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Time Names Battlestar Galactica Show Of The Year 520

Posted by Zonk from the probably-because-it-is dept.
szyzyg writes "Time Magazine's Television Critic James Poniewozik has put Battlestar Galactica at the top of his list of the Best TV Shows from 2005. His summary starts off 'Most of you probably think this entry has got to be a joke. The rest of you have actually watched the show.'"
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Time Names Battlestar Galactica Show Of The Year More

Time Names Battlestar Galactica Show Of The Year

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  • Another Note About The List... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by gasmonso ( 929871 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @05:35PM (#14347756) Homepage

    6 out of 10 shows on the list are cable/satellite only and of those, 2 are on pay channels only. Can the big networks like ABC, CBS, and NBC compete anymore? It seems like the talent has moved elsewhere and the big three are caving in under their own weight.

    http://religiousfreaks.com/ [religiousfreaks.com]
    • I dunno man... I think Wife Swap has some serious potential...

      *ahem*

    • Re:Another Note About The List... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Luscious868 ( 679143 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @05:50PM (#14347898)
      It seems like the talent has moved elsewhere and the big three are caving in under their own weight.

      It's about risk taking. The major networks simply aren't willing to take risks. They wait for the latest flavor of the month and then rush to copy it. A million versions of CSI, a million versions of Law and Order, a million reality shows. The big three have become a joke. ABC is the only network of the big three that has non-news related shows that I bother to TiVo anymore. Fox, FX, Sci-Fi and HBO are where it's at now. FX has to be my favorite network in terms of original programming. The Shield, Rescue Me and Nip / Tuck are great shows and Thief looks promising. HBO would be next in line with Deadwood, Rome, Curb Your Enthusiam and The Soporanos (which should end after this season ... talk about dragging things out .. but it's still better than 80% of the other shows on TV).

    • 6 out of 10 shows on the list are cable/satellite only and of those, 2 are on pay channels only. Can the big networks like ABC, CBS, and NBC compete anymore?

      I would personally argue that LOST is the best show on any network, and it's not on this list. The more you watch it, the better it gets... and it's already good on first viewing.

      A year ago, I'd have put Desperate Housewives up there too (though no longer).

      Both of those are ABC shows, and I think they prove that the major nets can and do still produce
    • That still leaves 40% as standard broadcast. When I look at my cable listing, the networks aren't 40% of the channels. I'd say they're doing ok.

    • Re:Another Note About The List... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by beforewisdom ( 729725 ) on Wednesday December 28, 2005 @08:47AM (#14351223)
      Cable TV is quite different than when it first came out. When I have access to it cable seems to be very similar to what broadcast tv used to be. Mostly crap with a few bright spots. Now they have commercials too, as well as calls for "standards"(censorship). It seems like cable has much of the type of content broadcast used to have ( minus some provocative things). It is all just moving from one place to another with the big difference being that people now have to pay for the crap they used to watch for free. The hope is that cable tv will be more responsive to viewers...nothing speaks as loud as people letting subscriptions lapse. Then again, I can't see Joe Average giving up television no matter how much he complains about it.

  • And most importantly... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Tackhead ( 54550 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @05:36PM (#14347766)
    > Adapted from a cheesy '70s Star Wars clone of the same name, Galactica (returning in January) is a ripping sci-fi allegory of the war on terror, complete with religious fundamentalists (here, genocidal robots called Cylons), sleeper cells, civil-liberties crackdowns and even a prisoner-torture scandal.

    ...and most importantly, instead of being guys in clunky robot suits who sound like they're talking through fans, many of the Cylons are teh hawtness. Who is Number One? She is Number Six, and she beats Seven of Nine hands-down.

    Attention authors of lesbian slash fanfic, that is not an invitation to depict... or is it?

    • 6 is on Tripping the Rift another fine show. And being animated, there is physical limit to what she can do.

  • Maybe now they'll get more than 10 episodes/season (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Cat_Byte ( 621676 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @05:36PM (#14347769) Journal
    I love this show. Battlestar is the only show in the last 10 years I have watched every episode of. It was disappointing to see mini-series + 13 episodes being season 1 then only getting 10 more for season 2.0. I really hope they get some budgeting to do more episodes now.

  • A pleasant suprise (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ChowRiit ( 939581 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @05:37PM (#14347771)
    This is definately a pleasant suprise - I personally think that Battlestar Galactica was remade with class, care and just the right ammount of respect. The show neither attempted to please everyone like so many do (then fall on their faces as bland clones), nor did it attempt to remain 100% true to the original and thus dated itself. It was a well deserved award, for a good peice of science fiction.

  • The sad part is... (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    ...that it probably is the best TV show. Have you seen the other stuff - at least the ones that men can watch? The only other good shows I can think of in the US market are "reality" Discovery shows like Mythbusters, Monster Garage and the one where they build custom motorcycles (and I am not a gearhead at all but there is something satisfying about watching someone create a machine by hand).

