New York Magazine praises Tahmoh's performance

Tim Grierson lauds Tahmoh's performance in Friday's episode in the Vulture blog of New York Magazine or as he says in his personal blog post:

"In this week's Vulture recap, I sing the praises of Tahmoh Penikett, who plays the quietly heroic Helo. He was all over Friday's episode, and he was terrific in it."

Here's the relevant portion of the praise from New York mag:

"There are flashier, more compelling characters on Battlestar, but deep down, the one we most admire is Helo. Noble, loyal, and levelheaded no matter the latest emotional ringer he’s being put though, he’s a good guy who’d make a great leader, except he doesn’t have the ego for it — which, of course, only makes him more appealing.

His steely calm was put to the test in “The Road Less Traveled,” trapped as he was between the increasingly kooky Starbuck and his concerned Demetrius crewmates who wanted to remove her from command. This season has been pitched a little too high emotionally, so it was a relief to watch Tahmoh Penikett (who plays Helo) deliver another terrifically modulated performance, balancing Starbuck’s nuttiness, the crew’s paranoia, and his own doubts about the wisdom of their wild-goose chase to find Earth. The episode was all about how people manage to maintain their basic decency in impossible situations, so who better to shine than the quietly heroic Helo?"

We also score a higher-res and un-watermarked version of this promo photo:

Galactica continues to charm critics, Part 2

The new year is a time of critical assessment and critics have found much to praise in Battlestar Galactica's third season. To help further build interest in the upcoming fourth season, here is a higher-res version of the EW photo (now interactive at EW.com) without dots:

BostonNOW: "An impressive year for TV Dramas" (includes photo)

1) Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi)
I am not sure how much more praise I can heap on a show whose creators must have had to buy a new house to store all their critical raves, but there is truly nothing else like this on television today, and maybe not ever. It's the best written, best acted, most intense show since Homicide: Life On The Street, which I consider to be the best show ever on television, and before it's done it may climb even higher. BSG continually takes on the important and weighty issues that come with war and does with an unblinking eye. Anyone who says, "there is nothing good on TV" is simply not watching this show.

New York Times: "Robots, Lies and Smoking for $800, Alex"

‘BATTLESTAR GALACTICA’ A Sci Fi favorite that transcends the genre. The series, which follows the survivors of an apocalyptic attack on their home planets by a rebellious race of robots known as Cylons, is out of this world, literally.

Film.com: "The Best in Sci Fi TV in 2007"

Oh, BSG, BSG, how I'll miss thee during the writers' strike. Obviously, Battlestar Galactica, with its female-centric Razor "TV event," was the creme de la creme for challenging gender politics this year. Fans saw the return of Admiral Cain (or Ensign Ro, depending on which sci-fi generation you're from), the introduction of the morally tormented Kendra Shaw (both a woman and a minority!). But to me, the highlight of the entire BSG season was the episode, "Maelstrom," aka, "The 'Death' of Starbuck," focusing on the breakneck pilot's over-foreshadowed destiny. It ain't often a viewer is rooting for a main character to off herself.

Time Out New York: "The best (and worst) of TV 2007"

8) Battlestar Galactica (Sci Fi)
BSG’s hard left turn into the realm of Cylon mysticism could have been a disaster, but it quickly built to the series’ most gobsmacking cliff-hanger yet (no small feat for a program where each season has improbably ended on a more shocking note than the last).

USA Today's Pop Candy: "My Top 10 TV Shows of 2007"

2. Battlestar Galactica

AICN: "The 10 Best Scripted Hours on TV"

1) BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (SciFi).
Only 11 hours of the series aired in 2007, beginning with “Rapture” and ending with “Razor.” The algae planet’s sun went supernova, Tyrol welcomed Baltar back to the fleet and a rogue D’Anna got to meet the final five. “Dirty Hands,” the class-struggle episode written by Jane Espenson, may be the series’ best stand-alone episode since season one. The three-episode arc that concludes season three (it deals with the introduction of wily kleptomaniac Romo Lampkin and the trial of Gaius Baltar) is phenomenal, capped by the reveal of four more Cylons. And vipers rocketing into battle to “All Along the Watchtower.” A song that, candidly, always belonged in outer space. Supercool on every level.

See Part 1 here (EW, MSN, Chicago Tribune).

Thanks to Mark Verheiden and the excellent Galactica Sitrep blog!

