TV: Potpourri

Last week I was all amped for the Olympics, and the awesome coverage I was going to provide on this here blog, for you, my adoring devotees.

Here's what I've seen of the Olympics:

Nuttin'. Big zilch. Not one second. Not even curling, which, as you know, I love a truly inexplicable amount.

Not really sure why I haven't been watching. No special reason, I guess, other than I haven't gone out of my way to catch it. I could TiVo some of it, I suppose, but my TiVo is always full to bursting as it is; adding a couple two-hour chunks o' Torino would play havoc with my saved programs, causing some to get deleted before I have time to watch them. Yes, it's a chore, having so very much TV to watch, and so precious little time.

From what I hear, I haven't missed an awful lot. The Americans have won, like, what, two bronzes? All our guys keep getting DQ'ed! All the hyped-up superstars are coming up goose eggs. Like Michelle Kwan -- it's just sad. She shouldn't have even been there in the first place, and now that she's had to pull out, the only thing she's going to be remembered for is never getting the gold. And her future Playboy pictorial, which I predict will be in three and a half years, just in time to promote Vancouver 2010.

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One reason I might have been missing the Olympics, come to think of it, is how much time I've spent watching the Battlestar Galactica DVDs with a buddy. Time well spent, I have to say; he's completely, hopelessly hooked.

Rewatching the previous seasons, it's amazing to note how well every episode flows from one to another. It's truly like a single story broken up into chapters. Which is what has disappointed me about the second half of season two. After the Pegasus storyline from the cliffhanger ending to the first half of the season was wrapped up, the show has kind of meandered about, telling self-contained stories which don't advance the overarching major storyline(s), and which have seen most of the supporting cast disappear into the background. And when they do show up, they get shot. (BIIILLLLLLYYYYY!!!)

Jacob, the recapper of BSG at Television Without Pity seems to have information that the show will go back to kicking huge amounts of ass starting with episode 18; unfortunately, tonight's episode is only 17. [EDIT: Having watched it now, I can report that it still kicked a whole LOT of ass.] Also, Jacob is a Cylon sympathizer (and the weird thing is, I'm not joking about that, and neither is he), so it's hard to take much of what he says as serious, or reliable. But this I'm inclined to believe. The show stepped back from forward momentum to kind of explore a bit with these past few episodes, I think, and it's been... not entirely successful. But once they get back into the groove of things, I don't doubt this show is going to rock all our faces once again.

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Anyone remember Space: Above and Beyond? I've talked about it here before, and suggested that it has to have been an influence on BSG. After the episode before last of BSG, I'm more sure of that than ever. That episode, called "Scar," featured the hunt for a mysterious, seemingly invincible enemy ship that would stalk and surprise the good guys, destroying them before they even knew what hit them, and which had grown into legend in the fleet, and was given a nickname: Scar. In S:A&B, the episode "The Angriest Angel" featured the hunt for a mysterious, seemingly invincible enemy ship that would stalk and surprise the good guys, destroying them before they even knew what hit them, and which had grown into legend in the fleet, and was given a nickname: Chiggie von Richthofen.

A quick Google search shows I'm not the first person to have made that connection. Frankly, if you've ever seen that episode of S:A&B, the similarities are undeniable. Tribute? Or lazy writing on BSG? You make the call!