    The Simpsons went downhill after Conan left and they shipped all their animation to Asia.
  • Congratulations to the whole team at BSG!

  • Lost? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by antdude ( 79039 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @05:42PM (#14347824) Homepage Journal
    Where's Lost [go.com]? That's another great show! :(
    • Lost was a breath of fresh air for network TV (I don't have cable), which I discovered via Slashdot, whose first season I caught up with using Bittorrent, and whose first season DVD set I will still probably buy in the near future.

      Unfortunately, it has gone a little downhill in the second season. But IMHO it's still good scifi drama.

    • Re:Lost? (Score:5, Informative)

      by RonnyJ ( 651856 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @05:54PM (#14347943)
      I would also put forward 'Arrested Development' and 'Veronica Mars' as great shows that deserve to be on that list.
    • This is a list of best new shows of 2005. Lost Started in 2003]
      BSG started his run in January of 2005

    • Re:Lost? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by drsquare ( 530038 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @06:58PM (#14348407)
      Perhaps he saw through the shallow attempt to string people along watching thousands of empty episodes with nothing happening, with each minor plot point stretched out for an hour, and the obligatory bit of 'scary' music at the end of every scene to try and make the viewer think it's exciting. Not to mention endless unjustified hype and a new 'mystery' introduced every episode just to keep people from switching over.

      Lost is what happens when the marketing suits are in charge of writing the script. Cynical TV at its worst.

      • Re:Lost? (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Deagol ( 323173 )
        Just curious... did you have the same opinion of Twin Peaks, or was that before your time?

        Peaks was one of those shows you either loved or hated. The whole yuppies eating donuts fad at Peaks Parties was pretty damned lame, but I thought the show had some real depth for its time. It strung people along to solve the mystery, and pioneered the concept of an episode representing a discrete increment of time (1 episode = 1 day in Twin Peaks), like 24 did years later. If only Season 2 would make it to DVD...

    • Re:Lost? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Dadoo ( 899435 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @06:59PM (#14348421) Journal
      Where's Lost? That's another great show!

      Umm, yeah, whatever.

      I watched every episode in the first season, where they built up mystery upon mystery upon mystery. That's fine, but at some point, you have to solve the mystery. I figured they'd answer most of the questions in the season finale, but no, they just made up more questions. At this point, we still don't have any clue what's going on - whether the doctor is dreaming the whole thing, or they're subjects of an experiment, or they're actually lost on a tropical island.

      Personally, I think the writers don't have a clue, either. They probably only wrote enough for the first season and they didn't expect the show to become popular. When it was very popular, they got caught off-guard and now they're scrambling to keep up.
      • at some point, you have to solve the mystery

        You're telling this to the crowd who watched x-files. Talk about preaching to the deaf.

    • Re:Lost? (Score:4, Informative)

      by nwbvt ( 768631 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @07:09PM (#14348478)
      Lost won in 2004, you know, the year it came out.

  • Umm, Stargate? (Score:3, Funny)

    by metlin ( 258108 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @05:42PM (#14347830) Journal

    I'm surprised that neither Stargate SG-1 nor Atlantis are on the list.

    Personally, Stargate beats BSG anyday.
    • As a HUGE stargate fan (who's seen every episode of SG-1 and Atlantis) I have to whole heartedly disagree with you there. Battlestar Galactica's some of the finest acting, storytelling, and graphics I've seen on any show to hit the air waves.

      • Re:Umm, Stargate? (Score:3, Insightful)

        by EvilSS ( 557649 )
        As another big SG fan, I have to agree. SG just lacks the drama of BSG. SG is a fun show but it can't compete with BSG as far as story and acting. SG is sci-fi, BSG is drama in a sci-fi world.

    • Re:Umm, Stargate? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Dadoo ( 899435 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @07:21PM (#14348541) Journal
      Personally, Stargate beats BSG anyday.

      Not the last season, that's for sure. I don't know what they're trying to do, introducing another "invincible enemy", at this point.

      Come on, Stargate writers, it's time to reveal the stargate to the public. All the social, political, and economic fallout would give you at least another two seasons' worth of material. Then, re-visit a bunch of the planets we've been to before and let's see if SG-1 made things better. (What happened to O'Neil's child, for instance?)

      Anyway, I'm afraid this might be the last season for SG-1, and that would be disappointing.

