BSG Not very original

[kharn the betrayer]

She'd probably toss me out the airlock.

she wouldent do that...unless you are a Cylon she cares for humanity except Baltar and Zarek to much

[ShadowMaat]

I figured it was EJO as well, though I was curious to see if it was MM. I wouldn't dare put her in the candy fluff category. She'd probably toss me out the airlock.

That does seem to be her answer for everything, doesn't it? Cylon spy? Out the airlock. Cylon messenger? Out the airlock. Didn't vote for Roslin? You're probably a Cylon. Out the airlock.

[knowles2]

Even then the basic idea of an alien device for instantaneous travel via wormholes isn't even original, nor is the alien parasite idea. Its all been done a thousand and one times before in science fiction literature at one point or another.

Please point out a series which use the same idea then, just because I can't think of , well their one, but that evovle travel back in time not to other planets.

I personally enjoy the old series of battlestar Galactica, it entertaining unlike the new one which the last episode all most sent me to sleep and that was suppose to be the series final.

[ToasterOnFire]

That does seem to be her answer for everything, doesn't it? Cylon spy? Out the airlock. Cylon messenger? Out the airlock. Didn't vote for Roslin? You're probably a Cylon. Out the airlock.

Hee, the Leoben Memorial Airlock no less!

[The Shadow]

Hmm well I'm just going to put a blanket disagreeal on all his opinions there

Old BSG was a campy sci fi show that was cashing in on the sucess of Star Wars at the time. I've watched a few of the old eps and I can honestly say I wouldn't be reccomending it to anyone (unless you were drunk and looking for something to make you laugh ). The obvious TV production values hurt the show - even though at the time it was the most expensive TV show ever made - the story lines were standard scifi and the acting was nothing special.

The arguement about 'ripping off' story lines is silly. Every television show and movie reuses story lines and plots that other shows have done. The difference is in how that story line is presented, and how it is made unique by the show. I'm quite sure if I bothered too, I could find dozens of ripoffs and cliches in the old BSG.

feel free to post my response there

What makes the new BSG so good, imo, is its willingness to not hold back any punches. Standard scifi resolutions (the aliens were controlling them, it was a VR simulation, it was a dream etc) are gone and instead real consequences are provided for teh characters. And none of the characters are the standard scifi heroes (Do No Wrong, We Are Always Right!) either. The characters are fallible human beings with all the flaws and ugliness that the human race posses.

Personally, looking at the arguements that are given against the new BSG (especially from the die hard fans of teh old series), I think that those fans can't accept the sophistication of the new BSG. They've come looking for their escapist sci fi show and instead found one that is presenting real world issues. There is nothing wrong with escapist scifi (Stargate is one), but after a while they begin to get a little boring. The new BSG is a breath of fresh air in that regard.

I wonder how long I'd last if I posted that over there?

I must say I agree with you.....I use to hate the new BSG......but after making myself sitting down and watching an episode of the show, I notice that though it uses the universal storyline that so many sci-fi shows use, it is unique in that it shows the whole philosophical and moral points in the modern view.....maybe the old BSG was good, but the new BSG puts things in modern perspective......it asks the moral questions that we still face in our current war time, and not to mention it shows reality even if we don't want to face it ourselves, it shoves it in our face and makes us realize that this problem still exist instead of us trying to ignore and run away from it...(i.e. the black market episode with human trafficking and child sex tourism kind of stuff....)

All in all, this is a TV series that is not afraid to ask the questions that is really controversial in our society.....and I've seen many shows who relentlessly try to avoid those issues which made the shows really weak and bad, but BSG is a strong show with its own unique style.......

All sci-fi shows comes from the same identical strand of DNA and formula, but it is how they use that formula to their advantage that makes the difference...and I think that BSG did a really good job!!!!!

[bear's revenge]

Amen to that!

[Tain]

As others have pointed out, i find it humorous that every single thing listed as being "stolen ideas" were around long before the shows or movies he claims they have been stolen from used them. Some of them go back decades, if not centuries. By that logic, every show he listed is guilty of the very same thing he is accusing galactica of.

[foxhound22]

I say: "Don't feed the Trolls."

I like the show, if someone does not, too bad. Don't watch it. Simply put. If in twenty years they decide to remake this BSG, and they go in a total direction that I do not like, so what. I still have my version to enjoy.

Just my opinion on the matter.

[shernernum]

What makes me laugh is people who spend this much time critiqueing something they purport to not like. If you really don't like something you should ignore it. Instead you find people who rail against this show and know minute plot details, have read commentaries, have taken time to compare specific episodes of the series to specific episodes of other shows, and speak about specific characters in very in-depth ways. People who do this are giving the show as much or even more popularity, ratings, and attention than those of us who are happy to immerse ourselves on a weekly basis in the episodes, enjoy them, and once and awhile comment on them on a message board. In their attempt to point out all the flaws in the show they are not only revealing their own obsession with material that they say they don't like, they are helping to draw attention and sometimes even publicity to the show. Trust me when I say the RDM is happy that he is getting this type of reaction, because, remember the old axiom, there is no such thing as bad publicity.

