New Battlestar Galactica Series - The Brits get it first?!?!

[Mark Fletcher]

Sky One in the UK showed the first episode of the new Battlestar Galactica series. I find this surprising, it was my understanding that the SciFi channel funded the new series and therefore they would get first dibs on screening it.

Apparently not. Well I downloaded a .torrent of it, and I have to say, after Stargate SG-1/Atlantis, its my favourite Sci Fi series. Definitely kicks Enterprise into touch. (*)

Anyone else had a chance to catch the first episode? What did you think?

Mark

(*) Yay! No more Space Nazi's in Enterprise! And hopefully, no more stupid time travel plots either.... well. fingers crossed.

[Jason Menard]

Are you sure it wasn't the same miniseries that has already aired on the SciFi channel? The miniseries, due out on DVD relatively soon, was a prelude to the new series that will be starting early next year I believe.

In any event, if the new series is as good as the miniseries was, it should be outstanding. Something I would have never said about the original series but I will say about this one: Starbuck and Boomer are hot.
[ October 21, 2004: Message edited by: Jason Menard ]

[Jason Menard]

Originally posted by Mark Fletcher:
Well I downloaded a .torrent of it, and I have to say, after Stargate SG-1/Atlantis, its my favourite Sci Fi series.

Did you ever manage to catch the short-lived series Firefly. In my opinion that was the best scifi series to be aired in quite some time. Pity the network screwed it all up (aired it out of order and some other mishaps) and ended up prematurely killing it.

[Gregg Bolinger]

Originally posted by Jason Menard:


Did you ever manage to catch the short-lived series Firefly. In my opinion that was the best scifi series to be aired in quite some time. Pity the network screwed it all up (aired it out of order and some other mishaps) and ended up prematurely killing it.

Firefly was awesome! I wish they would try and bring it back. Another show that got cancled, Miracles I think could have been the next X-Files if they had done it right. But it got cancelled too.
[ October 21, 2004: Message edited by: Gregg Bolinger ]

[Bear Bibeault]

Firefly rocks! Looking forward to the movie ("Serenity") due out (I think) in April or so.

And yes, the Brits are getting the BG series (not the already-aired mini-series) first.

And hopefully, now that the Temporal Cold War snafu has been resolved, Enterprise can be saved.

[Max Habibi]

I picked up Firefly on Jim's recommendation a while ago: amazing stuff, though I noted a similarity between it and Farscape. They seemed to share a cowboys/reneges in space theme, half the cast are really, really hot women, there are some moral ambiguities in the main characters, etc.

I favor Firefly, but that might just be because I was exposed to it first. At any rate, I'm enjoying both these days because I never got a chance to watch them on TV, so I can get them all @ once
[ October 21, 2004: Message edited by: Max Habibi ]

[David O'Meara]

Just to get away from the 'bittorrent misunderstanding' hijack

Originally posted by Max Habibi:
I picked up Firefly on Jim's recommendation a while ago: amazing stuff, though I noted a similarity between it and Farscape. They seemed to share a cowboys/reneges in space theme, half the cast are really, really hot women, there are some moral ambiguities in the main characters, etc.

I favor Firefly, but that might just be because I was exposed to it first. At any rate, I'm enjoying both these days because I never got a chance to watch them on TV, so I can get them all @ once

Did you mention the girls were hot? Oh, right.
I haven't watched enough Farscape to compare, I couldn't get past the 'Muppets in space' aspect of Farscape.

[Jason Menard]

Originally posted by David O'Meara:
Did you mention the girls were hot? Oh, right.

After having watched the various recent Trek incarnations, Farscape, Firefly, and the new Galactica miniseries, as well as others... I think the lesson we can take out of all this is that, in the future, all women are hot.

[Mark Fletcher]

At Jason:

Are you sure it wasn't the same miniseries that has already aired on the SciFi channel? The miniseries, due out on DVD relatively soon, was a prelude to the new series that will be starting early next year I believe.

No this is the proper series that Sci Fi are supposed to be showing in early 2005. Without giving too much away, in the first episode the crew of Galactica have been awake for over 100 hours, with Cylons jumping in and harrassing the fleet every 30 or so minutes. Nerves are frayed to say the least...

Did you ever manage to catch the short-lived series Firefly. In my opinion that was the best scifi series to be aired in quite some time. Pity the network screwed it all up (aired it out of order and some other mishaps) and ended up prematurely killing it.

Unfortunately, to my knowledge, Firefly never made it to the BBC (although it was shown on Sky One). However, now that Im resident in the USA, I'll hopefully catch it on SciFi, or on .torrent

[Richard Hawkes]

Robots and cyborgs based on females will also be hot, if a little psychotic at times.

[Max Habibi]

fembots?

[Jim Yingst]

Re: BG on Sky One: interesting - it does seem unusual that SFC would let someone else air it first, but maybe they weren't the only people funding it. And SFC may have delayed the (US) premiere of their new series to avoid the fall main fall season, when the major networks are figthing hard for ratings.

Well, I liked the minseries, and I'm looking forward to the regular series, but I think I'll wait for the US premiere so I can see it in its full glory.

Re: Firefly: Wow. Jason, Max and I all agree on something. Not to mention Gregg and Bear. DOM is still a godless heretic, but we're working on him...

[DOM]: I couldn't get past the 'Muppets in space' aspect of Farscape.

