New Battlestar Galactica Starts Tonight

http://www.aintitcoolnews.com/display.cgi?id=19133 | 1/14/05 | "Hercules"

[ChicagoHebrew]

The British have been watching Ron Moore’s reimagined “Battlestar Galactica” since October (and get its 12th installment Monday). But at least America's tardy SciFi Channel is good enough to kick off the show’s first regular season Friday night with two new back-to-back hours. The reviews are pretty spectacular. (Even original “Galactica” actor Richard Hatch stopped badmouthing the new series after it cast him as a guest star!) The critics speak:

http://www.aintitcoolnews.com/display.cgi?id=19133

[ChicagoHebrew]

I've already seen the first 11 eps. They are fantastic, and for the most part very WOT friendly. I'm not kidding when I say that other than South Park, the new BG might be the best show that's been on TV the past 20 years at least.

[silent_jonny]

NERDS REJOICE!

[abner]

What time?

[xm177e2]

I was watching an episode of "Battlestar 1980" on SciFi this morning. DANG, did it suck.

But the new BG miniseries was pretty good.

[Question_Assumptions]

A friend who has been watching it via file-sharing over the Internet had some nice things to say about it. I could do with less Lexx-like T&A than was shown in the pilot and there are certainly some silly moments in the pilot (most of the moral dilemmas seemed a bit contrived) but I do plan on giving it a chance as a series.

[atomicpossum]

Nope.

1) It's on Sci-Fi, and they are the nexus of scum, and--

B) No remakes. None. Uh-uh. Nada.

[CAluvdubya]

I'm with you. Just how can they change the lead character, Starbuck, (on whom I had a serious crush and watched the show only for him) and turned him into a HER! Nope, no remakes.

[Trueblackman]

NERDS OF THE WORLD UNITE

[qam1]

What time?

It started @9:00pm goes to 11pm

It's going to be on 10 pm Fridays, Which blows

[Thoro]

I was watching an episode of "Battlestar 1980" on SciFi this morning. DANG, did it suck.

I ended up watching it this morning too because I couldn't find anything else on. It's the epitome of bad 80's tv and if you didn't know better, you wouldn't even realize it's supposed to be a science fiction show. I wonder if Lorne Greene ever realized how bad he looked in that beard.

I'm watching the second half of the premiere of the new Galactica on sci-fi now. Unfortunately I missed the first half due to class. If anyone could clue me in on a quick synopsis, I'd appreciate it.

I was pretty happy with the mini-series last year, and I'm glad to see positive comments from people who've seen the first 12 episodes already.

[Samwise]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1319934/posts

[Wormwood]

I thought science fiction was effectively dead on television. I mean seriously...Enterprise? Stargate? Andromeda? This is the best we could come up with?

Thankfully, BSG has single-handedly breathed life into the genre.

One of the best television shows I've EVER seen...sci-fi or not.

If you are not watching it, please consider giving it a try.

[Question_Assumptions]

Watched the first two episodes tonight. I was more impressed by those two episodes than I was by the mini-series and liked what I saw. There are still some things that I wish they did differently but they're doing a good job with several of the elements that had annoyed me the most (in particular, Boomer and Baltar, though Starbuck still annoys me -- I think that perhaps the character was miscast). So far, thumbs up.

[FierceDraka]

Haw! I've been on vacation this week, and yes, I saw 3 episodes of Galactica 1980 - they were "hiding from the humans" and "fighting the Nazis" and all that craziness. Phew! Whadda stinker!

BUT - one that I haven't seen, and would really like to, is the "Return of Starbuck" episode. Kinda wanted to see what happened to my favorite cigar-chomping, hard drinking womanizer from BSG:TOS.

[BenLurkin]

Humans closely tailed by Cylons. Baltar almost exposed. Apollo obliged to destroy passenger ship suspected of being Cylon infiltrated.

[BenLurkin]

"Face" says, 'Hey give the kid a chance':

[RandallFlagg]

Bumping for BG!

Taping the first ep as we speak (while at work).

