Despite the excellent two-hour Razor movie, it feels as though it's been ages since the last new episode of Battlestar Galactica.  The season 3 finale left fans gasping at the big reveal that Colonel Tigh (Michael Hogan), Sam Anders, Chief Tyrol (Aaron Douglas), and Tory Foster were Cylons, and we've been left debating the meaning behind it all since last March.  Now, after waiting months for an official announcement, the Sci Fi Channel has finally revealed that season 4 of Battlestar Galactica will begin Friday, April 4, at 10pm.  It's unknown whether the Friday location will be the show's permanent time slot, or if it'll move to a different place on the schedule following the premiere.

I wasn't a fan of having Battlestar Galactica on Sunday nights at 10pm.  Monday is a work day for most of us, and staying up until 11pm on Sundays to watch something as heavy and thought-provoking as BSG was a bit of a struggle.  However, Fridays at 10pm are even worse.  I can probably count on one hand how many people stay in to watch TV on Friday nights, which means that the ratings for BSG will be far from spectacular.  It may be a bit late to rope in millions of new viewers, but why doesn't the Sci Fi Channel give BSG a shot in a decent time slot?

The current writers' strike is making the television schedule look rather desolate when it comes to scripted programming.  I would think this would be the perfect opportunity for the Sci Fi Channel to pour energy into launching season 4 on a night where it could make a splash with minimal competition.  I wouldn't recommend Mondays at 9pm, as many sci-fi fans will be watching Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and there's a similar problem Thursdays at 9pm due to Lost.  What's wrong with Tuesdays or Wednesdays at 9pm?  This would give the show more exposure than the wasteland of Friday nights, and it's exposure that BSG desperately needs.

No matter when the new season airs, Mark Stern, the Sci Fi Channel's executive VP of original programming, recently promised TV Guide that the reveal of the final Cylon would surprise a lot of people.  "The reveal will have great emotional resonance," he says, "and will make many things that happened in the past three seasons click into place and make sense."

No matter how exciting the reveal of the final Cylon is, chances are many viewers will be catching BSG through their DVRs if the show stays in the late night Friday slot.

- Don Williams, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: TV Guide
(Image courtesy of the Sci Fi Channel)


Take the BuddyTV Personality Quiz: Which Battlestar Galactica Character Are You?