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Battlestar Galactica Season 2 Premiere 492

Posted by Zonk from the watch-for-cylons dept.
fanblade writes "As if slashdotters needed another reason to stay home on a Friday night, the 20-episode second season of Battlestar Galactica premieres tonight at 10/9C on the Sci Fi Channel. The series, a 're-imagining' of the original 1978 TV series by the same name, made history as the highest-rated original Sci Fi Channel program ever. The first episode of the second season, 'Scattered', won't be televised in the UK until October, but I seriously doubt that will be a problem for the show that 'killed broadcast TV'. There's also excellent coverage on Wikipedia for those eager to brush up or catch up on the first season."
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Battlestar Galactica Season 2 Premiere More

Battlestar Galactica Season 2 Premiere

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  • Don't forget to tune in at 8/7C for the start of Stargate SG1 and Atlantis as well! SciFi is running THREE FULL HOURS of rockin' new shows today! From their site [scifi.com]:
    08:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (SEASON 9) AVALON - PT 1
    09:00 PM STARGATE ATLANTIS (SEASON 2) THE SIEGE - PT 3
    10:00 PM BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (SEASON 2) SCATTERED
    And if you miss it the first time, you can tune in immediately afterwards to catch the same linup again!
    11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (SEASON 9) AVALON - PT 1
    12:00 AM STARGATE ATLANTIS (SEASON 2) THE SIEGE - PT 3
    01:00 AM BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (SEASON 2) SCATTERED
    My only question is, what's up with the Friday slots? Aren't those slots where shows usually die?
    • My only question is, what's up with the Friday slots? Aren't those slots where shows usually die?

      I think it depends on the demographic you are after. I don't think they are shooting for 18-24 year partiers;-)

      • My only question is, what's up with the Friday slots? Aren't those slots where shows usually die? I think it depends on the demographic you are after. I don't think they are shooting for 18-24 year partiers;-)

        Well, back when I was 18 to 24. I didn't leave the HOUSE until 11pm. Now that I am older and wiser, I have trouble staying awake past 10pm.

        Oh, Sci-Fi Channel, Why do you do this to me???? Change the time slot to 9pm! Then I can stay awake.

    • Not with Tivo. :)

      I'll probably "miss" them tonight but I'll watch em tommorow.
    • And if you miss it the first time, you can tune in immediately afterwards to catch the same linup again!

      Well, I'll probably be watching BSG at 10pm, but I already have the Tivo set for 11pm. It's Battle Mackerel [foodnetwork.com] on the Iron Chef. Michiba is such a bastard. I hope he loses, big time.

    • Re:Also Stargate SG1 & Atlantis! (Score:4, Funny)

      by angrist ( 787928 ) on Friday July 15, 2005 @01:44PM (#13075036)
      It works out great for me at school:

      8:00 - SG-1 starts, sit down and crack a beer
      8:30 - Commercials, order delivery for diner (mmmm dumplings), beer #2
      9:00 - Atlantis starts, food arrives, beer #3
      10:00 - BSG starts, throw leftovers in fridge, beer #4
      10:30 - Commercials, change into 'outside' clothes / brush teeth, etc. beer #5
      11:00 - Sci-Fi friday over, full stomach, nice buzz, ready to hit the town

      All in all it's not a bad routine for a friday, not that much in the party scene at school gets going before 10:30 - 11 anyway.
      • 11:00 - Sci-Fi friday over, full stomach, nice buzz, ready to hit the town

        Sounds like an ideal evening. However, at my age, I substitute "bed" for "town", and add "If I can get the toddlers to bed before 8 at the beginning". :)
    • A lot of factors go to the social makeup of who watches TV throughout the week. I think however the factor that sci-fi tapped into that's not sociological is the fact that all the other networks put crap on friday anyway.

      On the other days there might be good shows a geek wants to watch. Don't make me pick between galactica and CSI, that would kill me to have to chose only one or the other. CSI wins out over stargate in my mind too, so why pick a fight you can't win?

