Battlestar Galactica, now on NRK2*
I highly recommend following this groundbreaking series.
As I started watching it, on DVD, the series aired in only 6 countries, among which were the US, the UK, South Africa and Australia.
A top quality series produced initially with British funds, Battlestar Galactica (TNS - the new series) has been lauded by Time Magazine as one of the six best series currently running worldwide. That is quite some achievement, but I fully agree. I can only think of 4-5 series in the same league, and for me those would be The Sopranos, The West Wing, The Shield, Commander-in-Chief, and a few series that no longer run (like Twin Peaks, at least the first season, and Wiseguy).
A stripped-down sci-fi-series with a whole lot more emphasis on human drama than on elaborate CGI-imagery (although when they do use the latter, it is top-notch), BG (TNS) deals with the intrinsic difficulties with diplomacy and other human relations. We get to enjoy bold takes on terrorism, religion, feminism, US Imperialism and many other explosive contemporary political issues. If you were to believe Norwegian daily Dagbladet, in an article in its Friday-mag yesterday, the modern version of the Battlestar Galactica-series is doing for sci-fi drama what Desperate Housewives did for regular soap operas, i.e a very positive, dramatically complex and mature revamp - and I fully concur (although I'd object to the somewhat simplistic notion that it is first and foremost a sci-fi series - see below).
Thoroughly enjoyable, the series became such a runaway hit in all countries where it initially aired, that US investors/studios wisely and profitably picked it up. Now with a more beefed-up Hollywood-style budget, the series is scheduled to run for a long while still, and the CGI-scenes are more complex and gratifying than ever - although still not challenging the emphasis on drama and political, between-the-lines comment. (See for instance the episodes toward the middle of season 2, where a show-down between UN-like sentiments, and US-like imperialistic, uncompromising ones, glues the viewer to his or her seat, biting nails. Hint: The Pegasus represents the US foreign policy/GWOT values under Bush jr., in this allegory).
Agile has seen the initial mini-series (which you can pick up in a local DVD-store, for instance Platekompaniet, the first season, and first half of the second season, BG 2.0**. The miniseries is a 3-hour intro, and can be seen as a sci-fi movie on its own. The first and second seasons run like regular high-quality TV-series, with individual drama-archs for (mostly) each episode running alongside more stretched-out archs of interpersonal drama that evolve further with each episode - working their way through the ups and downs, the challenges of dramatic confrontations, the power struggles and give-and-take etc, that all adults know from dealing with friends, lovers, family and colleagues in their own lives. BG offers valuable guidance on the latter, something I'd wager is quite unusual with sci-fi series, posing the question whether BG (TNS) should not rather be labeled "adult, intelligent drama".
The best way to enjoy it is definitely to watch it all chronologically, i.e. don't miss out on any episode along the way. Each episode is a thrill, and so far it only gets better and better as it develops - believe it or not.
Coined the best sci-fi series for grown-ups, and one of the best series currently running worldwide, regardless of category, Battlestar Galactica is destined for a long while still to build more and more momentum as it thugs along.
Don't be the last person to jump on this bandwagon - you'd be sorry if you did ;-)
- - -
* (National Norwegian Channel; cultural subchapter)
** The first half of the second season, 10 episodes out of a 20-episode total, was released separately earlier this year as "Battlestar Galactica 2.0", due to popular demand. The full season 2 series will be released as a box-set in September, under the demomination "Battlestar Galactica 2.5".
As I started watching it, on DVD, the series aired in only 6 countries, among which were the US, the UK, South Africa and Australia.
A top quality series produced initially with British funds, Battlestar Galactica (TNS - the new series) has been lauded by Time Magazine as one of the six best series currently running worldwide. That is quite some achievement, but I fully agree. I can only think of 4-5 series in the same league, and for me those would be The Sopranos, The West Wing, The Shield, Commander-in-Chief, and a few series that no longer run (like Twin Peaks, at least the first season, and Wiseguy).
A stripped-down sci-fi-series with a whole lot more emphasis on human drama than on elaborate CGI-imagery (although when they do use the latter, it is top-notch), BG (TNS) deals with the intrinsic difficulties with diplomacy and other human relations. We get to enjoy bold takes on terrorism, religion, feminism, US Imperialism and many other explosive contemporary political issues. If you were to believe Norwegian daily Dagbladet, in an article in its Friday-mag yesterday, the modern version of the Battlestar Galactica-series is doing for sci-fi drama what Desperate Housewives did for regular soap operas, i.e a very positive, dramatically complex and mature revamp - and I fully concur (although I'd object to the somewhat simplistic notion that it is first and foremost a sci-fi series - see below).
Thoroughly enjoyable, the series became such a runaway hit in all countries where it initially aired, that US investors/studios wisely and profitably picked it up. Now with a more beefed-up Hollywood-style budget, the series is scheduled to run for a long while still, and the CGI-scenes are more complex and gratifying than ever - although still not challenging the emphasis on drama and political, between-the-lines comment. (See for instance the episodes toward the middle of season 2, where a show-down between UN-like sentiments, and US-like imperialistic, uncompromising ones, glues the viewer to his or her seat, biting nails. Hint: The Pegasus represents the US foreign policy/GWOT values under Bush jr., in this allegory).
Agile has seen the initial mini-series (which you can pick up in a local DVD-store, for instance Platekompaniet, the first season, and first half of the second season, BG 2.0**. The miniseries is a 3-hour intro, and can be seen as a sci-fi movie on its own. The first and second seasons run like regular high-quality TV-series, with individual drama-archs for (mostly) each episode running alongside more stretched-out archs of interpersonal drama that evolve further with each episode - working their way through the ups and downs, the challenges of dramatic confrontations, the power struggles and give-and-take etc, that all adults know from dealing with friends, lovers, family and colleagues in their own lives. BG offers valuable guidance on the latter, something I'd wager is quite unusual with sci-fi series, posing the question whether BG (TNS) should not rather be labeled "adult, intelligent drama".
The best way to enjoy it is definitely to watch it all chronologically, i.e. don't miss out on any episode along the way. Each episode is a thrill, and so far it only gets better and better as it develops - believe it or not.
Coined the best sci-fi series for grown-ups, and one of the best series currently running worldwide, regardless of category, Battlestar Galactica is destined for a long while still to build more and more momentum as it thugs along.
Don't be the last person to jump on this bandwagon - you'd be sorry if you did ;-)
- - -
* (National Norwegian Channel; cultural subchapter)
** The first half of the second season, 10 episodes out of a 20-episode total, was released separately earlier this year as "Battlestar Galactica 2.0", due to popular demand. The full season 2 series will be released as a box-set in September, under the demomination "Battlestar Galactica 2.5".
posted by Agile | 4:52 PM
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