Give Battlestar a chance

I don’t really pay attention to the Emmy Awards, but I happened to glance at the nominee list. I’m not familiar with most of the shows listed, but one nomination stood out as a head-scratcher for me. Heroes for Outstanding Drama Series? An interesting show, and only because of one character, but hardly deserving of the Best Show on TV.

But this post isn’t really about Heroes. Further into the list, I saw two obscure nominations for Outstanding Directing and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. Right up there with the big networks is a nominated show from the relatively tiny Sci-Fi channel — Battlestar Galactica. Yes, it’s true, it is my favorite show on TV.

Now before one jumps to conclusions about a certain TV show (and the people who watch it!) based on a rather cheesy title and stereotypes of a certain genre, allow me to elaborate. Battlestar Galactica (BSG) is definitely not what most people think of when they hear “science fiction.” It is nothing like Star Trek or Star Wars. From the creator of the series:

Our goal is nothing less than the reinvention of the science fiction television series. We take as a given the idea that the traditional space opera, with its stock characters, techno-double-talk, bumpy-headed aliens, thespian histrionics, and empty heroics has run its course and a new approach is required. That approach is to introduce realism into what has heretofore been an aggressively unrealistic genre.

For just about any successful work of fiction, the audience needs relate to it. And one can argue that BSG is one of the more relevant shows on television. It made TIME’s best of 2005 (“Most of you probably think this entry has got to be a joke. The rest of you have actually watched the show.”) and (to my surprise) their all-time 100.

Now, I should stop before I start to sound like some raving geek fanboy. Or maybe I already do. Oh well. Yes, the show has its flaws, particularly in some of the acting, and I’ll be the first to say it’s not for everyone (especially the kids). But for the relatively small budget that the show operates on, the result is quite impressive. And the reason why I wrote this is because this next season will be BSG’s last. If you’re interested, go and rent the mini-series and start there. But don’t come to any conclusions until you’ve gone through at least 3 episodes of the first season.

Related Links:

Naturalistic science fiction

TIME: Best of 2005

TIME: 100 Best TV Shows

Battlestar Galactica, the only award-winning drama that dares tackle the war on terror

Why Smart People Love ‘Battlestar Galactica’