      So given a choice between crap and a

      • Re:Friday's are throw away slots (Score:5, Informative)

        by maxpublic ( 450413 ) on Friday July 15, 2005 @02:47PM (#13075746) Homepage
        Don't make me pick between galactica and CSI, that would kill me to have to chose only one or the other.

        Good geeks know of this mystical device called "the VCR", which can record one show while you watch another. In fact, just about everyone knows about the mighty VCR, and owns one to boot!

        But even better geeks know of "BitTorrent", for those times when you forget to set the VCR. Or for catching up on shows that you didn't clue in on until the second or third season. This is how my wife and I got up to speed on West Wing, Alias, and yes - even CSI! Without BitTorrent to provide the seasons we'd missed (not big TV fans) we'd never have watched the shows on regular TV. We hate jumping into shows mid-stream.

        Of course, we didn't bother with BitTorrent until BSG aired in Britain. That was the straw that broke the camel's back for us. But once we took the leap...well, there's really no going back. We watch more TV now than we have in decades. If we happen to miss an episode, so what? We can always catch it with a download and be on track again before the next week's episode airs.

        No doubt the network goons will soon be kicking in my door for these public admissions. It won't matter that we watch MORE TV now, only that we've used BitTorrent in acts of "piracy"....

        Max

    • Re:Also Stargate SG1 & Atlantis! (Score:4, Funny)

      by millahtime ( 710421 ) on Friday July 15, 2005 @02:03PM (#13075256) Homepage Journal
      Geeks don't have social lives and tend to stay in and watch these shows. I am one of them :-)
    • It's sci-fi friday!
    • Quality sci-fi does quite well on Friday nights thank you very much.

    • Yup. After all, the original Star Trek was moved to Friday nights in the 60s.

  • The classics preventing innovation? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by CyricZ ( 887944 ) on Friday July 15, 2005 @01:21PM (#13074767)
    Lately there has a been a resurgence of classic sci-fi shows, such as this and Dr Who. While it is great to see younger audiences exposed to such fantastic television programming, I have to wonder what effect this will have on new sci-fi shows. Will we just keep rehashing the old (but classig and very good) series, or will new ideas and new series be able to develop? Will enough resources be spent by the networks and studios to promote the creation of new series, rather than just cloning the previous ones?
    • Nah, it appears to be cyclical, just as the last few boxoffice productions out of Hollywood have been remakes (can anyone believe they remade Herbie?).

      • can anyone believe they remade Herbie?

        For the record, they didn't remake Herbie. They merely picked up the series sometime after it last ended. But yes, I am annoyed that Disney is messing with my childhood memories.

        the last few boxoffice productions out of Hollywood have been remakes

        FWIW, the best of these is probably Batman Begins. If you haven't seen this movie, GO SEE IT NOW. All the previous Batman movies were lame, but this one was an absolute RIDE from beginning to end! The characters are beli
        • Not to mention that the Chicago vistas (presented as "Gotham City") are a great alternative to the constant New York/Time Square vistas we always see in movies.

          Reading the old comics, I always imagined Gotham as a Great Lakes city along the lines of Detroit or Chicago, rather than New York. I think there was a reason why DC chose to use fictional cities like "Metropolis" and "Gotham." I never thought they were supposed to be nearly as directly analogous to LA and NYC as some people choose to think.
          • I never thought they were supposed to be nearly as directly analogous to LA and NYC as some people choose to think.

            Gotham was a New York-like city, but Metropolis was actually supposed to be a Chicago-like city. i.e. The city itself is expansive, but it's surrounded by areas of farmland and the like. That's Illinois to a 'T' once you get out of Chicago. (Which is damned hard to do in a timely fashion. Chicago is BIG.)

    • Nothing new under the sun... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Skyshadow ( 508 ) * on Friday July 15, 2005 @01:28PM (#13074856) Homepage
      Did you hear that Shakeswhatever fellow is remaking the "Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet"? And that was already a remake of "Mariotto and Gianozza", fer chrissake.

      I wish these London playhouses would spend enough resources to bring in some truly creative people and get some new ideas rather than just rehashing the same old stories over and over and over again. I mean, really, how many more beatings can this dead horse really take?

