Spreading the word...

Television, Movies Games and Books BSG-2003
#1

In the days since the finale I have been on here, blurting out paragrapaphs of complaints on how I feel let down by the conclusion of BSG. Even so the fact remains I love this show. I mean I LOVE IT. I think about it everyday, I check the forum, listen to podcasts and watch an episode every opportunity I get.

Now Id like to share my frustration, loneliness and pain on the difficulties of talking to non-fans about the show. Most conversations go something like this

“So, what did you get up to last night”

“I watched a couple of episodes of Battlest…”

“Oh God here we go again…”

and they change the topic asap.

What bothers me is that despite the awards, the universal praise, the endless talk on how it is a sci-fi for people who hate scifi, and how it touches upon topical politics and moral debates nothing is ever enough for these ppl. I mean they wont even give it a chance…ONE EPISODE GUYS …COME ON!!

I was rewatching 33 today…what an episode!!..It really is gritty: everyone is looking sick due to sleep deprivation, old Helo injecting anti radiation meds in the constant rain on Caprica, and the sheer relentlesness of the Cylon persuiters…not to mention the tragedy of the Olympic Carreer and the enigma of Baltar’s last minute salvation after repenting…Jesus!! CLASSIC STUFF.!!

I mean an episode like that is bound to get anyone hooked…and yet my bastardly housemates refuse to give it a chance…so my only BSG friends
are youz guys online and my sister all those miles away in Spain :frowning:

#2

wipes a tear

#3

I have similar problems with both sci-fi fans & non sci-fi fans alike. The non sci-fi ones I think I have an easier time convincing to watch. Not that any of them have you see. Most of them resist simply because of the name.

The ones that frustrate me the most are the sci-fi fans. They are die hard TOS fans & still feel betrayed & are pissed that the new one was made at all. It boggles my mind. Most of them spout off the same craaaap DIrk BEnedict did in that rant from 2004. THis tells me that none of them ever watched past the mini-series & they barely gave that a chance as well.

#4

33 is your best shot at hooking one of the unenlightened.

#5

today a coworker claimed to have watched the first season and stopped after that.!?!? i can’t even imagine how anybody could stick with it that long and not be addicted like the rest of us. crazy.

however - the name IS its curse. i am not a traditional scifi fan, and my husband stuck me in front of it and i loved it immediately. but when i say the name outloud to people i feel like i’m saying ‘star trek’ to them… and no offense but i know how i am biased against stuff that sounds like that! anyways,… i wonder if BG had a different name (i’m not going to bother making up alternate ones cuz why bother) would it be easier to convince people to watch? i always tell them “it’s NOT how it sounds!! it’s like the matrix or Terminator type of thing!! i swea.”
but nope i haven’t convinced anybody to watch it yet. oh well.

but i guess if it makes you feel better, all the good praise the show got is what convinced my husband to start renting the dvds (we started watching it only a year ago and caught up to live season 4) soo… some of us have come onboard from what we’ve heard.

#6

Welcome aboard, Zany.

Yeah, that’s a really good point. It comes up a lot in Intellectual Monopoly/Property discussions. On the one hand, why base your work on what’s been done before? On the other hand, why not use that as a shortcut so I can do a story instead of waisting time with a background?

That said, I think BSG threaded the needle there. I paid it no mind when they aired the miniseries, b/c… well look at Skiffy’s “Flash Gordon.”

But enough people were intrigued enough to tune in (most probably expecting to hate it.) When they loved it, and told their friends, and sent the ratings UP on the second part (which is really unusual.) People like me started to pay attention. And it just cascaded from there.

Still, it does have that “ultimately cheesy SF TV” albatross around its neck. If you don’t know someone who loves the new version, you’re not going to check it out. Unless you have no idea about the old one.

putters around lawn

#7

oh forgot to mention i’d never heard of the old one and most of my friends i’m almost sure haven’t either. my mom said “isn’t that some old show?” and none of my friends said that when i said the name.

anyways, you’re right, the name has old-show issues for sure with i guess the traditional scifi fans and the right generation of people. i keep forgetting about that! i was thinking more about the name being a deterrent assuming you’d never heard it before, as it was when i was trying to tell my friends how great it was.

so it’s got issues either way…

#8

Absolutely agreed.

I just found out through a friend that another friend of mine is a BSG fan and I never knew. Now I’ve gotta get in touch with him and coax him out of the sci-fi closet.