Time Will Tell…Watching TNS

Sept17th · December 17th, 2004, 11:38 AM

I admit at this writing I’m not optimistic about a continuation with the original actors portraying the characters we know outside an animated production. To sum my thoughts, no word of any pre-production activity, Larson’s rights ambiguity, DeSanto’s schedule, any live action film is at least five years away IMO. I also think “people” are waiting to see how TNS goes in early 2005. Which gets me to my point, very few really know what is going on, even fewer talking about it. “Time will tell” is all I’m sure of, that time is coming very soon. Soon we will know which version of Battlestar Galactica the masses deem worthy of watching.

All of us on the boards don’t matter, not single post in the last few years I’ve been around is from someone with a Nielsen box. I now know that I will not be counted as fan of TOS who embraces TNS. Apparently TPTB think we are all onboard for the new show. Want to know more about ratings see the end of this post.

The West Wing: I get together every week with Joe and Donna now my new bride joins us as well. We polish off a nice Merlot enjoying the episode. We used to do this for Enterprise as well now I watch Enterprise alone in a closet with a paper bag over my head. I am also naked but that is another subject. Joe and Donna are local, non-military, community theatre friends who are in their mid forties. Joe is left, I like to hang a right, and we both battle Donna in debates over the sexes. They would best describe TOS as camp and chuckle of the thought that Lorne Greene was a serious actor…still I like them any way no one is perfect. As fans of Sci-fi films and television we all usually agree except they find fault with this Purist over Battlestar. Joe purposed weekly viewings of TNS while The West Wing is in reruns. I have agreed. I too want the opportunity to watch the car wreck and complain…yes I hope to show Joe and Donna the error of their ways while enjoying some good Merlot.

If you have read this far I also want your input for the selection of a one hour episode and two-part episode of TOS. I don’t think my friends have seen TOS since the original ABC broadcast. I would like to start the first night with an episode of TOS that best shows why Battlestar Galactica is special television.

Which would you choose?

http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20000313.html

Quote:

We found our answer by clicking on the link in the sidebar called "What TV Ratings Really Mean." Nielsen, a pioneer in the field of media audience measurement, samples a cross-section of ab out 5,000 U.S. households to create the estimates the networks use. Nielsen installs special metering equipment on the TV sets of a small set of participating households; this viewer data is transferred directly to Nielsen's computers.
While a sample of 5,000 households may seem tiny for the purpose of calculating who's watching what, Nielsen's examples demonstrate a four-percent margin of error.
Looking for more useful information on TV audience? Visit Nielsen's Ratings FAQ, which will give you a better understanding of the weekly numbers.

thomas7g · December 17th, 2004, 06:37 PM

I think you should show the very first hour. But avoid Carrilon. The start of the pilot was exceptional. But the carilon plot was kinda weak at points. If you can, I would go straight from the escape from the colonies into the living legend. That's a little bit longer than two hours. But I think that would make a very fun night.

Eric Paddon · December 17th, 2004, 07:02 PM

I believe the first episode should be seen uncut in its entirety. People say how the story takes a bad turn once they reach Carillon, but I really must count myself among the dissenters on this point. The first hour gives us the destruction and the need to move on, and Carillon in effect represents an embodiment of how many people at this point might be looking for a "quick, easy" solution to their problem after going through such a trauma. Compared to weaker BG episodes, I think the rest of the program overall holds up well with the only real cringe moment being Starbuck's musing about wanting to sign up the singing group.

I think the best way to introduce people to Galactica is to show respectively, Saga, Lost Planet Of The Gods, Living Legend, War Of The Gods and Hand Of God and then all the essential points of Galactica are covered (perhaps throwing in Man With Nine Lives in between WOTG and HOG into the mix).

Gemini1999 · December 17th, 2004, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric Paddon

I believe the first episode should be seen uncut in its entirety. People say how the story takes a bad turn once they reach Carillon, but I really must count myself among the dissenters on this point. The first hour gives us the destruction and the need to move on, and Carillon in effect represents an embodiment of how many people at this point might be looking for a "quick, easy" solution to their problem after going through such a trauma. Compared to weaker BG episodes, I think the rest of the program overall holds up well with the only real cringe moment being Starbuck's musing about wanting to sign up the singing group.

Eric -

I quite agree... I never really had a problem with the Carillon part of the story.

The survivors from the Colonies were beaten, injured and starving. We have no realistic measure of the time that it took to get from the Colonies to Carillon at sublight speed. When they come upon what Adama referred to as "an oasis" after surviving such a disaster where everything is lost, what are the alternatives? You can stay aboard ships where people are living in horribly crowded conditions with nothing more than the clothes on their back, or you can shuttle down to the planet and grab a few centares of pleasure. It was quite a while before the Fleet could even attempt to sustain itself where the civilians could live a somewhat decent life aboard the ships that carried them.

I do recognize that the scenes at Carillon have a bit of 70's disco era staring at us - for some that is one of the weaker moments. We have the Ovions that want to have the Colonials for slave labor and breakfast. We also see a few alien races such as the vocal group and a few others that were limited by the budget constraints of an already expensive show.

It should be noted that there were already human Colonists that had made it to Carillon before the war. Those people were already enjoying themselves and there weren't any scenes that showed that they were told of the destruction of the Colonies either.

"Saga" is one of my favorite BSG epsiodes to watch - even though it's a long epsiode...!

Best,
Bryan

Sept17th · December 19th, 2004, 10:43 AM

Thanks, I'm really thinking Hand of God. They know the basic story so Saga of a Star World is not needed and to long for this purpose. TOS last episode is one of its finest. The bugs had been mostly worked out, the character developement was solid and its fun fast past episode.

It also lacks any signifcant Boxey and Muffit which is common amongst TOS best.

Anyone noticed the poor picture quality of the space battle scenes for Hand of God in the DVD box set?