Recently in BSG Category
"'Our nation finds itself in uncharted territory in the deep emptiness of space,' Obama announced. 'The Old Girl has limited supplies, no allies, and now, no hope. I never said this would be an easy journey. Yet I promise you this: There is a place where there is no war and no economic turmoil. It is where, according to the Sacred Scrolls handed down to us by the Lords of Kobol, the thirteenth tribe traveled over three thousand years ago. That place is called Earth. Not the other Earth. This Earth. It's complicated. Anyway, I plan to take us there.'"
Businessmen, they drink his wine: By way of my sis, word from The Onion is that President Obama has been depressed and distant ever since the BSG finale. "'I'm a little concerned,' first lady Michelle Obama was overheard saying at a fundraising event Tuesday. 'When Firefly was canceled, he walked around like a zombie for a week, and Serenity was the only thing that snapped him out of it.'"
With the final episode airing Friday (I'll be visiting friends in CA, so probably won't catch it until next week), the cast and writers of Battlestar Galactica visit the UN to "discuss issues such as human rights, children and armed conflict, and terrorism. Also on the agenda: dialogue among different civilizations and faiths." Uh...so their advice to leaders would be, what. exactly? Meander about with no plan and little-to-no-purpose, retcon thorny individuals into line with your newest idea whenever necessary, and, when faced with an intractable situation, throw someone in the brig and/or stage either a show trial or a weepy, teeth-gnashing breakdown?
Perhaps I've been ruined by meticulously planned out shows like The Wire. Nevertheless, this last half-season of Galactica has been operating at about 3:1 filler-to-good-episode ratio, and that's being charitable. As I feared, imho, the show's been going down the FTL tubes ever since the ill-advised Dylan 5 reveal. Ah well...we'll always have New Caprica.
"Sit down, Cylon": The final ten episodes of Battlestar Galactica start tonight at 10pm EST. As I've said several times here already, the show has steadily lost me since the Dylan-scored Final Four reveal of Season 3. But at this point I feel pot-committed for this last handful, so here's hoping the show ends on a high note.
Update: "This is perhaps the most universal theme you can explore. For the people of ragtag fleet, the dream was Earth. For those of us here on Earth, the dream could be many other things. It may be the house you saved all your life for but now can no longer afford to make payments on. The career you fantasized about since high school, went to college to prepare for, finally landed and loved, then lost when your company downsized. The woman or man you met who seemed to be everything you ever wanted to find in a lover, who betrayed your trust or left you or died. The flood waters that swept your entire neighborhood away. The war in a far away land that took your son or daughter or husband or wife. The spot on an X-ray that now wants to eat you alive." The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan talks with Ron Moore and David Weddle on last night's reveals, including, of course, the final Cylon.
As Sci-Fi leads up to the long-delayed final ten episodes of Battlestar Galactica, Lieutenant Junior Grade Felix Gaeta gets his own 10-part webisode adventure, which takes place after the crew has found Earth and which seems to be a Ten Little Indians sorta thing. (The first part is up now, with segments to follow every 2-3 days.) To be honest, BSG kinda lost me over the last ten episodes, but at this point I feel invested enough that I'll see it through to its conclusion. So Say We All.
By way of Megg, BSG fans marvel at the visual and thematic comparisons between the McCain-Palin and Roslin-Tigh tickets. To be fair, Sen. McCain -- while clearly a patently unstable fellow and a fake maverick who flips into sleeper agent mode whenever he hears His Master's Voice -- didn't actually kill his first wife (Ellen) and bed down with a younger, well-connected Cylon woman (Six). Not quite, anyway. And Gov. Palin, while as pro-life and fundie-delusional as Roslin can be on her bad days, hasn't actually tried to steal the election...yet.
The 60th annual Emmys nominees are announced, with plenty of justifiable love for John Adams (23 nods) and Mad Men (16). But, really, The Wire was overlooked again? No Mary McDonnell for Galactica? 2 and a Half Frickin' Men(?!) over Flight of the Conchords for Best Comedy? I just can't take these media monkeys or their plastic pantomime at all seriously anymore.
Via What's Alan Watching?, and much like these Battlestar Galactica images from two years ago, David Simon's Baltimore goes Springfield. (That's McNulty & Bunk down at the tracks above, but you probably already figured that out.)
Speaking of BSG, does anyone else feel like Battlestar is on the verge of entering late-season X-Files territory at this point? (Or as Starbuck (and MC Hammer) might screech, WE'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!!!) I was never sold on the Watchtower Four or all the Vision Questing at the end of Season 3, but figured i'd see where the show goes thereafter...maybe the Cylons really do have a plan. But this season to me, the Cylon civil war notwithstanding, has seemed mostly meandering and purposeless, and last episode (particularly the Tigh-Ellen-Six stuff) bordered on incoherent and self-parodying. I'm not giving up on Galactica just yet, but the show is definitely starting to lose me.
