BSG

Featuring critically-acclaimed veteran actors Edward James Olmos as Commander William Adama and Mary McDonnell as President Laura Roslin, the new series first aired in the UK in October 2004. In the second-season episode "Pegasus," Ronald D. Moore named one of the Cylon characters Gina as a reference to the show's nickname.[6] The series was aired first in the UK and Ireland on Sky One, and then later in North America in January 2005. Ronald D. Moore agreed to give Sky the first showing because Sky provided the financing to shoot the first season. Unlike NBC, Sky had faith in the success of the show, mainly due to the miniseries having been a hit in the UK and Ireland. However, due to massive downloading from BitTorrent sites by North American broadband users, future seasons were aired in North America first. [citation needed] A heavily-edited [citation needed] version of the miniseries was broadcast on NBC — a corporate sibling of the U.S. Sci-Fi Channel — on January 9, 2005, five days before the American debut. NBC additionally aired three selected first-season episodes as a sampler, to entice new American viewers in advance of the second-season premiere in July 2005. Unfortunately, the NBC network showings were not as high in ratings as the producers had hoped for. The second season episode that was shown in July 2005 was ranked #115 in Nielsen Ratings, out of 115 shows that week. The series won widespread acclaim among many mainstream non-genre publications. Time magazine,[7] Rolling Stone magazine[8] and New York Newsday[9] named it the best show on television in 2005. Other publications like The New York Times,[10] The New Yorker[11] and National Review[12] also gave the show glowing reviews. In January 2006, the second half of the second season began broadcasting in the United States, while the full-season premiere ("Scattered") aired on Sky One in the UK on 10 January 2006. The second season ended on 10 March 2006 with the two-part season finale episode "Lay Down Your Burdens." In the spring of 2006, the show was awarded a Peabody Award for its creative accomplishments.[13] The show was renewed for a third season, and production began in April 2006 in Vancouver. The season premiered on October 6, 2006, and then went on mid-season hiatus on December 15, 2006. The show then returned on a new day and time in 2007. The Sci-Fi Channel has changed the show's time slot to Sundays at 10:00pm EST/PST, starting with the show's mid-season premiere on January 21, 2007. The third season ended on March 25, 2007 with "Crossroads, Part 2." The Sci-Fi channel announced officially on February 13, 2007 that the series would be renewed for a fourth season.[14] The upcoming fourth (and final) season is slated to include 20 episodes, in addition to a two-hour "prequel" film.[15] Battlestar Galactica: Razor will air on Sci-Fi on Saturday November 24th, 2007. The extended edition will be released on DVD on December 4th, 2007. It will serve as a special two-hour prequel regarding the history of the Battlestar Pegasus and its crew prior to rendezvous with the Battlestar Galactica.[16]