Hello all! Hope everyone is having a good summer. I have, for the most part. One thing I decided to do was to watch all 4 seasons of BSG. Actually I started during the spring it's just taken a while to get through. I had never watched a single episode, never really had any interest. After I started watching SGU and searching the web for other's opinion's on the show I read many posts that compared SGU to BSG so I wanted to find out for myself.
I gotta say, the pilot through season 2 were awesome. After the first season I thought that anyone comparing BSG to SGU was insulting BSG. Yea there were a few episodes I could do without but that's true of any television show, they're not all going to be awesome. But still, I loved it and wondered why I had never watched it before. Then came season 3. That season was dreadful and I was really glad I bought it on sale, paying full price for it would have been a sin. Season 4 was much better and in fact had a couple of eps that were the best in the series.
But seriously, it is clear to me that SGU is taking some of its story telling cues from BSG. Even in listening to the documentaries on BSG - some of what I hear is exactly what we've heard TPTB at SGU talk about. From the raw look of the show, the "realism", the focus on the human drama (and not on the science fiction drama). Any ya know what, for BSG it worked. At least for seasons 1 and 2. I think part of what made BSG successful was that it had a decent balance between the human drama, the space battles and a bit of comedy (how can one not find comedy in Gaius Baltar!) BSG failed once it moved away from that formula (season 3) and focused solely on dark, depressing human drama laced with modern political themes.
I am convinced, more than ever, that the emphasis (or goal if you will) of TPTB for SGU is not viewership, they had viewership for 15 seasons. They want the peer recognition plain and simple. I can't help but wonder if knowing that Caprica was coming out and having already lived in the shadow of BSG in terms of critical acclaim, if this had some impact on the decisions made regarding the feel and look of the show.
BSG after season 2 became a nightmare in terms of their ratings, but they were still loved by the critics. Stargate, while it certainly had the fanbase, had never been appreciated by critics or the upper class of the entertainment world and to a certain extent I'm sure they felt a little put out by that. I mean, I think I would be. I don't think it's going to work though, it's too obvious. They look like they're trying to copy BSG; it's not original stuff they're coming up with. Not only that, the cast doesn't work, the backstory doesn't work. Yes BSG had inter-fighting (like SGU) but it had more moments of coming together. SGU has no Adama, Guias Baltar, President Rosslin, Tigh, Six, and even Ellen....I could go on and on. I don't know what's in store for season 2 (SGU) but I really doubt that they can do anything to make it really good. There would have to be massive cast changes and story developments.
Even though I have some of the same complaints with BSG (in the first season there were too many over the line sex scenes...I did notice that after season 1 those seemed to go away for the most part) and the lack of science fiction in season 3, I still liked the series. I don't like SGU at all and at least now I know it's not because of the dark tone of the show. If you have a great cast, characters you can like and relate to and a good story well then, that's all you need. If I can like BSG I should be able to like SGU but those essential elements that made BSG good are not in SGU.
I was wondering, did "FTL" originate with BSG?
I gotta say, the pilot through season 2 were awesome. After the first season I thought that anyone comparing BSG to SGU was insulting BSG. Yea there were a few episodes I could do without but that's true of any television show, they're not all going to be awesome. But still, I loved it and wondered why I had never watched it before. Then came season 3. That season was dreadful and I was really glad I bought it on sale, paying full price for it would have been a sin. Season 4 was much better and in fact had a couple of eps that were the best in the series.
But seriously, it is clear to me that SGU is taking some of its story telling cues from BSG. Even in listening to the documentaries on BSG - some of what I hear is exactly what we've heard TPTB at SGU talk about. From the raw look of the show, the "realism", the focus on the human drama (and not on the science fiction drama). Any ya know what, for BSG it worked. At least for seasons 1 and 2. I think part of what made BSG successful was that it had a decent balance between the human drama, the space battles and a bit of comedy (how can one not find comedy in Gaius Baltar!) BSG failed once it moved away from that formula (season 3) and focused solely on dark, depressing human drama laced with modern political themes.
I am convinced, more than ever, that the emphasis (or goal if you will) of TPTB for SGU is not viewership, they had viewership for 15 seasons. They want the peer recognition plain and simple. I can't help but wonder if knowing that Caprica was coming out and having already lived in the shadow of BSG in terms of critical acclaim, if this had some impact on the decisions made regarding the feel and look of the show.
BSG after season 2 became a nightmare in terms of their ratings, but they were still loved by the critics. Stargate, while it certainly had the fanbase, had never been appreciated by critics or the upper class of the entertainment world and to a certain extent I'm sure they felt a little put out by that. I mean, I think I would be. I don't think it's going to work though, it's too obvious. They look like they're trying to copy BSG; it's not original stuff they're coming up with. Not only that, the cast doesn't work, the backstory doesn't work. Yes BSG had inter-fighting (like SGU) but it had more moments of coming together. SGU has no Adama, Guias Baltar, President Rosslin, Tigh, Six, and even Ellen....I could go on and on. I don't know what's in store for season 2 (SGU) but I really doubt that they can do anything to make it really good. There would have to be massive cast changes and story developments.
Even though I have some of the same complaints with BSG (in the first season there were too many over the line sex scenes...I did notice that after season 1 those seemed to go away for the most part) and the lack of science fiction in season 3, I still liked the series. I don't like SGU at all and at least now I know it's not because of the dark tone of the show. If you have a great cast, characters you can like and relate to and a good story well then, that's all you need. If I can like BSG I should be able to like SGU but those essential elements that made BSG good are not in SGU.
I was wondering, did "FTL" originate with BSG?
I talk a bit about the SGU/BSG comparison.
