Battlestar Galactica

[schola]

Anybody seen this show? I just found out about it a week ago, and wow! I can't believe I've been missing out on this awesome tv show!

Most shows on the sci fi channel are just intolerable to watch, so I almost didn't give this one a chance, but it's great.

[Jennihul]

BG is THE best show on TV, that just happens to have a little science fiction thrown in. It's astonishingly good drama.

I like sci fi but most of it is truly crapola. Babylon 5 was pretty good insofar as it had good drama with some sci fi thrown in but BG trumps that show by far.


Jennifer

[Trezker]

It is really good because it's different.

Camera work is different, it moves and zooms in the CG like it was a real cameraman filming from some spaceship window. They don't just perfectly follow things gliding by.

Fighter manoeuvres with thrusters and pilot has to aim manually, no magical autopilot where you just select manoeuvres and targets. Real action!

A unique storyline instead of a series of predictable filler episodes. If only Baltar wasn't so damn boring...

I hope you've seen Firefly too. Sci-fi western made of win and awesome.

[seeker5]

I'm a big Sci-Fi buff, but I don't like Battlestar Galactica. I find it too dark, too depressing to watch. On the other hand, I absolutely love FireFly!

[Jennihul]

Love Firefly too. But I've only seen a couple. I got the DVD set!

Jennifer

[Asmoday]

I love the show.

I'm fairly convinced my girlfriend is a Cylon.

[ogrekilleat]

Apparently, you can tell for sure because their spines light up red during sex...at least in the miniseries.

[schola]

Originally Posted by Trezker

It is really good because it's different.

Camera work is different, it moves and zooms in the CG like it was a real cameraman filming from some spaceship window. They don't just perfectly follow things gliding by.

Fighter manoeuvres with thrusters and pilot has to aim manually, no magical autopilot where you just select manoeuvres and targets. Real action!

A unique storyline instead of a series of predictable filler episodes. If only Baltar wasn't so damn boring...

I hope you've seen Firefly too. Sci-fi western made of win and awesome.

Yeah I love that there are no lasers! It's a small detail, but it shows that they really have made an attempt to make it different from your typical sci fi show.

Firefly was another show that I found out about long after it came out. Sucks that it got canceled so soon. I liked Serenity though.

[silicon toad2000]

my old man used to watch that in the 80's. It was cool even back then. I think the new one is cool but has a very different appeal to it.

[JimOfferman]

Originally Posted by Jennihul

BG is THE best show on TV

Seconded! It's awesome

One of the best things (aside from all the complex characters and intriguing drama) is that the show has decent continuity: a ship is attacked one week and then in the next episode you'll see repair crews hard at work to fix the damage. I loved Voyager back in the day, but really hated how they hit the reset button on the ship's damage after each episode...

I hope more shows pick up on that (although they don't all have to be this dark)

[WanderingOak]

I just caught back up with the series the past week, watching it all on SciFi.com (because I don't have or want cable TV). One serious annoyance that I had with last night's episode was that the commercials were NOT timed properly. Rather than pausing for an 'Intel sponsor break' when the commercials were supposed to happen, instead, the web feed went to black abruptly right in the middle of a conversation (occasionally an important one) for a commercial. The feed continued where it left off, but still, it was annoying and very difficult to pick up the conversation where it left off. I would be willing to BUY the episodes for $2.00 a pop from iTunes, but for some reason they are not available yet.

[Jennihul]

Originally Posted by JimOfferman

Seconded! It's awesome

One of the best things (aside from all the complex characters and intriguing drama) is that the show has decent continuity: a ship is attacked one week and then in the next episode you'll see repair crews hard at work to fix the damage. I loved Voyager back in the day, but really hated how they hit the reset button on the ship's damage after each episode...

I hope more shows pick up on that (although they don't all have to be this dark)

Yeah. I always complained to my husband about the Star Trek problem. Everything was so clean. So perfect. So tidy. Every now and then they would try to "dirty up" a character and it would look so fake.

BG is real, real, real. Gritty and harsh and sometimes there isn't enough food or water. When Starbuck kicks someone's ass, she has bruises for a long time. Baltar's character is annoying but you just KNOW there would be people like him on a survivial quest like that. Self centered, endangering the mission, mentally disturbed. The darkness is a given because of the premise of the show. There is no getting around that.

Jennifer

[JimOfferman]

Yup!

[hopena]

I'm not a fan of many Sci-Fi shows, but I've watched BSG ever since I saw the mini-series, when it first aired in 2003 (I only watched because I couldn't sleep, and the re-run was on at around 3am).

[Jennihul]

Too bad I can't find my pictures of me and my friends dressed as BG characters from the early series.

Jennifer

[schola]

Originally Posted by WanderingOak

I just caught back up with the series the past week, watching it all on SciFi.com (because I don't have or want cable TV). One serious annoyance that I had with last night's episode was that the commercials were NOT timed properly. Rather than pausing for an 'Intel sponsor break' when the commercials were supposed to happen, instead, the web feed went to black abruptly right in the middle of a conversation (occasionally an important one) for a commercial. The feed continued where it left off, but still, it was annoying and very difficult to pick up the conversation where it left off. I would be willing to BUY the episodes for $2.00 a pop from iTunes, but for some reason they are not available yet.