It reminds me of the movie "Private Parts' (I know, not the highest in cinematic quality). In which they were discussing that the people who hated Stern were listening to him as much or even more than those who loved him. The question was, why do the people who like him listen for so long "Because they want to hear what he will say next." Why do the people who hate him listen for so long, "Because they want to hear what he will say next."

On the subject of originality, I only have one response. There is no such thing as complete dramatic originality, all the stories in one way or another have already been told. It is how the story is presented that makes the difference and for my taste the new BSG is great Sci-Fi storytelling, if you don't like the characters, the tone, the story, etc...that is fine, but don't try to convince me that I shouldn't. I believe it was Shakespeare who once said that there are really only 7 actual story themes that a writer can tell and all play, shows, and books every written are just a different variation of those 7 themes. Some people are just better at telling them than others.

[IEatCylons]

What makes me laugh is people who spend this much time critiqueing something they purport to not like. If you really don't like something you should ignore it. Instead you find people who rail against this show and know minute plot details, have read commentaries, have taken time to compare specific episodes of the series to specific episodes of other shows, and speak about specific characters in very in-depth ways. People who do this are giving the show as much or even more popularity, ratings, and attention than those of us who are happy to immerse ourselves on a weekly basis in the episodes, enjoy them, and once and awhile comment on them on a message board. In their attempt to point out all the flaws in the show they are not only revealing their own obsession with material that they say they don't like, they are helping to draw attention and sometimes even publicity to the show. Trust me when I say the RDM is happy that he is getting this type of reaction, because, remember the old axiom, there is no such thing as bad publicity.

It reminds me of the movie "Private Parts' (I know, not the highest in cinematic quality). In which they were discussing that the people who hated Stern were listening to him as much or even more than those who loved him. The question was, why do the people who like him listen for so long "Because they want to hear what he will say next." Why do the people who hate him listen for so long, "Because they want to hear what he will say next."

On the subject of originality, I only have one response. There is no such thing as complete dramatic originality, all the stories in one way or another have already been told. It is how the story is presented that makes the difference and for my taste the new BSG is great Sci-Fi storytelling, if you don't like the characters, the tone, the story, etc...that is fine, but don't try to convince me that I shouldn't. I believe it was Shakespeare who once said that there are really only 7 actual story themes that a writer can tell and all play, shows, and books every written are just a different variation of those 7 themes. Some people are just better at telling them than others.

I know BSG is not 100% original but im sick of people acting like BSG is fresh and new because its not well maybe S1 but now it just your standard scifi show.

[spg_1983]

I know BSG is not 100% original but im sick of people acting like BSG is fresh and new because its not well maybe S1 but now it just your standard scifi show.

Can you give a specific example of how it is just a standard scifi show? There are some elements that are going to be common to any sci fi show dealing with space travel and the like, but BSG always does something to add a twist to the old standard or make it unique.

[IEatCylons]

Let me reword it BSG is like combat 90210 in space

[wontgetfooledagain]

I think this is partly a result of the writers having to pour all of their creative juice into twenty episodes instead of just thirteen.

[ShadowMaat]

I know BSG is not 100% original but im sick of people acting like BSG is fresh and new because its not well maybe S1 but now it just your standard scifi show.

The last time I checked, people were still allowed to have opinions. YOUR opinion is that BSG is unoriginal and somehow "bad", but your opinion is just that: an opinion.

Other people have the opinion that the show IS fresh and original. Just because YOU disagree doesn't mean that THEY are wrong, it just means that you all have different ways of judging things.

There's nothing wrong with complaining about the show- especially if you (generally speaking) can come up with concrete examples to illustrate your points. HOWEVER, there's a line to be drawn and when you start prancing around telling other fans that they're wrong just because YOU disagree... that's where the trouble starts.

Stick to opinions about the show and leave the fans out of it.

[spg_1983]

Let me reword it BSG is like combat 90210 in space

Yeah see that doesnt even really make sense. A couple of the characters stories deal with romantic entanglements, but very few. And the Tyrol/Helo/Sharon triangle is more about the fact that they are in love with a cylon, a machine, than the romance angle. The same with Baltar/Six, which is further compounded by the fact that she is only in his head. The only "triangle" that exists that is meant to be an examination of human love relationships and could there for possible be compared to a 90210 situation is the Starbuck/Apollo thing. You have obviously missed the entire point of looking at the other relationships if you think of them as 90210-esque.