Yesterday, I learned that a preview of the upcoming Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome had been released, but by the time I got home, it had been taken down. This probably explains why. SyFy decided not to bring the show to series, which, when you remember that one reason Caprica was canceled was because the channel was getting this show instead (and the ratings were bad), makes the decision all the more sad.
For two and a half seasons, the modern version of Battlestar Galactica was some of the best TV in production. It was a bleak look at humanity’s downfalls and saving graces, following the lives of some very heroic, but very flawed characters. The show addressed modern issues paranoia created from the idea of the enemy hiding in plain sight, religious fundamentalism, and the morality of the military in ways few other shows even dared. The third season opened with an analogue for the Iraq War, with the show’s “villains” as the Americans and the “heroes” as the insurgents, showing that both sides have noble goals and sinister practices. I don’t hate the final season as much as some people do, but there is no denying that eventually, the show got bogged down in mythology, and often had to resort to awkward, poorly-done retconning to advance the story.
This article looks at the career of Ronald D. Moore, the mastermind behind the new version of Galactica. (I hesitate to say “creator,” as the show was adapted from the 70s show of the same name.) I am actually not too familiar with most of Moore’s other works, as I don’t like Star Trek, and his projects after Galactica tended to get canceled quickly. But based on the article, I have an urge to check out his subsequent works, and even consider Deep Space Nine at some point in the future.
The author also posits that part of Galactica’s downfall can be attributed to the era in which it was made. The series proper of Galactica began the same year as LOST, the show that launched 1,000 clones. (The Galactica mini-series pilot aired the previous year.) As much as I love LOST, it had a somewhat negative effect on the television landscape. As much as I love serialized storytelling, most of the LOST clones, and even LOST itself for a while, put too much stock into (often unsolvable) mysteries, rather than focusing on character or theme.
If you haven’t seen the new Galactica, you definitely should. If you are worried about having to put up with the show after it goes downhill, a good stopping point is the mid-season finale of Season 4, Revelations, which was actually shot to be a finale in case the show wasn’t picked up for the second half of the season. Still, I’d argue for watching the entirety. And if you’re like me, this article provides a great analysis of why Moore is a great writer and what other projects of his are worth looking into.
Earlier today, I was talking to my dad about TV shows, and we got on the subject of great TV shows that never found an audience. He said that the 2004 version of Battlestar Galactica is the greatest show that no one ever saw, to which I responded with Firefly, my go-to canceled before its time series. Although Galactica was definitely great and did not have the exposure it deserved, it had a four-hour mini-series pilot, four seasons, two made-for-TV movies, one already completed spin-off (which certainly qualifies for a spot on the list of great shows no one watched), and another spin-off in development. Firefly, on the other hand, had one season and a movie that barely broke even. Also, while I don’t have the enmity for later seasons of Galactica that some have, the quality definitely went down as the years went on, with two episodes in particular standing out as pretty awful. Firefly, fortunately or not, based on how you wish to look at things, never had a chance to decline in quality, as all shows must (except Angel*).
This got me thinking of other canceled-too-soon shows and the circumstances that helped lead to their downfalls. Some are mishandled by their networks, like FOX airing Firefly out of order and failing to promote it or Veronica Mars being sold to the wrong demographic, especially in its third season (to those who watched it live: remember those awful Aerie Girls spots?), as well as The CW forcing it to have shorter arcs (also in the third season). NBC constantly moved Freaks and Geeks around and did not like how frankly the show treated some of its subject matter. Angel is a slight case of this; it never got the respect that Buffy did and The WB didn’t have the faith in it that it some of its other shows. Even though it got five seasons, it was just hitting its peak, and it seems like it never gets the recognition that Buffy or Firefly did (Firefly post-cancellation, that is), but now, more people seem to be recognizing it.
Other shows are just really hard sells. Arrested Development and The Wire required extremely close viewing and would not make sense at all if viewers missed an episode. The subject matter of Dollhouse probably didn’t sound too appealing to many people; who wants to watch a show about human trafficking? (Never mind that is such a gross oversimplification that it borders on incorrect.)
And then there are the shows like Galactica, which are on cable and thus don’t need huge audiences. Currently, Mad Men and Breaking Bad are two of the most critically- and internet-beloved shows, but you’d never know that to look at the ratings. Fortunately, with shows like those, the anemic ratings do not prevent the full story from being told, as Mad Men and Breaking Bad are both going into their fifth seasons.
*Obviously, this only represents my opinion.
What do you think is the best ratings-challenged, under-appreciated show?
