Eight suggestions on how 'BSG' could have ended better

I've already seen one person's conclusion as to how "Battlestar Gallactica's" creators flubbed the two-hour series finale and I tend to agree with a lot of this person's comments.
But my approach to this subject will be slightly different in that I will make recommendations on what could have made the difference in ending what could have been one of television's greatest drama series.
Instead, the ending left me slightly less impressed with the series than I had been over the course of the previous five years of its existence. It still, on the whole, was a well-thought-out, well-acted, vast improvement over the original 1970s series. But the ending, at least in this stage in looking back on it, left way too many loose ends. Yes, life doesn't leave us with neatly-tied packages; sometimes it takes years to clean up what one person leaves behind.
But this is a television show, and its creators and writers appeared to just throw their hands up and say "I quit" with the series-ender.
The thing which is the most difficult for me to swallow is that the crescendo toward which many character and story lines appeared headed just seemed to get forgotten about or abandoned as the end neared.
Genuine character resolution - following a character to his or her logical, at least plausible, conclusion - simply appeared lacking.
I read somewhere that the creators focused on the characters in the end, not the story line. Both are equally important, and one - the story - was largely lacking at the end.
OK, here's my list of what the shows creators could have done differently to make "Battlestar's" ending a fitting conclusion to the rest of the series:
1. Help Kara Thrace make sense. Kara just sort of "poofs" at the end; literally. She's there one minute and not the next. She's too integral a character to just disappear. Her death and later existence as a resurrected being is not fully explained; she even wonders aloud who she is. She deserves an answer and so do we.
2. Give "All Along the Watchtower" stronger meaning. It's a timeless song, there's no doubt, but its impact seems pervasive and guiding - it clicked on four dormant Cylons; Kara knew it as a kid; even human-Cylon hybrid Hera knew it and it helped get the colonists to Earth. There must have been a reason beyond what the creators have explained as it just being something which comes out of the ether and provides guidance. Its influence suggests someone else was helping it get that way. Who was that?
3. Let Gaius Baltar's heroism not be a surprise. He makes a major stand toward the end, one which seemed uncharacteristic for him. Just help us see how he went from the sniveling little brat he was most of the series to this stand-up guy. And he and Six turn out to be glorified narrators as well as types of Adam and Eve. Explain that better, please.
4. Help us understand who Daniel was. Was Daniel, the 13th humanoid Cylon, Kara's father? What was his role?
5. Who created the Final Five? In one episode, Ellen tells Cavil that he is named John, after her father. There's no answer to this question whatsoever.
6. Who is God? The Cylons are mono-theistic. The humans are not - they're polytheistic. How did it get this way and why do the two cultures make the distinction?
7. Let the final battle with Cavil's Cylons be less anti-climatic. Why couldn't we have some well-aimed gunfire in the ventilation shaft or a black-ops plan that worked or a Cylon model who turns on Cavil and blows up the base ship? The writer whose link I post above mentions how Cavil just sort of gives up in the firefight in the command center and eats a bullet. Not how his character should have ended.
8. Tell us how the humanoid Cylons and the humans co-exist on the new Earth. Do they just make babies and be happy with each other? Do they make babies with the Earthlings who are there already? Or are we to believe the mantra that it has happened before, it will happen again? At the very end, I think we're supposed to think that but I'm not sure.
Sure, I agree that consumers of television shows, books, movies, music, etc., should draw their own conclusions and not every last detail should be spoon fed and excruciatingly explained.
But these are just the eight things which come immediately to mind which would have made the series-finale so much more tangible and interesting.

Ohhh Noooo!

There's something strangely comforting about having Mr. Bill back in the popular culture - at least enough to warrant a MasterCard commercial. (It was a regular gag on the old Saturday Night Live circa late '70s to around 1980.)



I'm not sure what else needs to be said.

