Rantings of a New Yorker

According to geekmonthly.com, Universal is seriously considering creating a straight to DVD movie for Battlestar Galactica, despite its sagging TV ratings.  This is based solely on the fact that DVD sales are more impressive than the television ratings for the show.

A direct to DVD movie would not have been necessary if the Sci-Fi channel had not, yet again, screwed up a perfectly good series.

There is still the lingering problem with fighting over getting paid for the webisodes.  BSG argues that they were supposed to be paid while Sci-Fi argues it’s part of a season so they’ve already been paid.

BSG will also be moving to Sunday nights at 10pm when it returns in January.  Moving a show halfway through its third year is a sign that the the Sci-Fi Channel has lost confidence in it.  Networks always claim that it’s to help the show but decades of evidence proves otherwise.  The people that might be watching are already stuck into their Sunday night lineup and, most likely, will not change their habits.  Only BSG addicts will be watching.

The Sci-Fi channel also has an irregular schedule for airing shows.  They often air half a season and make viewers wait several months before seeing the other half.  This leads to the die-hard fans keeping up with the show when it returns and the rest do not know what’s going on or that the show still exists.

They have also reduced advertising for the show itself.  There are rarely ads for BSG on the Sci-Fi Channel and the show is practically non-existant on their website.  This is what happened to Farscape as well.  No advertisements = no new viewers = die-hard fans only = low ratings = cancellation.

Season three has been quite choppy.  This is due to the constant flashbacks from New Caprica, forcing people to think too much about how many months have gone by between the current time and the time on New Caprica.  While science fiction fans are not idiots, constant flashing back and forth confuses viewers, especially the casual science fiction fan.  This is a sure-fire way to turn away viewers.

BSG has also been suffering from playing its morality card too often thus far in season three.  While lectures on morality are good for a show, hitting the views over the head with it week after week turns people away.  Fortunately, the last 3-4 episodes were great but you have to wait three months to see what happens next.

The cylons have become too human.  “33” was a great episode.  The cylons were relentless in their machine-like thinking, making the episode suspenseful.  Having Helo on Caprica being chased by cylons constantly was riveting.  Season three allows us to see more of the cylons but they seem a bit disjointed, bickering over what to do and, generally, acting human.

A major problem is overextending the product.  Before BSG could get its legs and establish itself amongst more viewers, it was decided that there would be a spinoff, Caprica, that would cover the forty-odd years before BSG started.  Then there was the announcement of some sort of multi-player online game that is in the works and some type of RPG.  Now, they want a DVD movie so they can cash in first before airing it on television.  Overexposing an idea will surely kill it.

The Sci-Fi channel is run by idiots.  Yes, I said it.  Their history proves it.  They cancel shows like Farscape, claiming it was too expensive and the ratings were in decline.  They found a way to back out of the contract and put garbage, such as Tremors: The Series, on for one season.  Stargate: Atlantis gets roughly the same ratings that Farscape did but is considered a decent ratings winner.  They are cancelling Stargate: SG1 even though the cast is willing to stay and do more shows.  Sagging ratings are again the reason, despite the fact that it’s their most popular show.

There will always be fans that wish things had been written another way or wished that a little bit more mystery was left.  You cannot please everyone, which is why there is constant debate about what’s happening and what is going to happen next.  Battlestar Galactica spurns questions and conversations, something you rarely see on television today.

Despite all these problems, Battlestar Galactica is still the best show on television.  It doesn’t often talk down to its viewers.  It’s the best written, best acted bit of TV and rises above the stench that is network TV.  Viewers can only hope the second half of season three will return to the riveting action and storylines that we have grown accustomed to, otherwise, season three may, indeed, be the last.