I’m going to ask Battlestar Galactica to Homecoming

SciFi Channel has been running a Battlestar Galactica Season 3 marathon for the last week or so. I learned about it yesterday and basically haven’t been productive since. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say BSG is the best show that’s ever been on television. I don’t mean the best SciFi. I mean the best SHOW. In ALL categories.

I don’t really want to write a thesis for why I believe this, because it’s really more of a belief than a theory. I FEEL it in my soul. I have reasons and they are many, but faith isn’t about reasons. It’s about… well, faith. It is also about robots, and space and being totally awesome.

I watched “Exodus” today and I cried (a little). No joke. There were tears. If you can watch that episode without getting misty eyed then I need to check your spine while you have sex because you are probably a Cylon. If it is at all possible I want Bill Adama (not E.J. Olmos) to deliver my eulogy. I want him to deliver it into the receiver end of an old telephone while my friends and family listen from tiny speakers in distant, cramped rooms. I want him to say what an honor it was to have served with such a man as me. And close it with, “Good hunting.”

If none of this means anything to you, then I have a gift for you. That gift is called happiness. Real, lasting happiness. And brotherhood. You will receive this gift when you watch the first 3 season’s of BSG on DVD (don’t forget to Tivo season 4 which starts TODAY (4-4-08).

I watched 1-3 through Netflix. Sometime 4-5 episodes a night. It was like delicious cocaine. This will beĀ  the first season I see on SciFi and in HD. The bad part of that equation is the HD quality on SciFi through DirecTV is balls.

I also hear there is a special 12 noon viewing on SciFi.com today if you are so inclined. Once the first half of the season is over and we don’t any new episodes until 2009, I think I’m going to rewatch the series from the beginning. Then I’m probably going to repeat that process from then until infinity. So say we all.

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108 Comments

  3. I just got into BSG not that long ago. It's up there already as my favorite television but I just can't see it beating the Whedon Trinity (I can't pick one of them so they're the Trinity) in my heart.

  6. I’m going to go ahead and take Joel’s word on this and buy BSG as soon as I get home from the sand box. But I totally agree with you, in the fact that anything could ever come close to “Whedon Works”. But if this is the next best thing, well I’ll give it a shot, as long as it doesn’t interfere with Dollhouse in anyway. It is going to seem funny to plan one night a week around a TV show again. Which is something I haven’t done since Angel.

  9. Its difficult to admit but the reason BSG is "better" than Firefly is that it is getting to tell a MUCH larger story. 4 seasons of Firefly may have very well beaten 4 seasons of BSG. We'll never know. It is, however, hands down better than Buffy and Angel. And those are both in my top 5.

  13. Love the comic, and thankful for the reminder, but being stuck outside the states, I have two options.

    1) Wait a crap-ton of months for local TV to get it.
    2) Torrent.

    (Which would you do? Seriously? Plus I buy the DVDs of good shows damn near a *year* after you get 'em (when they first come out – no joke, Rock Band and Super Smash Bros hasn't even got a RELEASE DATE). That's IF they get sent here (Batman: T.A.S and Beyond I gave up and downloaded – T.A.S had ONE volume in THREE years). Same with ANY good show I can afford.)

    Waiting for the torrents is a long tease though. 20%…25%…5 hours…4 hours…5 again like a confused counter…until later *finally* the HD rip is ready in .AVI form!

    The hardest part is the wait for the file on the day. Those pirates are FAST bastards! Seems most likely inside the U.S pirating.
    (And amusingly? Without American Pirates, we'd never get these. So thank you American Pirates for ALL the big name shows ON the day it's on HD-TV!)

    The only thing that killed me today?

    One. Day. Ahead.

    I clicked my torrent site for a good 15 minutes before realising it was like 1am 04-04-08 there.

    Still, something to look forward to!

  14. Firstly, the BSG-sized paper is super. Secondly, I really really like the style in this one. It caught me off-guard – this might sound dumb, but it was like looking at still frames of a cartoon. I could practically see movement. I think a big reason for that was the blurred background effect, and for that I say "jolly good show" in an English accent. Thirdly… uh… hmm… peanut butter and banana sandwiches sound good right now…

  15. This comic has so many brilliant touches – you've out-done yourself. I'm going to have to start cutting the corners off the paper when I write to people now. The thought of Adama giving your eulogy over the Galactica's intercom cracked me up.

    I'm also one of those poor unfortunate Brits stuck with the "should I wait months for the DVD to come out over here" dilemma.

    "So say we all!"

  16. I'll make you deal, Joel. You watch at least the first 2 seasons of B5 (the first season is a lot of shit, and the primary character changes from 1 to 2) and I'll watch at least the first 2 seasons of BSG. I was very excited for the BSG miniseries and came away from it with a total *meh* reaction and have not bothered with the show at all.

