Sad day for Battlestar fans

As I am sure many of you have heard, Battlestar Galactica's cast was shut out of the big Emmy nominations.

Galactica's technical staff did pick up three though:

Outstanding Costumes For A Series
Battlestar Galactica • Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 2 •
Sci Fi Channel • R&D Television in association with NBC
Universal Television Studios
Glenne Campbell, Costume Designer
Glenna Owen, Assistant Costume Designer
Cali Newcomen, Assistant Costume Designer

Outstanding Single-Camera Sound Mixing For A Series
Battlestar Galactica • Scattered • Sci Fi Channel • R&D
Television in association with NBC Universal Television
Studios
Kenneth Kobett, C.A.S., Supervising Re-Recording Mixer
Michael Olman, C.A.S., Supervising Re-Recording Mixer
Rick Bal, Production Mixer

Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Series
Battlestar Galactica • Resurrection Ship (Part 2) • Sci Fi
Channel • R&D Television in association with NBC
Universal Television Studios
Gary Hutzel, Visual Effects Supervisor
Michael Gibson, Senior Visual Effects Coordinator
Doug Drexler, Digital Supervisor
Steve Kullback, Visual Effects Coordinator
Mark Shimer, Lead Visual Effects Animator
Chris Zapara, CGI Supervisor
Lane Jolly, Lead Visual Effects Compositor
Kyle Toucher, Visual Effects Animator
Daniel Osaki, Lead CGI Model Maker

Congrats! To all involved on the nominations!

Although, as I scanned through the list of primary category nominations, it wasn't hard to see that the "new rules" didn't add much to the field of contenders. Maureen Ryan has the commentary:

The annual Emmy nominations are designed to break the hearts of serious television fans, and this year the awardsfest has done its duty again. The disappointments have a little more sting this year, since many observers thought things were going to be different this time around.

For the 2006 voting process, the Emmy bigwigs instituted new rules designed to allow critically acclaimed underdogs and a less predictable roster of actors and programs into the nomination process. Well, so much for that.

Read more

Hopefully season three will simply kick so much booty that you can't escape all of the hype and press! Sure, one could say that about season one and season two but you never know!

Why does mass America fear science fiction and like medical/crime drama so much? Don't get me wrong... I watch Grey's Anatomy with my wife and we both think it is a great show... but the best on TV?! The drama series is a tough crowd... House is pretty good (from the 1/2 ep I saw) and Sopranos is ok (from the 1 ep I saw)... and 24 had it's moments this season... and my wife says that West Wing ended pretty good... but are any of these shows really (still) pushing the envelope and creating award winning television drama more so than BSG? Galactica is off in the corner reinventing TV at practically every turn with things like online distribution, blogging, podcasts, spin offs, web content... even to the point where people are talking about rebooting other franchises "just like BSG did".

Sure, I run the Unofficial Battlestar Galactica Blog, so of course I am a bit of a fan boy... but there is a reason I am running a blog about this show and not others that I truly love. Battlestar Galactica is something quite different... something you don't see that often... it is a real success that seems to smash the expectations of everyone I tell to watch it. You would think at some point that might be recognized.

Comments

[Malnurtured Snay]

There's always, I think, going to be a bias for sci-fi related programming.

[sungoddess]

I was also very disappointed to see BSG shut out of the primary categories. And your comments are quite spot on... how is it that Americans are so obsessed with crime/medical dramas? I watch very little television, many of the shows nominated I have never seen a single episode of any season. Mostly because I just don't find that stuff so interesting... but I'll watch BSG Season 1 & 2 a thousand times and I won't get bored... the writing is excellent, the acting is excellent, the direction is excellent... so why no Emmy love?

[sungoddess]

Mary McDonnell wuz robbed!!!

[Chuck T]

There is something about science fiction that makes people equate it with "childish."

BSG is the best written show on TV, it is, as we all know, intelligent, witty, thought-provoking and surprising. You can't watch it with your brain off.

I was at a friend's house one night and she watched the show with me... somewhat reluctantly. But then she was amazed by the intensity of it all.

But, my wife won't watch because it falls into THAT genre and she immediately assumes it can't be intelligent.

I've watched the other shows nominated, they don't challenge the audience at all, they conform and deliver comfort. But maybe that's all people really want from their TV.

[kate]

on the other hand, i think people sometimes find sci-fi TOO intelligent. Scifi is always pushing the envelope, even the original trek did that. The first black and white kiss on television ring a bell anyone? The setting of the future allows scifi to criticize society at the present and this can be intimidating to some people, particularly those who just don't want to think about that. scifi might require more work intellectually, especially with the suspension of disbelief in some cases. people and, i hate to say it, Americans in particular, want fluff. they don't want to think about things in this way. and that is why battlestar and shows like it won't ever get an emmy.

[Aragorn]

hmmm... I dunno Kate. I've always been kinda put off by science fiction, because I've associated a lot of it with homogeny. Things like the usual star wars, and star trek (well at least until DS9 came around), to pretty much everything that you see on the Sci Fi channel. I also never really had an interest in the sci fi trappings of the aforementioned series… cuz…

well as far as stories go, the primary element that interest me are the characters and character interaction. I just can’t stand stiff delivery, and one sided characters that I’ve pretty much associated with the genre.

However… BSG is distinctly not science fiction, and is basically blessed with challenging, hard hitting storylines, and incredibly textured character design… and thus I kinda consider it the exception to the BSG rule.

[Brett J.]

Oh well. I do think that some of the weaker episodes around episode 214ish like Scar and the like may have hurt a little bit, but even it's worst episode is better than most of the garbage on TV these days. Of course there's the problem of that silly title, which was why I wouldn't watch it for a long time. It's okay, though. I'd rather them make a great show that gets less recognition than make a mediocre show that is the most watched show on TV. BTW, kudos to the folks at "The Office", it and BSG are the only two shows that I watch.

[Ed]

I'm not sure Americans in general are looking for fluff on TV. Look at the successes of 24 or The West Wing (Say what you will, it's still intelligent drama.)? I think the problem lies with the closed-mindedness of Emmy voters. Who are these people, anyway? If they're all Hollywood Establishment, then no wonder they can't bring themselves to recognize a groundbreaking series just because it's "scifi"!

I say, frak the Emmys! They've been irrelevant for years now. What about the Golden Globes?

[Roadrunnerdm]

Is anybody really surprised? It's not the general viewing audience that's the problem. It's the reticence among the industry itself to accept that sci-fi *can* actually be serious, artful drama.

It *might* have been a mistake in the "For Your Consideration" campaign to highlight lesser-quality eps like "Scar", but I don't think that really had much of an impact overall when Emmy voters just aren't watching.

Even the South Park geeks and Joss Whedon admit they didn't give Galactica a look-see until very recently and have only seen it after-the-fact on DVD. No one should be surprised that the historically stodgy and rut-bound voting academy still isn't taking it seriously.

And more to the point... so what? Noms or not, it's still a great show and easily among the best on TV today. Those who have given the show a chance know that. Those who haven't, don't know what they're missing... and that's *their* loss.

[wicky]

As someone who works in film and TV, I can tell you, unfortunately, it's about being in the club. It's sad to see that something cannot be lifted up on it's own merits, but must belong to an exclusive party of people in order to recieve any sort of recognition. Conversly, in that regard, BSG's real award is the voice of it's fans, not a silly trophy handed off from a select few. It's a great show, and it does not need validation from an organization that bars it's participation. Everyone involved in the show must be aware of the astounding dramatic work they are achieving, if not as a result of their efforts, but by the response of the viewers. Like a great rock band, they show us love and we give it back. Who cares about a silly trophy? Long live BSG.