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Top 10 Reasons I Love "Battlestar Galactica"This Friday is the fall season finale of Battlestar Galactica, aka Malinda's Favorite Show on TV. To get you in the mood, I've compiled this list of the Top 10 Reasons I Love BSG. The subtitle is: And Why You Should, Too! I fear that I will be suffering some BSG withdrawal after this Friday, but at least the hiatus is short. It returns for the second half of the season on Jan. 21, when it moves to its new time slot, Sunday nights at 10 p.m. on Sci-Fi. Without further ado: 10. It's larger than life. Unlike the 1970s version of Battlestar Galactica, which I recall as a sort of campy, Star Trek-type show with really bad special effects, Sci-Fi's version brings an amazing cinematic feel to the small screen. It's so movie-like, you can even watch the season finale tonight on the big screen if you're in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, L.A., New York or St. Louis. 9. Admiral William Adama, played with steely-eyed charm by Edward James Olmos. Admiral Adama has proven time and time again that he supports women who are in authority. He has always had a soft spot for Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff), insisting that she is the best pilot in the fleet even when others have put her in the dog house, and over the course of three seasons he has revealed an enduring -- possibly even loving -- respect for the president, Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell). He's my kind of man. 8. BSG's creators understand their fanbase. The show's official website offers fans a sneak peek into the producers' motivations through fascinating podcasts that provide executive producer Ronald D. Moore's commentary on each episode; a video blog that goes behind-the-scenes in shooting the episodes; and even a series of webisodes about supporting characters that provided a great background for Season 3. There's so much stuff here that you can get lost in it for days -- hey, maybe that's what I'll do while I'm waiting for Jan. 21, 2007. 7. Multiple Boomers. Grace Park (who played a nascent lesbian teen on Edgemont) brings a wonderful versatility and believability to her role(s) as Raptor pilot Sharon Valerii, formerly call sign "Boomer" before she took on the new call sign "Athena." Oh yeah, between the two names, Sharon discovered she was a Cylon, fell in love with a human, had a hybrid baby (a time-honored component of great sci-fi shows) and never, not once, did anyone compliment her on how she speaks such good English. Sharon/Boomer/Athena: You rock.
6. Gorgeously devious Cylon Number 6, of course. Tricia Helfer has shown us that there is absolutely nothing wrong with casting a former Victoria's Secret model as a Cylon, especially not if she often has to wear very revealing red dresses. But Number 6 is more than a pretty, um, face. She has a fascinatingly twisted relationship with Gaius Baltar, can play femme fatale and sweet girl in love with equal skill, and is now mysteriously entangled with the delicious Cylon D'Anna Biers, played by Lucy Lawless.
5. Lucy Lawless kicks ass. As the aforementioned D'Anna, Lawless' character is undergoing a complicated dance with mortality, the meaning of life, and religion. Lawless brings all of her expressiveness to the role, which has her rebirthing periodically in an ooze of goo, getting down with Number 6 and Gaius, and even getting a bit Xena on some prisoners at times. Thank you, BSG producers, for bringing Lucy back. We've missed her.
4. Madam President. Mary McDonnell imbues the character of President Laura Roslin with enough grace, nerve and smart humor to provide evidence for why a woman should win the presidency in 2008. One of the very few female presidents to exist on television, Roslin started off as a bit under-prepared but quickly rose to the formidable task of leading a band of 55,000 survivors on a desperate search for Earth. I'd totally vote for her.  3. Starbuck, baby. Formerly a boozing, gambling, skirt-chasing man on the original BSG, the newly reimagined version recast Starbuck as a woman, Kara Thrace, played with admirable machismo by Katee Sackhoff. Starbuck's proclivity for insubordination and fist fights (see No. 2, below) makes her the butchest pilot in the fleet, but we all know that beneath that tough exterior lies a heart of gold. That's why she's so hot. (And no, I don't care that she's straight. She clearly just hasn't met the right woman yet.)
