As I’ve stated enough times for everyone who knows me and reads this blog to want to put me out an airlock — though Laura Roslin may beat them to it if I keep talking about her man’s sexiness — I am utterly amazed at the quality of acting on Battlestar Galactica. And now I’ve learned that the most touching scene I’ve ever witnessed on film, the final moments of “The Hub,” was shot in one take. ONE TAKE!

Seriously, unless I completely misunderstood the official Ron Moore podcast on the episode, which I listened to this last week, the achingly beautiful reunion scene between Admiral Adama and President Roslin was shot in a single take, which is amazing because it is so emotionally complex and completely exposed.

After listening to a few of those podcasts this week, I tell ya, my respect for the acting abilities of Mary McDonnell and Edward James Olmos is growing by leaps and bounds — and it was already in the stratosphere before BSG ever aired. These days I find myself watching them with my eyes popping wide in wonder and feeling incredibly privileged to be able witness these two pros work together, and at a level that is truly astonishing.

And don’t even get me started on Olmos instincts for dramatic improvisation, which are absolutely genius. He knows how to play an emotional moment in a way that reaches into the very heart of you. For example, I learned from the podcast that he improvised the placing of Adama’s wedding band on Roslin’s hand in the deathbed vision in “The Hub.” That is a very powerful and poignant moment as Adama has never taken that off, not after his divorce or even the death of his ex-wife and mother of his sons. It is as much a part of him as his sense of loyalty. For him to take that off and leave it with Roslin … wow. Also, back in “Escape Velocity,” the scene where Adama is reading to Roslin from Searider Falcon, there’s a moment where he looks up and sees she is sleeping then lowers the book and speaks as though from his heart. That was apparently an Olmos improv. The words were apparently scripted, but Olmos elected to not read them from the book, and in doing so, it gave that moment a confessional and intimate feel, as though Adama was speaking of his own feelings for Roslin, which made for an all-the-more touching scene.

To be completely honest, McDonnell and Olmos were the original reason I even gave this re-imagined series a chance. When I first heard they were remaking BSG, I kept thinking, “Do we really need another Battlestar Galactica?” I mean, I loved the first series. It was great fun, if a bit on the campy side, but not really a show I thought would ever be remade in any form, couldn’t even imagine why someone would want to. Then I heard about the casting of McDonnell and Olmos as the leads, two actors I’d liked immensely for years and whose judgment I respected when it came to choosing material. I decided to give it a chance on the merits of those two actors alone and I’m so glad I did, because I can now say I’m one of the lucky ones to have found this show from the beginning and followed it through to present — and will follow it through to the end.

I’m sure some people will disagree with me, but I believe Battlestar Galactica may be the best show to ever air on television. It was seemingly tailor-made for me, or at least my particular tastes in science fiction in mind, which is why I’ve said before that this is the show I’ve waited for my entire life.

I care about these characters, have bonded with them and want to see what happens to them. It matters to me in a way a television show never has before, which is something I credit to everyone associated with the show — the writers, directors, editors and cast, and most assuredly Ron Moore and David Eick who gave this show a HUGE dose of reality. That realistic edge makes this show more immediate to me as a viewer and not just another piece of entertainment. There is a very real sense of something at stake for the characters I care about, and the writers have made no bones about it that they’re not afraid to maim, kill or bring those characters tumbling down in ways you never imagined, if it’s what’s in the best interest of the story.

Even though it’s sometimes painful, I greatly appreciate that sort of integrity in writing, that steadfast refusal to bow to status-quo storytelling, and because it helps maintains the realism they injected into this show. Why do I say that? Because no one is safe in this life just because we want them to be, not even those we care about most in the world … same goes for those characters I love most on BSG. I honestly think that makes me appreciate the show more, makes me realize how great television can be when the perfect mix of elements converge at a single point and place in time. It’s quite magical, actually, and in the case of Battlestar Galactica, thought-provoking.

Without compromise and unlike any other TV series I’ve watched before, Battlestar Galactica holds up a mirror to us as a species, showing us quite clearly who and what we are — the picture is not always a pretty one — and examines the very nature of what it means to be human. I believe this exploration is wholly relevant to us today and that it will be relevant a hundred years from now because, on the whole, I don’t think mankind has evolved all that much over the millennia. We still struggle daily with our nature, the good and the bad, and there’s always a question about what the outcome will be in that battle. How could there not be when we are swayed by our emotions and loyalties, our convictions and beliefs, our hopes and fears? This inner struggle is what Battlestar Galactica brings to the fore and shows us quite well that even the best of us are locked in that eternal war within ourselves. No one is safe from it. Not me. Not anyone. Not Roslin. Not Adama. Not Baltar. Not Apollo. Not Starbuck. Not even the Cylons. This is who we are and this is what Battlestar Galactica’s cast and writers have not been afraid to show us on a weekly basis.

