Fourth season to be the last

So it's official, almost. A friend of mine sent me this news link stating that the producers of the new Battlestar Galactica will officially announce the finalization of the series after it's upcoming fourth season.

It's a little sad, but as they explained in the article, it really is the kind of story that has a beginning, middle, and an end. As much as I'm addicted to the show, I think making a clean encapsuled story arc is the best way to do it. All good things must come to an end. When I think about how televison series really work, and how they work well, its by keeping a captive audience through a strong story (unless you're a variety show of course). Even though I don't follow the show Lost, I've been hearing the buzz about how it seems to be leaving it's audience "Lost" in it's dragging story lines. Hey, Star Wars has an end, at least as far as the saga in film goes, but because it's such a great story, it lives on in our hearts and imaginations, and the gaps are forever being filled in (I might add, there's a certain point where that gap filling can get old too).

I think they might have been able to push BSG on to a fifth season though. In an interview from about a year ago, Moore or Eick had commented that they wanted to only go as far as five seasons max. However, season four is slated for 22 episodes, which is longer than your average TV drama usually stretches for a season. I'm not sure if they are counting what they are now calling an "extended episode" (formerly known as the straight to DVD movie) Razor, to be aired this November as one or two of those 22 episodes. Heck, 20 episodes it's is rather lofty as well. I'll take it!

Here's the other thing. There was some chatter in the past about another BSG project called Caprica, which would predate the timeline of the current BSG by a generation or so, but the idea was put on the back burners. I always likened this concept to that of iRobot (either the book or the Will Smith movie). I think this is a spinoff that could really work and hope to see it reconsidered as they wrap up the end of BSG.

Lets keep fan chatter and communities like these alive and active to show interest in projects like Caprica!