All you need to know about BSG is that it got a positive write-up in the latest The New Yorker magazine. That's saying something, given the nature of the magazine.

I agree. Battlestar Galactica is by far the best show on TV right now. And the last episode? With the slam against Code Pink like "pacifists"? Brilliant.

When does Survivor start?

Hear, hear! BSG is the best show in television right now (and probably the best TV for a good long while). The writing is excellent, the acting is excellent, and the production design is very high-quality for a fairly low-budget television series.

The neat thing about BSG is that you can take away different interpretations of any show: it avoids easy leftie/rightie parallels. Olmos is by far my favorite character, but I find myself drawn to the schizophrenic Baltar -- and when a show can make you feel for someone as obviously evil and bonkers as Baltar, that's high praise indeed.

Monk is a lesser show, but also great. Tony Shahloub single-handedly revived the "private investigator" genre. The strength of the show rests on his shoulders alone. The plots are pretty standard mystery-show fare, but Shahloub's "Monk moments" are always grin-worthy (and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny).

I still think Bitty Schram as Sharona was a better foil for Monk than the new Natalie Teeger character, but that's just me.

Sorry, Dave,

BSG hit its highwater mark (and it was a very high mark) and is now going to jump straight to 'Last Two Seasons of MacGyver' coupled with the military mindset of the 'Pappy's Lambs" episodes of Baa-Baa Black Sheep.

````````````` spoiler ```````````````

I mean, Adama lost track of a nuclear device?

Didn't bother to ask "Hey, where's that nuke I loaned you a while back?"

What the frack is up with that?

Sure, I'll watch next week and the week after that.

And next season, too.

Do I watch Battlestar Gallactica?

Uhm,,,,, no.

See I've actually had sex before. With a woman!

I haven't watched current US TV in over two months, but my fave when I left was The Colbert Report. He has (had?) unleashed his inner pompous journo ass like O'Reilly et al only wish they could get away with.

Speaking of good TV

Shows! I'll show you shows!

http://media.putfile.com/Conan-vs-Chuck-Norris

(Is this old? It's probably old... what's the word, Dave?)

House, BSG, and Lost. Do not miss the new Dr. Who when sci-i airs it. Geeky cool.

***

Seahawks will win the Superbowl.

I love the show, but that last episode was lame.
**SPOILER ALERT**

I mean, come on, Roslin is saved at the last minute by an injection of Cylon-hybrid baby fetal blood that miraculously cures cancer? Moments after ordering the baby terminated? Lame, they should have let her die. THAT would have been impressive.

Another distinctly non-Seahawk-crazed nod for House here. Choosing between it and BSG is like choosing a favorite child.

Don't read this if you don't want to hear BSG get criticized.

Sorry, folks, I've tried 3 times now to stomach BSG and it's pure junk, IMO. The characters are all one-dimensional (except for maybe Baltar and he's a BAD GUY), there's no humor to give them any humanity or realism, and the overcooked melodrama smells of a daytime soap opera. I particularly liked the hybrid pregnancy/cancer-curing blood that saved one of the main characters at the last second plotline; VERY reminiscent of that sad TV show "V," where the human-alien hybrid was touted as the savior of the races. Revamping a 30-year-old idea isn't what I'd call original. They should have either let the chick president die (which was strung out over...how many episodes?) or not have her get terminally ill in the first place. BUT, letting the chick president die would have killed off the only female character with a) a brain, b) the ability to ACT, and c) a job that doesn't portray her as a Cylon or a simpering incompetent b****. Producers, do the show a favor and off Starbuck, and maybe your show will go from a 1 to a 2 on a 1-10 scale. I SWEAR, of the 3 times I've turned that show on I've been treated to that actress either squealing in the cockpit ("I'm a friendly! So, just, like you know, chill so I can make my manicure appointment! Gawl...") or expressing her complete ineptitude at doing her job ("I've been staring at this for hours. Oh PLEASE, Mighty Apollo, plan this attack for me!!! And then I can go in and brief everyone on my brilliant idea which we all know is really stupid but think of the FX!")

In its defense, some if its military/political plot may be passable (and the stealth fighter sneaking up and taking pics of the Cylon ship was Thoroughly unbelievable...the thing may be invisible to radar, but can't the Cylons SEE out of their windows???), but that will get stale without decent character development.

As for shows I like? I phased network television out of my life when reality shows started getting popular. There's nothing on TV nowadays I'd recommend.

wow, who knew that BSG to bbeck was like a sharp stick to a bear.