By way of my bro, Underground Online queries numerous celebrities and luminaries on the most pressing issue of our time: Who would win in a fight between a minotaur with a trident and a centaur with a crossbow? Those weighing in on the debate include David McCullough, Ridley Scott, Helen Mirren, Ed Harris, Marc Singer, and the Battlestar and Wire crews. I was asked before being shown the site, and you can count me in the centaur camp. Screw the dice: If this is happening outdoors and not in close quarters, ranged cavalry > heavy infantry (although admittedly there's something to be said for the existential Nolte thesis.)
"When someone from the audience asked Mary McDonnell, who plays President Roslin, if Barack Obama had approached her to be his running mate, she replied that Hillary had. At which point Douglas quipped: 'Hillary's the final cylon.' Badabum!" The promotional campaign for BSG Season 4 gets rolled out of drydock, including a stop on Letterman's Top 10. [Text.] Not great, frankly, but it's redeemed by #5, #1, and the World's Most Dangerous Band's mean version of "All along the Watchtower." If you're not caught up, Season 3 came out last Tuesday. If you are, Season 4 premieres Friday, April 4.
By the way, the first link is via High Industrial, who's also recently linked to this great dog-cylon friendship, one considerably more symbiotic than Berk and the now defunct Roomba. (It apparently got distressed by all the dog hair and up and pulled a Marvin. Now it just sits there "recharging" and won't vacuum a frakking thing.)
As the fourth and final season nears, EW says hello to the Battlestar: Galactica cast, and offers clues for what comes next. (Perhaps the biggest spoiler: According to Ron Moore, the Final Cylon is not in this picture.) [Via...one of the blogs on my blogroll, but I'm having trouble retracing my steps at the moment. A possible Cylon malfunction? At any rate, if I figure it out, I'll update. Sorry!] Update: The Season 4 teaser, and this is definitely via Quiddity.
Sci-Fi teases the fourth and final season of Battlestar Galactica and, if nothing else, it looks like Dean Stockwell will be back for the crew's post-Watchtower adventures. (Oh, and Starbuck...worst backseat driver ever.)
"'The decision was to end the show at the top of our game,' said Moore. 'That choice precludes certain other choices. [Like wrapping up every possible loose end of plot]. We'll always be able to say we could have done more.'" TV Week offers up the details revealed about BSG season 4 at Comic-Con over the weekend, including who's returning, who's being focused on, and when the final Cylon will be named. (The fact that Moore admits there're now two Cylon-hybrid kids after the bizarre, Dylanesque Season 3 finale, and that one's just being ignored while the other (Hera) is crucial to the S4 arc, further suggests to me that they really didn't think through that goofy end-of-season reveal very well.)
EW lists the top 25 sci-fi offerings (in tv and film) of the past twenty-five years. Pretty arbitrary, really, but it includes Brazil (at #6), BSG (at #2 -- these two should have switched places), Children of Men (#14), Eternal Sunshine (#17 -- same problem), Aliens (#9), The Thing (#10), The X-Files (#4), Galaxy Quest (#24), and Blade Runner (#3), so it's by no means a bad list. (Both Lost and Heroes should be replaced, however.) Just from what's missing above, you can probably guess #1...can't you, Mr. Anderson?
I grow; I prosper: Now, gods, stand up for bastards! As you may or may not know, both Battlestar Galactica and Slings and Arrows end their third seasons tonight. All in all, a solid evening of quality television...Get thee hence to the Tivo, so say we all. Update: There's too much confusion, Saul can't get no relief? Ok, that's just plain bizarre. Update 2: FTL Jump the Shark? In case you skipped the comment thread, Ron Moore talks about last night here, and seems to confirm the goofiest aspects of the Season 4 finale. Huge spoilers if you haven't watched yet.
"It's interesting for me as a writer when we can move the chess pieces around a little bit, when you're dealing with suicide bombing on the show but suddenly it's not those other people who are doing it, but your characters. You're able to examine the moral questions of it in a different context because you're not burdened by the direct analogy of saying, 'If Laura is George Bush and the cylons are the enemy, how do you deal with it?'" Salon's Laura Miller has a sit-down with Ron Moore, creator of Battlestar Galactica.
As Season 3 winds its way down next Sunday, Sci-Fi announces that Battlestar Galactica will get a 22-episode Season 4 in 2008. Hmm...this may or may not be a good thing. At its best, such as the New Caprica arc earlier this season, BSG is really something...still, to my mind, it's showed signs of strain lately, particularly regarding the recent events surrounding Starbuck (psycho/prophet), Baltar (pariah/prophet), and the Adamas (at each others throats again.) How many times can they reboot the characters, and still be taken seriously?
"It's a fundamental and permanent change in the makeup of the show's cast and of the show itself and how the show operates and what the show is about. It's a very dramatic change of direction." Speaking of Sci-Fi, the Chicago Tribune publishes a revealing interview with Battlestar Galactica creators Ron Moore and David Eick on what's to come for the rest of Season 3. The article also includes this pic of what potentially may be the Final Five, in which some eagle-eyed fanboys have adduced a significant spoiler... (More spoiler-ish pics here.)