2. Give me some "Unfinished Business." The ninth episode of Season 3 involved Starbuck and Apollo (Jamie Bamber) getting in a boxing ring and smacking each other senseless. Yeah, it was a metaphor for all their pent-up emotions (read: lust), but it also spoke in an intriguing way to the 1970s incarnation of the show and the way that male characters throughout TV tend to express their feelings for each other through homoerotic violence. In "Unfinished Business," though, the tables were a bit twisted, given that Starbuck is a woman in this version of BSG. Hands down, this was my favorite episode of the series so far. It had drama, romance, a straightforward metaphor that worked because it alluded to countless hours of TV history, and Starbuck punching the lights out of people. I'm on board. 1. Good old-fashioned storytelling. BSG has a complex political story line, a fascinating examination of spirituality and difference, heroic characters as well as everyday ones, romance, mystery and adventure. It's your basic good old-fashioned storytelling -- something that is very difficult to do well. Even Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (one of the best series out there for storytelling) admits that BSG "is my favorite show. Maybe ever." And he's not the only Buffyverse writer on-board: Jane Espenson, a former Buffy writer, wrote last week's episode. I can't wait to see what tales these folks spin in the future.
Submitted by on December 13, 2006 - 4:00pm. |
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So. Fracking. Amazing. Thanks for the list! I'll use it for my proselytizing.
Actually I love the outfits too. The wardrobe department of The L Word would be wise to take some cues from BSG and show how various types of women with style actually do dress.
*Except Shane. For some reason I think they've nailed her wardrobe and I know plenty of women who dress with a rockin' style similiar to Shane.
So say we all.
Seriously, the best fracking thing on my fracking television!
I totaly agree with #1, the storytelling is great! Although for me definitely Madame President is the one, maybe she fullfils my need for role models, but I guess, MM has such a stage presence that you can't help but be fascinated...
Speaking of Xena, what caracter would you think Callisto could play in BSG?
Xevus, yep...agreed. Mary McDonnell could read me the back of a cereal box, with my head on her lap and my eyes shut....sigh
Ooooh, thank you for this posting. I love BSG. It makes me feel like a total geek to say it's my favorite show on TV in years, but it is. And I totally agree that Unfinished Business was awesome. I just discovered the show a couple months ago, and caught up to the current stories by buying the old episodes on iTunes.
I don't watch the show but I should.... Why? 2 words: Grace Park
I began watching BSG after reading numerous raves from TV critics.
When Lucy signed on, it was like the show was "super sized".
Oh, and I love Starbuck too!
Athena vs. Boomer
After the very special boxing episode it occured to me that maybe the show has jumped the shark.
Starbuck, Starbuck, Starbuck...
love the women of bsg...strong, complex, and beautiful
I watch my own abbreviated version of BSG. It only has the bits with Lucy Lawless!
Malinda, you fracking rock! ;)
My love of this show comes from a number of different angles ... Grace Park *drool*, the insanely strong female characters (*****SPOILER WARNING****** anyone just end up crying at the death of 'Cat' in the last episode, her redemption and Starbuck's abasement for Cat's forgiveness?), and simply, the amazing, incredible writing, which manages to blow me away time after time.
This show reminded me why I fell in love with scifi as a little girl, as it was one of the few genres of books where I could regularly find competent and independent strong women that weren't falling over themselves to get into bed with some guy as their entire reason for existing as a character.
I love this show, and it is the only one that I will glue myself to (well, aside from Grey's Anatomy and the original series of 'Law & Order').
"Top 10 Reasons I Love "Battlestar Galatica"" is the best fraking list you have done. I second "craftly boi" love the women of BSG....strong, complex, and beautiful. Now all we have to do is get the makers of The L Word to grab a clue and follow BSG's lead just a bit. BSG will always rule my world for bringing back Lucy Lawless, even if it's temporary.
i heart this show so much...i only wish, wish wish that the writers of the L word were as respectful and smart and clever, and gave half the consideration to their audience that Ron Moore and his writers clearly do. i've listened to the podcasts and audio commentaries on the dvds, et al..because i can't get enough of how well this show is written. it is complex and doesn't preach or presume that it's audience were a bunch of idiots who need PSAs spoon fed (ahem, ilene,...i'm looking at you)....perhaps i could write my own show, ...send some lesbians out in space to search for a home...i'll call it "the anti-L word" ...just jokes! (sort of)....
