From The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Resolved: See more TV
by Ellen Gray
Wed, Jan. 04, 2006
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. 10 p.m. Friday, Sci Fi Channel.
I WOULDN'T recommend this to everyone, but one of my New Year's resolutions is to watch a bit more television.
Specifically, I'm thinking of the Sci Fi Channel's "Battlestar Galactica," currently tops on my list of Series That Got Away.
It returns Friday for what they're calling its "winter premiere" with a two-part episode that I actually sort of understood, thanks to the half-hour premiere Sci Fi aired Monday - still available for free on Apple's iTunes - and some Googling of episode guides.
I haven't had to work this hard since I started watching "The X-Files" toward the end of its first season, and I'm still not sure how I'll fit in one more Friday night series around CBS' "Numbers" and NBC's new drama "Book of Daniel," but I'm going to try.
If my job didn't involve watching the pilots for dozens of new shows, I'd probably never know about most of the stuff I'm missing most weeks, even as my DVR and I try to keep up with all the shows I'm actually watching.
But it does, and I do, which is why I've been feeling guilty about missing so much of "Battlestar," which is the kind of sci-fi-for-grown-ups I've always claimed to enjoy.
The grown-ups are definitely one of the draws in "Resurrection Ship," which finds Cmdr. Adama (Edward James Olmos) and President Roslin (Mary McDonnell) uniting against Adm. Cain (Michelle Forbes), who's rapidly shaping up as an uncommon enemy, one who in her own way could be as dangerous to the fleet's future as the robotic Cylons, which are basically humanity's creation run amok.
And, yes, at some point there's a smooch.
Did I mention that Roslin is supposedly still dying of breast cancer?
While I'm not crazy about contemplating a future in which we're capable of creating a race of creatures that then turn on us but still apparently can't cure cancer, McDonnell's performance does help ground "Battlestar."
Like all the best science fiction, it's ultimately about what it means to be human.
Being only human myself, I haven't yet figured out how to both have a life and be the watching/writing/podcasting entity that 21st century TV criticism seems to demand - Cylon technology, perhaps? - so I'm not sure how many of my Series That Got Away I'll be reconnecting with in 2006.
Click on the link to read the rest of the article.
Resolved: See more TV
by Ellen Gray
Wed, Jan. 04, 2006
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. 10 p.m. Friday, Sci Fi Channel.
I WOULDN'T recommend this to everyone, but one of my New Year's resolutions is to watch a bit more television.
Specifically, I'm thinking of the Sci Fi Channel's "Battlestar Galactica," currently tops on my list of Series That Got Away.
It returns Friday for what they're calling its "winter premiere" with a two-part episode that I actually sort of understood, thanks to the half-hour premiere Sci Fi aired Monday - still available for free on Apple's iTunes - and some Googling of episode guides.
I haven't had to work this hard since I started watching "The X-Files" toward the end of its first season, and I'm still not sure how I'll fit in one more Friday night series around CBS' "Numbers" and NBC's new drama "Book of Daniel," but I'm going to try.
If my job didn't involve watching the pilots for dozens of new shows, I'd probably never know about most of the stuff I'm missing most weeks, even as my DVR and I try to keep up with all the shows I'm actually watching.
But it does, and I do, which is why I've been feeling guilty about missing so much of "Battlestar," which is the kind of sci-fi-for-grown-ups I've always claimed to enjoy.
The grown-ups are definitely one of the draws in "Resurrection Ship," which finds Cmdr. Adama (Edward James Olmos) and President Roslin (Mary McDonnell) uniting against Adm. Cain (Michelle Forbes), who's rapidly shaping up as an uncommon enemy, one who in her own way could be as dangerous to the fleet's future as the robotic Cylons, which are basically humanity's creation run amok.
And, yes, at some point there's a smooch.
Did I mention that Roslin is supposedly still dying of breast cancer?
While I'm not crazy about contemplating a future in which we're capable of creating a race of creatures that then turn on us but still apparently can't cure cancer, McDonnell's performance does help ground "Battlestar."
Like all the best science fiction, it's ultimately about what it means to be human.
Being only human myself, I haven't yet figured out how to both have a life and be the watching/writing/podcasting entity that 21st century TV criticism seems to demand - Cylon technology, perhaps? - so I'm not sure how many of my Series That Got Away I'll be reconnecting with in 2006.
Click on the link to read the rest of the article.
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