I have a lot of problems with the technology that NBC/Universal uses to stream their stuff too. It seems they're more concerned about getting paid for their content than creating a nice viewing experience for the audience.

Anyway, you can buy them from Amazon Unbox for 1.99 an episode. Or you can buy a whole season for a nice discount.

Also try watching them on Hulu.com. They have commercials too, but the episodes stream just fine on my computer.

[WanderingOak]

Originally Posted by schola

I have a lot of problems with the technology that NBC/Universal uses to stream their stuff too. It seems they're more concerned about getting paid for their content than creating a nice viewing experience for the audience.

Anyway, you can buy them from Amazon Unbox for 1.99 an episode. Or you can buy a whole season for a nice discount.

Also try watching them on Hulu.com. They have commercials too, but the episodes stream just fine on my computer.

Well, Amazon Unbox uses a proprietary Windows DRM system that will not work on any other system. I use Mac and Linux exclusively, and refuse to even consider installing windows on my Mac (why should I allow viruses on my computer?). Hulu seems like a good alternative, but they only have the episodes that SciFi.com has. It would be great if I could find the earlier episodes, but apparently the good people at SciFi want me to buy the DVDs instead. I'm not in the mood to fiddle with BitTorrent or anything like that, mainly because I don't want to lose my security clearance...

[schola]

Wandering Oak I sent you a PM.

[schola]

The final 10 episodes begin airing this Friday!

I'm excited.

[JimOfferman]

Me too!

[Dan.Linehan]

Yep, Nick and I have been totally addicted to BSG for the last couple months now.

We are watching the entire series straight through. We're currently on season 2.5.

[WanderingOak]

I've been watching the mini-webisodes that have been posted recently on the SciFi website. They were very unusual, IMHO. I haven't caught the end yet, but I have a feeling that it was a morpha-induced halucination. At least I hope so. The idea of Racetrack (the first time I saw it, I thought it was Lee Adama for some reason) and Gaeta being lovers is just plain wrong, especially when Racetrack gave up the search so easily.

[missing]

I'm afraid to read this thread for spoilers, as I only watch when it becomes available on DVD. In the meantime;

[schola]

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

Yep, Nick and I have been totally addicted to BSG for the last couple months now.

We are watching the entire series straight through. We're currently on season 2.5.

That's the best way to watch it. We'll try to keep this thread spoiler free for you and everyone else.

[The David]

I remember Dirk Benedict complained that the new series was dark and hopeless (you can imagine what he thinks of the new Starbuck). I was a fan of the original but I'm glad to see it change into an uglier, more realistic drama and less of a galactic soap opera.

Originally Posted by missing

Why am I suddenly reminded of the old A-Team?

[ProjectX]

I'm a big fan of sci-fi. I watch Battlestar Galactica and Stargate SG-1.

[schola]

Well it's over. Anyone catch the finale? Not bad. I was surprised how well they tied up all the loose ends. There were a lot of questions to answer.

[Dan.Linehan]

I didn't like it.


Shouldn't the voiceover say,

"The Cylons were created by man, and then they evolved, well not really because the ones we think evolved were actually created by other cylons who may have evolved, but maybe just God created them because if they evolved how would there still be centurions who have also evolved from the old school ones, but then again they are still around as well. But the important thing is, they have a plan, and by they, I mean God, or Gods, and by Gods I think I may mean horny angel Baltar/Six. Or horny angel Starbuck, if she doesn't disappear first. Frak!"

[schola]

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

I didn't like it.


Shouldn't the voiceover say,

"The Cylons were created by man, and then they evolved, well not really because the ones we think evolved were actually created by other cylons who may have evolved, but maybe just God created them because if they evolved how would there still be centurions who have also evolved from the old school ones, but then again they are still around as well. But the important thing is, they have a plan, and by they, I mean God, or Gods, and by Gods I think I may mean horny angel Baltar/Six. Or horny angel Starbuck, if she doesn't disappear. Frak!"

Yeah it wasn't perfect. Some of the plot devices seemed forced. But they did better at tying up all the loose ends than I personally expected. Maybe that's because I listened to podcasts and interviews over the past couple years and learned about the writer's creative process. I learned early on there was no "end game" in mind and many times the writers would come up with a plot twist and figure out how to reconcile the contradictions later. I believe the Starbuck reappearance was one of these.

Going into the last 10 episodes, I thought "there is no frakking way they are going to make sense out of this show." I was pleasantly surprised though.


BSG fans still have some things to look forward to. There's a TV movie coming out this fall called The Plan that will go into the backstory of the Cylons. Also, the pilot for the new series Caprica is coming out on DVD

[Dan.Linehan]

Originally Posted by schola

BSG fans still have some things to look forward to. There's a TV movie coming out this fall called The Plan that will go into the backstory of the Cylons. Also, the pilot for the new series Caprica is coming out on DVD

No thanks. I'm done.