Sigh. So sad. Did you have this problem with Yoda and E.T. as well?

For what it's worth, the latest Farscape mini has a nice sequence of Rygel done as CGI, not muppet - in full aquatic glory. Turns out he actually is fairly mobile, in the right environment.

I dunno though, I just never did get the hangup about muppets. It's not just DOM, it's a somewhat common complaint about the series from some others as well. Never understood it, myself. Oh well...

[Jason]: I think the lesson we can take out of all this is that, in the future, all women are hot.

Hear, hear! To the future! (Especially Firefly, but Farscape's women get bonus points for attitude.)

Hot women aside, I think Firefly may have been a slightly better show on a per-episode basis, on average - but since Farscape was around longer, it benefits more from a cumulative history effect, for me. Most of the characters went through substantial tranformations over the course of the series, and built up a lot of history with each other. Which yields a rich environment for storytelling. Firefly was doing the same sort of thing, extremely well - but since it got cut off so early, it didn't get to develop as much. Too bad - but who knows what the future may hold, what with the upcoming movie?

[Mark]: Unfortunately, to my knowledge, Firefly never made it to the BBC (although it was shown on Sky One). However, now that Im resident in the USA, I'll hopefully catch it on SciFi, or on .torrent

I don't think SciFi has the rights so far. But the DVD set of the full 14 episodes is available for about $35. Or you could just join netflicks.com and cycle through the set. A good friend of mine buys used CD sets on e-bay, watches them, and turns right around and sells them again on eBay, for about the same price. Generally he can watch most anything, DVD quality, for little more than the cost of postage. Seems to work out pretty well.

So, where in the US are you now, Mark? Welcome!
[ October 22, 2004: Message edited by: Jim Yingst ]

[David O'Meara]

[Jim]: Did you have this problem with Yoda and E.T. as well?
Now that I come to think about it, yes. I thought the Yoda-light-saber-duel was rediculous. I'm quite surprise it annoyed me so much, since I tend to exhibit a high level of 'suspension of disbelief' in movies

I'll have a look for Farscape in the local video store and give it a go. It was mainly the guy in the flying contraption I had the biggest problems with.

I very much hope the 'Serenity' movie manages to resurrect the Firefly series. It looked like there was more to tell in so many areas. What was the Preacher's story?

[Max]: fembots?
Machine gun jubblies? How did I miss those? :roll:

[Bear Bibeault]

Farscape's women get bonus points for attitude

I've always noted that the female roles in Farscape were all written as very strong characters. When D'Argo Jr becomes a teenager, I don't imagine he'll get away with much back-talking to Aeryn.

netflicks.com

It's actually netflix.com (but they do have a reflector for the typo) and it rocks. I'm just about to get the last disc of Season 4 of Farscape, and it's how I watched all of Firefly.

[Mark Fletcher]

Originally posted by Jim Yingst:

So, where in the US are you now, Mark? Welcome!

Hi Jim,

Im in Chicago now. I moved here in August to be with my fiancee, and we got married last month. Its great to be here! At least now I get to see all my favourite Sci-Fi series without having to resort to downloading them or waiting two years for them to come out on terrestrial TV (BBC/ITV/CH4) in the UK!

Mark

[Jason Menard]

Originally posted by Mark Fletcher:
I moved here in August to be with my fiancee, and we got married last month.

Congrats!

[Jim Yingst]

[Jim]: Did you have this problem with Yoda and E.T. as well?

[DOM]: Now that I come to think about it, yes. I thought the Yoda-light-saber-duel was rediculous.

Hey waitaminnit - that doesn't count as a muppet; he was mostly CGI during the duel.

Personally I loved that scene, but I can understand why some people didn't. I think the problem is not so much that Yoda was a muppet or CGI, as the fact that he'd always been portrayed as such a slow-moving old geezer, and suddenly they wanted us to believe he was suddenly a speed demon.

[DOM]: I'll have a look for Farscape in the local video store and give it a go. It was mainly the guy in the flying contraption I had the biggest problems with.

That was Rygel. He didn't actually end up flying around much after the pilot; that turned out to be fairly expensive for them. I think they got better at portraying him realisticly over time, but I'm not sure since I didn't have a problem with him to begin with. I guess I can't really speak to that concern. He's a good character, though.

[DOM]: It looked like there was more to tell in so many areas. What was the Preacher's story?

I'm guessing he was an officer in the Alliance military during the war - say, a colonel. Probably had a personal involvement in the battle of Serenity Valley, and was deemed a war hero by the victors. Overcome by grief for his actions, he retired and entered the priesthood.

That's a guess partly informed by the way the Alliance officers react when the learn who he is, and partly by making guesses based on what would lead to the most interesting conflicts within the crew when the truth is finally revealed. Joss Whedon puts his characters through all sorts of abuse, after all.

Ron Glass rules, by the way.

[Bear]: I've always noted that the female roles in Farscape were all written as very strong characters.

Very true.

[Bear]: When D'Argo Jr becomes a teenager, I don't imagine he'll get away with much back-talking to Aeryn.

No indeed. Then again, you could probably say the same of Zoe and Wash's kid, if they had one. Aeryn vs. Zoe would be a good fight, if it were possible.

[Jason]: Congrats!

Yes, Mark - congratulations on gaining access to the Sci Fi Channel!

What - was Jason talking about something else?