[RandallFlagg]

Is anyone watching Battlestar Galactica? (Hinting of 9-11??)Mega Vanity -sorry ^
I posted this over a year ago when the pilot first aired.

[RandallFlagg]

I remember that pic fron, "BG: The Lowdown."
Neither one of them had the guts to light those stogies in the Starbuck's in California.

[RandallFlagg]

fron=from

[tortoise]

They need to push the President lady out of the airlock...

[FierceDraka]

I watched the first 2 episodes of the new series tonight, and I gotta say that I really like it.

What the miniseries and new series has, that the original did not have, is the undercurrent of sheer apocalyptic horror and desperation that would come from seeing one's homeworlds nuked and one's people slaughtered.

In that respect, it's a lot closer to the hard sc-fi that I hold so dear.

I liked that they showed scenes of Cylon-occupied Caprica, and Lt Hilo setting up claymore mines to destroy the "toasters" that were chasing him. (Something the original series completely neglected was what was happening on the original 12 colonies after the Cylon onslaught) That guy's got BALLS - stuck on a nuked, radioactive planet, fighting a one-man war against an enemy that makes Skynet (The Terminator) look like an amateur.

It's dark, and it's gritty. It's a lot more realistic as far as how the survivors would react than in the original series. Horror and desperation, but with a bit of hope. (Like at the end of the first episode where the President's secretary announced that a baby had been born aboard the Far Star.)

The new Cylons, holy sh*t - those are automatons from my nightmares! MUCH more sinister than the clunky-looking ones from TOS. (That's geek-speak for "The Original Series")

The new Battlestar Galactica is science fiction for adults. Where the characters from TOS were noble, noble, noble from the very start, the new characters are scared, desperate, and very, VERY human. (And occasionally stupid and petty) I've got nothing but praise for the new Battlestar.

Whiners, tossers, whingers, and that guy from The Android's Dungeon on The Simpsons can go p*ss off, stick with their Betamax tapes of Galactica 1980, and go frak themselves.

Sorry about the rant, but I've got another window running with the Scifi.Com message boards, and let me tell ya, the trolls and haters are out in force tonight.

SO SAY WE ALL!

[RandallFlagg]

They need to push the President lady out of the airlock...

Oh, you're tellin' me!
"He's right. We have to go."
"We're staying."
"Madam President, we cannot defend this ship---"
"We're not leaving."

[RandallFlagg]

Aw, MAN! That post almost makes me want to go to the boss, whine, "I'm SIIIICK!" and go home early to watch it.

*Patience, Flagg. Patience*

[ChicagoHebrew]

Watch the series more... she gets damn cool around episode 8.

[RandallFlagg]

I liked her character after she used the line, "You know, you'd better go. I'm getting the urge to strike another superior a$$hole."

[ChicagoHebrew]

The President gets to be a crazy good character later on... I've cheated and seen through ep. 11. The only character I don't care much for is Apollo. I love Adama, the President, Tigh (aka John McCain), and Starbuck.

[RandallFlagg]

Adama rocks. I almost cried when he thought Lee got nuked. He just stood there as Lt. Gaeta stated tensely, "Thirty kiloton nuclear detonation....Cylons moving off....."

[FierceDraka]

'S'alright, Walkin' Dude. It will be repeated. It's the SciFi Channel - they rerun sh*t like "Snakehead Terror" - they'll DEFINITELTY rerun Galactica.

(My girlfriend and I constantly refer to "Snakehead Terror" as the depths of SciFi Channel's occasional suckiness. LOL)

[RandallFlagg]

Oh, I have already preset my VCR to record everything.

[RandallFlagg]

I sure wish they'd rerun MST3K episodes, though.

[Redcloak]

Very cool, but, how long until Jesse Jackson complains because Col. Tigh and Boomer aren't Black anymore.

[RandallFlagg]

Ugh. I hadn't thought about that.

[FierceDraka]

Oh, I have already preset my VCR to record everything.

Good! I'm going to go grab the DVD of the minisries.

When the miniseries came out, I was blown away. Aloow me to enumerate:

Instead of laser cannons, death rays, and various and sundry sci-fi contrivances, they used high-explosive rounds, nuclear weapons, claymore mines, and BULLETS to get the job done.

