collin and i have been watching lost from the beginning. as you might know, i’ve never had any interest in the show. but we made a deal: i’ll watch lost with her if she’ll watch battlestar with me. best relationship ever. annnnnnnnyway, so while its far from the orgasmic heights everyone’s been telling me it is, it’s a pretty decent show. my only problem is abc’s stupid website.
ok, so abc gets props for putting the entire season online. but they lose a million points for their idiotic streaming system. everyone has ads, that’s how these systems work. if you’re smart, like hulu, then you break in for an ad (15-30 secs) and then return to the show. if you’re retarded, like abc, then you break into an ad THEN make the user click “play” again to resume the show. this seems like a minor annoyance, but believe me, by the time you’re on episode three of a lost marathon, you’re pretty pissed at the asinine way abc has squeezed a few extra seconds of ad exposure.
so i was delighted to read this piece on slashfilm today reporting that abc has added lost (and couple of other shows) to netflix watch instantly. well done. now get on hulu like the rest of the world and join the 21st century. asshats.
tonight is a special night for me. battlestar galactica, easily the best science fiction show to air on television, begins it’s final ten episodes. i hesitated to even refer to it as a “science fiction show” because that immediately turns people off. for whatever reason, some people hear “science fiction” and immediately think “star trek” (which i also love) and all the nerdiness and technobabble that accompanies it. the thing is, bsg isn’t star trek. it’s better than star trek.
yeah, i said it. and i’ll say it again. battlestar galactica is better than star trek. in fact, battlestar galactica is better than anything that is currently on tv. better than lost, better than madmen, better than dexter. but because it’s science fiction, it gets the shaft from awards shows and audiences. unless of course you don’t count the peabody awards, which apparently people don’t. here’s the rationale behind the 2005 peabody award given to bsg:
Battlestar Galactica is not just another apocalyptic vision of the future but an intense drama that poses provocative questions regarding religion, politics, sex and what it truly means to be “human.” The saga is set in motion when Cylon robots revolt against their creators with a devastating series of nuclear attacks. What’s left of the human race, fewer than 50,000 refugees, roam the universe in a fleet led by the spacecraft Galactica. They must re-imagine their society even as they search for a new home. This dramatic premise, coupled with the threat from a new form of humanoid Cylons, affords diverse narrative and philosophical possibilities. Writers Ronald D. Moore, Toni Graphia, David Weddle, Bradley Thompson, Carla Robinson, Jeff Vlaming, Michael Angeli, and David Eick take full advantage to give us plotlines that are deeply personal and relatable, while never compromising their affinity and passion for science fiction. Moore, Graphia, and Eick are the executive producers. Harvey Frand is the producer. Directors Michael Rymer, Marita Grabiak, Allan Kroeker, Rod Hardy, Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, Robert Young, Brad Turner, Edward James Olmos, Jeff Woolnough, and Jonas Pate dazzle us, giving us a show that captivates on multiple levels. The cast includes Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, James Callis, Tricia Helfer, and Grace Park. For pushing the limits of science fiction and making it accessible to all, Battlestar Galactica receives a Peabody Award.
i think that does a pretty decent job of summing up everything that’s great about this show. do yourself a favor and just watch the 2003 miniseries. i guarantee you will be hooked. and if you’re not, well i’m sure there’s probably a flavor of love marathon on mtv.
-srd
ps- if you’re a fan of the show and need a quick refresher before tonight’s premiere, watch “catch the frak up” parts one and two below. spoiler alert: it’s pretty much wall to wall spoilers if you’re not current.
