Galactica tops critics' top ten lists for 2006, Part 3

TV Guide, "Best TV Shows of 2006"

1. Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi)

Not only the best sci-fi drama on TV right now, but one of the best dramas period. It may be set primarily aboard a spaceship, but this show offers true human emotions and realistic reactions like nothing else out there. The Sci Fi Channel's series took a big risk in its second season by jumping ahead a full year and ending on a huge cliff-hanger, with the Cylons taking over the human settlement on New Caprica. But the gamble paid off big-time — it was heart-wrenching to watch the torture of some characters, like Starbuck, while others on Galactica scrambled to find a way to safely retrieve their friends and loved ones. Even a reunion on board Galactica hasn't been smooth sailing, but it is an utterly captivating ride that seamlessly blends elements of war, ethics and religion as the humans and Cylons race to find Earth.

Entertainment Weekly, "Series of the Year"

3. Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi)

Gods, what a year. The sci-fi series — about the last fragments of humankind trying to survive the robot beings they've created — jabbed at very earthly issues: birth rights, justice, religion, prejudice, genocide, suicide bombing, and the nature of humanity. Battlestar is wonderfully acted — Katee Sackhoff's Starbuck is TV's most charismatic and infuriating hero — and smartly written, with searching conversations that never devolve into lecture. It's part family drama, with worthy President Roslin (Mary McDonnell) and fair-minded Admiral Adama (Edward James Olmos) as parents to a bunch of boisterous spacekids. But, thankfully, Battlestar is also an old-fashioned, Errol Flynn-worthy bit of swashbuckling — with vipers and raptors and fiery orange blast against a blue-black horizon.

Michael Ausiello from TV Guide

2. Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi)

On any other show, a sudden, one-year jump would reek of desperation. But on Battlestar, it was yet another bold move for a show that continues to reinvent the sci-fi genre. Those still not on board should just go frak themselves.