Battlestar Galactica moving to network television? NBC says no
By Richard Lawler 
posted Oct 10th 2006 12:35PM
posted Oct 10th 2006 12:35PM
The rumor going around has been that NBC is considering moving Sci-Fi network smash hit Battlestar Galactica to the big leagues. A lot of us here like the series and would love to be able to watch the episodes in HD when they originally air...instead of much later in reruns on Universal HD as is currently the case. Why great high definition programming is left to sit around when there's a huge audience for it is a mystery to us. Unfortunately, NBC told TV Squad there's no merit to the BSG rumors, but we can still hope, right?[Via TV Squad]
Please please please!!!!
We can still hope. It's one of the very best series on TV right now.
I got into BSG on DVD, after Season 2 ended on SciFi. I figured I'd get caught up and be all ready when S3 started. I am incredulous that it is shown in SD. I probably won't even bother watching it. Obviously the source material is there, the UHD broadcasts look fantastic. Lame.
You know, Battlestar Galactica is BEYOND the "big leagues". It should get much more audience than it currently is -- and in HD dammit!
Oh man. I would love it if I could watch BSG in HD. I don't care what channel it was on.
SciFi definitely needs to go HD. If HGTV can go HD, so can SciFi.
That would be great, as I am currently watching a season behiind since I can't stand to watch it in SD when I know that I will be able to watch it in HD the next season... It is getting more and more difficult to avoid spoilers... good thing I have no friends and live in a vacuum!
CityTV in canada began showing BSG in HD - or so I thought; when I tuned in, it was still the SD version, just broadcasted on the HD channel :(
I agree with all. I think the only real solution is for Sci-Fi to go HD.
Ron
Better for Sci-Fi to go to HD than to have NBC ciphers and censors screwing around with BSG storylines.
Part of me is torn about this news. As much as I love watching Battlestar reruns in HD when it’s on, I would rather it stay on Sci-Fi. I have two reasons. First, Battlestar gets good ratings for a cable show, but probably not good enough for a major network’s primetime slot. The show is too good to be moved and face cancellation for not doing well. Secondly, they might not be able to tell the stories the way they want due to stricter censors. I won’t spoil anything for those who didn’t see the season premier, but I don’t think they could have touched upon some of the story points if it were on NBC.
This is one of the best shows on right now, and deserves to be shown in HD. Instead of moving it to NBC, why can’t they put new episodes on Universal HD the same night as Sci Fi? I may have the dissenting vote in this thread, but I’m glad it’s staying where it is. It’s too good to be messed up now. If that means I have to wait to watch it in HD or buy the DVDs so be it.
I agree with Mark, a primetime network spot would result in far too many "suit and tie" network executive types messing with the show. I dont think the show could stay as brutally dark, sexy, or controversial. The show is also way too complicated to catch on in a new primetime slot. This show is going to expand its audience through DVD sales and netflix (itunes) users.
Maybe it should move to HBO since they are the only media outlet putting out shows of this quality consistently.
What we need from NBC is yet another formula "Law and Order". This time "Law and Order: Kindergarten Cop".
Back in the 80s and 90s, most of my TV watching was with NBC. This year, I may watch three of their shows, and one of those has been farmed to Saturdays for goodness knows what reason (Kidnapped... great show).
Maybe it's time to use the Blacklist era's practice of keeping track of a network's advertisers and contacting then directly, urging them to motivate NBC to move some of its better cable HD programs on NBC? It worked then and will probably work now.
For instance, I'd love to see Monk in HD, for example. Over the summer, Psyche proved so popular it was moved from USA to NBC. How about running "The Dead Zone" during the summer?
There are so many winners that draw an audience on cable, I'm shocked they don't put them on the main networks instead of the drivel.
And if what they show on "Studio 60" is half-true, no wonder we get such equine excrement on the networks.
Next best thing if you have Comcast is the next day on VOD, Cutting Edge, SciFi, (and finally) Battlestar Galactica. (whew) No. SciFi "logo" and no commercials! (at least for the two hour season opener, which was listed at 94 minutes).
I read a news item recently that Universal HD is upgrading its programming to show first-run episodes of shows like BSG.
Think about it, folks. If BSG moves to NBC, they hacks will destroy it. It needs to stay on Sci-Fi. It will live on forever in HD repeats. The quality of the stories is more important than the quality of the image at the time being.