Battlestar Galactica

An avid reader of Entertainment Weekly, I was tickled to see my favorite television show gets nods from none other than acclaimed author and Weekly columnist Stephen King. He calls Sci-Fi Channel's series Battlestar Galactica "a beautifully written show, driven by character...there's not a better acting troupe at work on television." Mr. King also says my beloved series is "far better than Star Trek, in any of its incarnations." He's right. Elsewhere in this week's issue of EW the series was named #4 on their top ten lists of dramas! Go Galactica.

Sci-Fi's Galactica started with a miniseries back in 2004 and evolved into a full-fledged series late in '05. A complete remake of the classic 70's camp sci-fi series which starred (among others) Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict and Jane Seymour, the new show takes the basic premise, the villains and a few memorable names and turns them into the best drama, sci-fi or otherwise, on television today. Many die-hard fans of the original were put off by the changes: Starbuck and Boomer are women! Tigh's not black! Too much drama! Not enough comedy! Personally, I feel sorry for these folks, as their limited thinking has them missing out on some amazing television.

Galactica airs on Friday nights as part of the station's Sci-Fi Fridays. The three hour block of original programs also contains Stargate, and it's Atlantis based sequel, neither of which I care for. While the second half of Galactica's second season just ended with a bang, you can catch them in reruns. However, I'd recommend starting at the beginning: both the miniseries and Season One are available in one DVD set. The first part of Season Two has it's own boxed set. The show will return with new episodes in July. If the Sci-Fi Channel lets this series run full course I will (almost) be able to forgive them for canceling Farscape.

***Update: It's true. Galactica will not be returning in July. Instead they will air a complete season begining in October. Previous seasons were broken into two chunks, but for various reasons they have decided to air season 3 as a whole. The blog Galactica Sitrep has more information on the decision making process, as well as many other Galactica oriented news.