All that said, I suspect there are a great many people who are not watching Battlestar Galactica now but who will discover it in the years to come and say to themselves, “This is great television! Where the frak was I when this was on!?” All I can say to them is better late than never, and remind them that they now have a window of opportunity to catch up on the first three and a half seasons, and join us faithful fans for the final part of the journey when it airs, probably sometime early next year. It promises, if the mid-season finale is any indication, to be quite a ride.

***Images used in this post are copyrighted works and used here for informational and entertainment purposes ONLY.***

I ran across a forum board recently that completely cracked me up. It has a clever list of “Things I Am Not Allowed To Do Aboard Galactica” with more than a thousand offerings from Battlestar Galactica fans. Some of them are downright side-splitting funny, well at least to me, and they inspired me to write up my own list of things that I, personally, would not be allowed to do aboard the Battlestar Galactica. Below is my list so far…

If I were aboard Galactica, I would not be allowed to…

• Use Admiral Adama’s bunk for afternoon naps
  - Doing so would DEFINITELY net me a one-way ticket to an unplanned, sans-pressure-suit EVA ala Madame President Roslin
  - Besides, Madame President is probably already there
  - And she may have been practicing at the shooting range since the Starbuck incident
• Fake cough under my breath “Haircut!” at Lee Adama when I see him
  - Even though he needs one … badly
• Place signs on all airlocks saying “Tory Foster Fan Club Meeting”
  - Even if she has it coming
  - I’m not allowed to punch her either, but I am allowed to cheer on anyone else who chooses to do so
• Ask Col. Tigh to clarify if he’s winking or blinking at me
  - Even if I really can’t tell
• Suggest Mr. Gaeta replace the Cylon ship icons on DRADIS with cartoon toasters with wings
  - No matter how much I loved the old Flying Toaster screensaver
  - Plus, they wouldn’t seem so menacing
• Ask any Centurions if “They’ll be back.”
  - I’m not allowed to tell them “I’ll be back” either
  - But I can tell them I’m not Sarah Connor and I don’t know anyone named John Connor
• Start a public awareness campaign warning Cylons of the danger of sleeping with Gaius Baltar
  - Even if it can be argued that most have wigged out afterward to some degree or another
• Examine Hera Agethon’s scalp for the mark of the beast
  - Despite the fact she gives me the willies
• Put up missing posters for Boxey
  - Like anybody cares anyway
• Refer to Colonial One as the Tool Chest or Tool Shed
  - Even if the quorum members have repeatedly proved themselves a bunch of tools
• Grin like a fool when I see the Admiral and Madame President together
  - Even if Adama can’t help but do so himself
  - Even if Roslin is struck by the same urge and succumbs
  - Even if I’ve seen a marine guard do it
  - Even if it is one of the most awesome love stories ever

Please Note: Any similarities to those mentioned at the forum linked above is purely coincidental, but if someone should feel as though my thoughts infringed upon theirs, then contact me and I’ll remove it post haste.

Being a huge movie buff, I often do a bit of exploring at the Internet Movie Database. It can be quite fun and I often find out some interesting bits of trivia about favorite actors, movies, etc., all of which seem to permanently implant themselves in my brain. Maybe that’s why my friends don’t like to play entertainment trivia with me.

At any rate, on this first of several of months of Battlestar Galactica-less Friday nights, I decided to check out the filmographies of some of the stars and found an interesting tidbit that some of you may or may not know.

It seems — and I don’t know how I missed this — that Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell‘s paths have crossed before professionally in the 1997 television film “12 Angry Men.”

Olmos played one of the angry chaps on the jury and McDonnell was, lo and behold, the judge. They were a part of the cast that also sported film greats George C. Scott and Jack Lemmon, along with Hume Cronyn and Ossie Davis. Oh, and let’s not forget the delicious pre-CSI William Petersen … okay, between Olmos and Petersen, I think I’m going to have to locate this and watch it. Mmmm, eye candy that can act … oh, I’m sorry, got distracted.

Anyway, so, the telefilm was directed by William Friedkin, who also directed the lovely and talented McDonnell a few years previous (1994) in “Blue Chips,” with Nick Nolte. Friedkin’s most notable directing credits include “The French Connection,” for which he won an Oscar, and “The Exorcist,” for which he nominated.

Oh and lest we forget, Mr. Olmos sports an Oscar nomination himself (“Stand and Deliver,” 1989) — I actually remember watching the Academy Awards that year and rooting for him — and Ms. McDonnell herself is a multiple Oscar nominee (“Passion Fish,” 1993, and “Dances with Wolves,” 1991) — personally, I thought she was the best part of the Kevin Costner project.

McDonnell and Olmos truly are a pair of extraordinary talents and I eagerly await the Emmy nominations, due out next month, in hopes their outstanding work on BSG will be recognized. I have my fingers crossed for you, Mary and Eddie!