Results tagged “battlestar galactica”

SciFi channel (or is it SyFy now?) airs the two hour series finale of Battlestar Galactica tonight. It is with mixed emotions that I will be watching. On one hand I’m excited to see how it ends (I saved last week’s episode so I can watch the final three hours in one shot). For years I feel I’ve been part of this pilgrimage with the last survivors of the human race to find a new home. I’ve watched characters I’ve grown to love and/or hate betray each other, save each other, fall in love, have children, die, or discover they’re not really human after all. It’s been a crazy topsy turvy roller coaster ride and consistently one of the finest shows on television. And that’s why along with the excitement, there is sadness. Sadness that after tonight there won’t be a new episode to look forward.

Who knows, maybe someone will revive the show in another twenty years. After all, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen the old Battlestar on television. I find it funny that this week my mother just happened to send me an old mini-book I made for my father when I was about eight years old. It was full of mostly crude drawings of TIE fighters and X-Wings, but as I flipped through the pages this image brought a smile to my face:

So with that, I say thank you to the cast and crew. Thanks for allowing us to go on this incredible journey with you.

So say we all!

So in case you haven’t heard yet or if you’re like me and are consistently the last person to hear about these kinds of things, then you’ll be interested to hear that the Sci Fi Channel is about to update it’s name. And that update? Well….

Ta Da! It’s still pronounced the same way, but this new funk-tastic spelling pays homage to the other half of the channel’s programming. Want my opinion on the matter*? I like it. Aw heck, throw me on the bandwagon with an official looking purple shirt - I love it! I’ve been hoping that something like this would happen for a little while now.

In recent years we’ve seen a heavier listing of regular science fiction shows, such as the all-world favorite Battlestar Galactica, the long running Stargate series, and my personal favorite show, Eureka. However, the channel has also been the home to many fun fantasy shows and original movies like Sanctuary, Dead Like Me (originally from Showtime), and Moonlight. And finally, lest you think I’m leaving it out, the Dr. Who franchise that skirts the boundaries of both science fiction and fantasy.

So yeah, I love the change. But what do you think? There’s plenty of time to sound off on it as the change won’t take place until July, according to the Syfy website (still found at scifi.com). Of course, that’s not going to stop me from being an early adapter of the new name. As far as I’m concerned, it’s Syfy from here on out. Slick rebranding, Syfy; I’m with ya all the way!

You can read the Syfy Channel’s official press release HERE.

I am having an issue with one of my greatest loves. My favorite TV show right now is not scifi, which shames me (more on that in another post). Nope, it’s The Office. I love nearly everything about it, the sharp dialog, the subtle jabs, the dark humor that has you laughing and squirming uncomfortably at the same time, and the bizarre characters.

But the problem I have, and how this ties into science fiction, is the character of Dwight. He is obsessive about hierarchy, rude, myopic, and an utterly hysterical character. He’s also the office geek.

It’s honestly hard for me to see holy concepts like Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars being gushed about by this character who is utterly dreadful.

Dwight at a cocktail party: “Do you watch Battlestar Galactica?”
Confused stranger: “No.”
Dwight: “Well then, you are an idiot.”

It bugs me to see the only person in the office that shows geek tendencies - love of SF, part of a laser tag team, into the martial arts, collector of odd facts (his are about bears - did you know a bear can climb faster than it can run?), paintball enthusiast, and cosplayer (He spent a lot of money on his Sith Lord Halloween costume.) But as I mentioned above, he’s one of the least likable people (also, I grant you, one of the most fun.)

I think what bugs me the most is that I thought the writers would be smarter than that. They’ve created multifaceted characters like Creed, who just gets weirder and weirder every time we hear that he speaks Chinese, has a four-toed foot, and, during the 60s, had sex with “a lot of women. A man could have slipped in there, there is no way of knowing.” And Kelly, the celebrity-obsessed customer service representative who has trouble comprehending people who say what’s on their mind (“What kind of game is that?”)

And then there is Dwight, who, granted, has more depth than most stereotypical geeks, but he still is a socially awkward lover of “uncool” things. He is a practitioner of karate but he attends a school for kids. He misses the cool TV show (“The Apprentice”) by getting drunk with his laser tag team. Every time the show brings in an aspect of geek life, it’s invariably concerning Dwight and therefore is to be mocked.

Characters in The Office have more potential than most sitcom characters, as they have the chance to change as the seasons go on. The writers don’t always make Dwight the loser; he’s brought a room full of salesmen to screaming applause with a speech before, not to mention this season consistently cuckolding his rival who’s engaged to his ex-girlfriend. I just want one of his triumphs to be geek-associated: Let him meet Katee Sackhoff from BSG. Let his Sith Lord costume win an award at Halloween. Let us meet his laser tag team and learn that they’re all really interesting people.

In short, writers, show us a view of geeks besides that which is portrayed in every other sitcom. You stand above all the others in every other way, why not this one?

Drawn links to cartoonist Gavin Ewing and his amazing project: Drawing comic characters from A-Z. That’s his “C Is for Captain Haddock.”

Which fictional sport should be at the Olympics? NY Metro’s Vulture Blog posts a highly entertaining list here. My vote’s for Pyramid!

A long-lost pilot for a Buffy the Vampire Slayer animated pilot leaks to Youtube, and Underwire has the goods.

Over at MTV’s Splash Page, comics luminaries including Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns, and Tim Sale speculate on who the next Batman movie villain should be. Vote in the comments—and include your casting choices!

Just walking the show floor at Comic Con is pretty mind-blowing: There are epic monuments to geekdom everywhere. Take a look at some of the highlights after the jump: