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Monday, December 19, 2011

Comedy / Portland / TV Battlestar Galactica: Ruiner of Lives, Bringer of Despair

Posted by Bobby Roberts on Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 11:30 AM

I'm not entirely sure the following can be legitimately defined as "Sketch Comedy." As a fair amount of my peers can attest to, this clip from season two of Portlandia feels more like an Unsolved Mysteries-styled dramatic re-enactment, capturing the slow descent into mania that has afflicted many viewers of fine television since 2004:



Presumably, the end of this video is a springboard for related sketches featuring writer/producer/director Ronald Moore, actor James Callis (Gaius Baltar), and Edward James Olmos (William Adama), who have told fans they've shot footage for upcoming Portlandia episodes.

Also - I get the sense neither Carrie Brownstein or Fred Armisen have actually watched Battlestar Galactica because the first thing people do upon finishing the finale is to stumble towards the nearest online-enabled device within reach and fight with people on the internet about it. Much like what will probably happen in the comments section below.

Portlandia season two premieres January 6th.

 

Comments (15) RSS

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1
This argument has happened before, and will happen again.
Posted by Fruit Cup on December 19, 2011 at 12:42 PM · Report
2
This also happened to us with the Sopranos.

Basically, what Fruit Cup said.
Posted by kiala on December 19, 2011 at 12:53 PM · Report
3
If you REALLY wanna get into it over the Sopranos, I discovered this a couple months ago while traipsing through the detritus of nerd rages gone by.

http://masterofsopranos.wordpress.com/the-…

I gotta admit - that link makes a very compelling case for there being one interpretation of that ending that reigns supreme over all other interpretations.
Posted by Fatboy Roberts on December 19, 2011 at 1:04 PM · Report
4
I've still never seen the Sopranos. Is it good?
Posted by Fruit Cup on December 19, 2011 at 1:08 PM · Report
5
I've read that Sopranos blog before (which gives me a big sad); that person has waaay too much time on their hands. They probably dream in Sopranos.

@FC: I think the show was the beginning of the modern trend of really well written cable shows and upped the bar significantly for the networks. I don't enjoy mob drama personally but everyone seems to agree that it was good tv.
Posted by cat & beard on December 19, 2011 at 1:16 PM · Report
6
@C&B, Indeed, somewhat of a rhetorical question. I'm not that interested in mob dramas, either. Now, if we were talking about a mob drama in space, I'd feel differently.
Posted by Fruit Cup on December 19, 2011 at 1:38 PM · Report
7
It's not the mob drama that makes the Sopranos so good. It's the characters and the writing. Then again, I love Goodfellas and Casino and I love Boardwalk Empire too so maybe I do love mob dramas. I don't know. I think I just love Scorcese.

Posted by kiala on December 19, 2011 at 1:43 PM · Report
8
This is what happened to me when I started watching Deadwood, then Oz, and then The Wire. I have a list of shows not to watch if you need to get shit done, because you won't get your shit done once you start.
Posted by LokNaar on December 19, 2011 at 1:45 PM · Report
9
@Fruit Cup - there's an episode of Battlestar that IS a Mob Drama in space.

It's generally regarded as the worst episode of the show to ever air. I prefer to forget it ever happened.

@Cat & Beard - yeah, that dude might have mismanaged his priorities for a prolonged period of time, but it makes for a somewhat fascinating read. It led me down a rabbit hole of classic Sopranos clips on YouTube, so there's that.

Sopranos probably started the TV renaissance, but I believe it's been surpassed in quality by more than a few shows. Great TV, but no longer the greatest.
Posted by Fatboy Roberts on December 19, 2011 at 1:49 PM · Report
10
Caprica > BSG
Posted by ($8239f8h248cerfehjf23@&*@ebdjhb23f237OCDBO#BD*(# on December 19, 2011 at 1:58 PM · Report
11
@9/10, Oh yeah, Caprica had mob drama in space too (well, never really much by way of space). And it was so horrible it made me want to scrub the images off my eyes with a brilo pad.

In general I liked Caprica though. But the mob storyline was just a dead end.
Posted by Fruit Cup on December 19, 2011 at 3:09 PM · Report
12
Caprica was a catty piece of shit compared to BSG
Posted by Crown Graphic on December 19, 2011 at 3:12 PM · Report
13
Patting myself on the back for the best bit of Blogtown trolling I've done recently.
Posted by ($8239f8h248cerfehjf23@&*@ebdjhb23f237OCDBO#BD*(# on December 19, 2011 at 3:20 PM · Report
14
@13, I don't know. I think they both were excellent in the same ways (robots! genocide!) and terrible in the same ways (heavy-handed religion! threadless plotting!). The BSG miniseries remains (to me) one of the best things ever put on television.
Posted by Fruit Cup on December 19, 2011 at 4:00 PM · Report
15
Nice Job, Oregometry!

Shoulda let that one gestate a little longer, though....
Posted by TSW on December 19, 2011 at 4:48 PM · Report

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