Posted on 01/20/2009 8:30:14 AM PST by EveningStar
Once upon a time, in what used to be a far away land called Hollywood (but is now a state of mind and everywhere), a young actor was handed a script and asked to bring to life a character called Starbuck. I am that actor. The script was called “Battlestar Galactica.”
Fortunately, I was young, my imagination fertile and adrenal glands strong, because bringing Starbuck to life was over the dead imaginations of a lot of Network Executives...
Witness the “re-imagined” “Battlestar Galactica,” bleak, miserable, despairing, angry and confused. Which is to say, it reflects in microcosm the complete change in the politics and morality of today’s world, as opposed to the world of yesterday. The world of Lorne Greene (Adama), Fred Astaire (Starbuck’s Poppa) and Dirk Benedict (Starbuck). I would guess Lorne is glad he’s in that Big Bonanza in the sky and well out of it. Starbuck, alas, has not been so lucky. He’s not been left to pass quietly into that trivial world of cancelled TV characters...
(Excerpt) Read more at bighollywood.breitbart.com ...
Kirk: There's just one thing I want.
Spock: The Klingon?
Kirk: One of us must get him.
Spock: Revenge, Captain?
Kirk: Why not?
Or how about this exchange from The Conscience of the King, where Captain Kirk reacts to Kodos' attempt at moral relativism:
Kodos: Captain Kirk, who are you to say what harm was done?
Kirk: Who do I have to be?
Or how about this very nice summary of what's wrong with the leftist idea that war should be "proportional" and fair and thus rational (consider this quote in the context of Gaza) from A Taste of Armageddon:
Kirk: Death, destruction, disease, horror... that's what war is all about, Anan. That's what makes it a thing to be avoided. You've made it neat and painless. So neat and painless, you've had no reason to stop it. And you've had it for 500 years.
I can go on. Basically, those characters had conservative attitudes toward right and wrong that just don't exist in curren television characters except in parody.
It was cheesy in 1978. Partly in self defense. It had a really dark story but in 78 the Cyber Punk revolution hadn’t started yet, dark stories really weren’t big in SF or anything else, so there was a lot of fluff stuck in like Boxey to lighten it up. Actually my view of the original is better now than it was then, partly because of the new version, after the first season finished I Netflixed the original, one of the things I noticed was the seeds of the story Ron Moore has been telling. All the dark brooding stuff people complain about was in the original, they just couldn’t focus on that in a pre-Blade Runner/ Terminator world. You could kill off most of the human race back then, but you couldn’t dwell on it, you could mention that people’s living conditions in the fleet were basically sub-human, but you couldn’t show it every episode, you could hint at the fact that the commander of the Pegasus had crippling survivors guilt by having him plan suicide missions, but you couldn’t play with his insanity for half a season.
It didn’t get canceled to help M&M it got canceled because it was too expensive. In order to pay for itself it would have needed near Super Bowl numbers every week. 1 million 1978 dollars is very expensive, especially with the FCC regs that limited the number of commercials you could stick in an hour of TV, there was just no way to pay for the show. That was part of the point of Galactica 80, it was a very bad attempt to capture what they thought made Galactica popular for much less money, unfortunately they guessed wrong.
Within the episode it does kind of surprise you, they get you thinking maybe Dee and Lee will get back together and BAM. Then you think and remember and it all makes some sense. Also the walk through scene of Adama helps, really does show that everybody is falling apart, hope has been removed.
Deep Space 9- Commander is black, doctor and security chief are metrosexuals
Yet another reason to favor Babylon 5. Security Chief Michael Garibaldi was most emphatically not "metrosexual".
Having seen a lot of both versions I say ole Dirk is spot on. The new BSG has the dreariness of “1984” without the imagination.
If we committed genocide we arguably wouldn’t. That’s the problem with your logic. You’re saying they should have genocided the Cylons because they tried to do it to them. Of course if committing genocide it the kind of act that earns a species genocide will then had they released the virus they would have after the fact earned the genocide done to the humans.
One should always ask questions when one is about to start killing. That’s what separates us from the animals, the ability to understand what we’re doing and figure out if that’s what should be done.
You can’t really blame Jerri Ryan because she fought, with Jack, to keep those papers sealed. It was the judge and the papers that forced them to be unsealed.
Or even just watch the original Star Trek series. One of the biggest differences is that before the late-1960s, eternal childhood wasn't idealized but was something to fear and Star Trek had several episodes promoting this theme including Charlie X, And the Children Shall Lead, and Miri as well as The Squire of Gothos and The Way to Eden, which ultimately was a warning against the blind idealism of young hippies.
The new BG sucks even though the chicks are groovy.
All of that politically correct hand wringing, really put me off!
I want to be entertained, not preached to.
“...(witness the abortion episode, for example)”
Guys don’t watch shows about abortion.
“...Dee was seriously depressed, the last time she spoke to her family was an argument over whether she should join the military, and she had a lot of regrets about that (remember the “military tribute” episode). Then Billy dies, and her rebound relationship with Apollo...”
I’m so glad I haven’t seen this show. Who wants to watch cr@p like that?! Who in the hell CARES about Dee feeling bad because her family is unhappy, and her rebound with whoever?
Is this show on Lifetime? Does Oprah discuss its plot lines?
Quote: “fighting a war is never clear”: hmmm, who said that? Wouldn’t a more realistic and therefore entertaining TV reflect that? Or do you want all straw men and propaganda in your shows?”
So, a more entertaining show to you is one where on race is subject to genocide and it is not clear if they are justified in fighting back rather than just cashing it in and voting for extinction. “Oh crap, we were attacked, but to fight back might mean there is collateral damage. Oh well, lets just die!!!” Yes, I want to see that show. We can call it “Battlestar Suicide.”
I know, how about a show that seeks first and foremost to entertain. How about no agenda, no message, just freaking entertainment. Tell a damn story. Alas, that art form has been lost in Hollyweird. Instead it is agenda first and, oh yeah, there is a story in there somewhere that we will get to right after these messages from your lefist overlords.
Jeri is the one who made the *accusation*.
It was still decent - the Hurons were still bloodthirsty savages. But I couldn't recall the Hawkeye character being referred to as "Hawkeye" even once in the film.
I know a lot of folks on here really have liked BSG, but frankly, I have said from the beginning that it is a terrible series with no uplifting redeeming value. All it has been is a daytime soap opera in a sci fi skin.
Star Trek Enterprise with Scott Bakula was by far the best of them. Too bad it only ran 4 seasons.
Same here. Never watched an episode for the same reason. I figured they'd just turn it into a lame 90210 in space with great special effects.
Scanning through this thread it looks like I was right.
That’s about it in a nutshell for me as well. I just didn’t find the whole “Lost” in space genre to be interesting.
Though, I’ll usually tune in for about 10 minutes just in case there might actually *BE* an interesting show. Usually, it’s mostly a miss, though.
Depends... Are you basing your opinion on the standards of the 1970’s (when the show was on), or now?
I’m willing to bet that the new BSG will be considered gayer than gay in 30 years. (and be thought to have cheesy special effects, too)
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