Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Ok I just gotta throw my appreciation behind a specific TV show. I am a bit of a fan of any Sci Fi, well more fanatical than anything. Being such a fan of the genre in general and in particular the "space opera" sub-genre, I have found a new rival for best Sci Fi series ever. Nothing will ever really be able to replace Babylon 5 for me, it was just perfect in terms of scope and writing and all of that, but this program comes close.

What program could I be talking about?

What show could engender such devotion out of a jaded Sci Fi junky?

Battle Star Galatica, BSG for short.

It is a great show, with a very well put together cast and writers who seem to really get into the spirit and minds of the characters they have created. The dialogue is spot on great most of the times, and it is VERY lean, they are pretty good about allowing the audience to figure out things on their own and to let the action speak for what it is. There need not be some "after action" narration to tell you what is happening, the writers and producers really do think that people are smart enough to figure somethings out.

The other thing I love about the pacing of the episodes is that in 45 or 46 minutes of programming, there is not a wasted moment. The payoff might be 3 or 4 episodes later, but I have rarely seen a wasted minute in this show. Compare this writing to say any other show, SG-1 (least this season of it), SGA (most of the whole thing), CSI (technobabble defined); all of these examples have somewhat inconsistent characterization, some poor casting choices at times, sloth like paceing, or sprinters pacing, neither of which really leads to any tension. My thing about the pacing of a good dramatic space opera is it should be like a properly prepared and served 5 course meal, it ought to start right, be fast enough you don't get bored, but enough time to really enjoy what is in front of you; the paceing should not feel like a sloth waddling by so slow that you have enough time to really nail the inconsistencies. The pace of the episode should also not go by so fast that you miss some details, or even major plot points because you are trying to fit more CGI budget into the last act and running of time in act 2.

I just had to take the time today and think about why I enjoy this show so much, it is great and I love it. Folks may think i am odd, but so what, most of you do anyways.

Hope everyone is well and having a decent week so far. Stay safe and write a comment or two.

2 comments:

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Anonymous said...

Wow, space opera? Did you make that up? I have to agree on CSI, not the most accurate on their lab processes. And based on thier lab procedure, they are certainly contaminating lotsof those samples! But "space opera", that is a who different level of dorkiness above me! I must congratualte you on reaching such a high level at such a young age. :) AC