The Vipers, instead of relying on aeronautical effects (that DO NOT exist in the vacuum of space), actually used attitude jets and thrusters to turn around.

The camera work is outstanding, with a documentary feel illustrated by the shaky, hand-held effects in the both battle scenes and the intimate shots of the crew.

It's the best sci-fi series I've seen in a long time. It's dark, gritty, and realistic, with the characters' very ambiguity and weaknesses that make the whole series very, very - human.

It's kinda like Farscape, in fact. Very character driven.

[RandallFlagg]

Heh! I bought the DVD set the day it came out on the 28th.

[Arkinsaw]

Sorry about the rant, but I've got another window running with the Scifi.Com message boards, and let me tell ya, the trolls and haters are out in force tonight.

Yeah, I like it a lot. I'm always amused by the types who will automatically become full-scale opponents of anything without seeing it just because its a remake. Like the folks who refused to see the Lord of the Rings pics because they opposed making it into a movie on principle.

[AngryJawa]

I absolutely loved the mini series. Last night's episodes were even better.

The parallels to the WOT are handled just right, IMHO. The decision to destroy the cylon-compomised passenger liner and it's after effects was particularly nightmarish.

[beezdotcom]

SO far, I've enjoyed the show - but I keep waiting for it to veer into some serious political correctness. The little half-hour intro section they did had some "viewer email", where somebody asked "will there finally be any gay characters"? They didn't really answer, but the fact that they spotlighted this particular email makes me wonder if they're going to turn the show into a "showcase" of PC. Some might argue they already have, with some of the character switches.

And then again, they might find themselves in trouble. They took the two most important black characters from the original series (Tigh and Boomer), and replaced them with an old white drunk and a hot white chick. Won't be long before Jesse Jackson calls for a boycott!

[freedumb2003]

With a female Apollo?

I can;t get past that.

[freedumb2003]

Sounds like a write-up for "Space 1999" which truly sucked.

[finnman69]

The new series is soooooo much better than the original. The concept was always riveting, but with 21st century effects and a few new twists, like the human looking cylons, it's great TV.

[finnman69]

aww comeon on Space 1999 was fantastic. I had the worst childhood nightmares after watching "Dragon's Domain". UFO was cheesier if you were into Gerry Anderson Brit Sci Fi.

[finnman69]

The effects are so good as to make any of the new Star Trek shows look lame.

[Thoro]

BUT - one that I haven't seen, and would really like to, is the "Return of Starbuck" episode. Kinda wanted to see what happened to my favorite cigar-chomping, hard drinking womanizer from BSG:TOS.

You've actually seen that episode already, and in a far better format. The BSG 80 episode is just a replay of the episode where Starbuck is stranded on a planet and rebuilds a cylon for companionship. The only difference is that it has a BSG 80 intro and outtro. It's supposed to explain the brainiac kid that the bearded Adama looks to for advice.

[ChicagoHebrew]

My only fear is that those effects (along with the sets and huge cast) might make the show too expensive. That's what doomed the original BG -- it got good ratings, but was too expensive. The new one could do far better ratings-wise than say, Stargate, but still not be profitable.

[ChicagoHebrew]

Exactly, anyone who says that the new BG is "pc" hasn't thought of the ramifications of taking two popular black characters, and making one Asian and the other John McCain. Very un-pc. Starbuck is a woman for story reasons, not to satiate the PC mob.

[nkycincinnatikid]

bump for son

[ThinkPlease]

I've been getting episodes from my Uncle Torrent bump

[Quick1]

Uh, Apollo is male. People who criticize things they haven't ever seen amuse me.

[Quick1]

I believe I have heard the cost per episode ranges in the $1.3 million area (I believe Enterprise is somewhere around $1.6-1.8), and the Bristish Channel Sky One funds a generous portion of that, which will greatly increase the odds of Skiffy deciding to pay for a second season.

Somewhat on topic, does anyone else find it amusing that Skiffy advertises "The Biggest Night in Sci-Fi EVER!" on a channel that is meant for Sci-Fi?