I'm watching Scrubs, House, 24, Las Vegas and well that's about it.

I've watched BSG a couple of times because D @ G just won't stop talking about it, and I enjoyed it. That new police investigation show with Mandy Patikin isn't too bad either, but I don't know what it's called or what night it's on so only catch it by accident.

bbeck:

Just curious, and not to be an asshole: what is an example of sci-fi that you like? Can be movie, TV, book, whatever. I'll reserve further comment until I hear back.

House and 24 are my two favorite shows on television right now. I don't have cable, so I can't watch BSG on a regular basis, but have enjoyed it the few times I've seen it.

Best thing on TV? Old Welcome Back, Kotter re-runs. No contest.

I SWEAR, of the 3 times I've turned that show {BSG} on I've been treated to that actress either squealing in the cockpit ("I'm a friendly! So, just, like you know, chill so I can make my manicure appointment! Gawl...")

bbeck on 'The Incredible Hulk'

I SWEAR, of the 3 times I've turned that show on I've been treated to that Dr. David Banner fellow either saying 'You don't want to make me mad" or going 'Errrgggghhhh -Aaaarrrrgghhhh' and turning into a green-painted Lou Ferrigno who smashes things up.

.

Starbuck is a chick?

Check out House (I can't believe that guy didn't win the Emmy)... although the plots are getting a little stale - and Criminal Minds with Inigo Montoya and Greg from Dahrma & Greg. I also think Numb3rs is pretty good sometimes. Nero Wolfe is good for Sat PM - they got a weird deal where the same ensemble of actors plays the different characters in the plot each week - but it works ok.

Early morning, before work, it's ESPN's Mike & Mike in the Morning for the daily sports analysis and gabfest. On Sunday AM it's The Sports Reporters - but I hate that pompous jackass from the NYT and the fat racist black guy - Jason Whitlock?... he ALWAYS tries to play the race card.

Anybody watch "Rescue Me" with Dennis Leary, on FX? Is it going to be back on?

I liked that show.

Bumperstickerist:

Didn't bother me, because I always figured that Adama assumed that Baltar stripped nuke apart for use in his Cylon detector. So there wasn't any "nuke" left for Adama to miss.

bbeck:

You assume I care about your opinion of the show ;-). Sorry you don't like it, but that's okay, to each their own. I can't excuse your lack of refined tastes in everything but t-shirts ;-).

Cheers,
Dave at Garfield Ridge

I haven't seen a single episode of BSG, but my husband seems to have burned through all the pod-casts pretty quick.
Having babysat through the era of Lorne Greene and the Dagget, I was a scoffer, thinking a remake of BSG seemed like a bad idea. But he just raves about it.

There is one thing that would make BSG better - how about actually showing it in HD.

I like BSG, but I think they've been short-changing the broad perspective of the genocidal war between the cylons and the humans in favor of inter-personal stories.
I was hoping that Moore would take a page from B5 and kill off Roslin and/or some other major characters. It makes the story hit harder. I was pissed when Adama and Cain got cold feet and decided not to off each other. The Cylon killing Cain was a cheap dodge.

Monty

TV? I'd give "Firefly" about a 6 out of 10, and that would be the best SF that's been produced for TV over the last decade (well, that and Babylon 5, but I haven't seen enough episodes of B5 to give an earnest assessment). Unfortunately, it was cancelled before it could get meaty. The original Star Trek is still the best; the others all stank. Twilight Zone -- good science fiction.

Movies? Star Trek 2 and 4, Star Wars 4 and 5, Terminator 1 and 2, Alien 1 and 2, The Thing, Serenity, LoTR -- good science fiction/space opera (I could name more but then we're getting back to early 70s stuff). Sucky science fiction -- WoTW, The Island, The Day After Tomorrow, Starship Troopers, etc etc etc...

Science fiction books? Uh, you don't want me to list all the SF I've read and enjoyed; when it comes to fiction I only read SF/F and mysteries. Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke, Dickson, Ellison, Farmer...I could go all the way to Zelazny. My favorite book is LORD OF LIGHT by Zelazny and my favorite author of all time is Heinlein.

I know, you probably just wanted one example. :) This is basically what I look for in any SF: for the plot to be feasible, the science to be plausible (and really, you have to give real latitude there or the story can bog down in details -- and yes, I'm looking at YOU, Mr. Asimov!), and, most importantly, the characters to be engaging. I could care less about FX and I really wish Hollywood would stop substituting FX for plot.