Battlestar continues to charm critics in year-end lists

Despite its uneven year, Battlestar still retained its favor with critics, gracing several top ten lists. A nice dose of positive energy to cheer Galactica fans as the WGA strike continues.

In Entertainment Weekly, Stephen King chose Battlestar as one of his Top 5 TV Shows of the Year:

1. Lost
2. Damages
3. Battlestar Galactica

It sagged in the middle, but picked up at the end. The best of Battlestar are the tough-as-nails women. Call them Space Grrrls.

MSN 2007 Year in Review: Best TV Shows

1. The Office
2. The Sopranos
3. Man Men
4. The War
5. Battlestar Galactica

Sure, the third season may have been a bit disappointing compared to the first two, but then Led Zeppelin's third album wasn't as good as their first two either -- and we all know how quickly that became a classic. Baltar's trial, the standoff for the Eye of Jupiter, poor working conditions prompting a strike -- you can't say this year's episodes weren't eventful. Then there's the action-packed flashback film "Razor." Best of all, the last episode of the season ended with such a big bang that you just know it'll quickly push the fourth season into overdrive.

Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune named Galactica a runner up:

“Battlestar Galactica” (Sci Fi)

Though there were some wobbles in the second half of Season 3, the final four episodes of this drama’s third season, as well as the standalone movie “Razor,” proved once again why this space series is in a class by itself. There’s nothing like a good “Battlestar” plot twist to make your head spin, but the “holy cow” moments aren’t the main point (though they’re one heck of a tasty side dish). But the show and its twists and turns are grounded in deep curiosity about human nature, and how contradictory and confounding it can be. And some of its most provocative moments spring from an abiding interest in the ways in which people fight tyranny – and in doing so, sometimes become tyrants.

Emmy win & other accolades for Battlestar Galactica

This Saturday at the Creative Arts Emmys, Galactica won the Emmy for Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Series, for EXODUS PART 2. Congratulations!

Don't forget the Primetime Emmys will air this Sunday, September 16th. BSG is nominated for both Writing (OCCUPATION/PRECIPICE, Ron Moore) and Directing (EXODUS PART 2, Felix Alcala).

In other award news, Time magazine recently named Battlestar one the top 100 shows of all time. Here's what they had to say:

Like Rod Serling did with The Twilight Zone, Ronald D. Moore and David Eick use science fiction to write about current events, in this case, viewing the facts on the ground in the war on terror and the war in Iraq from the perspective of deep space. As in the campy 1970s series it remade, a distant civilization of humans has nearly been eradicated by the sentient robots, called Cylons, that they created. Here, many of the Cylons appear human, adding a layer of sleeper-cell paranoia and moral questions. The Cylons' evolved status raises philosophical questions—what does it mean to be human?—and complicates things morally when the human military waterboards Cylon captives and stages suicide bombings to end an occupation. A stark, well-imagined story of a war in a galaxy far, far away, yet too close for comfort.

The Time website includes a clip from the end of miniseries with Baltar and Six.

Finally, the UGO Top 50 TV shows of all time list is now complete as well and Galactica ranked number 3.

3. Battlestar Galactica, 2004-Present
The re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica had a lot working against it. Trying to remake a show that had become so ingrained in sci-fi fans' heads, and considered by many to be a classic, was a huge undertaking for producers David Eick and Ronald Moore. But when their 2003 miniseries got the highest ratings of any miniseries that year, it was certain they had hit the nail on the head.

BSG has shown a lot of backbone in its thinly veiled allegorical commentary on the Iraq War and the world we live in. It has cleverly portrayed both humans and cylons as playing both good and evil at various times. Whether you think the Colonial heroes are the righteous freedom lovers or the vicious suicide bombers of New Caprica, the show has accomplished it's goal: to make you think, or to at least consider the motivations and conditions of each faction, either in space or right here on Earth.

Battlestar snags 4 Emmy noms; 2 for writing/directing!

The official 2007 Emmy nominations are out and Galactica has been nominated in 4 categories, including two writing and directing noms. Glad to see the show getting some recognition!

Gold Derby and TV Guide are thrilled. (No one tell Ron the Emmys left his last name off the official nomination list... I guess when you write "Ronald D.", the Moore is implied...)

Hopefully this will all result in public appearances by the cast at the various swag, red carpet and after party events as it did last year. See photos and video of Tahmoh last year here.

Will Battlestar win? I've added a new site poll at right. Vote now! ---->

Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series
Battlestar Galactica • Occupation/Precipice • Sci Fi Channel • R+D TV in association with NBC Universal Television Studio
Ronald D. Moore, Written by

Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series
Battlestar Galactica • Exodus, Part 2 • Sci Fi Channel • R+D TV in association with NBC Universal Television Studio
Felix Alcala, Director

Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Series
Battlestar Galactica • Exodus, Part 2 • Sci Fi Channel • R+D TV in association with NBC Universal Television Studio
Tom Archer, Lead Compositor
Brenda Campbell, Lead Compositor
Doug Drexler, CG Supervisor
Michael Gibson, Senior VFX Coordinator
Jeremy Hoey, Lead Matte Painter
Gary Hutzel, VFX Supervisor
Andrew Karr, CGI Supervisor
Alec McClymont, Lead CGI Artist/ Animator
Adam Mojo, CGI Sequence Designer

Outstanding Sound Editing For A Series
Battlestar Galactica • Exodus, Part 2 • Sci Fi Channel • R+D TV in association with NBC Universal Television Studio
Michael Baber, Music Editor
Vince Balunas, Sound Editor
Daniel Colman, Sound Editor
Jack Levy, Supervising Sound Editor
Doug Madick, Foley Artist
Rick Partlow, Foley Artist

Battlestar Galactica tops critics' lists

The end of the TV season has made critics reflective and Battlestar has been figuring in their thoughts. Here are three lists that include Galactica:

• TV Week: Critics Poll 2007 - Series
• Battlestar Galactica tied for 12th with Entourage.


• The Guardian: The far side - 5 of the best sci-fi/fantasy shows
• Battlestar tops the list, just ahead of Firefly.


• UGO: Top 50 TV shows of all time
• TBD... Battlestar will feature in the top 10, but the final results aren't in yet. I'll update when they're posted.
  

Emmy Buzz for Battlestar; More All-Access Event links

Industry mag Variety's Award Central has posted their Top 10 Dramatic Moments from this year's TV season and Galactica tops the list.

10 dramatic moments from the 2006-07 TV season
Variety staffers select drop-dead drama scenes

1. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
"Crossroads, Part 2" -- March 25

As music plays in their heads, building toward the jarring revelation of who is and isn't human, four of the five missing Cylons are revealed. If you're not a fan, this won't make a lick of sense; if you are, it was a frakkin' great moment.

According to the LA Times' Gold Derby, the episode the show submitted for Emmy consideration is the early third season episode "Collaborators" (episode summary here; pics of Helo in the ep here). Mary McDonnell (a Variety Emmy favorite) spoke with the LA Times about the show and the Emmys.

A few last links from the BSG All-Access event on June 6th.

• G4 - video highlights from the cast Q&A panel


• Kristin (E!Online) - a second video of her red carpet interviews


• Kristin also posted the rest of her "True, False or Frak-No-I'm-Not-Telling-You" game with Ron Moore, which actually included a question about Helo:

Helo is totally hot. "What? Helo?! No way. False." [I think he's kidding here!—K.V.]

See more video, photos and interviews from the All-Access event in my previous posts here and here.

More on the Battlestar Galactica All-Access Event

Wednesday's Galactica special screening and cast Q&A was clearly designed to get the show some press and some Emmy buzz and it certainly succeeded. If you haven't already, be sure to check out my first post on the event for photos, recaps and more. Here are some new links to video interviews, Q&A's and some Emmy talk.
Video

• Collider: Interviews with McDonnell & Bamber and Lawless & Sackhoff.
• IESB.net: Interviews with the cast & exec. producers.

Recaps/Interviews

• TV Squad: Part 2 of their report (cast Q&A).
• TV Guide
• Ain't It Cool News
  
• Slice of Sci-fi: Interviews with the cast & exec. producers
  
• TV with MeeVee: An interview with RDM. (Mild spoilers for "Razor".)
  

AICN reports that Mike Doughtery, who wrote Tahmoh's upcoming horror film, Trick 'r Treat, attended the event.

Emmy Buzz

• Variety: Lists Mary McDonnell and Katee Sackhoff as possible Emmy "dark horses".
• USA Today: McDonnell is on their dream Emmy ballot.
  

For even more links, visit Galactica News.

Battlestar wins Saturn Award

The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films presented the 33rd Annual Saturn Awards in a ceremony in Universal City, Calif., hosted by Heroes star Greg Grunberg and Jeffrey Ross. Galactica won top cable or syndicated series.

Katee Sackhoff and Edward James Olmos accepted the award. We're not going to talk about the fact that Jennifer Love Hewitt beat out Katee for Best Actress. Unbelievable!