  • It kind of grows on you (Score:5, Interesting)

    by earthforce_1 ( 454968 ) <earthforce_1@y[ ]o.com ['aho' in gap]> on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @05:42PM (#14347832) Journal
    I thought it would stink when I read about the changes they had made to the original such as making Starbuck a woman, but it has turned out to be pretty good overall. There are a few things I wish they hadn't changed. There was something I like about those polished chrome Cylons, and the old fighters. (Both Cylon and Colonia)

    And after watching the original series again for the first time in over 20 years, it wasn't nearly as good as I remember - even the first season before it started going south. (I won't even mention Galactica 1980) I was only 12 or so at the time the originals came out, so my standards in entertainment were probably lower. On a negative note, I would swear both original and new series must have been sponsored by a tobacco company.

    I hope next season will be still showing on weekends in HD.

    I wonder when the six million dollar man remake comes out?

    • $6 million man (Score:5, Funny)

      by rodentia ( 102779 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @05:53PM (#14347937)

      I wonder when the six million dollar man remake comes out?

      We can rebuild him.

    • At 12 years old, your standards are low. I used to love Buck Rogers (in the twenty-somethingth century). Recently I taped an episode off cable and couldn't make it through five minutes. Bad acting, bad effects, bad story. What was I thinking?

    • Re:It kind of grows on you (Score:4, Funny)

      by Crudely_Indecent ( 739699 ) * on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @06:20PM (#14348139) Journal
      I'm with you. I didn't even want to see the new BSG when I heard about it. The old one was cheesy enough...sure, I liked it as a kid...but the original Dr Baltar INVENTED the notion of a cliche villan. So, my sister-in-law talked me into watching the rerun of the pilot episode and I fell in love with it. I haven't missed an episode since. I totally dig that Starbuck is a woman.

      Six Million Dollar Man remake though? Uh....no thanks!

      With inflation the way it has been since the "Six Million Dollar Man" was aired, it would need to be the "60 Gajillion Dollar Man" to have the same impact. Otherwise, you'll have a show about a guy wearing a Mens Warehouse suit who had knee surgury and a facelift...and drives a Hummer. Those guys are a dime a dozen these days.

      Give me an underdog....I want to see the "28 Cent Man".... A guy who saves the day...every day from his secret lair (refrigerator box) in the alley behind a supermarket. He doesn't have nifty gadgets....he's got a pink backpack with only one strap and a pickle jar (no, that isn't a pickle inside), and a torn zip lock bag filled with cigarette butts. His secret weapon? - Halitosis and Lyce.

    • Re:It kind of grows on you (Score:5, Funny)

      by Guppy06 ( 410832 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @07:01PM (#14348434)
      "And after watching the original series again for the first time in over 20 years, it wasn't nearly as good as I remember"

      Someone on a mailing list I used to be on summed it up like this:

      New: Run away, they're right behind us!
      Old: Run away, they're... oooh, a space casino!
  • I also hope they get more episodes for the next season. Ten eps left me feeling a bit wanting at the end. I'm glad the SciFi channel is starting to get some recognition for their attention to detail and great writing for this series.
  • He writes: "The basic-cable budget sometimes shows in the production..."

    Um... seriously, where did he see this?
    • All I can think of are the frequent re-use of stock effects shots, which are admittedly expensive. The corridor set is also reused extensively, and for people who pay attention to such things, I guess it could be annoying. Personally, I'm usually too interested in the story to notice when a set's been redressed.

  • I admit I was a hater (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I had never seen the show. Thought that remakes of pedestrian 70's shows and sci-fi channels universally shabby line-up and platinum-blond cylons meant this show would suck hard. I was wrong. BSG is what would happen if Steven Bochco or David E Kelly decided to do sci-fi. Fine dramatic episodic TV with character arcs that would span months or even years. And the back story of the sucky original actually makes a perfect stage for current events lessons without being Star Trek preachy (or so obvious since the

  • No Arrested Development? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by That's Unpossible! ( 722232 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @05:48PM (#14347886)
    C'mon. Prison Break?

  • Wrong List.. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by SnarfQuest ( 469614 )
    Shouldn't all 10 entries be "reality TV". With the way all the networks push this type of show, you'd expect them to be absolute chart-toppers. Shouldn't a show like "Who Wants To Eat A Bug" (aka "Fear Factor") be at #1?

  • No Arrested Development? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by RonnyJ ( 651856 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @05:52PM (#14347915)
    No Arrested Development? It's the funniest and most clever sitcom I've seen for many years, but, sadly, it just doesn't get the public recognition it deserves.

  • What? No "Stacked" !?!?? (Score:4, Funny)

    by drdanny_orig ( 585847 ) * on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @05:54PM (#14347948)
    The finest pair of performers since Uncle Miltie's falsies!

  • Love the show, no rewatchability (Score:5, Insightful)

    by rwhamann ( 598229 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @06:06PM (#14348040)

    I love the show and catch every episode, but many episodes just don't stand up for a second viewing. Not all of them - 33 and Water I must have watched 5 times the first week after I saw them the first time. Others - eehhhh, not so much.