  17. I'll buy that argument; I've recently become a fan of Firefly, but it had too short of a run. Its not too tough to be Buffy or Angel in my book; but that's personal taste. The only thing I really didn't care for in BSG was some parts of the last season and the whole "Starbuck can do anything" thing…other then that the show's brilliant. I can't wait for tonight!

  18. It's difficult to admit, because we almost don't want it to be true. Firefly/Serenity ran it's course, short as it was, and The Whed wrapped it up pretty snugly at the end of the motion picture. I know BSG will be awesome in this, it's final season.

    I just power-watched all three seasons + the miniseries and Razor over this last week. I can't think of any other show out there that I would go back and do that for. BSG won't supplant my circle's current standard of Wednesday = Star Trek TNG night, but I know that whenever I go there I'll be asking if anyone has DVR space for an hour on Friday.

  20. This show is worthy of forrenting. You may check out that Hulu.com thing to see if they put the new season up there since last few of season three are. Or maybe they'll do the same thing that they did with Heroes (show it on the InterTron, not ruin it with recurring villains and lame wondertwins).

  21. Seriously, the greatest show on at the moment and possibly from the last five years. I think you might need an IIRC though to mail that baby to outer space, heh.

  22. I'm watching BSG for the first time this week, I watched the original and never got into it, but yes reimagined is probably one of the best shows out there, I think I'm a Cylon…

  26. I was excited to head over here today, because I KNEW you were going to have an awesome BSG comic up and ready for tonight. Thank you for not disappointing, and congrats on the first week of 3 comics! keep up the good work!

  29. So this post, while 100% Joel, seems somewhat influenced by Tycho in its general excellence and pleading tones of infatuation.

    I'm so sad I'll never be able to watch Firefly develop into something beautiful like that. I just started because of how much you guys talked about it in the podcasts, so I'm still in S1. But I'm still freakin psyched.

    All this talk about Whedon and long running shows gets me even more excited about the possibilities of Dollhouse. That's just gonna make it burn all the more when Fox destroys it, isn't it?

  35. You have no idea how surreal it is that I know my comic is being read in the middle of a war.

    Speaking of Dollhouse, Helo from BSG just got cast on Dollhouse which is in production. I wonder if that means he's dead soon?

  41. You should not wait. You should do whatever is necessary to see BSG as soon as possible I say this because the internet is universal and the spoilers are already WAY TOO out there.

    Glad you liked the comic.

  45. "I want him to say what an honor it was to have served with such a man as me. And close it with, “Good hunting.”"

    Then the rest of us will do that "slowly clapping while glaring at everyone else to join in" clap that he does.

    So, the important question: do you think (as I do) that Adama slept with Roslin that night on New Caprica?

  53. BSG is awesome! I'm psyched about the new season. It's been off for so long, I think I might need to watch the last few episodes of season 3 first to remember what the hell is going on. The cornerless paper is a nice touch, it made me giggle. I think I'm going to have to obtain the premier by "some other means", mainly because since we've gotten an HDTV, I've become an "HD Snob" and refuse to watch anything worth watching if it is not in HD. Sadly, we have crappy SD cable and only get our local channels in HD, so that means I download most of my TV. Bit Torrent and Usenet FTW! šŸ™‚

    Oh, and to show you how big of geeks my roomates and I are, we all have VOIP phones in our room that we can call each other on and we've all been known to pick up the phone when it rings and say in our best impersonation, "Adama!". Now if we could only find some old fashioned looking VOIP phones. hehe.

    Chris

  57. Don't let those in the minority dictate the content of the comic.

    I just an outta touch geek that wants to comment to keep my spot amongst the top 10 commentors.

  58. It's not really that, its more of the "Best pilot in the fleet", "Best Marksmen in the Fleet", "Best to Jerry-Rig a sentient being in the fleet" kind of thing; I'm fine with what you were saying, but just someone being that talented…

  62. See I think he wouldnt cut nearly as much slack to his "best pilot" if it were a random soldier that he wasnt close to. I think they (both Adama's) use that as an excuse on the surface but they both love her deeply.

  68. Yeah, but that's not what I mean; I'm meaning that she can literally do anything. My problem with Starbuck's character is she can do anything she tries (except have a stable relationship apparently)

    Though you are right, there is a serious discipline problem on board that ship. Up until Tigh started using people as suicide bombers he was my favorite character because he actually did his job as an XO.

  69. LOL, I once received a package from Australia (ebay purchase) which came with 42 stamps on it. Apparently, the seller decided to use to lowest value stamps to form a protective cushion and save on packing costs.