See the full list of winners at Sci-fi Wire.

Galactica tops EW's list of best Sci-fi of the past 25 years

As has been widely reported, Entertainment Weekly recently ranked the best SF films and TV shows of the last 25 years. Battlestar Galactica was the highest ranked TV show, coming in second overall just behind The Matrix and ahead of Blade Runner (which, incidentally, is one of Tahmoh's favorite films and one of the first films he remembers his dad taking him to).

"[I]n keeping with science fiction's grandest tradition, BSG tapped into the power of allegory to enrich its outer-space dogfights and military pomp with the gravity of issues like abortion, terrorism, stem-cell research, racism, even the war in Iraq. The dysfunctionally awesome cast gives it all the ring of authenticity...

POP CULTURE LEGACY: The damned thing won a Peabody award for its second season. It's proving what sci-fi fans have known for decades: Science fiction is as legitimate a vehicle for human drama as any other genre.

THE BEST BIT: While any given episode of Galactica is better than 90 percent of what's on the air, the thrill of discovery makes the first season (including the miniseries) the way to go."

To read the full write-up, pick up Entertainment Weekly at your local newsstand or check out the article on their website.

Galactica nominated for 2007 Spaceys & a Hugo

BSG is nominated in several categories for the Spaceys, awarded each year by Canada's Space Channel. Some of the awards are determined by viewer's choice online votes, among them:

• Favorite TV Show - Battlestar Galactica
• Favorite Character You Love to Hate
• James Callis
• Tricia Helfer
• Favorite TV Character - Katee Sackhoff

Vote for Battlestar now! (no registration req'd)

BSG won "Favorite TV Show" last year and "Favorite Limited TV Show" the year before. So be sure to vote to make Galactica a winner again this year. If they win, the Spaceys crew visits the cast on set!

See my previous posts (with more cast photos from the Spaceys) here.

---

Sci-Fi wire recently reported that Galactica was among the nominees for this year's Hugo Awards, which are chosen by the membership of the World Science Fiction Convention.

The Battlestar Galactica episode "Downloaded" was nominated in the category of Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. The winners will be announced at the 65th Worldcon, Aug. 3-Sep. 3, in Yokohama, Japan.

"The Woman, King" reactions & poll

A Helo-centric episode at last! Here's what the critics had to say:

• Entertainment Weekly
  

This episode of Battlestar Galactica is brought to you by Tahmoh Penikett's crazy oblique muscles. Man, I'd have bad dreams too if I were the mayor of cubicle city, like poor Helo. Could you read the longing on his face when he kissed Sharon goodbye and she ran off to the (relatively) carefree life of a pilot?...


• TV Guide

This show never disappoints...


• TV Blend

There wasn’t any overall plot progression this episode, but that’s made up for by a great little episode to expose more of Helo’s character...

• BuddyTV
  

Tahmoh Penikett as Helo ROCKS. If this episode said anything it's that we should definitely see more Helo on Battlestar Galactica. He is sort of omnipresent anyways, but 'The Woman King' proved that Helo can carry a Battlestar Galactica arc all on his own...


• Alan Sepinwall
  
  Kept me fairly engaged throughout. A lot of credit for that goes to Tahmoh Penikett, who's really matured as an actor as the series has gone along and was able to carry a fairly trite and predictable storyline.
  

What'd you think of the episode? A new reaction poll at right!

You can watch a longer version of the Helo-Adama deleted scene here.

Ron Moore podcast now available here. Sci-fi episode recap here.

If you missed it, Sci-fi is re-airing "The Woman, King" tonight at 11pm.

Variety raves about Battlestar

Brian Lowry recently wrote enthusiastically about Galactica and its most recent episode, "Rapture," in the industry paper, Variety.

"Already lauded with an unusual amount of critical acclaim and industry recognition for a series in the sci-fi genre saddled with such a clunky title, it's nice to see that the "Galactica" crew isn't content to rest on those laurels. And at the risk of mixing space metaphors, whether the jump to Sunday helps the show beam down more viewers, for its loyal core, the series is still one hell of a ride."

Read the full review thanks to Andrew at The CIC.

BSG writer Mark Verheiden is thrilled about it. See his blog entry here!

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.

