mary mcdonnell

(S04E19) You can tell that this show is approaching the end. Tonight's episode had the credits and chanting immediately after the "previously" montage and didn't even show scenes from tonight's episode during the final part of the opening. Plus, it was written by the same guy who wrote the original mini-series way back when. That's a telling sign.

Caprica City looks like a high-tech New York City. That was probably intentional.

(S04E18) I know it's a little late in the game to make this sort of observation, what with the show having only two episodes left, but if I were to compare characters in this show to characters in Gilligan's Island, I would say that Six is Ginger, Eight is Mary Ann and President Roslin is Mrs. Howell. Adama would naturally be the Skipper and Tigh would be Gilligan. I'm still working on Mr. Howell and the Professor.

In the beginning of the episode, either in someone's fantasy or projection or reality, Hera is moving the Galactica in a position next to the enemy Cylon fleet. Foreshadowing?

(S04E17) Before I go all spoilery on tonight's episode, what was the tattoo on Starbuck's back? It looked like a temple of some sort. Was it the Temple of Five?

Tonight's episode had its share of "what the frak" moments. It had some revelations, but it created more mystery than it solved. I was a little annoyed at the tease of learning the secret behind Starbuck's resurrection that ultimately didn't happen.

(S04E16) We've reached "The Final Five" on a few levels. Ellen Tigh is back, and it's good to know that despite being part of a species with a potentially infinite lifespan, she still gets jealous when her husband has a baby with someone else.

The minute Ellen came back, I knew the baby would miscarry. I believe it was Tigh, as one of the Cylon progenitors, that was keeping the unborn Liam alive (if the Cylons do in fact need love to survive). Once Ellen came back, it caused conflicting feelings and the baby was done for. I wonder if Caprica Six will try to exact revenge as a result and we'll see a Cylon catfight.

(S04E05) Like so many TV shows before it (such as 24), Battlestar Galactica is built on those "what the frak" moments in which the revelations continue to astound us. Between those WTF moments, there has to be some sort of explanation as to why the moment happened and the events leading to those moments. They're not as much fun, and rabid fanboys have a tendency to nitpick the frak out of them, but they're necessary to the narrative. Tonight's episode was heavy on exposition and light on WTF.

Obviously, we learned that Ellen Tigh resurrected (no surprise there) and she was apparently in charge of the project from 2000 years ago which created the human-style Cylon race. I didn't even catch all of the explanation. The following is what I did understand:

(S04E11) Note: technically the Razor television movie counts as the first two episodes of the season, so this is actually episode 13. And what an episode it was! It answered the biggest question from the viewers and in the process created a few more.

FYI, the episode title is taken from the folk song "Goodnight, Irene", which pretty much fits the theme of the episode.

I really liked Mary McDonnell's acting in this episode. I felt heartbroken at her breakdown upon discovering the remains of Earth and her inability to share the information with the fleet. Whenever things get bad, at least we're not on the run from homicidal machines with our last great hope for sanctuary a radioactive wasteland.

On to the spoilery bits!

If you're like me, you're ready to follow your favorite Battlestar Galactica cast members wherever they go, even if they end up on an ill-conceived star vehicle for Benjamin Bratt, (sorry Grace Park!). Thankfully, most of the BSG alums seem to be moving in the right direction.

Mary McDonnell (Roslin) was great on a recent Grey's Anatomy guest stint, and Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck) landed a guest gig on Law and Order and is starring in a pilot produced by Dick Wolf. IMDb tells me that Jamie Bamber (Apollo) will play a cop in the upcoming Law & Order: London. I'm sure most BSG fans wouldn't mind sitting through a few procedural shows in order to keep an eye on these former Colonials, but will they follow them off the small screen and download their audio books?

Let's get the bad/obvious news out of the way first: Despite what ER showrunner David Zabel told TV Guide in a recent interview, George Clooney will not -- repeat NOT -- be returning to the show for it's 15th and final season.

