TVSquad

One of the best parts of this job is the advance copies we get of television DVD sets. In short: Holy frak! The final set of Battlestar Galactica episodes is awesome.

Minor spoilers follow...

There are those who liked the ending and those that didn't. I didn't like the lack of explanation of Kara's return from the dead and found the finale generally anti-climactic. But the series set a high standard and, overall, it's a minor complaint. In most ways, the series is perfect and far better than most of us deserve.

I'll give them this: the people who make the show know their audience ... that audience being nerds. Nerds like information. Hence, the DVD set is full of extras and special features. These include deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and extended versions of episodes, including the three-part finale, "Daybreak." And every episode (let me repeat that:: every episode) has podcast commentary by Ronald Moore.

I want answers, people.

Last night we found out that Elisa, Salma Hayek's character on 30 Rock, was hiding a dark secret.

That secret (which I won't reveal) was weird and unexpected. But seeing Salma wearing a "What the Frak?!" T-shirt – complete with the Battlestar Galactica logo on the back, I might add – on the show was even weirder and more unexpected.

It was also way cool, and probably the most random moment in an episode full of random moments (like that Brian Williams cameo). I loved it. It made me kooko for Choco Puffs. But can someone explain it to me?

There is a marvelous article on CNN about the origins of the word "Frak", the replacement curse word used heavily in the series Battlestar Galactica. It seems that the word was invented in the original 70's version of the show by creator Glen A. Larson but it was seldom used.

It got me thinking about other replacement profanities used by scripted television to replace the normal curse words that the FCC bans from televised broadcasts. We have previously posted about made-up words on television (including the profanities "Smeg" from Red Dwarf and "Frell" from Farscape), but I have a few to add to that list:

I mean seriously, what the frak? Why the frak do we have to wait until frakking 2009 for the final frakking season of Battlestar frakking Galactica. Those motherfrakking skinjobs, and I know they're Cylons or they wouldn't do this to us, really like to frakking torture us diehard frakking fans, don't they. Frakkers! Wow, that does make it incredibly frakking easy to drop frakking curse words all the frakking time without really frakking cussing. How frakking liberating is that!

But back to business. Executive producer Ronald D. Moore spoke at a Wednesday night screening of this Friday's summer finale and broke the news that the remainder of this fourth and final season of BSG probably wouldn't air until early 2009. The show just doesn't want to have to face off against the new fall slates on the networks or football and baseball, which I guess I can understand. Why not wait until January so all you have to deal with is those crappy shows nobody watches like American Idol and 24? And nobody will be interested in the build-ups to the season finales of shows like Lost and Heroes. It's a frakking no-brainer!

Okay, I'm finally back from the New York Comic-Con and I still smell like the Javits Convention Center. Fandom seeps into the deepest layers of one's skin and take at least a few weeks to wash out. It's a scientific fact.

The first panel I attended wasn't even TV-related. Worrying that the Battlestar Galactica room would fill before I could even step into the line, I sat through the preceding panel for Wall-E and Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian to guarantee a seat. As it turns out, the theater is absolutely huge and two big screens were on either side of the stage, so my worry was kind of pointless. I was reminded of what I already knew: Wall-E looks insanely cute, Chronicles of Narnia has a greasy-haired new guy and the Jesus lion again. However, this is when I began to play a game that lasted throughout the entire weekend: Analyze the differing levels of scary devotion throughout various fanbases!