Galactica tops critics' top ten lists for 2006, Part 2

Time Magazine - Battlestar Galactica (Sci Fi)

A high-minded war turns into a brutal quagmire. Terrorist sleepers turn the public paranoid. And the victims of an attack find themselves sacrificing liberty to defend it. Sound like any planet you know? The topical parallels became deeper and more chilling in Seasons 2 and 3 of this thinking viewer's space opera. It's like the Iraq Study Group report with starship fights and hot-looking robots.

Baltimore City Paper - Battlestar Galactica (Sci Fi)

One of the darkest, most politically convoluted, and straight-up sober sci-fi series the small screen has ever seen, Battlestar Galactica ventures into its imaginary places as if being led to the gallows. Aside from tackling occupied forces, psychological and physical interrogation, secret executions, flat-out torture, and the moral calculus of suicide bombings (and deciding such missions were worth it) with its third season, the show is, at its core, about what it is to be human--and what, if anything, makes humans worth fighting for and saving. That it may never come up with a satisfactory answer but never stops looking for one makes it such a gripping drama.

LAist - Battlestar Galactica (Sci Fi)

Seriously, just forget the whole "sc-fi thing" and this show is just the best drama on television that keeps getting better and better. Conflict, romance and the nature of humanity all wrapped up in grittily realistic and superbly executed package makes this show richly deserve its place at the top of my list. Watch it -- you won't be sorry.

Thanks to Galactica News for the links.

Galactica tops critics' top ten lists for 2006

Matt Roush from TV Guide

Battlestar Galactica

Sci Fi Channel's bracingly adult fantasy adventure is less about outer space than inner space, as it looks deep into humanity's heart of darkness. This electrifying saga of survival took on disturbing new colors as it became a provocative war allegory. Subplots involving terrorism and genocide asked us to reconsider the very notion of heroism.

Maureen Ryan from The Chicago Tribune

“Battlestar Galactica,” Sci Fi

Like “Deadwood,” “Battlestar Galactica” is interested in exploring how a society on the edge decides to govern itself. (Sounds exciting, eh? Trust me, it is.) What rights and actions are sacrosanct, which are outlawed, when most of the human race is eliminated? What’s allowable or forbidden when life-threatening emergencies loom? Thank goodness the people muddling through these decisions are the key to this provocative series. If not grounded in the lives of understandably flawed, often noble, decidedly real human beings, none of this highfalutin’ metaphorical stuff would fly. Thanks to a stellar cast and brave writing, “Battlestar” soars.

Battlestar named one of year's best by AFI

The American Film Institute honored Galactica again this year as one of their official selections for the most outstanding TV programs of the year.

See the full list of the other honorees here.

Slate raves about Battlestar and Ron Moore

In a recent Slate article, Adam Rogers writes about Galactica and its writing staff, focusing particularly on the series of writer's room podcasts (for the S2 episode "Scar") that Sci-fi released this summer.

Captain's Log
Want to understand Battlestar Galactica? Eavesdrop on its writers.

"But actually hearing a producer of Moore's caliber work through the process is thrilling, because he relies on the improvisational qualities of the writers' room. Maybe he has no idea whether his human characters will ever find the (possibly mythical) Earth. It doesn't matter. He and his writers are building a world to live in, not a theory to unravel. It's a world that does more than transcend his show's silly title. It actually redeems it."

You can find the writer's podcasts here.

I blogged about the "Scar" writer's room podcasts four times. Thanks to the new tags, you can see all the posts here.

"In Galactica, It’s Politics as Usual. Or Is It?"

The admittedly initially skeptical New York Times critic Virgina Heffernan today wrote a new positive review of the show, praising its complexity and transcendence of allegory:

"That’s what makes “Battlestar,” week after week, riveting. The truth is, allegories don’t really exist. Characters who initially seem to “stand for” figures in myth or current events eventually take on their own dimensions and — with any luck — subvert the symbolic system that was supposed to confine them.

That has happened in extraordinary ways with “Battlestar Galactica”; the exchange between Gaius and Laura is only the most remarkable recent example. The other characters — the morally bewildered leaders, lovers and warriors — have also outgrown their simple roles as Terrorist or Hawk or Diplomat, and their every action now has its own strange, engrossing logic."

Read the full article.

Galactica on the cover of Entertainment Weekly

This week's Entertainment Weekly features Battlestar on the cover. You can read a most of the cover story on the EW website (spoilers inside!).

"Battlestar Galactica: Sex! Violence! Toasters? Behind the Scenes of TV's Next Great Cult Hit."

The promo photo of Sharon swearing her loyalty to the fleet with Helo in the background is included in the article. Be sure to pick up a copy!