  70. I'm going to be submitting this as a question for the next podcast, so I guess this is being asked more of the unwashed masses who are not featured on the podcasts: Although I certainly do identify myself as a geek, I have not yet indulged in anything Whedon-related (outside of his Office episodes), nor BSG. The questions is, assuming I want to join the party, in what order should I take Buffy, Angel, Firefly/Serenity, and BSG? And for shows that had longer runs, should the viewing be split up (ie – Buffy seasons 1-4, then Angel season 1, then Buffy season 5, etc)? Keep in mind that I will only be watching one series at a time.

  71. I'm not done with the series yet so I may change my tune but it just hasn't struck a chord with me in the way that the Whedon shows did. I understand all of that has to do with personal preference and I can definitely see why BSG is your favorite.

    I truly do believe that given the time Firefly would've surpassed all of them. There was just something special going on with the show which is what Joss knew and worked to bring Serenity to film.

  72. Dollhouse is definitely going to be one that I make sure I get to see the night each new episode airs . I don't want it to go the way of Firefly which is what I fear seeing as it will be on Fox. Fox is the king of mishandling good shows.

  74. Easy way to forget. BSG(now) = Awesome. BSG(then) = Shitty Star Wars knock off. Anytime you think of the old BSG just watch Star Wars (Episodes IV-VI only and only the original cuts, Episodes I-III are just as shitty as old BSG) and it'll fade away.

  75. Something to do with how awesome it was getting cannon Buffy and Angel comics this week and how awesome it is getting a cannon Serenity comic next week.

    Honestly I've never been happier going to the comic book store.

  76. All I can say is this. I just recently went though both series of Buffy and Angel (wanted to get refreshed for the comics) and I found it best to go through both series separately. Neither one of them really cross over into each other in any major fashion that warrants combining the shows as you watch them. Watch Buffy first though. Angel will spoil major plot points of Buffy if you watch it first, not to mention to get Angel's full story you have to see Seasons 1-3 of Buffy.

  81. I contemplated sending a letter like this to 2001: A Space Odyssey (Or at least Keir Dullea)… I may still do it. Your comic has given me the courage to do so!

  85. I guess I should torrent them, since I've got no way to pay for DVDs.

    Dang, I haven't been keeping up with the podcast. I'll dedicate tonight to it.

  87. As I've made it a point to be poor and not watch television, this is mostly over my head (woe and betide, yes, I know).

    However, I must remark again on the fabulous artwork. I'll second an above comment about how it almost seems like stills from a cartoon. Eli's expression in panel 1 is a slice of fried gold. The very fanboy-ish letter complete with the Yes/No at the bottom is a very nice touch. I know how much you said you hated drawing them, but I've also noticed that your hands are improving.

    Great work.

  88. I wouldn't be that concerned, there are plenty of people always coming up with terrible ideas (White House, I'm looking in your direction) to balance out the universe.

  90. Hey there! I just linked over from PvP. I liked your take on Brent and Jade!

    As for BSG, I accidentaly started watching during S3 and I've been addicted since. My DVR is permanently encoded to record and save forever any first run show. I may have to get a new DVR soon. Does anyone know where I can get a time-travelling DVR? I'd like to record the first 3 seasons as first-run. Hey, I know what your thinking, "Just record the repeats." Yeah, whatever. Anybody can do THAT!

  92. Yeah, old BSG was bad, but what was a geek to do? I mean, Space 1999 had ended, Buck Rogers hadn't started (and it sucked, too), and a decent new sci fi show was years away (TNG). So I watched, and now Adama = Lorne Greene.

    And what are these "Episodes IV-VI" you speak of? I'm aware of 3 great films, called "Star Wars," "The Empire Strikes Back," and "Return of the Jedi." Did someone do more movies in that series? Why would they? What would the point be?

  94. What would such a device be called? A Tardo? TiVis?

    Speaking of which, new Doctor Who starts up soon too! *glee* It's not the same as BSG, mind you, but it's still pretty good mostly. What can I say, I'm a sucker for an accent.

  98. I got a package one time after the US had just upgraded stamp prices with most of the postage paid in those 2 cent add on stamps. Australian currency is weird though. Right now I think its 2 boomerangs to the dollar.

  99. I forgot to check this post when we recorded on Sunday so we didnt get to this question. Oddly enough, I think we've already answered it on a previous podcast. Buffy is a prerequisite for Angel. You really wont get him as a character until you've seen him build up on Buffy. As for staggering them after season 3, its your call. They only crossed over 2 or 3 times but it might be fun to see them in parallel. Firefly you can finish in a weekend so do it as soon as possible and then keep doing it over and over until you die from happiness. Certainly watch FF before Serenity.

  105. AJ, thanks for your perspective on the art. I know I take risks in alienating people with being TOO topic specific, but if you were able to take something from the comic then I suppose its fine.

  106. Thanks Stefoosh! That was a really fun comic to draw. IF you are still in season 3 of BSG I would stop and go back and start with the miniseries. The revelations are so much sweeter when youve been with it from the start.

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