Four reasons to watch BSG

The Top of Cool blog has four good reasons why anyone should be watching Battlestar Galactica:

1. You like science fiction
2. You like good TV
3. You like good acting
4. You like good story.

Read the whole post.

I couldn't agree more. There is no reason anyone should be passing up this show. I would even say that point number 1 (liking scifi) is debatable given that many of my friends like the show and they aren't your average scifi fan.

Comments

[-b]

i like galactica. as a matter of fact i'm something of a junkie for it now. it's not good tv, it's GREAT tv. and i HATE sci-fi. but i have to tell you, the acting is almost as bad as it was in the original series. olmos is essentially re-playing his lt. castillo role from vice; there's just not a whole lot of range going on there. as for the rest of the cast, i certainly don't see ANY emmy nominees for acting. that not withstanding, it's an inventive and creative show, and i can't WAIT til friday.

[Trapper]

I can't agree that the acting is bad. When I talk to non-scifi people about their perceptions of certain shows, I find there is often a disconnect in people's ability to suspend disbelief.

For instance, if you are watching a show and someone is killed in a car accident and a character is crying over the loss, it is really easy to relate to the drama of that situation. On the other hand if that person dies in a spaceship landing accident, the idea of a spaceship accident is so foreign to non-scifi viewers that they often can't process the drama because the whole situation is so much more contrived than a car crash would be.

I feel watching dramatic scifi involves a different level of audience mental involvement. You have to first open yourself to the plausability of the situations... only then will the true emotional impact of the character interactions take hold.

[-b]

it is a subjective point, i agree, but i still think the acting is bad. it's not the reactions of the cast that makes me think this, rather their delivery style, which ranges from forced to cardboard. the exception to this is the baltar character, who is neurotic enough to make his overacting seem plausible. all that said, i'm watching for the storyline, not the acting. the stories are engrossing enough to allow me to forgive acting. for now....

[Trapper]

I am not trying to defend the acting of the show... most of the characters are young actors hired for their freshness. I believe the older ones were hired specifically for similar characters they played in the past... you mentioned Olmos in Miami Vice... I would agree and also point to McDonell as the President's wife in Independence Day... a very similar character as well. Sometimes people aren't picked for their range, but for their reliability.

Just curious, when you watch the show, what do you compare it against for acting quality? If you had to pick the best acted show on TV, what would it be?

[-b]

hm. i'm probably a poor judge of television acting because i watch so little of it (nypd blue, which just had it's series finale, this old house, and battlestar). as for movies, shawshank redemption, get shorty (the hackman character, not travolta), la confidential and fargo all rate very highly. those are pretty high bars to measure a scifi show against, but the are superbly acted and i suppose that is the benchmark that i use for acting.

[Trapper]

You definitely using well acted shows/movies as a bench mark. Like you stated. The quality of acting in any show is subjective and often we will let bad acting slide (like you are with BSG) when we value things like story and situation higher.

I still think that my comments about situation are relevant though. It is hard to judge acting in Scifi the same as other genres because the situations are so fantastic and we naturally judge that as contrived and therefore judge the dramatic reaction as forced.

Anyhow... Thanks for the disscussion!