But you know, when it comes to BSG, I'm a 40-something housewife, hence I am not BSG's target audience. They're not going to go out of their way to develop characters I would find interesting...and in fact, considering the audience the show is targeted towards, I'm not surprised I find them quite dull.

I like Boston Legal. Especially when I get to whisper 'Denny Crane' in that bitches ear and she gets all hot and bothered. Always some intelligent, hot babes around. Best of all, I'm going to marry a hooker - that's really pissing everyone in the office off. Oh well, fuck em if they can't take a joke!

You assume I care about your opinion of the show.

Uh, no, I didn't, and if I cared about yours, I'd still be reading your blog.

Damnit Damnit
Why did I read these comments? I have only watched the first episode of season 3, and you guys are dropping spoilers left and right.

BSG is great. Bbeck must be watching the old series. I'm thinking spin-offs are in the future.

Anyone watch The Shield?

bbeck:

Thanks for the post. Actually, with your preferences, I'm surprised you don't like BSG. My sci-fi tastes run a bit "harder" than yours, but not much: I'm also a big Babylon 5 fan. Star Trek, in most cases, sucks -- out of all the endless hours of Trek, there were maybe ten hours of real quality material amongst all the crap.

I like BSG because it's not about hardware (so much). It is soap opera-like in the plot, but I suspect that's intentional -- that's what makes episodic drama what it is. And frankly, I find the writing to be head-and-shoulders above the usual television fare. A good example of this is where Adama is grilling the chief about his feelings for the Cylon Sharon.

Adama: Do you love her?
Chief: I thought I did.
Adama: If you thought you loved her then you loved her. That's what love is. Thoughts.

That was a wonderful moment, and it cemented Adama as my favorite character. The line sounds pretty banal on the page (and maybe it is), but in the context of the show it was very moving. I can't remember a moment quite like it in any other sci-fi movie or television show I've ever seen. BSG is about moral choices first and foremost, and striving to figure out what that means in the context of survival.

I will admit that the "miraculous cure" of Roslin by the Cylon blood was pretty lame, but I think the writers simply worked themselves into a corner: they needed to keep Roslin around, so they came up with a Deus Ex Machina to save her. I think back when they made her illness terminal, the writers had no idea that BSG would take off as it has done.

Monk is cool, too. So is Dead Zone.
Other than that, the cartoon Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends is a hoot.

All the shows now on Adult Swim suck.

bbeck, how about One Life to Live?

If I can have Jack Bauer and Llanview in one week, I'm good to go.

bbeck, how about One Life to Live?

I prefer the prison drama One Punk To Shiv.

I used to watch The Shield but when my travel schedule got all crazy I missed a few episodes in the second season, and kinda lost interest.

Is it still good?

Bart, I love Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. I force my kids to watch it. It makes me nostalgic for the quality of animation and content of Ren and Stimpy.

I hear that bbeck's tastes in sci-fi run to Larry Niven.

All right Monty, you smart ass. What would you recommend to a novice like me? The only sci-fi I ever got into was X-files, and I was addicted. I loved the Lone Gunmen.

Iblis--

I too am somewhat surprised they didn't kill off Roslin, just because it would have taken magnificent writing to keep Baltar as the new President of the Colonies-- the man responsible for the near-destruction of the human race is now responsible for saving it, etc. But I figure they'll have something new in store there.

As for Adama not killing Cain, I thought that was a good, albeit predictable, move. Remember that Boomer asked Adama that rhetorical about whether humanity, in all its zeal to kill each other, deserved to live. Adama choosing not to kill Cain, regardless of the consequences, was his answer to that question.

As for Cain not killing Adama, that one was a bit more perplexing. But I figured that it ultimately came down to her discussion with Starbuck-- Cain's actions, however terrible, were done with the goal of saving the human race. After the victory, Adama still proved valuable, and Cain still had that larger goal in mind. The Pegasus-Six, of course, couldn't care less about Cain, so. . . blam-oh.

bbeck: okay, I was just teasing you, but you, not reading my blog? That was just cold. What did I ever say or do to you to deserve THAT?

Cheers,
Dave at Garfield Ridge

Kevlar, did you see the episode with "Euro-Trish"?

For those who have not seen Foster's, the cartoon has enough "adult" humor to make it enjoyable for all ages.

KevlarChick:

My wife, a loather (loathress?) of sci-fi and fantasy, really enjoyed Farscape and Firefly.

