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- Netmindstorm, on 10/12/2007, -2/+97So say we all
- insomniacal, on 10/12/2007, -28/+75That's too bad -- I loved BSG in the beginning, but it's been going downhill recently. The writers are breaking all kinds of storytelling common sense (SPOILERS BELOW):
1. Actions must have consequences. But Helo, the officer in love with cylon Sharon, never faces consequences for his. In his new career of defending cylons he has 1) murdered another officer, 2) thwarted a biological attack that would have saved humanity from the cylon threat forever, and 3) sent Sharon into cylon hands to retrieve their child, even though she could have been tortured for her intelligence. Upon each incident Admiral Adama has not only shrugged, but actively shielded him from repercussions (in one case provoking a civil war to do so). Worse, for a person whose sole will continually keeps humanity at risk, Helo’s one of the flattest characters on the show — no backstory, no character flaws.
2. Keep the plot fresh. Yet Galactica repeats itself: humans land on Planet X, cylons arrive, humans are trapped. Not only has this cycle recurred three times in only two and a half seasons, each time it has been used as a cliffhanger either between seasons, or during a mid-season siesta: “Wait and see how they get off the planet this time!”
3. Don’t preach. Originally, cylons operated in smooth accord; now every episode shows them bickering, fighting, even killing each other. Get it? They’re just like us, get it? Get it? Sorry, but I’m not interested in a perpetual “Cylons Are People Too” sermon (along with the strict materialistic philosophy it implies), especially as it’s a departure from the show’s original thrust, as well as the very threat that made cylons so fearsome in the first place.
4. Be consistent with your own character development. “Cylon psychology is based on projection.” So says Caprica Six to Baltar, fueling suspense over whether he himself is a cylon. Yet in no other episode do cylons mention or even exhibit projection as an aspect of their psychology. This is worse than oversight, since the show now delves full-tilt into cylon culture and religion. “Projection” was just a throw-away line to make Baltar suspect himself; cylon psychology isn’t “based” on it at all.
5. Don’t congratulate yourself on what a great story you’re telling. First we met four known cylons; gradually others were revealed, giving us seven. From the initial mini-series we know there are twelve models in all, a suspense point keeping viewers wondering who else might be a sleeper cylon – but the writers have dragged out this tease in a long dry spell with zero reveals. Now we learn the final five are, in fact, “the Final Five” – a mysterious set of models unknown even to cylons themselves, so holy that prying into their identity is sacrosanct. This late concept is an arbitrary tack-on, added so the writers could imprison Baltar on a base star without revealing the final secret cylons — it could just as easily have been the final four, or six, or whatever other number the writers had happened to reveal up until they decided to repackage the remainder as a grand lump mystery. Worse, it functions as a self-congratulatory move: writers celebrating with religious enthusiasm the build-up of their own suspense questions.
6. Don’t abuse suspension of disbelief. Humans and cylons skeedaddle away from Planet X when the local star goes supernova. Coincidence? Unacceptably so — even though the writers embrace it as deliberate theme development through a quick line of dialogue: “I can’t get my head around these odds. That human and cylon both converge on this planet at this exact moment, just as the star is going supernova.” The implication is that either humanity’s gods or the cylons’ God has orchestrated this moment (both, really, since the writers will eventually reveal them to be the same). But I don’t care about a show that invents deities who actually move the plot. It’s enough that humans believe in gods and that cylons believe in a God, that each race is motivated by religious belief and finds signs along the way seeming to confirm it. Fine. The movie Troy walked this line expertly, hinting at gods while allowing humans to work out their own destinies. But writers renege on viewers’ suspension of disbelief when they create gods who steer the plot directly. Certainly the supernova’s timing can be explained in no other way – unless it’s truly meant to be coincidence, in which case I must recite one of my school system’s standards for reading materials: plots must be “well-constructed with logical development and a minimum of coincidence.”
7. Too much of a good thing is too much. Starbuck’s a wonderfully dimensional character, both macho and frail, religious and irreverent. Now the writers hint that she’s even more – a cylon perhaps, or a prophetess, or even a god. But any more mileage out of this rough-n-ready fighter pilot will stretch her beyond her already exaggerated status. Simultaneously a drunkard hotshot, sultry sex diva, spiritual devotee and military strategist, Starbuck is now, as a cylon has told her and as events have confirmed, “destined” – for what? Overuse, eclipsing both other characters and believability. The fact that she's about to disappear is a good thing.
