Greetings from Foothill Ranch, California, USA!
Photo taken on Saturday, February 14, 2009.
In my first week back among the unemployed, I did not do much. In fact this week’s photo – tree blossoms taken on Valentine’s Day – is practically a close-up version of last week’s shot but at least it is a different tree in a different city. In need of a topic, I pull the following from the “Hat of Ideas”: Movies or Television. Between the two, I prefer the boob tube to the silver screen. I am partial to a television series’ long-term format over a movie’s one-time experience, sequels notwithstanding. In January I welcomed the return of two shows: Lost and Battlestar Galatica.
Lost’s premise: Crashing on a Pacific Ocean isle, an airplane’s seemingly disparate group of surviving passengers attempt to return to civilization and normal lives but are hindered by the supernatural mysteries of the island and its natives. Also while most series dread cancellation, this show’s executive & creative team established a definitive endpoint, ensuring resolution to the many storylines and questions. With revelatory flashbacks, flash-forwards and other “jumps in time”, the series has kept me intrigued from the start.
Lost is an original. But eventually someone may create something remotely comparable or maybe, just maybe, improve upon it as old series are often brought back in updated form. Knight Rider recently had a short-lived resurrection after a successful first run. Popular Beverly Hills 90210 was reborn as 90210 and has had a promising first season. Then there is Battlestar Galatica (BG). Like many sci-fi shows, BG garnered a small but loyal fan base for its single season in 1978. A “revisioned” series bowed in 2004.
BG’s premise: Cylons, robots created by man, gain independent thought and attempt to kill all mankind. The surviving humanity are roaming the universe searching for fabled planet Earth as a new home and for a way to defeat the enemy while evading their own creation and finding human-looking cylon infiltrators among themselves. This Peabody Award-winning show presents a thought-provoking look into human behavior amidst a war for survival without offering simple solutions. Though a latecomer to the series, I quickly latched on to it.
Similar to Lost but in contrast to its predecessor, the second Battlestar Galatica was able to decide its own end. The fourth and final season of BG is airing now while Lost is in its second-to-last. If you are not watching either one, I hope my praise makes you reconsider. I will not guarantee that you will become an advocate too. But I will say that their stories and characters are different from and better than those in most of the other television series out there. You have my word on that.
Angelo
Photo taken on Saturday, February 14, 2009.
In my first week back among the unemployed, I did not do much. In fact this week’s photo – tree blossoms taken on Valentine’s Day – is practically a close-up version of last week’s shot but at least it is a different tree in a different city. In need of a topic, I pull the following from the “Hat of Ideas”: Movies or Television. Between the two, I prefer the boob tube to the silver screen. I am partial to a television series’ long-term format over a movie’s one-time experience, sequels notwithstanding. In January I welcomed the return of two shows: Lost and Battlestar Galatica.
Lost’s premise: Crashing on a Pacific Ocean isle, an airplane’s seemingly disparate group of surviving passengers attempt to return to civilization and normal lives but are hindered by the supernatural mysteries of the island and its natives. Also while most series dread cancellation, this show’s executive & creative team established a definitive endpoint, ensuring resolution to the many storylines and questions. With revelatory flashbacks, flash-forwards and other “jumps in time”, the series has kept me intrigued from the start.
Lost is an original. But eventually someone may create something remotely comparable or maybe, just maybe, improve upon it as old series are often brought back in updated form. Knight Rider recently had a short-lived resurrection after a successful first run. Popular Beverly Hills 90210 was reborn as 90210 and has had a promising first season. Then there is Battlestar Galatica (BG). Like many sci-fi shows, BG garnered a small but loyal fan base for its single season in 1978. A “revisioned” series bowed in 2004.
BG’s premise: Cylons, robots created by man, gain independent thought and attempt to kill all mankind. The surviving humanity are roaming the universe searching for fabled planet Earth as a new home and for a way to defeat the enemy while evading their own creation and finding human-looking cylon infiltrators among themselves. This Peabody Award-winning show presents a thought-provoking look into human behavior amidst a war for survival without offering simple solutions. Though a latecomer to the series, I quickly latched on to it.
Similar to Lost but in contrast to its predecessor, the second Battlestar Galatica was able to decide its own end. The fourth and final season of BG is airing now while Lost is in its second-to-last. If you are not watching either one, I hope my praise makes you reconsider. I will not guarantee that you will become an advocate too. But I will say that their stories and characters are different from and better than those in most of the other television series out there. You have my word on that.
Angelo