    • star gate was an original sci-fi idea that spurred two tv shows... very good shows at that.

      don't know what I will do without Richard Dean Anderson's (Jack O'Neil) comedy :-(

    • Re:The classics preventing innovation? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Wubby ( 56755 ) on Friday July 15, 2005 @01:39PM (#13074981) Homepage Journal
      I generally agree your point about rehashing old shows into todays fodder, and not just scifi. Movies can't seem to come up with anything new either.

      BUT (huge but)

      This show is the exception. After watching this, seeing the old show would be like watching a disney version of "A Clockwork Orange". The new BSG is so much more than the old show. I'm sorry, Glen Larsen had great ideas, but the production never lived up. This is how the show should have been done from the beginning! Dramatic, epic, lots of intrigue and suspense.

      And I don't think Dr. Who is a remake. More of a continuation. There have been, like, a bajillion of those guys. I think the BBC just took it out of mothballs and brushed it off. Kinda like what "Enterprise" was to "Star Trek".
  • I got through watching most of the series in High Definition on the Universal HD channel. (Never saw it on SCIFI.) So I'm very used to watching the series in high definition. But now, I see the new season is on SCIFI, which is standard definition.

    How long will it be until the new season hits Universal HD? I'm trying to judge if it is worth waiting or if I should take the plunge and watch it without all the detail to see it early.

  • Favorite complaint (Score:5, Funny)

    by Magnusite ( 526038 ) on Friday July 15, 2005 @01:23PM (#13074795)
    My favorite complaint about the series (I haven't seen it) came from a friend of mine the other day.

    "Starbuck is supposed to be a womanizing man, not a womanizing woman!

  • The soundtracks for the miniseries and season 1 are both available if (like me) you really enjoyed the angry drums.

  • Podcast commentary (Score:5, Informative)

    by tycage ( 96002 ) <tycage@gmail.com> on Friday July 15, 2005 @01:33PM (#13074905) Homepage
    Also, don't forget the Podcast [scifi.com] of commentary that is available for the episode.

  • Friday night at 10?! (Score:5, Funny)

    by mapmaker ( 140036 ) on Friday July 15, 2005 @01:37PM (#13074955)
    It's almost like they want us to download the torrent instead of tuning it to watch.
    • It's almost like they want us to download the torrent instead of tuning it to watch.

      I'm interested in seeing if the download numbers are the same as last season.

      We've lost a few easy-to-use torrent sites since last season. Yeah, there are still other sites out there, but they're far less public, and their websites suck as far as usability.

  • wow (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    this site really is news for nerds!

  • am i the only one? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by djdavetrouble ( 442175 ) on Friday July 15, 2005 @01:40PM (#13074990) Homepage
    Season 1 was so dark and depressing that I could only make it through the first 3 episodes. Thankfully I found dr who to fill my sci-fi fix. Also the 'verite' style camera work didn't work for me.
  • I thought BSG was going to NBC?
    • It was on NBC, but only as a review of season 1. I'm not sure if they'll continue running reruns, but the play time that it did get is basically a setup for the new season. It was actually last week that they ran the shows. It's a good marketing strategy I think even if the new stuff is only on SciFi.
    • Thanks, I'm glad I'm not the only one who could have sworn he saw a commercial for this show on network TV.

      Is it being shown on both?

      Not that I truly care, as I don't watch it. Its main problem being it looks not a damn bit like the original BSG, which while corny, I grew up with.

      If there's not a cylon with a cylclops red eye, you can kiss my daggit.

      • I, too, grew up with it. I had BSG wallpaper (yes, real paper on the walls for you young'ns) and suspended a bunch of models from my ceiling by fishing line depicting battle scenes in my bedroom.

        I've tried to watch the new version, and I continue to TiVO it, but I can't get beyond how they totally gave up on SciFi and just decided that the cylons "have evolved to look like us". WTF? They're just actors getting paid once to act in two different roles! I enjoy how dark it is, how maneuverable the fighters ar

  • Galactica 1980 (Score:3, Funny)

    by topgeek ( 864279 ) <topgeek@geekoftheday.com> on Friday July 15, 2005 @01:45PM (#13075053) Homepage
    I can't wait for the "reimagining" of Galactica 1980...oh wait, yes I can.

