# New Battlestar Galactica series in January **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 23, 2004, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-battlestar-galactica-series-in-january/281307 "2004-12-23T08:20:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-battlestar-galactica-series-in-january/281307/121 "2005-01-17T13:22:27Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > That’s what bugged me. Obviously the Galatica is very much the equilvent of a late 20th century US Aircraft Carrier(but with more guns and an FTL drive). But isn’t it standred procedure in Navies to have at least 2 shifts to avoid that sort of burn out? > > And another thing…when “33” starts, apparently they’ve been without sleep for 130 or so hours and then Adama orders them to be put on Stimulents. If that’s so, exactly HOW have they been staying awake for this long? Even with Stimulents it’s going to be rather tough to stay awake that long. Under normal, routine operations, you don’t have all your fighters launching every 33 minutes, nor do you have your main guns firing every 33 minutes. Those things require crews, so essentially you’ve got all your people going, 24/7. I’m sure people were taking cat naps as often as they could. I’d guess on the civilian ships, a lot of the people were just sleeping through the whole thing. > [@](#): > > Have they ever explained why a FTL ship has chairs and lamps that look like they were taken from a 1960’s classroom? I’d guess for the same reason you find that stuff on today’s military bases. We spend the big bucks on new weapons, and scrimp on soldiers’ amenities. > [@](#): > > And frankly, it looks like they were going for the “Somewhat low-tech” look. Late 20th century warship in Space. A number of clocks in “33” were the old fansioned kind. The ships use missles and projectile weapons(which I rather appreciated. One gets sick of lasers after a while). No shields, big dirty nukes. Yeah, I think that’s the feel they were going for. They are basically us, with the convenient addition of FTL and the blasters on the fighters. Didn’t they mention that the original Battlestars were built so old fashioned because during the first Cylon war there was concern they could infiltrate anything computerized? They purposely went for the old fashioned wired phones, etc. It’s kinda like the Russian Navy. Sure you could build new stuff, but we need it to actually work, with a minimum of maintenance. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-battlestar-galactica-series-in-january/281307/122 "2005-01-17T14:03:45Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > all the colonies(including “Earth”) were colonized from the home of “Kobol” wherever that is and for whatever reason they left it. So all the hominid fossils on Earth were planted as part of a coverup story in which our Kobolian ancestry was hidden and eventually forgotten. Got it. 🙂 In the pilot, Adama tells SecEd Robson, just before the decommissioning ceremony, that a lot of people had lost their lives on Galactica in the earlier war because the computers had been networked, and he would never permit them to be renetworked as long as he was in command. > [@msmith537](#): > > The question is why can’t there be more than a dozen different models? Number Six didn’t tell Baltar there couldn’t be, only that there weren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-battlestar-galactica-series-in-january/281307/123 "2005-01-17T14:23:00Z")
Can somebody explain what has aired for the show so far? I’m a bit confused. I saw a two hour special where they introduce the cast and the Cylons blow up the colonies. It ends with the armada fleeing off into space. This aired a year or so ago and then again recently. Is this what people mean by the “mini-series” or the “pilot” or both? (One two hour show is not what I would consider a mini-series. **Shogun** was a mini-series. :)) Now the series is already into it’s second episode? When’s it on? They have ads for it but they just say to “check your local listings”. Very annoying. Oh, and to all those who proclaim that this is better than B5. Don’t forget **Space: Above and Beyond**. That looked good too, but within a few episodes it started sucking hard. I can definately see Battlestar heading in that direction. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-battlestar-galactica-series-in-january/281307/124 "2005-01-17T15:18:29Z")
The miniseries was a four-hour deal, spread over two nights. Pretty brief for a “miniseries”, but it technically qualifies. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-battlestar-galactica-series-in-january/281307/125 "2005-01-17T15:30:45Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > Oh, and to all those who proclaim that this is better than B5. Don’t forget **Space: Above and Beyond**. That looked good too, but within a few episodes it started sucking hard. I can definately see Battlestar heading in that direction. Space: Above and Beyond was like a crappy Starship Troopers meets a crappy Battlestar Galactica. I can kind of see BG fall into the trap of running out of bad guys after a few episodes. The problem is that you basically have a couple of story arcs with the Galactica and it’s fleet escaping the Cylons. Once those get resolved (and they must at some point otherwise it will be like “why can’t they destroy this one stupid ship?”) then what drives the story? Traveling through the galaxy helping strange creatures? Then it’s Star Trek Voyager. "Actually, it was 1969, per the last episode of the original series(unless I remember wrong). " If memory serves me, they picked up a transmission of the moon landing (1969?). That transmission would have been traveling at the speed of light so I guess that places them (11 years - whatever time elapsed between the end of season 1 and Galactica 1980) light years from Earth. Debaser - It was actually was a 2 x 2 hour miniseries that aired last year. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-battlestar-galactica-series-in-january/281307/126 "2005-01-17T15:39:58Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I can kind of see BG fall into the trap of running out of bad guys after a few episodes. The problem is that you basically have a couple of story arcs with the Galactica and it’s fleet escaping the Cylons. Once those get resolved (and they must at some point otherwise it will be like “why can’t they destroy this one stupid ship?”) then what drives the story? Traveling through the galaxy helping strange creatures? Then it’s Star Trek Voyager. I was expecting BG to settle into a formula after the first couple of episodes. We’ve seen eleven so far in the UK, and no formula-settling appears to be taking place. No drop-off in quality apparent either. I’d say more, but I don’t want to spoil it for you. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-battlestar-galactica-series-in-january/281307/127 "2005-01-17T15:41:04Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > It was actually was a 2 x 2 hour miniseries that aired last year. Someone needs to explain to me the SciFi Channels business plan for mini-series. They seem to stick to four hour series (Peacekeeper Wars, EarthSea, etc…) and instead of milking them for four concurrent weeks (which is what I understand a miniseries to be), they run them in two hour blocks on two concurrent nights (and then rerun them to death for the next week or two). It’s a really strange model because it uses up their fresh content very quickly. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-battlestar-galactica-series-in-january/281307/128 "2005-01-17T16:03:16Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Heh…here I thought you were just denying the existance of Galactica 1980, and was formulating my reply based on that. 😉 What is this Galactica 1980, of which you speak? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-battlestar-galactica-series-in-january/281307/129 "2005-01-17T17:37:32Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > I was under the impression they were in the Solar System(I remembered seeing Jupitor) when the Apollo 11 footage is seen…but apparetnly that wasn’t the case. Nope, it wasn’t Jupiter. They were just moseying along in interstellar space. Apollo had been hanging out in an old observation dome, looking at the stars and playing around with old equipment. Sheba comes to get him for a party, and they chat briefly about what Earth might be like. As they leave, a piece of equipment starts making noise, but they don’t hear it because the hatch is open and they are right over the engines. As they shut the hatch and leave, we see footage from Apollo 11 as it lands, and hear “Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed.” Roll credits. I’m such a geek to know that off of the top of my pointy little head. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-battlestar-galactica-series-in-january/281307/130 "2005-01-17T17:45:12Z")
And it should also be pointed out that it was at least suggested that the Apollo transmission was thousands of years old in that last episode. A very bittersweet ending. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-battlestar-galactica-series-in-january/281307/131 "2005-01-17T17:56:21Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > That’s what bugged me. Obviously the Galatica is very much the equilvent of a late 20th century US Aircraft Carrier(but with more guns and an FTL drive). But isn’t it standred procedure in Navies to have at least 2 shifts to avoid that sort of burn out? Yeah, during normal operations. But when the ships are at General Quarters, **all hands** are at their battle stations, which may or may not correspond to their everyday job. In other words, clerks may be ammunition passers, bakers and cooks may be damage control men, etc… With attacks coming for sure every 33 minutes, they probably didn’t bother to secure from general quarters until it was over (when they set “Condition 2”). Skeleton crew or not, everyone’d have been at general quarters for that whole time. I do agree that I’d have thought that they’d have come up with some kind of alternative battle stations of some kind though, if they’d gone that long without a rest. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-battlestar-galactica-series-in-january/281307/132 "2005-01-17T18:01:57Z")
I saw it for the first time, Sunday. I was determined **not** to like it, as I felt there were too many changes, & regretted that there were no cameos from the original cast. But, I do like it, very much. I’m pleased that the series is turning out the way it has. 🙂 I was wrong earlier…this is good science fiction. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-battlestar-galactica-series-in-january/281307/133 "2005-01-17T18:05:18Z")
**Bosda** , wait until next week. A familiar face will appear. (Well, not **Face** , of course. 😃 ) ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-battlestar-galactica-series-in-january/281307/134 "2005-01-17T18:42:16Z")
I also saw “33” and “Water” for the first time Sunday and was suitably impressed. While it had a few minor “plot holes” (5 days of _no_ sleep?), what show doesn’t? Yea, I think you can count me in as a regular. Still not as good as _Firefly_, though. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-battlestar-galactica-series-in-january/281307/135 "2005-01-17T18:50:29Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#): > > (5 days of _no_ sleep?), I think this needs more clarification. I was under the same impression from the “dateline” at the beginning of the episode, but they later showed Adama and Tigh discussing whose turn it was to catch some shut eye. Obviously, they were getting some incremental bits of sleep, which with the help of stims\* makes that 5 days entirely plausible. \*Note that not \*just \* the pilots were using stims, but that the pilots were \*required \* to use stims. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-battlestar-galactica-series-in-january/281307/136 "2005-01-17T19:55:53Z")