I don't think Tricia Helfer is "gorgeous" but she is a striking figure with her height and obvious strength. I think her performance throughout the series has been exceptional (she is a truly fine actress), along with Olmos, McDonnell and Park. Sackhoff is just plain fun! They're all good, the stories are good (yes, the boxing ep was somewhat exceptionally well-done the way they used the fighting as a vehicle to explain so much of what we were not shown when the crew left Galactica for New Caprica). I am not a fan of science fiction, but Galactica is just damned good TV.
They're not showing BSG on Belgium television. Which I think is a true shame bacause it rocks!!!A friend gave me his copy of the first season to watch and I'm totally loving it!!! Great acting, good storylines, good special effects,... The best sci fi I have seen in a while. (The last series of Star Trek sucked big time so I stopped watching)
Starbuck is my favourite charachter. The president and Adama are close seconds...
Lucy, Lucy, Lucy.
She's so wonderfully evil and complex. Best acting out of her ever.
This show is amazing!.. I was completely hooked the first time I watched it. The development of the characters is so well thought out. I have actually cried during some of the episodes. And it does help that Lucy is on..HOT HOT HOT!!
y do we never get nominated for any frakking award other that effects?! this show is frakking amazing!
I started watching BSG when the mini-series aired, back when I was still pretending I was straight and in love with Jamie Bamber (Apollo). Not that I still don't adore him, he's one of the most pro-LGBT rights actors out there, besides being a great actor and a really sweet guy, and, as I joke, he's the only thing keeping me bi. ;-) But dear god am I in the show for Kara (Starbuck)! She is so incredibly wonderful, all around... smart, funny, totally kick-ass, and so hot. Also? She loves her lesbian fans more than the rest of her fans. You can't not adore that.
But yeah. I'm still spinning from "Unfinished Business"... it was so amazing! I ship Kara/Lee, one of the few het pairings in any show that I really, really adore, but if you think about it, their relationship still does have such a slashy feeling to it!
http://www.katee-sackhoff.org/ has a ton of amazing pictures of Katee (Kara) by the way!
It depends on which Callisto ur talking about. Is it crazy-psycho-I-like-to-burn-things Callisto or is it arch angel Callisto?
um. miss sarah e.
(other sarahs were prothsletizying falseness in versions of other sarahs, but i allow that)
omg other versions of sarahs are allowed. what the?
OK. So I've memorized the list and I'm heading out to convert and recruit.
(Actually I might just take that last group shot with me and point to it - "See? Pretty!" )
hhmmm grace park have you seen her in maxim?
hot damn!!
why is this show not on network tv? it is clearly better than anything else...
music, video, acting, writing
I'm with Fisch: Starbuck, Starbuck, Starbuck… :)
anne cofell saunders writes for that show and she rocks!!
Starbuck frakin' rules.
The fun Callisto aka crazy-psycho-I-like-to-burn-things Callisto :) The other one was a bore... Hmmm, maybe a disfunctional cylon? I would love to see her as Madam President's assistant as well, bullying everyone in protection of her... or a fighterpilot, with sneekattacks on Starbuck?
BSG is the Best.
Just adore starbuck! i would fly a raptor with her any day.
Thank god BSG isn't on network TV. They would frack it up!
GAH!!!!! Fracking hell!! "To be continued" ... DAMMIT!
Now I have over a month to wait *pout*
i was going to write a lengthy and intelligent reply to this lovely article but this seems to suffice..... staaaaarbuck :D yum. oh and the show's good too.
I would get the snot punched out of me any day by Starbuck.
Malinda,
Are you taken? Because if you are not, I'm going to show up outside your window, holding
a Boom Box, and singing "In Your Eyes..", very off-key, at the top of my lungs, if you
are available.
A "Battlestar Galactica" list is beyond hot.
Who wouldn't wanna be Starbucked? More BSG goodness on YouTube, where there's "A New Crew In Town". [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Kve1oGPjf8[/url]
Start watching BSG when Lucy Lawless's in there. it is a great show with ...great story (food for thoughts) and of course , did I say LUCY LAWLESS. haha
i must say, Jamie Bamber is great too, quite different from in person. right and of course I love it when Starbucks kicks some fraking ass!
Ah, the women of BSG!
Love them.
Couldn't this show use a great lesbian character...I think so.
[...] Writing for AfterEllen’s Best Lesbian Day Ever, Melissa Lo shares 10 reasons why she loves Battlestar Galactica yadda [...]
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