  • Who Cares? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by eno2001 ( 527078 ) on Friday July 15, 2005 @01:46PM (#13075058) Homepage Journal
    I Won't be happy until I see the new series of Doctor Who premiered in the U.S. Canadians are lucky because they've already seen Doctor Who 2005 series 1 and they're slated for series 2 as well. We have to suffer the crap that our networks spew at us and SciFi is certainly no saviour. They program the worst SciFi (all action masquerading as science fiction) I've ever seen in my life. I mean, come on!!! Mansquito? Give me a f*cking break! Where is the thinking man's SciFi channel? I'm sick of all these macho programs that SciFI puts on claiming to be science fiction. Science fiction is not about wars, and guns and action. It's about using your mind and technology to solve problems in a world that is almost but not entirely like your own. Philip K. Dick did the best science fiction and SciFi repeatedly shits all over his stuff.

  • vivid memory of childhood (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 15, 2005 @01:46PM (#13075067)
    That night in 1978 that Battlestar Glactica premired, they were showing the movie King Kong on another network. It was a very big night for tv when I was kid. But then disaster struck:

    They interrupted both shows because Isreal and Egypt were signing a peace agreement. And my mom sent me to bed.

    Egypt and Isreal had been fighting for hundreds of years... couldn't they have waited one more day? Think of the children.
    • they also were suppose to show the alien buffet table with exotic foods, but forgot to film it. after star wars the previous year, i remember looking forward to cool sci fi on tv.

      i can't watch the current show. the damn handheld-look gives me motion-sickness

  • It almost makes me want to watch TV again (Score:3, Interesting)

    by gearmonger ( 672422 ) on Friday July 15, 2005 @01:49PM (#13075094)
    "As if slashdotters needed another reason to stay home on a Friday night..."

    Ouch, that hit kinda close to home.

    Of course, with TiVoToGo, "watching TV" is just another label for me sitting in front of my laptop. *sigh*

    But seriously (?), the new show is excellent -- give it a try if you can find the spare hour here or there.

  • Dammit! (Score:2, Funny)

    by cavemanf16 ( 303184 )
    My frickin' MythTV box isn't up and running yet!!! I've still got to recompile the kernel three times, reinstall lirc drivers twice, and then wipe the drive and reinstall Gentoo all over again before I can successfully record BG for my Saturday morning viewing pleasure!!

  • Can I pick this up... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Skynet ( 37427 ) on Friday July 15, 2005 @01:49PM (#13075103) Homepage
    Without having seen the first season (yet)?

    I've heard nothing but good things about this show and I want to start watching it!
    • You could, but it would be difficult. Last season ended on a MAJOR cliffhanger. The final minutes of the final episode were so unexpected that I actually yelled at the TV. But it is an incredibly compelling series. I'd suggest taping/tivoing this episode and seeing if you can download the others to watch first. or read the episode summaries.

  • Wikipedia Page Trashed (Score:4, Interesting)

    by excyl ( 685679 ) <excyl.m@gm[ ].com ['ail' in gap]> on Friday July 15, 2005 @01:50PM (#13075111)
    /. flamebait have already trashed the wikipedia page linked in the news post. It now contains an attempt to spoil the latest Harry Potter book for those that care.

    Maybe we should try locking any wikipedia pages before actually releasing the news post into the /. wild?

  • Good thing I ordered ComCast DVR!
  • To see if they explain how the humans killed "the Gods", and who the gods were anyway.

  • I believe this is the best show on tv period. The budget for it must be huge, hopefully it will continue to pull in the viewers and SCI-FI won't need to cut production value. Beats the hell out of watching like 4 different versions of CSI and law and order.
  • OK, the question I need to ask myself is: do I download the hi definition torrents in a couple of hours, or do I wait a year or two until they show up here in standard definition.

    Yeah, it's a tough one, I know...

