Best current American sci-fi/fantasy TV show?

[Meira]

EDIT: actually, are you perhaps also talking about the original Galactica? "Miltary is cool" and "sex is evil" definitely seemed to be themes on that show. Actually, the latter ought to be "sex is evil unless you're Starbuck" .

 

No, I was talking about the new series. Based only on the pilot episode(s), though.

 

Weird, I never got that with the new series. I got a vibe of 'the military is fucked up' and didn't really get any kind of vibe on the sex. The characters seem to get it when they need it though.

All (both) girls getting any in the pilot were both revealed cylons ie. if a girl was showing any active interest in sex, she was bound to be evil. (Assuming that cylons arent revealed to be cudly later on- ) On the other hand the Starbuck lady appeared to me as the very stereotypical 'angry/macho girl', which in my book is getting really old.

 

As for military being cool; for me the pilot didn't seem to give much hope for that image to change (though, I'm glad to hear that it does). However I'm not sure that I'd be terribly entertained to watch that, I'm already fairly convinced that the concept of military run government is seriously flawed. In fact one thing that appealed to me in original Starwars, Firefly and Futurama that the characters were not government 'officials'.

[NiGHTMARE]

Ah, but one of the other recurring themes of the series is that not all Cylons are the same (even members of the same series), and definitely not all of them are evil; not all of them even know they're Cylons. In fact, the two Cylons who are getting some in the pilot turn out to be the nicest of all the Cylons we've seen so far .

 

Another point is that there have been (and no doubt will be in future episodes) several human characters on the show who are just as evil, if not more evil, than the typical Cylon. Several of the most horrendous acts that have occured in the series have been carried out by humans, and the Cylons have on occassion even been appalled by certain things humans have done, such as a recent suicide bombing.

[David Falkayn]

EDIT: actually, are you perhaps also talking about the original Galactica? "Miltary is cool" and "sex is evil" definitely seemed to be themes on that show. Actually, the latter ought to be "sex is evil unless you're Starbuck" .

 

No, I was talking about the new series. Based only on the pilot episode(s), though.

 

Weird, I never got that with the new series. I got a vibe of 'the military is fucked up' and didn't really get any kind of vibe on the sex. The characters seem to get it when they need it though.

 

Actually, I don't get either vibe. The vibe I get is that the military are human beings: you've got good and bad apples, sometimes the good apples do bad things or have bad things happen on their watch, but often the good outweighs the bad. You have your Thornes, but you also have your Helos and Tyrols. Adama and Tigh have made some good calls--and they've made some very bad calls. As far as the civilian government is concerned, it's not perfect either. Roslin has done some really shaky stuff: Ordering the kidnapping of Sharon's baby, advising Adama to assassinate Cain, ordering the summary murder of prisoners, rigging elections...hardly perfect acts.

 

As regards Adama's coup in first season: Look at events from his perspective. Based on what he saw and understood, Roslin was beginning to lose it. Also, she did interfere with his command of the ship and his plans for a major operation. While I will agree that he went too far with his coup, from his perspective, it seemed the proper course of action; just as it was the proper course of action for his son to refuse to carry out his (illegal) orders and oppose him.

 

Ultimately BSG is about the human condition

[BigRob]

I do like Battlestar Galactica quite a bit, all the various shady dealings and general dodginess appeals to me. The way the most recent series ended (and I may be a bit behind in the land downunder) seemed a bit forced to me though, like they squeezed six episodes into two.

 

 

On the other hand the Starbuck lady appeared to me as the very stereotypical 'angry/macho girl', which in my book is getting really old.

 

She was very over the top and I wasn't keen on her for that reason, but her character has become more human as the series has evolved.

 

 

In fact one thing that appealed to me in original Starwars, Firefly and Futurama that the characters were not government 'officials'.

 

Well, except Hermes.

[NiGHTMARE]

And Princess Leia .

[Pekka]

I think the new Battlestar Galactica is now the best American sci-fi show. So far the series has been the most brilliant depiction I've ever seen of the dangerous tension between civilian and military authorities in a time of great crisis. This theme of civilians meddling in the operational plans of the military (which they shouldn't be doing) and the military meddling in the political workings of a civil society (which they shouldn't be doing) has been topical since the early days of civilised human governments and their systems of military.

 

In my opinion, Firefly doesn't have much to offer compared to BSG. Unfortunately the story of Serenity and her crew isn't the finest hour of Whedon's career...