Battlestar Galactica

Oh Hulu, why have you forsaken us?  For weeks now you have faithfully shown us the new Battlestar Galactica episodes, and now you have taken away the light.  You leave us in darkness, waiting for the moment when you choose to share BSG with us again.

Is it a Fleet approved torture technique, taking away our BSG just when we have allowed ourselves to become dependent on you?  Or perhaps Leoban schooled you to find our weakness and exploit it?

Either way, you leave us without Guess What’s Coming to Dinner for far too long.  Sure, you posted a new schedule, but can we trust you now?  Has our relationship been ruined?  Or can you regain our trust and our faith?

“Guess What’s Coming for Dinner Part 1″
Airs 5/16/08 - Available on Hulu 5/25/08

“Guess What’s Coming for Dinner Part 2″
Airs 5/30/08 - Available on Hulu 6/7/08

“Sine Qua Non”
Airs 6/6/08 - Available on Hulu 6/14/08

“The Hub”
Airs 6/13/08 - Available on Hulu 6/21/08

Like the revelation of the final Cylon, I guess we will just have to wait to find out.

With Season Four approaching faster than a Cylon raider, the SciFi Channel has revamped its official Battlestar Galactica web site to include new tasty tidbits for fans. 

There are tons of video clips, new pictures, a new blog from Anthrax’s Scott Ian (who is a huge BSG nut), an interactive version of the Last Supper photo and another version you can download to be your computer’s desktop background.  All of the recent specials are available, as well as a cute video about a couple who met and fell in love on the SciFi.com message boards and got invited to the BSG set after they got married.

The photos contain lots of intriguing scenes from Season Four, including one of Baltar with a new woman friend and Roslin standing at the head of a table occupied by lots of official folks we don’t recognize.  There are some hot photos of Helo and Anders looking sweaty, and a glimpse of the determined new version of Number Six.  As always the photos raise more questions than answers, but they are enjoyable none the less.

Most intriguing is the “Full Episodes” button, inactive for now, but certain to raise fans hopes that fourth season episodes will be available online soon after viewing.  There has been lots of speculation about whether Season Four will be available on the net, as many improvements have been made to the online television landscape since Season Three.  Networks have been busy figuring out how profitable online streaming can be, and the SciFi Channel’s parent company launched Hulu.  The closer Friday gets, the more it looks like fans’ online wishes will come true.

Even people who don’t watch How I Met Your Mother are talking about TedMosbyIsAJerk.com, the fake web site that made headlines this week after it was mentioned in Monday’s episode.  But very few people have picked up on the site’s Battlestar Galactica reference.

A twenty minute musical manifesto featuring watery vomit sounds, death threats, pleas for phone calls, and everything in between, TedMosbyIsAJerk.com also features these lyrics at approximately minute thirteen:

“I hate everything about you, and I will make sure that you die … I know the truth about you Ted Mosby, you look, and talk, and act like a real human being, but I know what you really are … You are a Cylon!  And your only goal is total annihilation of the entire human race … I talked to my best friend Dr. Baltar and he told me, so don’t tell me that you love me, don’t tell me that you have feelings, you can’t have feelings, you’re a frakking TOASTER!”

Nice! 

A bit of background:  HIMYM is about five friends living in New York City.  Barney is the womanizer, a completely immoral uber-yuppie whose outlandish ploys to bed woman literally know no boundaries.  He is disgusting, charming, unexpectedly wise, and quite a bit like Gaius Baltar.  But instead of being played by James Callis as a brilliant scientist, Barney is a mysterious businessman played just as brilliantly by Neil Patrick Harris of Doogie Howser, M.D.

Ted Mosby is his best friend, the “I” in How I Met Your Mother, and an architect who has all of Barney’s lust but none of his confidence (Ted also has a conscience, assuming he is not too drunk). 

One of the best episodes of HIMYM is a season two show where Barney attempts to prove to Ted that women think architects are hot.  Barney wants to show Ted that wooing women is often all about the attitude, so he goes around telling people he is “Ted Mosby, Architect” all night and of course causes a bunch of trouble in the process.  He also sleeps with a woman and sneaks out while she is in the shower, leaving her a letter saying not to contact him as he is a ghost who can only materialize every decade.  Trust me, it was funny.