Monty, that's why I did try to watch the show -- because it seemed like something I should have liked -- but it turned me off real fast, particularly with one scene in the premiere (and I've talked about this several times before); when Starbuck's Viper was being prepared, she was all pi$$y and squeally at the flight crew while sitting on her a$$ in the cockpit. I immediately hated the character and thought the writers should have made it realistic by having the crew chief tell the crew to stop working and make her fix it her own d*** self. (The hubby thought the crew should have stopped working, stepped back, and told her "Good to go!" and let her take out a damaged ship, lol.)

And yeah, I shouldn't judge a show by one scene, so I tried again...and again. It's just not my thing.

I understand that it's a soap opera format...and I HATE soap operas, lol. But, it's interesting that you bring that up, because in a standard soap the most interesting character is always the villain, and all too often the good guys are required to become Morons so the bad guy can get away with all the bad guy stuff. (Come ON, how clueless do these BSG people have to be for the VICE PRESIDENT to be both a NUT and conspiring with a Cylon?) To me, it gets tiresome waiting for the baddie to get caught...and if it's dragged out, it becomes anti-climatic.

Anyway, reasonable people can disagree. :) I really like Ace but I thought "Sin City" BIT.

bbeck, how about One Life to Live?

Heh. See above. Back when I did watch daytime TV (summers, before graduating HS), I watched Guilding Light with my mom. Roger Thorpe could have given the Cylons a few tips on being a bad guy. ;)

What did I ever say or do to you to deserve THAT?

It's never wise to tease a Geek when it comes to their opinion of science fiction.

Apart from BSG, television is a wasteland for sci-fi. You can flush stuff like Stargate right down the toilet after taking a crap on it. Ditto Trek (with a few exceptions -- DS9 was occasionally good). I was a big fan of Babylon 5, but the first and fifth seasons were pretty weak.

Movies -- go for the classics. Blade Runner, Alien, Aliens, the original Star Wars movies (except for Jedi). Planet of the Apes. Solaris (the Russian original, not the crappy remake). Forbidden Planet -- a seriously good 1950's sci-fi flick (with Leslie Nielsen playing it straight as a proto-Captain Kirk). Them! (about giant atomic ants).

Books -- again, go for the classics. Heinlein, Asimov, Bester, maybe a little Zelazny or Harlan Ellison for leavening. I am a huge fan of Vernor Vinge's books, especially A Deepness In The Sky and A Fire Upon The Deep. Dan Simmons' Hyperion books are also very good. Alfred Bester's book The Stars My Destination is good. Never neglect Orwell's 1984 or Huxley's Brave New World; they are linchpins of modern literature, and justly so. Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow is good, but long. Ditto Neal Stephenson's books (start with Snow Crash and move on to Cryptonomicon if you like it).

Dave-
I figured Zarek would've called for and won a special election, thus limiting the Baltar presidency. I figured Baltar in the mean time would've rubber-stamped whatever Adama wanted, as long as it didn't interfere with his "hobbies".
I think its interesting that the Six in Baltar's head doesn't like the Pegasus Six.
The Cain Vs. Adama showed that while things were desperate, they weren't that desperate.
It'd be nice if Moore explained the BSG mythology a bit more. It'd be interesting to see how the faith that underpins the characters is structured, since Moore's been implying that faith is important for both the Cylons and Colonials.
Do you think that the Cylons are actually culling the Colonials, instead of being bent on wiping them out?

BSG is great. Bbeck must be watching the old series.

or she could be having sex, with a woman.

Monty, DS9 was acid and jagged and bitchy its first few seasons; the only Trek I ever really liked (and the one Roddenberry supposedly hated). Then it turned into a goopy soap opera in space. I guess that's what happens when one of your actors knocks up another in real life.

Bart, does Monk hold up without Sharona?

You probably want to read some Arthur C. Clarke stuff, too, although he's overrated in my opinion. The Nine Billion Names Of God is a collection of his short work and is my favorite; another collection, The Sentinel is pretty good (and the title story was the genesis for 2001: A Space Odyssey).

If you want to ready some hippy-trippy sci-fi, try some Samuel Delany. Dhalgren is a worthy read, but long and fairly dense. Ursula K. LeGuin's The Left Hand Of Darkness is pretty interesting too.

BSG is great. Bbeck must be watching the old series.

While Dirk Benedict was more effeminate than the current actress playing the role, I've been watching the version where Starbuck is a female. Also, the Cylons look human, a very unoriginal and cost effective plot point.

I like the new Sharona better. She's single and kid-less. Old Sharona's kid was out of place on the show; dead weight.

