Don't feel like reading my rambling? Blog Summary: Rive likes you to see good Sci-Fi that he likes, go give Battlestar Galactica a chance. They sell it episode by episode on iTunes, so go fork over $2 for the episode "33" and see if you like it

Or if you like even quicker gratification... Or if you don't want to risk a measly $2 to give it a chance. You could try jumping directly into the thick of things and viewing the Season 1 finale for free on the official site... But I don't recommend that, you'll be in the middle of a mess of storylines

And if you didn't see Firefly yet get crackin' on that too. No iTunes for that one though. Sorry.
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Note: The original plan for entries 98 and 99 was a long drawn out pair of entries detailing my complete reactions to Star Wars over the years (Originals and Prequels separately)... But for one: I don't really like to talk about myself. Two: It's probably more suited to 6 or more entries anyway. Three: By the time I finished it I'd probably be worn out and never want to blog again

So instead you get another entry sure to draw out comments along the lines of "RIVE?! You watch OTHER Sci-Fi?!? And you LIKE it? You're a heretic! A failure as a Star Wars fan! You should be ashamed! Star Wars is the only good bit of life ever put on film or television in existence! Get off our website!"

This is actually some set up for future bloggery because this show has many elements of what I'd like to see from Star Wars TV... But this entry won't tie into that. Sorry

So now that I've given all people like that fair warning to leave (Go ahead, I can feel a blog about the Oscars being posted right now)... I'm not going to talk about Firefly. Nope (although there's still plenty I have to say about that), today I'm talking about Battlestar Galactica. Never seen it? Still feel like getting your weekly Rive rambling (ooooh and this entry is quite rambling!) though? I've included several links throughout the blog so you know what I'm talking about.

First I'll touch on all the Oscar blogs coming up every other minute since I don't want to write a full entry on it. I don't mind people writing about it (as long as they're writing more than 6 lines); that's what blogs are for, thoughts and reactions. Everybody's got an opinion and we'll just have to wait 'em out (since they are quite similar to each other ).

My own opinion is that I'm glad we got a nomination at all (which means at least a mention during the highly viewed program). I do feel we should have got a visual effects nomination... But I can see some legitimate reasons why we didn't get nominations for much of anything; Episode III was Episode II a bit more amped up, they'd seen it all before. Sure Grevious is cool and now Yoda's ears are semi-transparent and I feel that deserved recognition... But I suppose War of Worlds was semi-impressive as well

Anyway on to Galactica.

I'll touch on the 1978 Series first. I've only seen 2 episodes that I can recall. Both make me grin at the campy Cylon voices "Byyyyy yourrr commannndd", the X-Wingesque Vipers (I think the accusations of plagiarism are mostly unfounded... The Vipers do edge that line though ). Mostly it allows me to see why many fans of that series don't like the New Galactica: it's completely different. Hm... I wonder what other Sci-Fi series we can think of that has fans of an original series that often don't like the new one? I also think the old Cylons have almost the same charm as the Stormtroopers (though of course, that could also be because that was deliberate ). The new Series still uses the X-wingesque fighters, but the new Cylons look a good deal cooler.

And now on to 2003 when they released the Battlestar Galactica "Reimagined" Miniseries... I didn't see it.

Then due to high ratings they got the go ahead for a full TV series which began broadcasting in late 2004... I didn't see it.

Then due to continuing high ratings (unlike Firefly, blast it!) it went on to season 2... I still didn't see it.

Then about half-way through Season 2 being aired, on the advice of a friend, I bought the Season 1 DVD set. Quite an investment based on simply the advice of a friend, but I had given Firefly the same chance once upon a time, I supposed I could risk it again. Once again I was glad I did.

I watched the mini-series straight through without pausing (3... 4 hours?). The next day I watched through the first season episodes... Then I started buying the episodes off iTunes to catch me up to the currently aired episodes.

It's currently the only show on TV I watch live rather than TIVOing it and watching it later.

I don't want to reveal too much of course, in hopes that you might go out and see it yourself... Which would be quite convenient considering you can buy the 4 hourish miniseries off iTunes for $16 or if you're a low-risk taker you could buy the Season 1 first episode "33" (which remains one of my favorite episodes, though it's hard to judge one from the others since the storyline is ongoing) for $2. A risk worth taking I'd say.

But what do I know?

Anyway consider this an intro to future entries relating partially or fully to this series. Particularly how good special effects can look on a TV series now and how story arcs work well for Sci-Fi TV. Most importantly how character development is essential for maintaining an audience.
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