Fast forward to season three, and the web site.  Barney as the Fifth and Final Cylon?  Nah.  It’s just a hysterical promotional item, a great inside joke, and a nice shout out to another show for smart people.  Although it is BSG, and if Tigh is a Cylon then anything could happen.

If you don’t have time to rewatch the entire Battlestar Galactica series to refresh yourself before Friday’s premiere, you can watch Battlestar Galactica Revealed and get up to speed fairly quickly.

Revealed is essentially a series of clips from the show interspersed with commentary on the characters and circumstances of the series by Executive Producers Ron Moore and David Eick.  While not nearly as entertaining as its sister program, Battlestar Galactica: Phenomenon, it is arguably more useful for fans who want to get back in the BSG groove before season four.

The best moment of Revealed is when David Eick describes Giaus Baltar as being “equal parts Stephen Hawking, Jim Morrison, and the back room side of Bill Clinton.”  Although most people would argue that the final figure in that trinity was much more interested in politics and public policy than President Baltar, who seemed mostly interested in drugs and hookers while he was in office, it is an interesting comparison. 

Moore also implies that the Six in Baltar’s head is the result of a nervous breakdown and nothing more, but he does not fully commit to the idea and David Eick implies that Six’s presence will continue until Baltar finally “learns his lesson.”

Friday night’s season four premiere will start just where season three ended, right after Kara “Starbuck” Thrace’s seeming return from the dead and right after the four final Cylons have learned who - and what - they are.  The reaction to those event reverberate through both sides of the war, and through the season to come.

If you have not watched Battlestar Galactica: Phenomenon yet, then you are missing out on a hell of a good time.  The SciFi Channel special is essentially twenty-two minutes of celebrities talking about how much they love the show and why it is so wonderful, and even though it is one long promotional vehicle it still manages to be very entertaining.

There’s television pioneer and geek god Joss Whedon, saying Battlestar Galactica is “the best show I’ve ever seen.”

There’s snarky television host Joel McHale of Talk Soup, comparing the evolution of the modern BSG to the creation of the Air Jordan.

There’s Jesse L. Martin of Law & Order, boiling down the complexities of the series into one beautifully simple statement:  “If you lived in a world that was suddenly taken away from you, and you just happened to live, how would you continue you continue to live?”

There are many more celebrities, and they all talk about the quality of the special effects, the amazing acting, the deeper themes of humanity and religion, and how much they use the word frak now that they are fans of the show.  Country star Brad Paisley reveals his band has cut a Friday night show short to go watch BSG, and Joss Whedon compares his devotion to the Battlestar to that of Dwight from The Office.

The funny clips are interspersed with intense moments from the show, leaving a heightened sense of anticipation about Season Four.  Hopefully Phenomenon will do its job and convince more people to tune in.  Phenomenon is available in many spots around the internet, including scifi.com and Hulu.

Just in case you have not seen it yet, here is a clip of the Top Ten List from last week’s Late Show With David Letterman entitled “Top Ten Reasons to Watch The New Season of Battlestar Galactica.”

Each number on the list was recited by a member of the BSG cast, appearing in their character’s costume, which added to the fun.  The actors and actresses on the list were, in order of appearance, Aaron Douglas, Lucy Lawless, James Callis, Grace Park, Tricia Helfer, Michael Hogan, Jamie Bamber, Katee Sackhoff, Mary McDonnell, and Edward James Olmos.

If you don’t have the time or the technology to watch the clip, a text version of the List is below … it was a lot of fun, even if the audience did not seem to truly “get it.”

Number Ten, Chief Tyrol:  “In the dramatic season opening episode, we save fifteen percent by switching our insurance to Geico.”

Number Nine, D’Anna Biers:  “You’ll find out who’s in the hatch, and who gets off the island - crap, wrong show.”  In my opinion Lucy did a pretty good job with this one, which was awkward to read … and she did not even blink when Dave mispronounced her name “Diana.”

