I am – Hercules!!
The top-ten lists are all coming out in a couple weeks, so I‘ll just commit now. “Battlestar Galactica” is the best series of 2005. It is the show of the year.
A total of 23 episodes were colorcast by the SciFi Channel in 2005. The first 13 of these (plus the original 4-hour miniseries) is collected on Battlestar Galactica: The Complete First Season
. The balance, which comprises the first 10 episodes of the second season, is collected Tuesday on the oddly-named Battlestar Galactica 2.0. Episodes 2.1 through 2.10 takes us from the attempt on Adama’s life to the attempted rescue of Boomer’s boys, Tyrol and Helo, from the rape-happy crew of the Pegasus.
That’s right. The rape-happy crew of the Pegasus. You don’t hear about that many rape-happy crews on “Stargate,” “Farscape,” “Enterprise” or “Lexx,” do ya? (You did hear about a fair number of rape-happy crews on “Firefly,” though, now that I think about it.)
I quote here from my review of the first-season set:
Its greatness lies in the fact that it is not so much a cross between “24” and “Star Trek” as it is a cross between “24” and “The Prisoner.” Or possibly “24” and “Twin Peaks.”
It shows us, yes, glimpses of what our lives might be like in the wake of apocalypse. Which is plenty interesting.
But there are also all these weird and fascinating questions lurking around its stories; questions for which one hopes Ron Moore and his team have good answers. Why do the good guys embrace the “false” gods of Greek mythology while the bad guys are monotheists with Judeo-Christian commandments? Why are the Cylons so keen to breed with their enemies? If the fleshy, dying Cylons can transmit their consciousnesses to new bodies, why don’t their modems show up on x-rays? Why are the fleeing colonists so similar to Earthers in so many ways? Are the colonists our ancestors, our descendants, or something else entirely? How could a space-faring race not know the location of the planet it comes from? What is going on in Gaius Baltar’s brain?
Seven of the ten episodes – all but 2.3 (“Fragged”), 2.9 (“Flight of the Phoenix”) and, most frustratingly, 2.10 (“The Pegasus”) - are graced with the podcast commentaries from showrunner Moore, and he’s joined on 2.6 and 2.7 (the “Home” 2-parter) by producer David Eick, who made his scripting debut on “Home.”
The commentaries demonstrate that Moore regards 2.7 as the true first-season finale. 2.8 (“Final Cut,” with Lucy Lawless) and 2.9 (“Flight of the Phoenix”), he implies, are stand-alone installments that presage a new arc.
By my count, the disc contains a whopping 47 deleted scenes, comprising almost 69 minutes spread over all of the set’s episodes except 2.10.
The episode that changed the most in the editing room, apparently, was “Scattered,” the second-season premiere. Viewers who remember the snippets of flashback that punctuated that episode might be interested to discover those flashbacks were actually lifted from much longer (and heretofore unseen) scenes depicting Bill Adama and Saul Tigh’s (violence-soaked) first meeting and some of their other early adventures. These flashbacks, moreover, were originally spread over both 2.1 and 2.2 (“Valley of Darkness”). There are almost 17 minutes of deleted and extended scenes from 2.1 and more than 10 from 2.2.
Other highlights among the deletions include:
… * Lee “Apollo” Adama and Col. Tigh arguing (as Bill “Husker” Adama remains comatose), about who’s to lead a shipbound detail;
… * an extended scene on Kobol featuring Six telling Vice President Baltar that Baltar alone will live to see Earth;
… * a bit of exposition regarding Kara “Starbuck” Thrace’s Caprica dwelling;
… * a frosty encounter between Balter and Adama as the latter returns to duty;
… * some key encounters between CPO Galen Tyrol and specialist Cally following her Rubyesque assassination of Sharon “Boomer” Valerii;
… * a creepy dream sequence featuring President Laura Roslin and aide Billy Keikeya discussing scripture;
… * Apollo explaining why a meat locker is so heavily guarded;
… * Kara getting a pelvic exam from a seemingly friendly Caprican physician;
… * A cool bit with Kara observing two Sixes conversing as they walk down a hospital corridor;
… * Tom Zarek (Richard Hatch) sharing a moment with henchman Meier (James Remar) on Kobol;
… * Billy admitting to his boss something about his religious beliefs;
… * Tyrol mending a garment; and
… * a funny comment from Starbuck on Tyrol and Karl “Helo” Agathon following their dustup over Sharon.
2.11, not included in this set, kicks off the latter half of “Battlestar’s” second season when SciFi colorcasts it Jan. 6.
Also this week, two-time reality-show loser Rob Mariano plays the boorish, slow-witted reality-show villain yet again - and tries for his first win - with The Amazing Race: The Complete Seventh Season. For the second time, he taints enabling fiancée “Ambuh” Brkish with his unpleasant behavior.
Moriarty is married to a woman now, and claims to have fathered a son, and further claims that there are few or no homosexual acts in his history. But. He was “ER’s” biggest fan until the minute George Clooney left. After handsome Dr. Doug Ross was written out of the series, Mori discovered he could no longer enjoy it. The combined hotness of Juliana Margulies, Maura Tierney, Ming-Na, Kellie Martin, Michael Michele, Laura Ceron and even a supple young Anthony Edwards were not enough to lure him back to the Emmy-winning drama. (And remember: the best “ER” episode ever, 6.14 – the last Lucy Knight episode - arrived well subsequent to Clooney’s departure!)