An interesting disclaimer

Last night, we were watching television and I caught something as a movie ad was just about to end - the word "tobacco." Fortunately, we have TiVo and I could scroll back and read the reference more closely.
I don't remember the exact wording but it was a disclaimer stretched across the bottom of the standard miniature version of the basic credits and above and in larger type than the normal rating and reason for that rating.
It basically warned potential viewers of the depiction of tobacco use.
That's right. Tobacco use.
Not graphic depictions of horror, overblown violence, incredibly excessive language or sex scenes which leave absolutely nothing to the imagination.
Tobacco use.
I'm a proponent for protecting against the slippery slope, that dangerous point of no return where if you set a precedent, you leave the proverbial barn door open for the activity to continue and then spread to include more things.
Don't get me wrong - I think the steps our culture has taken to limit second-hand smoke are, in large degree, good for us. Yet, this comes at the cost of limiting adults' freedom to use the product, which is still legal in this country.
I think we must be careful as a nation how much personal freedom we restrict and that when we choose to limit it, it must be for good reason.
I think giving general descriptions of why a movie has the rating it does is fine.
However, if don't exercise caution in delivering these warnings, then everything will be bad for us and we won't be able to make any decisions for ourselves without having everything disclaimed.
Then, we'll be puppets and not a collective of independently-thinking citizens.

Quick ... before the month ends!

Here are a few quick thoughts before the month of May ends. Both of them have to do with comedy.

RIP Harvey Korman
This comedic legend passed away this week but left us with plenty of warm memories belly laughs. His work in this sketch from the Carol Burnett Show speaks for itself. He's the one in the chair.



The brilliance of "Office Space"

If you have not seen the movie "Office Space," then what I will post below is a spoiler, so don't read any further if you haven't seen it and want to do so.
I recently came across a word I'd never heard - I guess I was previously deprived due to my Southern upbringing.
"Tchotchke" is a term for "trinkets, small toys, knickknacks, baubles, or kitsch," according to the Wikipedia definition. The name of the restaurant where Jennifer Aniston's character works - and where employees are required to wear flair - is Chotchkie's. Same name, same concept. Brilliant!

IT'S A GAME SYSTEM, PEOPLE!

The PS3 release caused several episodes of mayhem across the land, including one shooting incident.
If this is supposed to be part of the Christmas shopping season, can this be any further removed from the spirit of the season?
Apparently one set of alleged criminals thought the PS3 crowd was a great robbery target. One guy refused to give them money and he got shot.
This is one of those cases where you have to wonder out loud what this world is coming to. So what if somebody doesn't get one of the 400,000 PS3s on the market. Is it really going to be that big a deal?
Please, let's reason together. This is NOT that big a deal on the grand sceme.
This holiday season, if you think there's something worth standing in line for hours - potentially risking your life - to buy, please think again.

Rent

My wife and I saw the "rock opera" (the term which best describes it) Rent Sunday night in Birmingham, Ala.
While I have reservations about one particular song, I find the whole thing a carefully-crafted masterpiece from a man whose potential seemed limitless. We've learned to find out that Johnathan Larson died of an apparent aortic anurysm the day of "Rent's" final rehearsal. Wow - what this man could have accomplished.
But he's left behind an amazing work portrayed by people who understand and love his words and music.
For the uninitiated, "Rent" is a story which revolves around a handful of friends in New York City sometime in the late 1980s, when the nation was coming to terms with the AIDS epidemic.
Several of the main characters are HIV-positive. Ironic we saw the musical in the city where some of the most advanced AIDS research may be still taking place.
The theme "Rent" comes from the double meaning of paying an indebtedness, i.e., rent, and the concept of something being torn, or 'rent.' The friends go through quite a lot of tearing.
"No day but today."
It's a pretty plain message for any one.