Number Eight, Dr. Baltar:  “My character creates his own line of Honey Roasted Space Nuts.”

Number Seven, Lt. Sharon Valleri:  “What else are you going to do, read a book?”

Number Six, Number Six:  “There’s a good chance you get to see me naked.”

Number Five, Col. Saul Tigh:  “There’s a good chance you’ll see me naked.”  Be sure to watch Tricia crack up behind him during the deadpan delivery.

Number Four, Captain Lee Adama:  “New FTL drives will allow the colonial fleet to better adjust to gravitational variations and achieve maximum superluminal travel to outrun the pursuing Cylon basestar - I don’t know what the hell I am talking about.”

Number Three, Starbuck:  “We engaged in a life and death battle against evil robots … you know, same $&#@ as last year.”

Number Two, President Laura Roslin:  “I take on the most challenging task of my political career - doing a lame top ten list on a third rate talk show.”

Number One, Admiral William Adama:  “Watch me lead us into war against the Cylons, without an exit strategy.”

Are you a Battlestar Galactica fan on a limited budget, or perhaps you do not get the SciFi Channel in your area? Then have no fear, for ITunes loss is your gain.

Previously fans could purchase BSG episodes from the ITunes site after they were shown on the SciFi Channel, but earlier this year SciFi’s parent company Universal removed all of its material from ITunes in order to support the launch of a new web venture called Hulu.com.

Hulu went beta last fall, and I was among the lucky folks who got to try out the site during its building period. It’s fast, easy to navigate and offers a surprising number of options that include canceled television shows and the occasional full movie. Universal, which owns the SciFi Channel, has been a strong partner and advocate of Hulu which gives fans hope that Season Four episodes will be posted there after they are broadcast later this Spring.

Currently there are five full episodes of BSG available on Hulu as well as some special features. “Dirty Hands,” “Maelstrom,” “The Son Also Rises,” and both parts of “Crossroads” can be watched instantly once you join Hulu’s membership. There are also over 83 clips of interviews, excerpts, and other material for perusal as well as the entire first season of the the classic version of the show.

There is a treasure trove of non-BSG material on the site as well. Folks who have always wondered why people refer to Joss Whedon’s short lived space western Firefly as a “masterpiece” can get their fill of Chinese curse words and gun fights by watching all fourteen episodes on Hulu. There are also full episodes of Eureka, The Office, as well as older shows like Fantasy Island and Doogie Howser, M.D.

More content gets added to Hulu every week, so it will be interesting to see how the site grows now that the writers’ strike is over and original television episodes are becoming more common on the air. The first two episodes of USA’s new show Canterbury’s Law are on Hulu, as are the first four episodes of Fox’s New Amsterdam. Let’s all hope that the new BSG episodes will be on Hulu by this time in April.

Edward James Olmos will be featured in a documentary on Discovery en Espanol on Sunday night, where he will discuss the real issues behind gang violence in a documentary called Voces de Cambio. This is a cause close to Olmos’ heart and one he has spoken about in the past, and he makes another passionate plea for action in the broadcast:

“We are all responsible for our future. This is a simple truth an honest truth. The role that ex-gang members have on society is intrinsic. An ex-gang member can turn around the lives of thousands upon thousands of people as they turn negative energy into positive - it’s enough to make one cry.”

BSG writer Mark Verheiden recently blogged about the bittersweet joy of ending his Battlestar Galactica experience, and about the cast and crew’s belief that “no spoilers” makes the show a more enjoyable experience. 

Speaking of spoilers, a clip from the extended version of “Unfinished Business” (also known as “the New Caprica shipper episode”) has been leaked on the Internet.  Or you can wait and watch the clip in context when the Season Three DVD comes out later this month.

On a related note, I recently confessed on the ShaunOMac show that I have been taking great pains to avoid watching any of the Season Four promos for the show or the cast and crew interviews, which is why you have not seen any on the blog.  The always-reliable folks at Galactica SitRep have them all, however, so if are looking for a good collection head over there.  If you really think we need to have them over here at WatchingBSG.com too then feel free to drop me a note and let me know.  Now back to the news!