She's single and kid-less

Um...no. Natalie Teeger has a young daughter about 12 years old.

^
Me at 2:59

New Sharona has a kid?

Oh.

Looks like we need another Sharona.
And this one better not have any kids!

Iblis wrote: "Do you think that the Cylons are actually culling the Colonials, instead of being bent on wiping them out?"

I dunno. I find it strange that the Cylons haven't made every effort to destroy the Galactica and its fleet (Moore has written that they're not really toying with the humans, they *are* intent on destroying them). Then again, the Cylons do "have a plan," so perhaps it's presumptious to assume that the mere ~50K humans remaining figure into that plan. If you're the Cylons, perhaps you're happy enough having killed off a few BILLION humans-- who cares that 50,000 got away? Minor nuisance and all, like a single bee that escaped after the hive got washed away.

What I worry about is Six's conjecture that this has "all happened before," which leads me to believe we're eventually going to get a Matrix-style resolution to the show. Meaning just like you said: the Cylons are themselves playing God, using the humans as their own little Darwinian science project in order to come closer to the secret of life, secret of Nimh, whatever. The whole deal with the Cylon/human hybrid child definitely plays into all that.

Personally, I'm just waiting for the episode where Baltar goes bad for good. Sure, he's a bad guy, but he's a *selfish* bad guy, i.e. he's not "evil," he's just doing things that make sense in his own amoral calculations. I really find his character the most interesting on the show, albeit the slimiest.

bbeck: just so you know. . . I'll always love you.

Cheers,
Dave at Garfield Ridge

Monty, I noticed you didn't mention Orson Scott Card. Personally I thought Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead were fantastic. Two of my favorite novels of any genre.

Thoughts?

Brad:

Not nutty about Card's stuff -- nothing against him, I'm just not a fan. For military style stuff, I prefer Haldeman's Forever War or Pohl's Annals of the HeeChee. I think Dune was a superb book, Herbert's best by far (but the series went downhill like a rocket-sled from there). Niven and Pournelle wrote some good popcorn-fiction back in the day -- Lucifer's Hammer and Footfall are great fun. Blood Music by Greg Bear is pretty good, as is Anvil of Stars. Gregory Benford has written some good stuff in the past decade or so.

Jeez, I'll end up lisitng a million books if I keep at it. I'll work up some kind of reading-list and post it on my blog later if anyone cares.

Nip/Tuck, Rescue Me (supposed to be starting up again soon), watching Firelfy on DVD finally, John Doe, waiting for next season of Deadwood, House and Arrested Development even though it's jumped the shark.

I forgot to mention that I really liked HBO's Carnivale. Lots of people hated it, but I thought it had a cool fantasy vibe. I wish HBO would have kept on with it. Also, The Wire is an outstanding police-procedural show.

"What I worry about is Six's conjecture that this has "all happened before," which leads me to believe we're eventually going to get a Matrix-style resolution to the show"

I took that as a hat tip to the original series. Its also a brief glimpse into Cylon faith, which kind ofn make sense when you consider all the 'resurrections' Cylons can go through. I just hope they don't go for the time-travel dodge. I hated it from Star Trek, and was the one slight fault of B5 (but they only really did it once).

I'll end up lisitng a million books if I keep at it. I'll work up some kind of reading-list and post it on my blog later if anyone cares.

And then everyone will be pestering you with: "Christ, man, you forgot ________!!" I'm first in line (heh-heh).

But more seriously, you've drifted away from the question of "what's a good entry to sci-fi for a newbie?" to "what's good sci-fi?" I think the best approach for the former question is to try to match the sci-fi sub-genre to the genre that the novice already enjoys. In the latter case, just linking to one of the myriad "Top 100" lists is a pretty painless route.

Carnivale and The Wire on HBO were also very good. I plan to pick up Rome as soon as the season set hits DVD.

Sorry for the dupe post. The comment-posting is very slow, and errors out half the time.

I thought we were supposed to talking about shows on tv now. As much as I loved Firefly I have to move on. Books? Honor Harrington stuff by David Weber and John Ringo's Posleen stuff. Both good military sci-fi series. The best fantasy these days is being written for the young adult market.

I have autographed copies of Ringo's A HYMN BEFORE BATTLE and GUST FRONT. John Ringo is a really nice guy.

Monty, Rome started out a little slow-- it took until about the third or fourth episode to take off-- but once it did, it was excellent stuff, a real crowd-pleaser.

