Jolt Country

I still remember how it went down in 2003. Sci-Fi channel announced a new version of Battlestar Galactica. This made me TUT-TUT smugly for two primary reasons:

1. I thought the original show was stupid, even though as a small child, I could enjoy parts of it. By the time I became a medium-sized child, however, its stupidity shone forth in every respect.

2. Remaking old shows from the '70s is a pitiful way to attract some viewers and marketing dollars to your lame-ass station.

But if cashing in on a geek-popular brand is all they could come up with, well, that would just illustrate for anyone who didn't believe it the sorry state TV was in, and how Sci-Fi was the worst, most pitiful channel on your cable lineup.

I had forgotten about it when the miniseries came on. It was an accident that I was flipping around channels and came upon a screen full of spaceships and explosions. Okay, I'll watch spaceships and explosions for a while. Then I heard someone say "Starbuck" and recognition dawned. Oh right! The stupid-ass BSG remake. Oh, Starbuck's a woman, REAL clever. What is this shit?

Against my better judgment, I kept watching, kept rolling my eyes at how ridiculous the whole thing was.

I had come in at about the 30 minute mark, so I had an hour and a half more to go. It took the full 90 minutes for my eyes to stop rolling, and as the end credits rolled, I had to admit something I very much didn't want to: It was good. REAL good.

I tuned in early '04 when the first season of hour-long episodes started. Skeptical again, figuring they'd blown their wad on the miniseries, no way to keep up that level of quality. And they fucking did.

The next five years (four full seasons, torturously doled out piecemeal by the Sci-Fi channel brass) saw what I felt was the longest run of high-quality shows in a series that I could remember, save maybe the Simpsons, seasons 3-8, or thereabouts. You tuned in because you KNEW it was going to be good. And you still couldn't believe that this show, arguably the best show on television, was called Battle Fucking Star Galactica, and on the Sci Fi channel.

The path the show's story took turned off some viewers, but the quality never wavered. An amazing achievement, all the way around, and the lead performances of Edward James Olmos and Mary McConnell should be remembered for being among the finest TV's ever seen.

The show ended this week, with a final episode that screams "love it or hate it". My opinion is, it was the high-water mark of the entire show, and the most wonderful, fitting conclusion I could have imagined, cementing the show as a true modern epic.

It will be missed!

Funny, I just started it so I have episodes and episodes to enjoy (I had similar reservations and waited way too long to actually check it out) so I'm both interested in catching up and am a bit disappointed it is over.

The recent article about the actors visiting the UN was pretty cool from what I saw (didn't read the whole thing just in case there were spoilers).

It's fucking killing me that I am so far behind. We need to do a marathon or something some day??

I just watched the premier mini-series tonight, and now we all agree, it's on.

And I get so much flack for liking television...

The only finale that rivals BSG in the best series ender is Six Feet Under.

Truly awesome!

I largely agree with Ben's assessment. I experienced a huge amount of 'you gotta be kidding me' at hearing of this re-vamp. Then my roommate at the time got a promo copy of the mini-series on dvd - and I was blown away by how solid and engrossing it was. One of the only problems I had throughout the series was the actor who played Lee never seemed a good enough actor to carry the weight of his lead role (sometimes he just blew big dramatic scenes), even though he got better as the seasons went on.

All in all, an amazing voyage. It will be missed indeed.

Fortunately, I still haven't seen a lot of the 'extra' stuff that was made -- the movie Razor and webisodes -- so I still have a little bit more BSG ahead of me!

Here now I will rate the acting job by the leads, including only characters that Robb is aware of at this point:

William "How Do I Reech These Keeedz" Adama: ****
Laura Roslin: ********
Tigh: ***1/2
Chief: ***
Starbuck: **3/4
Lee Adama: **1/2
Baltar: ***1/4
Tom "Old Apollo" Zarek: ***1/2
Boomer: *
Helo: *
Kaylie: **
Dee: **
Gay-ta: **1/2
Xena, Warrior Princess: ***
Helen: ***/0 (Godawful character, portrayed pretty well.)
Sam: **3/4

That's all I can remember.

Yeah, unfortunately, because people are in different areas when it comes to watching the show, it can be difficult to comment on something like this. There needs to be a "Season One" thread, a "Season Two" thread and so on.

But yeah, acting isn't a skill that you can't get better at, and while there is just something... "eh" about Lee Adama's performance, I can see him getting better after four years, or whatever it's been.

But at the same time, I am trying to figure out... because God knows there ain't much else to do around here... how to effectively view and appreciate a good performance versus a lousy one. Normally, idle fantasies that would never come true would center around playing baseball for the Blue Jays, but since I am gonna be 35 next month, I've let that one go. I have not yet let go about how I'll never be an actor, so that's one worth thinking about, if such daydreaming were worth thinking about.

Ben has previously stated that Olmos and McConnell do a great job, and I can in fact determine that! I sorta think the Chief is the next-best actor on the show.

I was of the impression that the guy doing Baltar was doing things too goofy, but Ben has made convincing arguments otherwise. It is that sort of knowledge that I wish to gain about acting!

The criteria at least in terms of BSG is pretty easy for me. I ask, 'Does this actor, during a important/dramatic/moving scene, say their lines in such a unconvincing way that I'm suddenly reminded that is all make-believe and that I'm just staring at a bunch of people on a set'. The actors who play Lee, Boomer and Hero all have this Magic Instant Scene-Blowing Power. They all do learn to control it to some degree as the series continues.

I mostly agree with Ben's actor ratings, though I think Starbuck does an excellent job (****) and Tigh sometimes becomes a little clownish (mean clownish). I can see where Baltar might seem over the top, but I find his character/predicament so interesting that I might overlook that. Also, Baltar's Cylon lover could easily have been ridiculous, but that actress pulls that role off excellently.

jjsonick wrote:though I think Starbuck does an excellent job (****)

Too many wild facial expressions and overly dramatic deliveries. Adama and Roslin are so great, to some extent, because they bring some subtety to the roles, a word which seems to have become nearly taboo in today's (and really, any other time's) TV landscape.

and Tigh sometimes becomes a little clownish (mean clownish).

Yeah, but he's so much fun.

Yeah, I can't tell what I think of Baltar's Blonde Cylon. She has such a goofy role through most of the first two seasons. I bet the outtakes where the other actors are pretend- er, acting like she's not there turn into a delightful blooper reel!

But yeah, seriously. I think she's doing a good job? I think she's perfectly fine?