively low tech everything was.  However, why are they still using white boards?  Why when they were searching for water were they forced to use the ice instead of the saltwater?  What, you've got FTL travel down pat, but a desalinization unit is just beyond your scope?

Doesn't make sense to me.  Other than that, yeah, great series so far.

1)  I would assume they are using whiteboards because whiteboards are not as messy as blackboards.  (Trust me,  as a teacher,  I MUCH prefer the whiteboard compared to the blackboard).   Also,  they keep everything on Galactica low tech because they don't want the Cylons to be able to control their technology

2)  They probably can't desalinize the water on Galactica, since they got caught with their pants down when the Cylons attacked.  Galactica was being decommissioned,  and was understaffed and underequipped when the Cylons attacked.  Also,  desalinization on ships was probably not practiced or even thought of.  Ships probably just restocked on water when they returned to the colonies.

[Lum]

I was happy to see how relatively low tech everything was.  However, why are they still using white boards?  Why when they were searching for water were they forced to use the ice instead of the saltwater?  What, you've got FTL travel down pat, but a desalinization unit is just beyond your scope?

Doesn't make sense to me.  Other than that, yeah, great series so far.

Re the water thing - I didn't think they were looking for FRESH water as for just any H2O in general, which would be fairly rare in the cosmic scheme of things.

Re the low tech, here's Ron Moore on the subject from his blog:

The plot explanation is that following the Cylon Uprising 40 years ago, Colonial society took a giant step backwards to protect itself from the technological nightmare it had unleashed. With their enemies able to hack into virtually any network, the Colonials had to rely on stand-alone technologies that we not connected to other components. Ships like the Galactica were designed with this in mind, as well as the old military philosophy of building equipment that will function even in the most dire of circumstances. You don't want to be using cordless phones when the ship is hit by a nuke and power is disrupted to say the least. You want something reliable and solid and preferably with a cord.

The creative explanation is that high-tech ships with touch screens and computers that talk has been done to death in my opinion. Also, having magical technology that does all the work for you tends to take the human beings out of the dramatic equation. I wanted a lower-tech Galactica so that we could put people back into scifi. This show is about our characters, not about the magical technology that they use.

Also promisingly, he all but promises we'll see the Pegasus in a future episode. Gogo Lloyd Bridges!

[Shockeye]

Yeah, I bought the explanation of the low-tech from the miniseries. It made perfect sense and it does give you the feeling that people are working a bit more than they were on Enterprise D.

[Lum]

Anyone who remembers the story arc of the original - does it follow, or are they going a different direction?  I really can't remember personally.

It would be difficult to follow it anything other than strictly loosely. They find Kobol at the end of the season. Not much of a spoiler there, since the final eps are called "Kobol's Last Gleaming" - trust me, there's much TO spoil that I'm sure will be grist for the forum mills when they finally arrive in the US. NONE of which was in the original series, or frankly any TV to date with the exception of Ron Moore's other cable series, Carnivale. Suffice to say that there's some serious questioning of religion and not very veiled commentary of our post-9/11 world going on. It's refreshing to see scifi asking Big Questions.

Anyway. Back to the original question - about the only thing that's the same is that they find Kobol (and I haven't seen the finale yet). There's no sign of Imperious Leader or the Terrans or the angels and devils or whatever the hell they were or the SPACE KIDS from Galactica 80 or Boxey's daggit. All these things are for the better, in my opinion. They definitely are going their own way, and this show is very, very character driven. People wanting to watch things blow up get a few episodes, but not every episode has a space battle.

I should watch the US version just to see what they did to the opener, the UK version was pretty good. However, I've done more than my share of evangelizing the show at work, so I think I've karmically repaid watching it early. Plus I'll be first in line to buy the DVD and we all know that's where the money is. :P

[Reg]

In Toronto the local scifi cable station has only just picked up the series. It broadcast the miniseries a few months ago but for some reason decided it would be fun to run the full series 3 months after everyone else.

So screw 'em. I just downloaded them as they showed up.