Battlestar Galactica

In graduate school, I started hearing my friends talk of this show, "Battlestar Galactica" - or, BSG.  They kept saying how great it was, how it was Rome in outer space (and, as a historian, I would love it).  I'm no stranger to sci-fi but I had little interest in this show.

Fast forward seven (!!!?!) years and Mr. Higgins told me it was the best written drama he had ever seen.  I argued that "West Wing" was TV's best drama ever(....well, this is not counting HBO, Showtime, etc, shows).  To Mr. Higgins' credit, he watched all seven seasons of "West Wing" and he mostly enjoyed it.

When we finished with that, he insisted we watch BSG.  The only reason I went along - besides the fact that I mostly trust his taste - is that he compared it to one of our favorite little shows of all time, "Firefly." 

So, off we went with BSG.  And...I was hooked in the first episode.  I was so hooked that we watched the first season in a week.  I was so hooked that Mr. Higgins had to insist we not watch it just so I had to suffer as he did, when it originally aired.  Ha!

"Wow," is all I can say about this show.  It's sci-fi but not really.  There are no aliens, no creepy critters lurking in outer space, and the technology is completely believable.  It's like we suddenly started building space ships because we can....but we haven't got everything figured out.  Make no mistake, this is no "Star Trek."  This is a sophisticated "Firefly" that will blow your mind.  

I had no idea there was a BSG that originally aired in the late '70s.  I was appalled to hear that Starbuck and Boomer were originally men.  Ugh!  This BSG is much better.  

As for comparing it to "West Wing"....  Well, no one beats Aaron Sorkin in dialogue.  But BSG, the pure nature of it, leads to more drama.....and that drama is executed in a way that TV had never seen at that time: brilliantly.     

(And...if you're into soundtracks like me and Mr. Higgins....  BSG has some of the best written music ever written for TV.)

I highly recommend it.  Actually, just go buy the Blu-Ray.  You won't regret it.