-Snowblind-

That's it. I haven't been able to find any sure date on when it's back beyond sometime in the new year. Apparently Amazon has the R1 DVDs and BRDs for the first half of the season up for pre-order with a release date in February.

I tried watching an episode of Galactica 1980. Once... I think my mind tried to block out most of the experience for the sake of self-preservation. All I remember is that our intrepid pilots were chaperoning a bunch of fleet kids masquerading as cub scouts. Hijinks ensue. I think that's where I blacked out. ...Sadly, I looked up the episode just to make sure it wasn't some sort of delusional fever dream, and it does exist... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Super_Scouts

My copy has all the flashbacks... They're just a bit out of the way. On the second page of the bonus features section. See the Minisodes.

Welcome to the dark side... You've officially entered the realm of BSG fandom.

That depends on your standards, I guess. Be warned... the final season gets extra soap opera...y? esque? ish? Yes, I say that realizing that you've just finished the third season....

*cough*Nicky*cough* Re: not getting S4... Isn't it time to just break down and buy the DVDs like most of us poor suckers? (Or visit iTunes - as much as I hate to suggest it. Edit: Nevermind, they're sold through Amazon Unbox now)

See... I know I'm in a small, small minority here... but I hated the big reveal at the end of the season. Tigh and Tyrol would come out as weaker charcters in my mind (can't really explain why without S4 spoilers). Not to mention the impact on supporting characters. Some things just seemed stretched beyond the breaking point for plausibility (Anders, for example, being a sports star. If the BSGverse is anything like our world - and lets face it, it is - he would've been scouted since high school and entire life would be public).

Uh-oh... someone forgot to cut the corners off... shame, shame...

Not quite like Gamlin, no...

Yeeeah... fun fact: The ship being destroyed was improvised by EJO... and the ship a museum quality piece that was only being rented for the show. The replacement cost was apparently up in the hundreds of thousands.

...Afraid it's going to be more than a week. That was the "fall finale". Mid-season break time. Not sure when it's coming back... Januaryish, maybe?

Probably safest to avoid them all until Episode 17-18 of season 4... On the bright side you'll get to see Razor soon, and that's a treat. As for the split in season 2 DVD releases... there was a fairly lengthy mid-season break (Sept-Jan) back when mid-season breaks were relatively rare, so they released the first half on DVD during the break to keep the ravenous masses happy (well, that and it was a great cash grab for a show at the height of it's popularity...). S3 was shown without any major breaks.

I don't think we'll see backwards compatibility again until the PS2 line dies once and for all.

If memory serves they ended up blowing a significant portion of the season's effects and CGI budget on the first 4 or 5 episodes... But it was worth it...

To be fair to RDM here, 'The Plan' was, if memory serves, never his idea - that was entirely an invention of the people that did the show opening, and he ended up having to play along. I think the fact that Baltar actually does seem to have a conscience and sense of guilt adds a lot of depth to the character. ...The fact that his conscience/sense of guilt is constantly at war with his sense of self-interest and self-preservation make him an enjoyable character. He's not the cookie cutter villain from the first series at all. Tyrol and Tigh are great characters as well. I agree that you can't really have a rigid plan, but knowing what the end game is helps immensely. Like Gubaba said, start at the end and work your way backwards. That way you don't end up pulling things out of your... erm... hat. The problem I have with RDM and company when it comes to plotting (and again, they've said as much) is that they really had no idea where they were going, and instead of trying to figure it out, they went with the 'cool' (their word) idea of the week. That works for a series like, say, Star Trek - where there really is no overall story arc, but not for a show which has a definitive end point. The 12 Cylon models, for example... at the beginning of the series they really had no idea what they were. The final 5 were a last minute thing (I won't say any more here to avoid spoilers), etc etc. The end of S3 and most of S4 were where it really became obvious that the writers were making it up as they went. Like I said, some people love where they went. I prefer tight plotting. Supernatural also has an overall plot arc which is winding down.

The problem is that, at this point, the writers also don't know where the show is going either... (RDM has admitted as much, so... don't take it out on me. ) In my opinion this will come back to bite them later on, but there are lots of differing opinions on this. And yes, I really think Baltar meant it when he asked Gaeta to shoot him. Watching Baltar's character develop over the course of the series was one of the most interesting and fun parts.

Well, it's not a chair, really... As for the rest of the episode... The awesome visuals and good drama make up for the sillier aspects of the plan as it unfolded... (I mean really... sacrificing the newer, bigger, more powerful, and fully armoured Pegasus and it's invaluable fighter factory to save the beat-to-hell, half mothballed Galactica? O.o I know, I know, it looked great, and they couldn't very well change the name of the show to Battlestar Pegasus, but... couldn't there have been a more plausible way to kill it off?)

You may want to watch Ep 3 and 4 together... being a 2-part episode an' all.

Episode 4 it was... I brought out the DVD and watched the highlight reel from that episode a few times already...

May want to add some Spoiler tags... Gubaba hasn't started S3 yet...

Yeah, I remember reading that Galactica 1980 was a way of cutting the budget down to nothing. It shows. Stock sets and costumes, only minor effects needed, no model work, etc etc.

I'm beginning to think Wikipedia has a list for everything. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ameri...s_by_date#1970s Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, Future Cop (... O.o ), Planet of the Apes, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man... Kind of puts things in perspective, I guess. I think the original BSG looks pretty good compared to most of those.

There were a few good, non-sitcom shows. Space: 1999, Doctor Who (okay, so it started in the 60s, but it had some good times in the 70s - Tom Baker era, anyone?)... hmmm, maybe one or two more that I can't think of right now. I've heard Blake's 7 was good, but I can't remember much of it myself. Granted, it's not a long list, but... All that said, I missed the 70s myself, and I'm working on foggy childhood memories from the late 80s and early 90s when these things finally started to show up in Canada...

He is. If you look around on the net, there's a lot of discussion on the parallels between BSG and Mormonism. Even the basic premise of the displaced people searching for a new home comes straight from Mormon history and mythology (Not that history like that is exclusive to Mormonism, but considering who created it...) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_and...estar_Galactica http://www.kobol.com/archives/BG-FAQ.html#E21

Mid-way through Season 3 the fanbase seems to have split on their opinions of the show. Most people seemed to really like the direction it was going, but there was also a sizable group that were disappointed. There's definitely a noticeable shift after the first 4 or 5 episodes of season 3, anyway.