Frack the Fracking Frackers: Thoughts on Battlestar Gallactica and TV shows in general.

Around 1999 something happened to TV shows. The hour long drama was suddenly deeper, darker, better written, better acted, better all the way around then it had ever been before. HBO led the way and then came F/X. Not far behind was Showtime, and then finally AMC dropped a few of its own too.
The Sci-Fi Channel (or as some say: the channel for men and women who have an inability to meet other men and women) had to get in the fray and in they got with a re-imagining of the classic 70's show Battlestar Gallactica. Like many other people I thought "why?", "lame", "out of ideas huh?", "stupid", and finally: "who cares". A few years passed and I lived my oblivious life until I started to hear positive comments about Battlestar from reliable sources including Tim Goodman, the TV writer for the SF Chron and whose opinion I revere. It took me a few more years before I actually put it in the cue, and when it showed up in my mailbox I threw it on and waited to be dazzled.
At first I thought: "This isn't going to do it for me. Except for Eddie Olmos this cast is a bunch of TV actors fresh off the bus from LA who just act so much like, like, TV actors!" But I stuck with it and the writing stepped it up and the actors followed along and stepped up their game as well. Season one made way for Season 2 and 3 and the story twisted and turned in all kinds of directions that packed devastating emotional punches. Like all the other sci fi nerds I became invested, and still am as I finish the last season.
Not to say there aren't flaws. The over use of the Battlestar curse word "frak" was a bit much. Like all shows there were episodes where I got a sense that the writers were treading water as they waited for next week when there would be a real dramatic kick of some kind. I always forgave them for this because when that kick did come, dude, it packed a wallop. There were also times when it seemed a little contrived but very rarely. And even when it was it never reached the levels of contrivance and bullshit that “other shows” did.
When I mention “other shows” I'm talking about the ones that I attempted to enter and just couldn't stay with when I realized I was wasting my time. These "other shows" tried to be in the upper echelon of hour long dramas that Battlestar Gallactica proudly stands in but just couldn't muster the substance or the inspiration. These shows include Rescue Me (started out great and then just became annoying for some reason), The Shield (would have stuck with it but then suddenly realized I just don't give a shit about any of the characters), Breaking Bad (Brian Cranston is the man but thugs just don't talk like that. I'm sorry. The drug dealers on that show all talk like they paint their faces and go to Insane Clown Posse shows on the weekend), and most of all Brotherhood on Showtime.
Brotherhood really irritated me because it had such potential. A show about politics and the dying Irish mob? Yes! But sadly no. Brotherhood sucks ass. Its biggest flaw is that every character, and I mean every single one, acts like a complete and total douche. There is no motivation or reason for anyone to act like they do and when the writers try to create a motivation you can see it from four miles away and it just lands completely false. How could they do that to the Irish!
Some of my dear friends (coincidentally, most of them are in the band Supertaster) have recently entered the world of The Wire. So has my Mother who has just finished the fourth season which, in my opinion, is the best. There has been a lot of talk about The Wire being the greatest TV show ever created and I humored that thought for a few years before coming to a different conclusion.
There is a reason that TV shows became astonishingly good after 1999. '99 was the year The Sopranos pilot aired on HBO. The Sopranos changed everything and started everything that I've discussed above. People realize this and acknowledge The Sopranos but don't necessarily put it as number one. That spot is usually reserved for The Wire because when it all is said and done it comes down to The Wire and The Sopranos. There was a time when I would have gone with The Wire but then I re-watched the entire Sopranos series and now know where my heart really lies. The Wire is real; it’s characters, writing, and acting are all exceptional and move you like no other. But the Sopranos is LIFE.
When the show was originally on everyone was caught up in the killing and mob aspect of it. Viewers were bloodthirsty; judging episodes by the amount of murders and not by their nuances and artistic merit. Most people missed the point. David Chase (the creator of the show) used the Mafia setting to touch on the overall strangeness of life; the beauty and horror of relationships between family and friends, the odd details of being a human on Earth. Above the violence, the sex, the humor (the show is very very funny), the lifestyles, the hits, the death, the show is STRANGE. Strange like life.
So that’s where I stand. The Wire may very well be the best overall show ever made, but for me, in my opinion, The Sopranos stands supreme. And then, just a few notches below both of them, sits Battlestar Gallactica.
-Dublin 04-06-10