Get Your BSG On

Battlestar Galactica is my favorite television show of all time. Period. And yet, whenever I recommend it to someone, they get this look on their face, like they just farted and they can't wait to leave the area. 

"Ew, a show named 'Battlestar Galactica?' What's it about? Aliens? And space-ships? And "Battlestars?" 

When I met my RoboGirlfriend, we started talking about TV. She was a fan of S&theC and Emo Doctors, all of which I nodded my head at, blank stare focused somewhere near the coffee machine behind her. 

"Robo? Robo?" I snapped out of my zone. It was time to reveal my list of fave TV shows. I rattled off some of the regulars: LOST, Weeds, Dexter, and so forth. Then, I mentioned, my favorite show was Battlestar Galactica.

Her face screwed up. Someone farted.

At least, that's what it looked like. 

"Battlestar Galactica? That sounds like the kind of show my dad watches..." Great. Lumped in with the father. I haven't even met the guy yet, but when it's the first date and you're lumped in with the father, it's over. 

Luckily, I survived the most harrowing of what I like to call BSG INCIDENTS. As such, the time has come to educate the masses.

Battlestar Galactica isn't for nerds, though nerds watch it. It's an intelligent show, with high production values, a (mostly) top-notch cast, and (nearly-always) great writing.

But I'll let Time Magazine, which ranked Battlestar Galactica as one of the best 100 TV shows ever, do the talking: 

Like Rod Serling did with The Twilight Zone, Ronald D. Moore and David Eick use science fiction to write about current events, in this case, viewing the facts on the ground in the war on terror and the war in Iraq from the perspective of deep space. As in the campy 1970s series it remade, a distant civilization of humans has nearly been eradicated by the sentient robots, called Cylons, that they created. Here, many of the Cylons appear human, adding a layer of sleeper-cell paranoia and moral questions. The Cylons' evolved status raises philosophical questions -- what does it mean to be human? -- and complicates things morally when the human military waterboards Cylon captives and stages suicide bombings to end an occupation. A stark, well-imagined story of a war in a galaxy far, far away, yet too close for comfort.

Wow. Hrm. Doesn't sound too nerdy for me. I mean, heck, they do say, "deep space" and "Cylon" -- wtf is a Cylon? Isn't that what makes pans non-stick? -- and "galaxy" and "sentient robots," but hell, I mean, they also say it's sophisticated! So why not give it a chance? Right?

No. You are wrong. No one gives it a chance, because the show is named Battlestar Galactica.

Even though Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell have, among them, three Oscar nominations. Even though the show is so stylish that even Iron Man is duplicating some of its technique. Even though the show won the Peabody Award. It was even nominated for two Emmys this past year, for writing and directing -- not too shabby for a show no one gives a chance. 

But you will. You will because I am telling you to. Read this, and catch up, and then watch BSG's final season, on the Sci-Fi Network, on Fridays at 10pm.

Oh, and to really catch up: 

-RoboNixon