  • Budget (Score:2, Insightful)

    by 1ivewire ( 849254 )
    If only Stargate had a budget like Galactica, then we would really see some great sci-fi. As it stands, we have to watch a show that must conserve their gate splash scenes to cut costs.

    It still doesn't get any better than Sci-fi Friday.

    • Galactica is a bit better (SPOILER-Season 1) (Score:5, Interesting)

      by katharsis83 ( 581371 ) on Friday July 15, 2005 @02:37PM (#13075635)
      I actually prefer it this way.

      I've watched some Stargate Atlantis, but could never stick with it. There's no moral ambiguity in the show; the main character, the Colonel, responds to everything with a clear-cut moral choice. Everything has to be done based on principle - no compromise with reality, and it always seems to work out in their favor.

      Battlestar Galactica portrays things in a much more "gray" way, forcing characters to make terrible choices where there's no morally superior answer (i.e. in "33" when they blow up the Olympic Carrier). This, mixed in with the Cylons looking like humans, feeling like humans, makes the entire of the show even more amigious, which is what sets it apart from most of the other shows on TV. There's no clear cut enemy - no clear "us" and "them," and thus, much more realistic. Even with the advanced technology/sci-fi nature of the show, it manages to portray human behavior/moral dilemmas much more realistically than the mainstream shows set in the present time on Earth.

      I'll paraphrase a quote I heard from somewhere, "I'd rather watch plausible human behavior in an implausible setting than watch implausible human behavior in a plausible setting."
  • Another season I can only see half of.

    Come on, finish the DVD set already will ya! Its the only way I will end up seeing all of it.

    Friday nights are just not a slot I can reliably have in front of the TV. Miss one episode and I am screwed for the season.
  • My sister in law will marry tomorrow, and I will be stuck at a loud, dull, family party tonight. The cool thin is I plan on using SG-1 as my reason for going home. I told my wife about this plan and she said she would prefer to watch SG-1 as well. Yeay! I can ditch the party at 9:00!
  • Anyone know if (when?) season 2 airs in Canada?
    • 2 Stories Bashing MS
    • 1 Story Bashing SCO
    • 1 Story Commending OSS Unity
    • 1 Story (Unrelatedly) Linked Star Wars

    All we needed was one on Battlestar Gallactica... thanks Slashdot!!!

  • The Weapons are realistic (Score:5, Insightful)

    by dmh20002 ( 637819 ) on Friday July 15, 2005 @02:27PM (#13075500)
    One thing I really like about BSG is that the weapons are realistic and the visual effects are outstanding. The missile salvos are really really cool. Unlike Star Trek, Star Wars and SG-1, the BSG folks use guided weapons. In those other shows, in the future, the engineers have forgotten how to make guided or tracking weapons. They just shoot stuff randomly and most of the time they miss. The Stargate Atlantis finale from last season was a prime example. The marines show up with 'rail guns' that they are so fracking proud of. But then they just spray out into space with no radar tracking or anything else, hitting nothing. Jesus, a 20th century Phalanx is way better than the crap they have.

    Oh, Babylon 5 was one of the few good ones also. The way they tracked the beam weapons and sliced things up was believable and cool.
    • Hmmm... because every SAM fired at an aircraft always hits? Because the radar guided AAA in the Gulf or Vietnam brought down a plane with every shot? There's such a thing as countermeasures, you know. If the Wraith have the technology to decoy your guided missles, which they certainly do, you are better off using weapons that at least go where you point them.
    • Just for clarification, Star Wars was A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

  • A Note to the "I HATE BSG" Crowd... (Score:3, Informative)

    by MrMagooAZ ( 595319 ) on Friday July 15, 2005 @05:25PM (#13077347)
    Many of the more thoughtful notes that come under the heading of 'I hate BSG because...' seem to revolve around issues of not understanding certain basic concepts that were laid out in the mini-series. THE MINI-SERIES IS REQUIRED VIEWING! If you're willing to give it another shot, check out the mini-series on DVD first. It explains a lot of things. Also know that this is really complex TV. Some episodes leave me mentally exhasting when I think of the things they are talking about and how they relate to today's world. If you are looking to be spoon-fed, you might want to go elsewhere.

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