Battlestar Galactica...if you ever have to pick one bit of advice from me, you have to watch this show

This ain't your daddy's Battlestar.
I watch almost no TV. I find it mostly boring and dumbed-down to the point of it all being a giant insult to the collective intelligence of the American people.

But this show is quite simply the best single series I've ever seen.
No aliens, no time warps, none of the goofy gimmicks you see in tyoical sci-fi shows.

Just ordinary people put in horrible circumstances and pushed to the breaking point and beyond.

I have a joke among me and other BSG fans I know; Just when you think things on the show can't possibly get any worse, they get MUCH worse.

If you don't know what it is all about, don't let the sci-fi premise put you off...this could as easily take place on an aircraft carrier as a space craft. There is not much sci-fi here, just drama.

The premise:
A civilization of humans (not us) spanning 12 planets called the Colonies, invent robotic servantscalled Cylons. These robots advance and the colonialist eventully begin to use the robots as warriors as the colonies begin to fight amongst each other.
at some point, the robots advance enough to the point where they decide they don't need humans anymore and they attack them. The humans and Cylons fight for years and eventually, a truce is reached, the war ends and the Cylons leave and are not heard from for 40 years.

After 40 years, the Cylons launch a sneak attack on the 12 colonies and nuke the planets, killing tens of billions of humans.
All that is left is one obsolete, about to be retired, aircraft-carrier-type spacecraft (the Battlestar Galactica) and around 50 or so civilian ships.
These ships form a ragtag fleet and, protected by Galactica, flee the colonies and begin a search for a fabled 13th colony of man that is located somwhere else in the galaxy...the scriptures of the Colonies tell them that this planet is called Earth.

The show is in its fourth and final season. there are only a handful of episodes left before the end.

If you are going to take my advice and have never seen the show before, do yourself a favor and watch it from the begining. It is available on DVD and it is worth it in both time and money to watch this series.

I have a friend in the UK who is a huge fan of the show Lost and who didn't think any show could come close to that one. After much time, I convinced him to watch it...he now is totally ooked on it. He even has a blog regarding the show at http://angelocometbsg.blogspot.com/

I know this sounds like a commercial for the show and I guess in a way it is but it is one of the finest TV shows you will ever watch.

Sounds interesting. I'm a LOST fan too, so I'll see if I can rent Battlestar.

Thanks for the tip.

Sorry, but compared to the original I find this Re-hash just that a poor imitation. Nothing like the original series and certainly nothing like the book that started it all.

Other series that has done the same thing - wandered away from the books they was based on were True Blood based on books by Charlane Harris (HBO) and Legend of The Seeker based on the books by Terry Goodkind.

I agree ... Best frakking show on TV. The depth and layers speak volumes and I see references to universal conflict in every episode. And what amazes me is that it only gets better. "So say we all."

just think the original lost the race with the original Star Wars and ended up on TV.
What if????

Good show, but hard to catch as I rarely watch the Sci-Fi Channel. It seems that if you miss more than half the episodes, it is hard to fully enjoy. It is kinda like "Twin Peaks" or "Babylon 5" in having such a connected storyline. They do have a good "Last week on Buffy the Vampire Slayer" style intro to explain things, but I have missed too much. I'll catch it on discount DVD.

I didn't like the original much, so it prejudiced me against the new one. I'll look for it at the video store now though. My wife is a big SciFi fan, so anything good I can get in that genre gives me points with her!

Much to dark and takes itself way to seriously for me. I tried really hard to get into it when it first started but never could. I prefer a little "gee wiz" and humor in my sci-fi. I agree with you that the sci-fi aspect of the show is secondary. Merely a setting rather than an integral part of the drama.

Simon Wrote:

I watch 24 and hockey. I like Big Love on HBO. Otherwise, I'm wrenching or on the net.

Few shows address morality as much.

For those that haven't watched, season 1 alone doesn't reveal this. Early on is more typical cut and dry good guys/bad guys. It's a good sifi soap opera for the first couple of years.

You have to get all the way into season 3 to appreciate the complexity.

The writers and producers are quite upfront about being inspired by the modern world of shifting alliances, torture, the arrogance of being right and just, etc.. Good guys with the best of motivations causing intense bad. At times the bad guys save the day. There are times I loath the show, but I must admit after the last couple of episodes I am glad I didn't quit. And I'll miss it when it ends.

Actually Battlestar Galatica WAS a book written by Glen A Larson prior to it being a tv series. Since then several other books have been written based on some of the episodes of the original series.

Check in your local library for them..


I was also infering the original series was 10 times better than this recent abomination

There were few things on TV ever worse than the last year of the original Battlestar Galactica with the little boy genius. Lorne Green was gone by then.

The current is not just emotionally dark, but visually so. You practically need a HD TV to watch it. Not for the effects per say, but to see the multi-shades of black. I swear the director must shout "kill the lights" before each shoot. They do overdo the dark and hand held camera thing.

You know... I saw this thread a week or so ago, and something kept tweaking me in my mind.... I remembered today

I don't know if your into PC games at all.... But, there was a pretty decent space combat/flight sim type game. it was called FreeSpace 2. Kind of dated, but was very good... better then most.

Well anyway, There is a group of fans that are in the massive process of creating a Battlestar Galactica Mod for it. They have a demo out now and its very good for what it is... plus its FREE !!

So, if you like playing PC games from time to time, and are looking for a time killer... then you can check it out.

Heres a youtube trailer for the game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1Jx-KL0EnE

Heres the website you can go to to download it..
http://www.beyondtheredline.net/demo.html

Forums discussing it...
http://www.game-warden.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=36

Even third party add-ons for the demo...
http://addons.teamwars.org/index.php?id=8

If you into this kind of thing, that is

Wasper Wrote:

Freespace 2! Holy cow blow the dust off that classic! I used to love the original BSG when I was like 8. I don't think I could watch it now, it was pretty bad. I love BSG now, though. One of the best shows on tv no one watches.

just got a few bsg dvd's from the library today will view them over the weekend. thanks for the suggestion