The current "Golden Age" of television has been accompanied by some terrific music.

It's impossible to imagine 'Lost' without Michael Giacchino's distinctive score, or '24' without Sean Callery's pulse-pounding music. The best scores not only add emotion and tension to good stories, they are thoughtful, creative endeavors well worth listening to on their own.

Bear McCreary created a percussive, evocative and operatic score for Syfy's late, great 'Battlestar Galactica.' If you watched the show, you no doubt recall its infamous "poundy drums," its poignant themes and its distinctive rendition of 'All Along the Watchtower,' which became a major thematic element in the show's final season.

['The Cape' – 'The Lich, Part 1']

OK, now that's more like it. 'The Cape' hasn't exactly been Emmy-caliber in its early goings, but 'The Lich, Part 1' was the strongest episode to date. I realize the bar for this show hasn't exactly been set terribly high, but in terms of overall mood, it was at times as hypnotic as the psychotropic drug at the heart of this initial hour of a planned two-parter.

The show has always worn its influences on its sleeve, but tonight, it basically wore them as a three-piece suit. Throw in a little 'Batman Begins,' some 'Lord of the Rings,' and then a dash of 'The Usual Suspects,' and you had this hour.

A toxin that can turn citizen's minds to pudding? Check. A man having an argument with himself including the line, "Go away"? Check. A crippled man revealing himself to be both healthy and the Big Bad? Put a check in that box as well. But here's the thing: If you're gonna steal, steal from the best. And since I like all of those movies, I ended up liking an episode of 'The Cape' that poured all three into a blender and gave me a superhero smoothie.

If you are, then you could potentially work for Bear McCreary, who wrote the theme to the new(er) Battlestar Galactica and its spin-off Caprica. He's looking for a web designer to design a site for The Battlestar Galactica Orchestra.

I gotta hand it to the man for his cleverness. There are likely web designer rabid fans out there who would happily clean Bear McCreary's car with their tongue for a chance to have their name attached with any aspect of the franchise (hopefully they have some talent). I'm sure there will be a cyberspace line to help Mr. McCreary design his site and he doesn't have to pay a dime.

On the other hand, the winner of the contest gets some pretty cool one-of-a-kind Battlestar Galactica merchandise (including the baton from the BSG concert McCreary be conducting), so maybe everybody wins. If you want to create that clever idea of an entire orchestra of Cylon Centurions, now's your chance.

[via Ain't It Cool]

A panel I almost skipped turned out to be better than I think a lot of people thought was the 20th anniversary Battlestar Galactica panel. I think most people are holding out for the official BSG panel later in the 'Con, but I was glad I was able to sit in for at least most of this panel before I had to run to the next one.

In attendance: Richard Hatch, Tom DeSanto, Bear McCreary and Dr. Kevin Grazier.