"Why Battlestar Galactica is the Best Political Drama on TV"

Because West Wing was cancelled, and The Wire just rapped up?

Season 4 has the potential to be unbelievably good. I'm optimistic.

I heartily agree with Annalee that the moral ambiguity of the show gives it so much more impact than your typical show. There is not a single character that I'm absolutely love or hate, agree with or disagree with. They are very well-rounded and complex characters. I might want to kick Apollo in the nuts one minute and then completely agree with him in the next segment.

With that said, the sci-fi framework is what takes it from being a really interesting political show to a kick-ass show. Without Vipers and Centurions and FTL drives, it's just another "complex" show.

More Tom Zarek in season 4 would be great, too. So much potential goodness coming in April...

Cause they have the hottest President Jesus and his Mind Wife this side of New Caprica.

"There is a narrative comfort zone for audiences: We don't have to worry that what we're watching is about ourselves because it takes place in a fantasy world."

You really think the audience is that stupid? I'm a fairly political chap and disagree with quite a bit of what Moore puts in there, but the show is still good because ... it's good. It's good drama that doesn't insult the intelligence and I think many of BSGs viewers turn in BECAUSE of the political overtones. Besides, it's not like the show is all that hooked on the science aspect.

As far as the West Wing goes. Please. The difference between the shows is that one is a realistic look at the ugly world of politics and the other was, to steal from Mamet, "a braind-dead liberal" fantasy world that reimagined what a Clinton White House could have been if he hadn't been so busy "watering the Rose Garden."

It kind of lost me a season or two ago, for no reason that I would be able to explain to a mob of angry fans with pitchforks. It wasn't (I think) that it was too political, or too didactic, or too popular where it had once been sort of underground, or too dark, or too ambivalent. I just gradually stopped caring.

@SpecialK: I don't think audiences are stupid. But I do think that people don't like being spoon-fed political ideas. And having the show set in space avoids that trap.

@Tim Faulkner: Because it's the best. Duh.

@Rasselas: I feel almost exactly the same way.

@Rasselas: Last season lost me. It was too rambling, too focused on soap opera drama. But this season looks like it will be back on track. Or so I hope!

Sweeeeeet.

When a BSG character jumps onto a table, BSG fandom knows it's in for a big treat. *\o/*

So say we all, and by "we" I mean awesome, awesome nerds who know that this show is essentially the best series on television.

Put me in the "fired up" column upon viewing teaser.

@SpecialK:No the audience certainly isn't stupid at all, they audience is probably pretty bright. And yes they can see the parallels that are there, and reflect meaningfully on them.

The only other show that I've truly liked that had as much depth and moral ambiguity was DS9. At the beginning DS9 was fairly bland and deserved the name Deep Sleep 9. However after the ball got rolling with the war, the series took on an amazing depth. We see the same thing in BSG. (Yep, I realize both are RDM's projects.)

I do agree with Analee that placing those questions in a science fiction environment does allow them to get away with more than mainstream shows can. Using a science fiction frame of reference however does not change the underlying parallels which she is referring to.

I would actually submit that the summative effect that on a viewer can be greater than if the show was in a more Law and Order "ripped from the headlines" mode. People watch L&O and come away thinking "wow, that's really sad that happened to that person". Because science fiction can deal with much of the more ambiguous issues more deeply it can actually make the audience squirm.

@SpecialK: "The difference between the shows is that one is a realistic look at the ugly world of politics..." Please, yourself. What does Roslin do for the fleet besides order Adama around? You'd be hard pressed to tell. Where are police or any other bureaucratic/service functionaries besides the military? Why is her sole political opposition a terrorist? There isn't a single politically minded person that would oppose her on a more nuanced, intelligent platform? The Quorum is a non-entity that only serves as a plot speed bump once every 10 episodes. Zarek is a broad-strokes-with-fingerpaints populist-terrorist who doesn't have any credible political support without writing in the script that he has broad political support. The President selected a flaky, suspicious scientist who talks to himself as her VP because that's who the fleet was most likely to vote for? Tyrol conveniently wakes up to the plight of the working man after seeing a kid get hurt (after presumably already witnessing the worst of the worst), so for the first time the President thinks of issues that had to have been pressing from the very first day, and instantly gives him everything he wants, labor disputes ended because a week or two later Tyrol is a Cylon... Where was their political representation from the get-go? Baltar becomes the underground voice of the people by writing a popular manifesto? Come on. I could go on and on... It's nice that Roslin, Adama, and Apollo have both their good and bad moments, but each flips from week to week just to provide counterpoint to the other and can do, and get away with, anything they want. The politics of BSG is, in fact, just slightly more realistic than 24. Hate on West Wing for being liberal all you want, but just because BSG is the rare show for scifi fetishes to hang their hat on does not make it a sophisticated or quality political drama anymore than Deep Space Nine (which dealt with many of the same issues).