A critical take on BSG.

I haven't watched it myself. I saw a bit of one show, and it looked okay. I was 6 or 7 when the original show premiered, and I have many fond memories of it. I watched the DVD release of the original shows, and while it has silly bits, and looks awful by today's standards, I still enjoyed it. Half of that is probably nostalgia coloring my perceptions, but my wife, who is both younger than me and a girl, did like it enough to not leave the room.

The last time I listened to people telling me how great something was I bought Firefly. They were right that time. This time, I'm thinking I will not like the remake, but I could be wrong.

One of the interesting things about BSG is that it seems to provoke love-it-or-hate-it feelings in sci-fi fans. I find the parallels with Firefly to be apt because I was one of those who was left totally cold by Firefly, and I can't really explain why. I bought the DVD set nearly a year ago, and still haven't watched all the episodes -- it just don't feel it. About twenty minutes into any given episode, I find myself wanting to fast-forward.

But I was never much of a Joss Whedon fan: I didn't much like Buffy or Angel.

Space: Above and Beyond had an interesting concept, but it was pretty pedestrian in execution (in fact, BSG is kind of a better take on the same basic idea).

bbeck,
nice with the autographed stuff. I got my husband hooked with the Empire of Man series, he raced thru the Weber stuff and is taking a break before diving into Hymn.

Taleena, my hubby liked Ringo's books more than I did. :)

And Rho, WOW, that person had worse things to say about BSG than I do!

bbeck: "This is basically what I look for in any SF: for the plot to be feasible, the science to be plausible"

And you're a fan of Star Trek?!?

PS: Ignore me. I hate Star Trek with a passion. Don't get me started on Trek economics please...

Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clark was a fav. It had the best last line of any novel I have read.

B5 was awesome, until the rush to clean up in the last season. I mean they had a sub-plot about Union greivences! Would Star Trek do that? It had a solid main plot, with very interesting sub-plots. The different races seeing the Vorlan as their own personal archtypes was a smart move.

BSG kind of overplayed their hand in the last two episodes. The convenient wrap up to the Pegasus problem, along with the miracle cure for Roslin was a little much. I do like the show, but Olmos' acting always seemed to range from disinterested to underwhelmed.

As for literature, the old standards - Verne, Wells, through Asimov, Dick, and to the newer: Zahn, etc. Are all very good. Sci-fi has always had an advantage in having a large pallett to work with.

Also: What was so shocking in that letter to wig Baltar out. Usually when he goes looney toons you see a spark that does it. She basically told him he was selfish, but had great promise, and could become a great leader.. HE knows he's selfish! How did that turn him enough to give away a nuke?

Olmos is still playing Lt. Castillo.

Timmy Zahn is a good sci-fi writer.

Lucas should have done Zahn's three books as sequels instead of doing the prequels. Zahn's trilogy has a great alien villian, some surprise Rebellion/New Republic allies, opportunites for some really cool cgi space battle scenes, and a good ending. I look forward to the day Lucas lets someone who can actually do some character development do a screenplay in the Star Wars universe.

Madfish -
The Thrawn Trilogy?

Yeah, Zahn's stuff was better than the NJO stuff.
But I did like I Jedi.

Tom: Baltar is an egomaniac, he doesn't view himself as selfish. He views himself as a national asset, thus any action he takes to preserve himself is ultimately altruistic. He's also been successful at everything he attempts. The letter points out his character flaw, strips him of his rationalizations, and shows him that he's actually failed at something. That he would react with murderous rage to that is normal.

My question after the resurrection ship battle is if two BSG's can destroy two basestars and drive another off when fighters are eliminated from the equations, why did the colonials bother building vipers? Get rid of the landing pylons and turn that space and the launch catapults over to mass-throwers and point defense systems.

The Thrawn Trilogy?

That's the one. I loved it - read all three books at least four times. Some great characters in them: Thrawn, Mara Jade, Jorrus C'Both (sp), the assassin race, the Wookies homeworld, the smugglers, etc.

It would have made a MUCH better set of films than the prequel ended up being. Better bad guys, better good guys, better spaces battles, the whole nine yards in my opinion.

"Anybody watch "Rescue Me" with Dennis Leary, on FX? Is it going to be back on?"

I love that show. What is stunning (imo) is how the story has you gasping for air laughing one second then stunned, shocked or with tears in your eyes the next. The end of the last season when Leary's son got hit by a car and died? That hits effing close to home. Ouch.

I think a new season will be starting up but I don't know zackly when.