According to Clooney's publicist, "He is on record as saying he is not coming back. It is something he has already done. He is busy making movies." If you're an optimist, though, you can always hope for a surprise Clooney return a la the 2000 ER season finale, in which Georgie showed up at the very end of Julianna Margulies' farewell ep.

On a more positive note, there are plenty of actors who ARE joining popular existing series or are attached to promising upcoming projects. A rundown of these casting coups ensues.

First I thought this would be a summer filled with possibly watching one or two summer series, and then catching up on the growing stack of books in my "to be read" pile ... but somehow it's morphed into the "DVR + TV shows on DVD Summer of Rock " *fanfare*. It's actually not that dramatic, but I like to stick fanfare in whenever I can. Theme songs are one thing, but fanfare can pepper mundane events with joy. "Here's your latte, sir." *fanfare* See what I mean?

It's official! Just as the rumor mill predicted, the best show on television (Battlestar Galactica) has been renewed for a fourth season. Production on another 13 episodes resumes this summer with a premiere date in January 2008.

SciFi apparently was waiting to renew to see how BSG would do in its new 10 pm Sunday night timeslot, and apparently the network is happy with the numbers. As it should be. Ratings actually went up 8% when it moved from Fridays.

Although the SciFi announcement doesn't mention it, this should mean that there will also be a Battlestar Galactica movie sometime between the end of this season and the beginning of next season. Back in January, producers David Eick and Ron Moore said they'll be making a straight-to-DVD, stand-alone flick if they get a fourth season.

[Thanks, Fullman!]

Battlestar Galactica listings, photos and more

It looks like someone from Battlestar Galactica made this video for the cast and crew. It's a compilation of outtakes and spoofs from Season 3. It's 13 minutes long and it includes clips from other movies that some cast members were in-- for example, Mary McDonnell as Stands with a Fist in Dances with Wolves and Katee Sackhoff in some weird, very bad horror movie. What I like about bloopers is the way it humanizes some of the more serious characters. What's funnier than watching Admiral Adama break into laughter or stink up the set with a fart?

Oh, and there's a "Sploiler Alert" (their spelling, not mine) that's fake. It's just meant to set up the next clip so don't get all mad at me like I ruined the ending or something... because it's a joke!!!

Video is after the jump. Warning: content is NSFW!

Whoa! What's with all the Battlestar Galactica posts today? You'd think we're fans or something. Sheesh!

This latest little tidbit is too good to pass up. There's a BSG music video over at the SciFi Channel's website. It doesn't say who sings it, but it's a goofy little comparison of the old Battlestar Galactica versus the new one. There are a couple of cute lines like, "Apollo's hair looks like a shampoo commercial," and "You're full of Cylon clones and those old fashioned phones." I don't watch SciFi often enough to know whether the music video is actually getting some play on the cable channel.

Enjoy!

[Via Pop Candy]

There's a fairly logical rumor brewing that NBC is in the final stages of a plan to put Battlestar Galactica on its network. It's no surprise, really. NBC/Universal owns the SciFi Channel, which airs BSG. Plus, it's a huge success with viewers and critics. Speculators put the show on NBC at the mid-season, directly after sci-fi hit Heroes, with Studio 60 finding a new time slot on the NBC primetime schedule.

However, a little phone call over to NBC Universal shoots down that rumor. Jessica Nevarez in the publicity department tells us, "It is an online rumor that someone started and it is absolutely false."

Everybody's wondering whether BSG is going to suck this year since the season finale seriously altered the direction of the show. You can get a sneak peek of the season three premiere (which airs on Friday) over at SciFi's website and decide for yourself. The first 13 minutes of the episode, or the "First Act", is available for viewing. It basically answers the question, "What will happen next?" You'll see how the humans and Cylons are living/interacting on New Caprica. I'll just say that everybody seems to be working on their own method of survival... and Starbuck seriously kicks some ass.

Based on just those 13 minutes, I'd say BSG fans don't have anything to worry about. Then again, I liked the turn the show took at the end of last season and I like what I see so far.

*The video played for me in Internet Explorer, but had trouble with it in Firefox.

[Thanks, Akbar!]