8. Story should drive the plot, not budget. Seven cylons – yet we regularly see just five. President Roslyn’s aides – one killed for no good reason in a tangential episode, the other frequently absent. Someone’s skimping on the casting, writing episodes not only with the fewest possible characters (a smart budgeting decision), but with too few, leaving out those previously established by the series. Plot should not be dictated by casting decisions. If actors aren’t available for filming, either pay them more to convince them to be available, or replace them with other actors who will be. Consistent faces aren’t as important as a consistent storyline. When four cylons yell at a fifth that they’re all in agreement against her, viewers can’t help but wonder why, sans explanation, two aren’t there. - FearlessFreep, on 10/12/2007, -2/+44"They found earth in th original series... "
Do not speak of "Galactica 1980" - cybermort, on 10/12/2007, -8/+41umm.. don't you mean THE GODS.
- dasutin, on 10/12/2007, -2/+32I say the 4th season is that, they find earth, they uncover a very old civilization, when uncovering the civilization, they find out that Google is responsible for the Cylons.
- Bara, on 10/12/2007, -4/+32This is actually a good thing. Many people complained that season 2 (and some episodes of season 3) are filler episodes that don't really move the story forward, so keeping a season to 13 episodes might end up ultimately make the show even better than it already is.
- drlha, on 10/12/2007, -24/+51Digg isn't your blog you know.
- quantumHobbit, on 10/12/2007, -8/+34Helo isn't one dimensional. He's just simply the only character without a drinking problem or major psychological defect or other moral dilemmas. The show needs at least one boy-scout on a ship full of flawed characters at least as a character foil.
- Crispin, on 10/12/2007, -3/+23It's would HAVE, ok? would HAVE.
Is it so hard for people to sound out the words they learned in first grade? And how do you get "would've" from "would of"?
There's room for both BSG and Firefly... if only Firefly had been on a network that believed in the sci-fi genre. - sjbdallas, on 10/12/2007, -2/+22Lame-Ass occupation? The episode where they were rescued was the best Sci-Fi i've seen on TV or the movies in a long time. I got chills when the Galactica appeared over the camp, flaming and falling while launching vipers. I've still got that tivo'd and watch it every couple of weeks.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20"if actors aren’t available for filming, either pay them more to convince them to be available, or replace them with other actors who will be".
That's what happened to Billy, first Roslin aide.
But I agree with the most part of your... er... blog. - billybob476, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17I don't know if anyone has ever noticed, but people in the military tend to swear a lot.
- SteelChicken, on 10/12/2007, -1/+18not really. the last ones plot was obvious in the first 5 minutes.
- ShrimpCrackers, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18Jeremydavid is a cylon, therefore its just God.
Only the humans are polytheistic. - Konrad9, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18Getting renewed and all is great...
But why only 13 episodes, and PLEASE tell me we won't have to wait until next ***** January.
The hiatus between the end of season 2 and the start of 3 was bad enough. - theTVaddict, on 10/12/2007, -3/+18better than zero episodes!
- jull1234, on 10/12/2007, -3/+18eeh, hopefully they're 13 excellent episodes. This show has been kinda turning me off recently. Needs an infusion of battle and action.
- anti_hax0r, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15The final episode will spinoff a new series Galactica 2010, where Starbuck and Apollo's replacements will be stealthily driving around Los Angeles in flying motorcycles.
Too late, Freep beat me to it. - FearlessFreep, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14All the old Farscape fans say "Hi!" Sci-Fi channel is great at burying a well liked show through poor scheduling, and then cutting it for lack of ratings...
- threepio, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13I love ignorance in action. The series is set in space but please don't make the mistake of thinking it's science fiction. It's political drama with some great action sequences. Enjoy your "Spock handsigns" - I'm going to go back to watching what quality television there is available.
- greatromance, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12w00t! I like the idea of only 13 eps for the 4th season. The filler episodes this season portray it as more of a "drama in space" than what season 1 and 2 were like. Still much love and can't wait for season 4!
- drlha, on 10/12/2007, -7/+16This story would be great, apart from the fact that Sci-Fi haven't actually confirmed this yet, so it's still a rumor, despite the misleading digg headline.