Some of my favorite actors

Been thinking about doing this for awhile, at least for myself, but I've decided to share it with blogdom. Recently, I've been basing decisions on whether to see a movie if certain people are in it. Example: I went to see "The DaVinci Code" in part because Audrey Tautou and Jean Reno were in the supporting cast.
This is not in any particular order and I'm sure there are more I'm not thinking about right now. If you want to know more about these people, I would suggest a visit to:
http://www.imdb.com/
And hey, you can help build a little bit of community here by sharing some of your own favorite actors, either on your blog or by posting a comment.
Don Cheadle - Does almost everything with a panache that isn't overstated.
Audrey Tautou - It's quirky and at times, has suggestive material, but loved her in Amelie.
Jean Reno - Sold me in "The Professional," aka "Leon."
Natalie Portman - She's great in almost everything she does.
Tony Shaloub - "Blufftoni!" "Blufftoni!" Some of his lines from "Quick Change," in which he plays an immigrant trying to say that some people got on a bus. OK, you'll just have to see it. And he's super in "Men in Black." And he's Monk.
Vincent D'Onofrio - "The Edgar Suit" in "Men in Black." And he messes with peoples' heads in "Law and Order:CI." He was in "Full Metal Jacket," which I didn't realize.
R. Lee Ermey - Is usually funny when he's not playing a drill instructor, but he's dynamite in his military roles.
Andre Braugher - Sold me in "Homicide: Life on the Street," one of the best cop shows ever. Dug him tremendously in "Frequency."
Tim Meadows - An enormously talented actor whom I'm rooting for in his post-"Saturday Night Live" success.
Liev Schreiber - A great actor whose voiceovers are even better. He's narrated several things including "Mantle," an HBO feature on Mickey Mantle that's simply outstanding.
Pretty much all the "Seinfeld" bunch - Jason Alexander, Michael Richards, Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Plus Jerry Stiller. He absolutely cracks me up. Richards has to be one of my favorite physical comedians.
Helen Hunt - Loved her and Paul Reiser in "Mad about You." She's another one who has just a magic touch in her performances.
Tom Hanks - He's a default major actor; I like almost everything he's ever played in that I've seen, including my favorite movie, "Saving Private Ryan."
Stephen Root - He's Bill delaTour Dauterive on "King of the Hill," Milton in "Office Space" ("I do believe you have my stapler.") and an absolute stitch at almost everything he's done.
All the main actors from "The Drew Carey Show." -
Drew Carey, Ryan Stiles (Lewis), Diedrich Bader (Oswald - also awesome in "Office Space"), Christa Miller (Kate), Kathy Kinney (Mimi) and Craig Ferguson (Mr. Wick).
The deceased:
Chris Farley: "I live in a van down by the river."
Phil Hartman: Just a jewel.
John Belushi: He was John Belushi.
That's it for now. Gotta get to some of those chores. Later

Space: Above and Beyond

Amanda has a knack at finding out what I like and doing something about it, something I need to get better at myself.
She bought me the DVD set for the television series, "Space: Above and Beyond." I loved it and was slightly jealous of it because it's close in general theory to many daydreams I've had over the years about an ideal futuristic story, especially as it pertains to the combat aspect. Nahh, I don't think they stole it from me. :)
The series, from the brains behind "The X Files," revolves around a squadron of Marine space aviators who are thrust into the front lines of a war which resulted from a hostile attack on Earth colonies out in space.
For the most part, it came on at 7 p.m. Eastern time Sunday in the U.S. in the 1995-96 TV season on the Fox network. Apparently, the network never explained why they canceled it but word was at the time it cost them $1 million an episode, probably a lot at the time but certainly paled by the reported $1 million per episode per main actor the cast of "Friends" was getting when that series ended.
Over the past two weeks, Amanda and I watched the entire "Space" series, and finished it last night.
The final episode leaves one feeling deprived, left hanging and helpless. I'm perplexed as to why they chose to abandon the series completely.
The show "Firefly" was recently revived with a film called "Serenity." Amanda and I have started enjoying this show and are glad someone had the sense to bring it back to life.
"Space" is probably too far gone to be brought back to life, but it lives on in the DVD collection and in my opinion was one of the best shows ever on television.
Fortunately, some of the main actors in the show have enjoyed some moderate success since. (I found the information on these folks at imdb.com.)
Joel de la Fuente ("Wang") is a regular guest on "Law and Order: SVU" as a lab tech.
James Morrison ("Lt. Col. McQueen") has a regular guest spot on "24" as "Bill Buchanan."
Kristen Cloke was in the movie "Final Destination" as "Valerie Lewton."
Lanei Chapman is probably best known post-show for her performance as Whoopi Goldberg's estranged daughter in "Rat Race."
Morgan Weisser ("West"), Rodney Rowland ("Hawkes") and Tucker Smallwood ("Commodore Ross") have made various appearances in TV and film since the show.
It wouldn't hurt my feelings if one day somebody thought about picking up where the show left off, although that would be difficult with the original cast now nearly 10 years older.
For now, "Semper Fi."

E Ring

"Easily one of the best shows on network television," raves some guy who doesn't get his name in a sound-byte promo.
The show gives us a glimpse of the politics of decision-making inside the Pentagon, probably slightly exaggerated to some degree but right on overall.
And, they don't use fake names of countries, like Booga-booga-stan.
They talk about real places, like Iran and Burundi.
Throw in Trevor Rabin's soundtrack and you've got a doozey.
Unfortunately, it's too smart for the "Dude, Where's My Car?" crowd and probably won't last a year.
But I'll enjoy it while it lasts.