Even if you are spoiler-phobic like me, you can still enjoy the new clip up on SciFi.com where the channel condenses the first three seasons of BSG into one eight-minute clip.

Some lucky fans snagged a radio interview with Mark Sheppard, who plays Baltar’s mysterious lawyer Romo, at last weekend’s MegaCon:

“When I asked Mark Sheppard to do the on-air interview he asked me, ‘What do they want to talk about?,’ and I said, ‘You!’ He replied, ‘Great! I know all about that subject.’”

Lucy Lawless’ new movie, the animated Justice League: A New Frontier, has been getting strong reviews.  Lucy’s controversial Wonder Woman joins a cast that includes Bionic Woman’s Miguel Ferrer, Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s David Boreanaz, and many others.

Grace Park’s film West 32nd will be featured at the San Francisco Asian American International Film Festival later this month, but the early word is that Grace herself will not be able to join her costar John Cho at the screening.

The always-entertaining Leah Cairns recently did an audio interview with the folks over at Battlestar Blog, which you can listen to here.

Fans of Battlestar Galactica should tune in (or TiVo) The Late Show With David Letterman on Wednesday, March 19 for a pleasant surprise. According to various sources several BSG actors will be appearing for a star-studded Top Ten List entitled “Top Ten Reasons to Watch Battlestar Galactica.”

While it is not clear how many BSG actors will be featured on the list, confirmations so far include Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama), Jamie Bamber (Lee “Apollo” Adama) and James Callis (Dr. Gaius Baltar). If you happen to hear about more cast member confirmations, please post them below.

BSG fans who followed the writers’ strike might remember that BSG producer Ron Moore blogged in support of the special deal that David Letterman cut with the writers’ guild to allow his show to continue before a deal had been made with the studios. Whether or not that is one of the reasons BSG will be featured on the Letterman show is still a mystery, but at least we know when the Battlestar Galactica cast arrives they will be in friendly territory.

Set your TiVo for March 28, when the SciFi Channel will air two new Battlestar Galactica specials.

The first special, Battlestar Galactica: Revisited, will refresh viewers on the stories of the first three seasons and help prepare them for Season Four of the series.  It sounds similar to The Story So Far, a previous special, and will probably follow the same format of blending clips from the show with interviews of the cast talking about their characters and potential upcoming developments.  The hosts for the half hour show will be BSG producers David Eick and Ron Moore.

The second special sounds much more interesting for rabid fans.  Battlestar Galactica: The Phenomenon, will examine BSG’s impact on pop culture and will air immediately after Battlestar Galactica: Revisited.  Interviews will include Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum and self-professed geek Seth Green, country music star Brad Paisley, and the snarky host of E! Television’s Talk Soup Joel McHale.

The first episode of Season Four will air April 4, 2008.  I assume you are already planning to set your TiVo for that one, with a Season Pass just to be safe.

The third season of Battlestar Galactica premieres in Asia today, and Jamie Bamber spoke to The Star of Malaysia about his views of Apollo and everything the character goes through in season three. The interview is an interesting one, and includes the description in the headline as well as this quote from Bamber on the character of Apollo:

“I love the element of debate in him,� enthuses the London-born American. “He wears the uniform but he is not married to the uniform in the way that all the characters on the Galactica are. If you think of Saul Tigh, you think of Adama and Starbuck, they’re all born to wear that uniform and it defines who they are in an absolute sense. However, it doesn’t define my character.�

Malaysia, Battlestar Galactica, Tigh, Starbuck, Jamie Bamber, Apollo

Last night the SciFi channel released this brand new promo clip for Razor as a way to tease the fans about what we will see in this fall’s Battlestar Galactica telemovie. The movie is meant to stand alone and be separate from the Battlestar Galactica seasons, but will also reveal important information about the various mysteries surrounding Galactica events past and future. For more information and potential Razor spoilers, click here, here, and here.