- hsoj, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10The supernova coincided with the prophecy... Remember it wasn't until the supernova that things started happening in the temple. The fact that the supernova was even happening in the first place was because the chosen one was about to enter the temple.
I agree that there have been a lot of "filler" episodes this season, and that really does blow. I think producers and writers should blow the doors off walls every week. It's rare to find that on even the biggest budget shows, however, especially in a third season. It is common, though, for shows to get stuck in ruts from time to time, but that's often followed by a creative surge. I think a movie/mini-series and a short season may be exactly what the doctor ordered to pump up this show. - sjbdallas, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9@LEONTES
I agree. that would be cool if the whole BSG universe is a few thousand years in our own future. - FearlessFreep, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8"They need to find a way to monetize the show or it will go bye bye. "
Action Figures - leontes, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9I'd prefer, they find earth, but it just the reminants of a long ago lost civilication on a desolate, desrerted planet.
Within the archelogy they discover that their civization another form of artificial life created by the first humans, who used to live on earth. Much like the cylons destroyed them, these reminants also were sent into the universe in exile. - Redemption289, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Was great before it turned into a Sci-Fi soap opera now its just kind of ... eh.
- sjbdallas, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8@DRLHA
I would assume (based on his id) that he was up all night writing that. - Protonz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I won't buy BSG on iTunes because the DRM won't let me play it on my MediaPortal DVR. I watch it live & record it anyway, gotta get my fix as soon as possible. Commercials are a small price to pay to be free of DRM. If I miss it for some reason (dvr crash), torrents are the next practical route.
I would definitely be willing to give money to this show through an iTunes like store, but not so long as they are treating me like a criminal. - bigdc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Stupid registration LA Times. Here:
For a while, things looked iffy for "Battlestar Galactica." After the Sci Fi Channel last month moved the third-season drama about a human resistance movement against an occupying race of robots from Friday nights to Sunday nights in an attempt to goose ratings, viewership remained stagnant.
The network has ruled, however, that the show won't live by numbers alone: The Sci Fi Channel is expected to announce Tuesday that it has renewed the series for a fourth season. At least 13 new episodes will be produced this summer for a premiere next January.
The show's audience has always been modest, especially when compared with those for basic cable's "The Closer" and "Nip/Tuck," which typically reach double or triple the audience of "Battlestar Galactica." Since moving to 10 p.m. Sundays, the science-fiction show's episodes have averaged 1.7 million viewers overall and 1.1 viewers ages 18 to 49, the key demographic targeted by advertisers.
But "Battlestar Galactica" stands as one of the most critically acclaimed series on television. It also won the prestigious Peabody Award and was counted among the American Film Institute's top 10 outstanding TV programs two years in a row. Critics often describe the show in lofty terms, referring to it as a multilayered allegory for a post-9/11 world that raises questions about the ethics and politics of war.
The Sci Fi Channel cites the series' strong buzz and critical praise — a halo effect that can't be quantified in ratings points or ad dollars — as the reason for its renewal.
" 'Battlestar' is a cachet show. It gives us a lot of credibility with the creative community," said Mark Stern, head of programming for the cable network. "It's the kind of series we want to continue producing in the future."
Once known for its "Star Trek"-style space operas and Saturday night B movies, Sci Fi now boasts projects in development from George Clooney, Darren Star ("Sex and the City") and Mark Burnett ("The Apprentice"), in addition to a second miniseries for the channel from Steven Spielberg, who was the executive producer of "Taken" in 2002.
Stern also pointed out that 510,000 additional viewers in the 18-to-49 demographic are watching the show on digital video recorders. They bring the total demographic average closer to 1.6 million, the show's highest numbers since Season 1.
Advertisers, however, do not yet pay for the playback ratings because the general assumption is that viewers watching recorded programs fast-forward through the commercials. It could be a crucial point for the channel, and Stern is hopeful that the business model is shifting.
"Who knows? This upfront season you might find that we can monetize that DVR usage," he said. "The important thing is when you add in the DVR numbers, the audience is there."
Bringing back moderately rated, critically hailed series has largely been the privilege of subscription-based networks such as HBO and Showtime, which don't make money from advertisers.
The Sci Fi Channel acknowledged that "Battlestar Galactica" is the network's most expensive original series, but costs are also offset by strong DVD sales (more than 1 million discs of the show have been sold).
Either way, executives and producers say they are comfortable with where the ratings have settled.
