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 Television is getting... good?
by Taddimusprime
 
First, let me preface this by saying I haven't really watched much television in the past 6 years. My television habits would be either the 15-20 minutes of news I'd watch in the morning before work (mainly to see the weather), to the shows I would see when I would go home during a holiday. Aside from that, my television would be in a state of 'off' most of the time. It was there, primarily, to watch DVD movies. My free time was dictated more by online activities (like gaming, chatting, web surfing) or reading. Then came a little show called Lost.
I skipped Lost when it first debuted. I'd hear the hype on the news I would watch in the morning, or from an occasional coworker.
Coworker: "Dude you HAVE to see this show!"
Me: "It's got a hobbit in it, and Link from the Matrix. I'll just watch a sci-fi movie if I want to see them in action."
Then I got home late from work on night, and after sitting in front of a computer for 10+ hours, I just wanted to turn my brain off and veg, so I just turned on the TV and Lost was playing. I had no idea who the characters were, and I came in, in the middle of season 2. Some hatch had been opened. There was this crazy priest played by the guy from Gladiator. And there were little statues of Mary filled with heroin. However, the underlying tension really hooked me. It was this interesting conflict, not only between the main characters, but also with this island itself. I was talking with a friend of mine, and she put the first season on reserve from the public library.
After we watched the pilot, we ended up watching another disc right there, almost 4 hours of the show. It then became a weekly ritual. We would cook up some food, and watch a disc. Once it was over, Season 2 was coming to an end, but thankfully the internet on ABC.com had most of them online for viewing. So I bought a wireless, and before bed, I'd grab my laptop and watch away.
My latest television foray has been Battlestar Galactica. I had good feelings about this show right away because the head writer and exec. producer from Star Trek: DS9, Ron D. Moore, and another DS9 producer "reinvisioned" this show. The one thing I really love about Ron Moore's work is that he can take something that is very well established, throw in some old themes, but completely push it in a new and unexpected direction.
For example, in the pilot of BSG, they have this ceremony to retire the Galactica. It has been 40 years since the humans have seen a Cylon, and they feel at peace. They have a flyby with the old fighters, and the commencement music is the theme from the original series! There are also other little throwbacks to the original series, which are fantastic.
However the show pushes forward with a very interesting premise, and it is set up for some interesting things to happen. The acting is also top notch, with Edward James Olmos playing Lorne Green's character Adama. They even have the original "Apollo", now playing a terrorist leader from a prison ship. The conflict from multiple directions really makes this show interesting.
I thought television was done for when shows like American Idol, Fear Factor, Big Brother, "insert reality theme here" shows were dominating the airwaves. However it seems that there is some really interesting things coming up, rivaling anything Hollywood or the independent film community is putting out there. I'm thinking it may be time to upgrade my television, because I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but television lately has been looking... good!
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