Battlestar Galactica, spoiler, teaser, Razor, SciFi

The SciFi Channel will be showing a sneak preview of Battlestar Galactica’s next chapter tonight! The Battlestar Galactica crew will be showcased during a break in the season premiere of Eureka which airs tonight at 9 p.m. EST, 8 CST. The clip will be of Razor, the Battlestar Galactica telemovie scheduled for November. Based on the quick teaser released a couple weeks ago, the preview should give us a lot to talk about!

Battlestar Galactica, Eureka, SciFi, Razor, BSG, premiere, preview

The SciFi Channel hosted a press tour of the Battlestar Galactica set last week, allowing 26 internet journalists access to sets and a Q&A session with several cast members. Media Boulevard has video of the BSG panel, which included Michael Hogan (Col. Tigh), Aaron Douglas (”The Chief” Tyrol), Jamie Bamber (Lee “Apollo” Adama), Grace Park (Boomer/Sharon/Athena), and Tahmoh Penikett (”Helo”).

The event spawned some amazing photographs of the set and quite a few spoilers about Season Four. The photo above is courtesy of Keith from TV Squad, who has a very detailed post about the BSG set visit as well as a wonderful close up of the war painting hanging above those couches in Adama’s quarters.

Spoilers, Hints and Clues discovered during the event include:

(more…)

Entertainment Weekly has a long Q&A with Battlestar Galactica stars Katee Sackhoff & Michael Hogan, aka Starbuck & Colonial Tigh, where they talk about their thoughts on Season Four and whether Starbuck is a Cylon. They confirm Starbuck is not just Apollo’s personal “Head Six” and that others can see her as well, and they talk about how the revelation of the additional Cylons in the finale speaks to the future of the series:

Katee, anything you’d like to see out of Tigh?
SACKHOFF: If the final four we found out from last season are Cylons, you know, there’s a side to you that wants to be in the club. Really. You kind of go, ”Well, if they’re Cylons….” It makes you wonder if the Cylons aren’t the good guys, if you can’t kind of co-exist. I’d like to see that if these four are Cylons, that we don’t pick up guns and kill them.
HOGAN: Yeah, and it’s interesting to see if being a Cylon can not necessarily be a bad thing.
SACKHOFF: How interesting would it be, though, if Starbuck got back from Earth and she knew who the four Cylons were.
HOGAN: I have scenes with [Cylon] Number Six in [the first season four] episode, and I’m really looking forward to playing them. Tigh’s going to be very curious to have meetings with her now. I’m going to want something completely different out of her.

Katee, at the end of last season, we’re definitely left with impression that Starbuck could very well be the final unknown Cylon. Any resolution to that question?
SACKHOFF: No. I think there’s better choices out there for the final Cylon, to be honest. Even if she was, I don’t think she’d ever believe it. I just don’t think that she would ever wrap her brain around that. It will be very interesting to find out.

It does appear that she’s the Keanu Reeves of the Battlestar universe, the savior. Does that role sit well with you as an actor?
SACKHOFF: I don’t know. I think Starbuck’s used to carrying around a heavy load, and she can handle a lot of responsibilities. She may do it with a chip on her shoulder and she may not do it the most reasonable way, but she always seems to get things done.
HOGAN: There is no escape from this. There’s only 30-something-thousand of us left. In any other walk of life, you’d kind of go somewhere else, but none of us have anywhere else to go. So that tempers your acceptance of things. We haven’t hugged anybody in a long time. We’re just in a battleship.
SACKHOFF: I’m going to tell [the producers] that I’m hugging you in the next episode. [Laughing] I’m just going to walk up to you in the [command center] and give you a big frakkin’ hug!
HOGAN: And I’ll say, ”Gee, I needed that!”

For more on Hogan’s trouble accepting his role as a Cylon, see SyFyPortal’s post which discusses Aaron Douglas’ trouble accepting Tyrol’s biological secret as well.

Katee Sackhoff, Starbuck, Michael Hogan, Tigh, Entertainment Weekly, EW, Battlestar Galactica, BSG, Cylon, Aaron Douglas, Tyrol, Keanu Reeves