I agree that it's made more palatable to those who don't want to hear it. But I think people are forgetting that most people don't want to watch scifi either. And I love the show.

Actually, I think the mix of polital view points makes for a pretty interesting show. But, I do beleive that most people perfer to have their answers spoon fed to them. A site like this offers different perspectives because sf readers are used to dealing with lots of different ideas. But normally, our culture is meme-specific and people simply want their own beleifs affirmed by their entertainment, news, blogs...

And I have to also agree with President Jesus and his very hot girl friend. Why are all the Cylon women hot, and the guys are...not? I think it's because sexism exists in space, the final frontier for boys and their fantasies. Seven of Nine by any other name, is still fine.

I couldn't agree more - it is the best show on TV for all of the reasons listed. Can't wait for Apr 4!

I find it fascinating that sometimes the Cylons exhibit far more humanity than the humans do. Talk about a complex.

Xenocidal Maniac, it's okay, but I think Mad Men is great, as is Dexter and Henry VIII. As SF goes, I vote for Stargate Atlantis. Sorry, but I like Joe and Amanda.

@afraidofauntieem: Very True. I think that shows got a lot going for it as far as raising the issue of Transhuman rights.

@Jeff-Minor: Transhuman rights! Is there a slogan for that?

"We're bloomin', we're transhuman!" -- not much of a ring to it.

zomg, so essited, hope there are lots of apollo-sans-shirt scenes this season.

@SeventiesBush: I was hoping for the return of fat Apollo. Man, he cracked me up!

don't forget the Underpeople

@Tim Faulkner: I don't know what was better, him fat, or his dad dumping on him for it.

@Garrison Dean: It'd be easier to tolerate Starbuck's whining, Tigh's drunken moping, or Cylon's pontificating to monotonous piano chords if they were matched every time with fat Apollo or Adama getting beaten to a bloody pulp by Tyrol, that's for sure.

I've never watched Scifi in my life. I was always far too busy being one of the "cool kids."

Um, needless to say, I was rather dumb.

BSG is one of my favorite shows ever. I've convinced all of my "cool kid" friends that they are missing out too. If I can get them to watch even an hour of the miniseries they are usually hooked, and will go on marathon sessions trying to catch up to wherever the Cylons/Humans are currently.

The show is intelligent, timely, political and KICKASS.

Also, Starbuck and Apollo are hot.

I have enjoyed this show since the first episode aired.
This is one of the VERY few network shows i value
enough to watchon a regular basis.I don't watch "LOST", Or "heroes" or any other show that teh hetworks trot out as "SCI FI ". I'm VERY glad that NBC left this show on Sci Fi network. It would have been gutte if they had moved it over to "regular" network
programming.

@Tim Faulkner: Good Answer. Full agreement.

I just like the spaceships. Zip! Bam! Boom!

@fraketyfrak: Pew pew pew!

"Why are all the Cylon women hot, and the guys are...not?"

You obviously have not stumbled across the Callum Keith Rennie, Aaron Douglas, or Michael Trucco fansites. 'Obsessive' doesn't even BEGIN to cover it.

@MISS MERCY STREET: What, no love for Dean Stockwell? Whenever he rants that God doesn't exist, I yearn for Ben belting out "In Dreams" -- ah!

I read this article and was thinking were they stoned when they wrote this? It's totally deep and meaningful "And yet there's no mistaking the fact that the characters in BSG are us. And I don't just mean the humans. We are the Cylon too." Fraking Deep Stuff! Brilliant! Just Brilliant.

Oops, now I realise I'm the one thats stoned... :-p

Still just brilliant though!!!!

You pretty much just described exactly why sci-fi works and why some people don't consider Star Trek and Star Wars to be "true" sci-fi. Sci-fi when done properly has always been a way of exploring the human condition, by saying, "Look we might have space ships, it might be 2567, we might be able to teleport ourselves across planets, cure cancer with a pill, and build artifical limbs better than the origionals... and even with all that, we're still gonna be pricks to each other more often than not."

@Annalee Newitz: Transhuman Rights NOW! Or, Be More than Human! Or, Evolve! It's Your Choice.

It's going to be a big issue one of these days, so I'm getting ready to fight the discrimination that will no doubt be there. I've had lots of practice dealing with it already.