The good news for Moriarty and his pediatrician-loving ilk is ER: The Complete Fourth Season, streeting today, was one of Clooney’s last full seasons on the enterprise.
The only other new series release due Christmas week is Party of Five: The Complete Second Season, a show about restaurant-running orphans now notable for its distinguished alumni, which includes Matthew Fox (“Lost”), Scott Wolf (“Everwood”), Neve Campbell (the “Scream” series) and Lacey Chabert (“Mean Girls”). Jennifer Love Hewitt (“The Ghost Whisperer”) joined the cast in season two. Season-two episodes were penned by Susannah Grant, who went on to write “Erin Brockovich” and “In Her Shoes,” and P.K. Simonds, who went on to write for “Earth 2” and “Citizen Baines.”
Finally there’s Serenity, which isn’t a series at all, but rather a big-screen sequel to one of the greatest series ever produced. Only now it’s on a small screen.
And now is time for spoiler. If you have any familiarity with “Firefly” (and, really, even if you don’t), I say with great sincerity: DO NOT CLICK HERE UNTIL YOU HAVE SEEN “SERENITY” FOR YOURSELF! MAJOR MAJOR SPOILAGE LURKS WITHIN!
TV on DVD Calendar
Last Week
The Dukes of Hazzard 5.x
Family Bonds 1.x
Farscape 3.x Vol. 1
Gilmore Girls 5.x
Miami Vice 2.x
Rambo Vol. 5
Rambo Vol. 6
Reba 2.x
The Simpsons 7.x
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3.x Vol. 1
Tour of Duty: The Complete Series
December 20
The Amazing Race 7.x
Battlestar Galactica 2.1-2.10
ER 4.x
Firefly: The Motion Picture
Party of Five 2.x
December 26
SeaQuest 1.x
The Shield 4.x
Tracey Takes On 1.x
December 27
America's Funniest Home Videos: Kids & Animals
Criss Angel: Mindfreak
Nowhere Man: The Complete Series
Sunday Morning Shootout: Best of 1.x
The Twilight Zone 5.x
January 3
Alien Nation: The Complete Series
All in the Family 5.x
1st & Ten 1.x
1st & Ten 2.x
Gunsmoke 50th Anniversary Gift-Set
Have Gun Will Travel 3.x
Hunter 3.x
Merv Griffin Show: 40 Most Interesting People
Silk Stalkings 4.x
January 10
Andromeda 5.x Vol. 3
Black Books 1.x
Boy Meets World 4.x
The Flash: The Complete Series
Hee Haw Vol.5
The House of Eliott 2.x <--- NEW!!
Men Behaving Badly 3.x
Men Behaving Badly 4.x
Nighty Night 1.x
Red Dwarf 7.x
Rising Damp 1.x
Strong Medicine 1.x
Urban Gothic 1.x
Viva La Bam 4.x/5.x
Wild Kingdom: African Wild 2
Wild Kingdom: Hunters of the Sky
January 17
The Adventures of Superman 2.x
Doogie Howser, MD 3.x
Fraggle Rock Vol. 5
Good Morning World: The Complete Series
Lois & Clark 2.x
The Mary Tyler Moore Show 3.x
Mr. Show: The Complete Series <--- NEW!!
Old Grey Whistle Test Vol. 2
Titus 3.x
January 24
'Allo 'Allo 4.x
Avatar: The Last Airbender - Book One, Vol. 1
Codename: Icarus
Dallas 4.x
Little Lord Fauntleroy
Missing 2.x
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Alec Baldwin
Saturday Night Live: The Best of David Spade
The Time Tunnel: Vol. 1
The Tomorrow Show: Punk & New Wave
The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss: The Cat's Home
January 31
All American Girl: The Complete Series
Archie Bunker's Place 1.x
The A-Team 3.x
Benny Hill: Set 4
Dark Shadows Vol. 22
Diff'rent Strokes 2.x
Gastinau Girls 1.x
Hetty Wainthropp Investigates 3.x
Hill Street Blues 1.x
Inked: Best of 1.x
Knight Rider 3.x
Magnum PI 3.x
MI-5 Vol. 3
The Pink Panther: Classic Cartoon Collection
Rat Patrol 1.x
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Vol. 20
Two's Comany 4.x
The X-Files 1.x ($37.48 Slimcase Edition)
The X-Files 2.x ($37.48 Slimcase Edition)
The X-Files 3.x ($37.48 Slimcase Edition)
February 7
The Batman 1.x
Blue Collar TV 1.x Vol. 2
The Electric Company: Best Of
Emergency 2.x
Grounded For Life 1.x
Growing Pains 1.x
Hearts Afire 3.x <--- NEW!!
Inspector Alleyn Mysteries Set 2
The Lost World Vol. 1
The Lost World, Vol. 2
Moonlighting 3.x
One Step Beyond Collection
Pet Alien Vol. 4
Poltergeist:The Legacy 1.x
Sex and the City: Breakups
Sex and the City: Lust
Sex and the City: Mr. Big
Sex and the City: Romance
The Simpsons: Kiss and Tell
Survivor 7.x
Teen Titans 1.x
Touched By An Angel 3.x Vol. 1
Wire in the Blood 3.x