"Surely you've heard by now (because we've certainly repeated it often enough) that "Battlestar Galactica," the new remake of the cheesy '70s series, is the most thrilling and trenchant dramatic series on TV at the moment (except, of course, for "The Wire")..."Battlestar Galactica" may be set in outer space, with robots, in the far distant past, but it reminds us every week that the other TV shows are the fantasies." As the New Caprica arc draws to a close, Salon's Laura Miller sings anew the praises of Battlestar Galactica.
No, not in that Incredibles way. The House Next Door, an excellent film/television blog I routinely check after every new episode of The Wire, Battlestar Galactica, and Doctor Who, has sparked a fun conversation about choice movie monologues (somewhat akin to the list here.)
"[I]n keeping with the show's ominous tone, instead of quick resolutions or merciful diversions, the darkness reaches a palpable extreme during the premiere of the third season...The uninitiated may continue to write off 'Battlestar Galactica' as the remake of a mediocre show, or as the domain of science fiction fans alone, but those who've watched the show more than once or twice know better." Reminder: As noted a week ago, Battlestar Galactica returns tonight. Right now, Season 3 is pulling a 93 over at Metacritic, who call it "the second-best show on television."
Season 2 of BBC's Doctor Who revival premieres tonight on Sci-Fi, with -- as most of y'all know -- David Tennant (a.k.a. Barty Crouch, Jr. of Goblet of Fire) filling in for Christopher Eccleston as the second/tenth Doc. Meanwhile, season 3 of Battlestar Galactica doesn't begin until October 6, so you still have a week to catch up on the Vichy/Resistance webisodes online.
"Many of you are already fans. Some of you urged us to watch the show at the very beginning. We know you'll clutch this golden Buffy to your bosom with pride. But others of you -- and we're addressing you, Emmy voters, directly here -- ignore us like the petulant little pills you are." Salon chooses Battlestar Galactica as the recipient of its third annual Buffy award for the most underappreciated show on television. (And, in case you have any doubts about the selection committee, they also had the sense to pick The Wire the first time around.)
Sci-Fi announces they'll be airing Season 2 of Doctor Who, with David Tennant (a.k.a. Barty Crouch Jr. of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) as the Gallifreyan in question, sooner than expected: it begins Sept. 29. And in related news, the TV teaser for Battlestar Galactica Season 3 is up at YouTube...if you've never seen the show, please don't hold that lame Nickleback-ish song in the background against it.
As most of y'all likely already know, this past weekend was Comic-Con 2006 in San Diego, which means an exceedingly large amount of news in the fanboy department. To wit:
Now Playing Magazine publishes a spoiler-filled preview of Battlestar Galactica's Season 3, and it appears [mild spoiler] another jump forward is in the offing for the season premiere this October. I expect Dubya-levels of incompetence from President-figurehead Gaius Baltar at this point.
In keeping with their Stargate marketing strategy, I presume, Sci-Fi announces a new prequel-series to Battlestar: Galactica, Caprica, set 50 years before BSG. "Following the lives of two families, the Graystones and the Adamas (the family of William Adama, who will one day become the commander of the 'Battlestar Galactica') 'Caprica' weaves corporate intrigue, techno-action and sexual politics into television's first science fiction family saga." Um, ok. I think I'd rather just see BSG stay good through Season 3.
With the last episode until October behind us, Battlestar Galactica creator Ron Moore talks Season 3. Some moderate spoilers therein.
Those of you who care already know this -- but still, the second season of Battlestar Galactica ends tonight with a 90-minute episode that includes cylon Dean Stockwell, a one year flash-forward, and a new Vichy-like storyline for Season 3, which begins airing in October. And The Sopranos Season Six isn't the only big-ticket TV premiere coming up. March 17 is shaping up to be a doozy for the fanboy nation (particularly we anglophiles), as Guy Fawkes will be muscling in on St. Patrick in V for Vendetta and the Doctor will finally be returning to American television with a two-hour premiere on Sci-Fi.
Sorry for the lack of updates around here of late -- I've been using the blog-time to redesign the old headers above, as well as add quite a few more to the rotation. (It was something vaguely productive that I could accomplish while TV-binging to get up to date on Battlestar Galactica -- the thinking man's gritty post-9/11-traumatic stress disorder sci-fi shoot-em-up -- for a few nights.) At any rate, keep an eye out for new faces.
Program the Tardis and the TiVos: The Doctor Who revival will finally come to American shores this March, when the Sci-Fi Channel begins airing Season One. (Via Triptych Cryptic.) I guess this means I'll have to give up the Sci-Fi boycott, but, then again, I guess I gave it up in principle when I bought the first season of the new Battlestar Galactica last weekend.