@Tim Faulkner: @Tim Faulkner: I think the thing that you and MANY MANY others forget is that the human race would be extinct if NOT for Roslin. Let me refresh your memory. When Adama wanted to go right back into that fight, risking his ship, his life and the life of his crew, who set him right? ROSLIN. Roslin told him to save the human race and not to be a stupid a$$ martyr. On Kobol he admitted to her face that he, Lee and the everyone else was alive because of her. Her political manuevers have always had a reason. From placing Baltar in the seat of the VP, knowing full and well she needed to sway the people and get them to listen to her. They weren't going to give her an iota of attention if Wallace Grey were in that seat. And yeah, it showed she could manipulate her way to the Presidential chair, but frak, she's a politician trying to run a dying society from one end of the universe to the other. Spare me the BLAME ROSLIN crap because ROSLIN is the reason their a$$es are still alive. If she had succeeded in cheating her way through that election they never would have suffered on NEW CAPRICA. If She had succeeded in convincing Adama and Cottle to get ride of the Cylon Hybrid, the CYLONS would never have an advantage over the humans now! And stop harping on Adama. He isn't swayed by Roslin like he's a dog on her leash. They both work together, which is something that was hard won, seeing as they did not even like each other at the onset. The fact that he listens to her and she listens to him and they have this maternal/paternal way with the fleet is what's going to keep all those people alive. In the end, the true heroes are the two people who are tirelessly pursuing this goal to get everyone home. Maybe it's ageism or the fact that a lot of people grew up with heroes who were young, nubile and stupid, but if you look at this show from beginning to the inevitable end...Roslin and Adama have been the heroes all along.

@ARLC: Woah, what? I'm perfectly familiar with the plot. Who said anything about blaming anyone? I said the entire notion of great political drama is specious because the political plots are contrived, trite, and common to any series or movie featuring politics. (I know Roslin's role -- part of my point is that you can't have great politics when two (or maybe three) people with contrived conflicts and resolutions are all that's relevant to any "political drama" -- that's not how politics really works.) Oooh, Roslin saved humanity! So did Randy Quaid -- does that Independence Day a great political drama and him a natural born leader?

@ARLC:
"I think the thing that you and MANY MANY others forget is that the human race would be extinct if NOT for Roslin."

Nah, the human race would be extinct if the Cylons didn't want to keep them around as playthings/a control group. Roslin and Adama have nothing whatsoever to do with it.

Besides, the Cylons obviously are the human race, too. Even if last year's model dies out the human race won't be extinct.
-Kle.

"...what allows BSG to be so overtly political, complete with subplots about suicide bombing, is precisely the fact that it's set in a science fictional world."

Ah, bingo.

And what allowed any of us to criticize the Bush Crime Family when "Omg...9/11!" was an excuse to throw anyone and everyone in the clink...was precisely the fact that BSG was a vicarious conduit for our collective politcial misery.

Funny how the people in charge look for dissent in all the wrong places, no?

I loved the West Wing, so I'm no stranger to liberal political drama. And I've been a big fan of BSG. But BSG's ham-fisted treatment of the insurgency in Iraq was nauseating. It wasn't nuanced. It was designed to elicit clapping from people who already agree with the point being made, people who love to use the phrases "military industrial complex" and "Hallibushitlerton."

If you think "a military gone made with power" is an idea "ripped from the headlines," then you've been breathing in the patchouli-scented dogma for entirely too long. If you want to take shots at the Bush administration, that's fine. But anyone who believes that the military has any power over the political branches whatsoever needs to loosen the headband, take a few deep breaths without a bong, and maybe even talk to an actual member of the military.

I know, it seems absurd. But you might be pleased to discover that many of them are not the caricatures you hear about at the love-ins and drum circles for peace. They're actually ... [gasp!]... human!

BSG is best when it deals with what it is to be human. If I wanted cheap political allegories, I'd watch Hannity & Colmes or Olbermann. And if we get more of the war in Iraq on BSG, I might just do that.

Quoted from the article: "It's possible that what allows BSG to be so overtly political, complete with subplots about suicide bombing, is precisely the fact that it's set in a science fictional world. There is a narrative comfort zone for audiences..."

This is what really great science fiction has done consistently over the years. Look at any of the sci-fi masters (Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke RIP all) and you'll see them asking the hard questions and making the painful comparisons to society as we know it.

Our lords and masters may spin the news and get our nation involved in shennanigans on the other side of the world, but our prophets have always have be able to hold a mirror up to reality without penalty because it's only sci-fi. No one takes that shit seriously.

And that's why we love it. We feel included in our little knowing cult.

i made everyone this bsg iphone wallpaper.

freehand if you can believe it.

[i52.photobucket.com]

Does it bother anyone that the whole suicide bomber thing plays out as a Cylon=Israeli, Colonial=Palestinian thing? The same thing happened on ST:TNG. The Bajoran Homeworld=Palestinian homeland and Kardassians=Israeli who were occupying the homeworld. Plus the Kardassians were ugly, which echoed anti-Semitic caricatures of the 1930s.

I found the suicide bomber episode morally repugnant.

Don't use a bad tv show as a metaphor for simplistic and childish liberal politics.

hey this is doc the itunes podcast: Heroes of Science Fiction and Fantasy, found this website thru a google alert. Was looking thru the posts and the responses and will definitely be back. Went over "Razor" and the episode "Valley of Darkness" in Heroes of Science Fiction and Fantasy episode 18 and 19 if interested. website www.heroesofsciencefictionandfantasy.com