Gah! Battlestar goes down in flames

I'm really starting to feel the pinch of the writers' strike. The fourth and final season of Sci Fi's "Battlestar Galactica" shuts down production. I've kind of come and gone from the show over the years, but at its best, it's an amazing, amazing program.

Next week's TV Talk (on Thanksgiving Day) is about the BG movie "Battlestar Galactica: Razor," which airs at 7 p.m. Nov. 24. The movie was supposed to keep fans busy until the new season starts. But we have no idea when that new season is going to come.

Anyway, watch "Razor" whethet you're a BG fan or not. It's a two-hour treatise on what makes the show great - primarily its absolutely unflinching, unnerving ability to take on tough, relevant subjects without choosing sides. It may be the most morally gray program ever to air. And, of course, it works dramatically, too.

The only downside to BG is how unrelentingly grim the whole thing is. Wiping out 99.99 percent of humanity has a way of doing that, I guess.

For BG fans, "Razor" is a one-off that uses a mission to a renegade Cylon outpost, and flashbacks, to tell the story of the Battlestar Pegasus. Although most of it is an aside from the main storyline, there is one very big hint about the ongoing storyline right at the end. Don't turn it off too soon!