Colonial Dispatch 2.16.09

We've got some details on the schedule for the grand finale, thanks to SyFy Portal: The finale will indeed be a total of 3 hours, of which the first hour will air on March 13 at 10pm on SciFi (as usual). The final 2 hours will air on March 30, but will start at 9pm to allow for the extra hour. SciFi is also expected to repeat the first hour of the finale at 8pm on March 30 which will allow viewers to watch the entire finale all together.

Battlestar was this weekend's #1 download on iTunes, according to TV by the Numbers. An interesting addendum to the stats is that the Dollhouse pilot ranked at #19 this weekend on iTunes, but has now climbed to #1 (Guess everyone needed their BSG fix first). Whether or not this will help Dollhouse after their much more dismal than expected broadcast ratings remains to be seen, but it could use any help it can get!

Issue #2 of the four part comic book series Battlestar Galactica: The Cylon War comes out this Wednesday, February 18. I still haven't posted an appropriate review of issue #1 here yet, but let me take the opportunity now to mention why I'm generally positive about it. Essentially I'm most enthusiastic about the potential the expanded backstory allows the Battlestar world. As the TV series comes to an end, and as long as they don't explain the frak out of everything else like they did in "No Exit", there's some pretty endless opportunities for creative expansion, as is the example in the Star Wars expanded universe. Secondarily, this comic series covers an interesting topic (to me at least), which is that it goes into more detail about everyday life in the colonies, shortly before the first Cylon War, and looks at the lives of other characters than the crew we know and love from the series. The art and writing is good and solid too, although some reviewers may disagree with that opinion. Comic Book Resources announces issue #2

Come to think of it, Lee Adama's hair does seem to be growing up to Conan O'Brien proportions. I didn't notice though, since I was too busy trying to absorb the deluge of information in "No Exit". One thing is for sure, Jamie certainly got a lot of flight hours in, in the "moral puzzle" category during his years on BSG, which should have prepared him well for his current work on Law and Order UK. Jamie has some comments on L&OUK for The Press Association.

In our mild spoiler corner today, we have some more awesomeness from The Watcher, with writers Jane Espenson and Ryan Mottesheard answering questions posed by fans in the comment section from Mo Ryan's "No Exit" post. I call it a mild spoiler because I didn't even finish reading it after the first few lines started to explain elements of the show which I would personally rather see play themselves out (or not) in the last handful of episodes. If you want it explained now, then read You asked, they answered: 'Battlestar Galactica' writers take on your 'No Exit' questions

This video has nothing whatsoever to do with Battlestar: