The Cast Supper.

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.

Two Basestars were approaching…

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.)

There’s too much confusion.

“‘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.)

Twenty-Five for Fanboys.

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?

Of Baltar and Lear.

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.

Ship of State.

“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.

Battle Stations: Wave Four

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?

The Starbuck Stops Here?

“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.)

Shia, Sunni, Cylon.

“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.

The Art of Monologuing.

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.)