"The show is always going to be limited [in appeal] by its title," said executive producer David Eick. "We just tell the best stories we can and hope that it will convince some people it's not a show just for 'Star Trek' fans." Ronald D. Moore, the executive producer who developed the remake of the 1978 series, and Eick are busy working on outside projects (Moore is writing a remake of the sci-fi thriller "The Thing" for Universal Pictures, while Eick is producing the NBC series pilot for "The Bionic Woman"), which gave some fans pause for concern.
Moore said with a laugh: "I don't think we ever doubted doing another season. I design my season-ending cliffhangers with the hubris that we'll be back."
Moore and Eick recently confirmed rampant online speculation that by the end of the season, one of the main characters would be revealed as a Cylon, the robotic race set on wiping out its human counterparts.
Moore said that he had a general idea of where the story would go in the fourth season but hadn't committed anything to paper. He and Eick went to Las Vegas over the weekend to get started.
"We'll hash it out over blackjack and Jack Daniels," Eick said. "We came up with the second season cliffhanger over a Johnny Walker Blue." The season finale airs March 25. - cybermort, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6jan 8 i guess it will be back on Fridays, good move sci-fi good move
- carpeclunes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4They should come to Earth during WWII and help us beat the Nazis.
Ok, maybe not. - skankyBacon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@ kurttrail
How about instead of getting offended, take the correction to heart and LEARN from it? Then you'll sound a million times smarter and won't have any "grammar nazis" bothering you to boot. - ArchonSG, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Don't care if its only 13 episodes as long as they keep those episodes tight and good. I'd hate for BSG to become like Lost and loose not only its steam, becomes draggy and well, become lost in both story and plot.
- ShrimpCrackers, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Actually the BSG universe takes place a thousands of years in our past... or so some say in the Sci-Fi forums.
- Crispin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5@kurttrail
By all means keep writin wit yo bad self and being ignorant of the things *everyone* had an opportunity to learn in english class, but don't expect to be taken seriously when you do. - TherealObadiah, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I am not a big TV watcher by any stretch. I don't have time and I don't waste my time watching 99% of the dreck that passes for entertainment today. I have watched the Sopranos and thought that it was entertaining. In my opinion, Battlestar Galactica is a far, far better program. Battlestar Galactica is so polished and so tightly produced, and so well acted, that it amazes even me, a hardcore TV cynic. (Of course Baltar is the Cylon.)
- Bara, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Yea, the movie is supposed to bridge the gap between seasons 3 and 4... which will make up for the missing 7 or so episodes.
- omnithought, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4As long as I get to look at Grace Park each episode, I can't complain.
- PDelahanty, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4"Also thank God BSG is on SciFi and not a major network like Firefly was or else low ratings would be its death."
Farscape and SG-1 fans will not be fooled. Sci-Fi will kill a show just for the sake of killing a show. Ratings be damned. ...or they'll kill a show because they turn it into complete crap (like Sliders became). ...or they'll just run it into the ground (like MST3K). - BevansDesign, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3It's 12 human-form models. The bots & ships don't count. Nor do the goofy ones from the old show.
http://en.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/Cylon_Models - Goner, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Yeah.. guess it's cheaper to film a lot of soul-searching emotional dialog than it is to do space battle scenes... Too bad advertisers are shying away because the whole audience for BSG uses Tivo and doesn't watch the commercials...
- sabotank, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/news/
it's officially on the sci-fi website - Hypermarkalan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3There are 12 models of the humanoid Cylons. I don't think they've ever said how many total Cylon models there are.
- DuckFOO, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"but costs are also offset by strong DVD sales"
Not to mention iTunes sales. - Nitescape, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4That my WHOLE problem with the show is the filler soap opera stuff.
Oh well. - bitrott, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4One man's filler is another man's character development. One of the things this show does so well is balance 'action' and 'characters'. Seems to me a lot of you are easily bored whenever there's no vipers on the screen. There are rarely subplots that are toss away. I've never seen a show that keeps you begging for the next episode like this one does. Every EVERY episode drives the plot forward... or are you gaguing that by how close they're getting to earth?
- sjbdallas, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@FearlessFreep
I saw some really cool metal spaceships from the new series at WalMart last week. I was going to buy them on my next trip but they were gone. - ABadInAlbany, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@drlha: Only, Sci-Fi HAS confirmed it. Check the Sci-Fi site, lazy ass.
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