Count me in as one of the likers, too. But here’s the thing I can’t get around - when did humans get so _stoopid_? Wouldn’t you think that any normal commander would at least try to engineer shifts of some kind, even if he is working with a skeleton crew? I would think you’d be able to reduce or eliminate some sort of work entirely when you’re in such a situation and cobble together some sort of shift so that people could get rest. Obviously, availability and training is a factor, but I think you’d try something. Another - why wait the entire 33 minutes? Why wait for the Cylons to show up? Or as soon as they do, jump. Say you have your computers timed for 33 minutes, 5 seconds. Make it all automatic - you don’t need to send out your fighters and take some hits every time. Weirdos. Finally, wouldn’t you think you’d be looking for some sort of tracers after the first coupla jumps? It’s obvious you’re being tracked if they find you every 33 minutes. It’s not a coincidence. Wouldn’t you think you’d be scanning for transmissions or interrogating moles or something? I realize you’re dealing with a lot of ships and civilians, but please. I really don’t think that Cylons would be able to figure out a likely plot of where you’re going when you jump based on vectors - it’s not like there’s any indication. They’re just gone, poof. So c’mon, start looking for the moles, idiots. But other than that sort of general stupidity, I’m enjoying it. And hopefully you guys can give me something I haven’t thought of so that I can excuse what I’m seeing. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-battlestar-galactica-series-in-january/281307/137 "2005-01-17T20:10:30Z")
> [@Snickers](#): > > why wait the entire 33 minutes? I figure it takes longer than 33 minutes to be able to jump again. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-battlestar-galactica-series-in-january/281307/138 "2005-01-17T20:49:23Z")
> [@Snickers](#): > > Wouldn’t you think that any normal commander would at least try to engineer shifts of some kind, even if he is working with a skeleton crew? I would think you’d be able to reduce or eliminate some sort of work entirely when you’re in such a situation and cobble together some sort of shift so that people could get rest. Obviously, availability and training is a factor, but I think you’d try something. Over the course of 5 frantic days? I doubt it. But again, I think people are overinflating the “5 days with no sleep” angle. We say Adama and Tigh discussing sleep shifts, we saw the President’s aide’s love interest on some down time waiting in line with other military folks to transmit a message (and how dumb of an idea is that?!?), and Boomer and the Chief (what’s his name?) getting it on in the supply room on some down time. Plus, there’s stims. > [@](#): > > Another - why wait the entire 33 minutes? Why wait for the Cylons to show up? I’d hate to run my staff ragged calculating and making jumps every 20 minutes if it turns out we lost the Cylons 18 jumps ago. > [@](#): > > Or as soon as they do, jump. Say you have your computers timed for 33 minutes, 5 seconds. Make it all automatic - you don’t need to send out your fighters and take some hits every time. Weirdos. Completely agree. What in the world were fighters doing out there?!? It hasn’t been shown that a Viper can take out a small armada of Cylons - the only circumstances I would send out the couple dozen or so Vipers the Gallactica has has on hand. Are they engaging combat just for the sake of engagement? First sign of Cylons - jump. Period. Having Vipers out in the open only delays that jump until everyone is recalled. > [@](#): > > Finally, wouldn’t you think you’d be looking for some sort of tracers after the first coupla jumps? … [etc.] Other than interrogating for moles, I’d suspect that that’s exactly what was going on. And Adama’s splitting the fleet up into separate groups on the jump was a decent first attempt to try to single out any possible transmitting source - a bit late, but you gotta start somewhere. I doubt they’d have been able to find anything though, it’s not like the Cylons are going to be transmitting on a tech the humans had developed. As for moles, I’d tend to think that would be impossible. There’s 50,000 people spread out over several dozen ships, many of whom are vital to their ship’s operation. Then consider that there’s probably not an established intelligence system in place (what, you think the Secretary of Education is going to escort an FBI around with her?), and very little paperwork and background on the vast majority of these people. It’d take weeks to even know where to start on something like that. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-battlestar-galactica-series-in-january/281307/139 "2005-01-17T20:53:27Z")
It isn’t necessarily stupidity you’re seeing. The Cylons are thinking beings, with a huge amount of sadism (cf. #6 killing the baby in the marketplace just out of curiosity about its neck strength) and desire for revenge. Remember too that the humans had no idea how long the attacks would last, for how many cycles, only that they’d die if they didn’t keep up. The humans certainly did have a catnap/stimulants system set up, at least on Galactica, and presumably the order would have been sent to the fleet as well. Why 33 minutes between attacks? My guess was that a jump takes just slightly longer than that to set up, perhaps to recharge the system. Remember Adama asking the jump officer to set up the first, long one? The guy hesitated a \*long \* moment, and then started furiously at work. The Cylons would have known how long it took, and timed their attacks to cause the maximum panic and exhaustion among the humans. They could exterminate the race immediately, but where would be the fun (or the series) in that? As for communications, the Cylons obviously have a method the humans aren’t aware of or can’t detect. Remember #6 talking to the Big Giant Head? If Galactica had known there were transmissions from the _Olympic Carrier_, well, you know. Speaking of that ship, Stands With A Fist’s little talk about how a President cannot admit major mistakes in public but must always remember them in private was well-timed, eh what? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-battlestar-galactica-series-in-january/281307/140 "2005-01-17T21:17:09Z")
Re. the manpower shortage, Boomer was complaining about the half-qualified replacement she was teamed with. I think they dredged every person they could from the fleet who could take over a vital job, and it still wasn’t enough. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-battlestar-galactica-series-in-january/281307.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-battlestar-galactica-series-in-january/281307.md?page=8)