    Someone else mentioned Simpsons. The first season, my roommates and I recorded every episode. As soon as the episode finshed, we would rewind it and watch it again. We must have watched "The Babysitter Bandit" episode 4 times that night.

    No show since has had that level of rewatchability, and I doubt another one will.

  • House, MD. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Sawopox ( 18730 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @06:06PM (#14348042) Homepage Journal
    For the Slashdot crowd, I was expecting a few comments here and there about the above show.

    If you've never watched it, House MD is an excellent show. The writing is biting and sarcastic, especially from the title character. The acting is excellent, they frequently show wicked CGI surgery goodies, exploding orgrans, pus-spewing ulcers, etc.

    House also has a wicked Vicodin habit, his boss is a h4wt13 to boot. It's on tonight on Fox, at 9PM EST.

    (No, I do not work for Fox, but will accept per-diem payments if they so choose.)

    • Re:House, MD. (Score:4, Interesting)

      by beeplet ( 735701 ) <beeplet@gmail.com> on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @07:01PM (#14348433) Journal
      I agree, House is my favourite show on TV.

      At one point last year the plots started to feel a little formulaic (person nearly dies, repeat until 5 minutes before the end of show, then House figures it out and saves the day) but they have been getting better about that this season. The thing that really makes it a great show is the acting and the snappy dialogue. Also, unlike LOST and 24, the other 2 shows I watch, each epsiode actually has a satisfying resolution instead of unending cliffhangers. (A cliffhanger once in a while is fun, but when it's every week it gets annoying!)

  • this one time... (Score:5, Funny)

    by davez0r ( 717539 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @06:12PM (#14348088)
    ...my girlfriend called me a dork for ditching her to watch battlestar galactica. i said, "you think i'm a dork now? just wait until i start a friendster group dedicated to battlestar galactica where i'm the only member!" so that's what i did.

    long story short: i can feel battlestar galactica's ownage with all of my body. yes, even my pepe!

    • ...my girlfriend called me a dork for ditching her to watch battlestar galactica.

      Ok, this is Slashdot so we know the story is false. You watch BSG and post here...and have a girlfriend?

      Next time try something more believeable, pal.

  • Catch "The Colbert Report" (Score:3, Informative)

    by jgoemat ( 565882 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @06:14PM (#14348097)
    That is one awesome show. I still chuckle every time the show starts. The camera leers at Steven as he turns to it with the sound of an eagle screeching loudly. He's supposed to be ultra-conservative, but he is so over-the-top it is obvious he is making fun of it. For example, he explained how think tanks are good, and one of them sponsors the show. He then goes on to show one of their videos on oil, which shows a jungle setting with a dinosaur and human fighting with the voiceover "5,000 years ago..."

  • Best of a Weak Lot (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Zobeid ( 314469 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @06:14PM (#14348103)
    BSG just might be the best TV show these days, and there's a strong argument that it's the best science fiction show of recent years. That's a sad commentary on the state of SF TV, because BSG isn't great. It's good, but also has some serious shortcomings. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it about a 6. It just seems wonderful because few other SF shows ever score higher than about 3.

    Put another way. . . It's worth watching, but there's a lot of room for improvement.

  • THAT (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Mad Ogre ( 564694 ) <ogre@ m a d o gre.com> on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @06:15PM (#14348114) Homepage
    That is what they should have said about "Firefly".

    • I used to love BSG (Score:4, Interesting)

      by ibentmywookie ( 819547 ) on Tuesday December 27, 2005 @08:53PM (#14349096)
      ... until I watched Firefly. After watching Firefly, I realised that I didn't really care about any of the characters in BSG. I'm not all that excited about the new episodes of BSG, but if new Firefly episodes were being made I would be counting down the days in anticipation.

      I'll still watch BSG, but it's not as good as other sci fi shows in recent history.

  • Tiki Bar TV (Score:3, Insightful)

    by zaxus ( 105404 ) on Wednesday December 28, 2005 @12:56AM (#14350113)
    I call bullshit. Clearly the show of the year is Tiki Bar TV [tikibartv.com]. Goddamn critics.

  • I found the cylon detector (Score:5, Funny)

    by hikerhat ( 678157 ) on Wednesday December 28, 2005 @03:50AM (#14350553)

    So, I've only watched the first season so far. Or most of it anyway. For those of you who've seen all the episodes:
    Have the humans figured out that if you want to find out if someone is a cylon they can exploit the cylon's major design flaw? You just fuck them doggie style and see if their back starts to glow? Or do they fuck "ride 'em cowboy style" in every episode? Is that how much life in the future will suck? No more doggie style? Then the future humans deserve to be killed off by the cylons.

    Anyway, the cylons don't seem like a real formidable enemy, if they designed themselves to be undetectable in every way except, oops, the massive glowing red virgin alarms embedded in their spines.

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