Sci-Fi Channel is about to re-air it. NBC is even planning on airing an abridged version of it. Yet, I still had to own it.

That's right, the "Battlestar Galactica" miniseries that aired on the Sci-Fi Channel a year ago finally debuted on DVD Dec. 28 with the backdoor pilot that led into the series that debutes on the cable channel in mid-January.

But while I may have watched the complete series more times than I care to admit, I have to say that I am going to send NBC Universal a nasty letter for keeping me up so late on a work night.

Finding the new two-disc set is not easy, however. Knowing that the DVD was available Dec. 28, I decided to go shopping for it after work. I must have visited three Super Wal-Marts, a Barnes & Nobles, and even Borders, and had absolutely no luck finding this DVD set. I saw everything else that had been released on DVD this week, but not what I really wanted -- the "Battlestar Galactica" miniseries.

While I was burning off an entire tank of gas, I started to kick myself for not pre-ordering the DVD online, so that it would be in my mailbox that morning. I also kicked myself for not remembering that hey, I run Airlock Alpha ... I could've requested a review copy of the DVD.

Finally, I decided to look in one last place ... Best Buy. It was 10 minutes before they were closing, and I was racing down the interstate to the closest Best Buy location I could find ... and to my utter relief, as the store was trying to lock its doors, I found the new miniseries DVD on the shelf next to the $100 original series DVD collection.

While I was excited about watching the miniseries again, especially after getting a chance to watch a handful of episodes of the new series, what I really wanted to hear was the commentary from executive producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick, as well as from miniseries director Michael Rymer.

Call me a geek or whatever you want. But if a DVD is worth me having, it has to meet one of two qualifications: It has to be something that I will want to watch again and again, or it has to be something that has such a kick-ass director's commentary that I won't even pause it to go the bathroom.

As far as the new "Battlestar Galactica" miniseries DVD goes, I ended up with the best of both worlds. Not only am I a huge fan of what the crew behind BSG did with the new miniseries, but the commentary with the Moore/Eick/Rymer trio was not only fascinating, it was entertaining. I couldn't believe that I was still enthralled with the conversation when the end credits were rolling more than three hours later. I didn't want it to end. It was almost hard to say goodbye.

If you're a diehard BSG fan -- whether of the old, the new or both -- the commentary alone is worth it. The trio talk about everything surrounding the miniseries, especially the controversies (and there were many of them).

One of the biggest controversial scenes early in the miniseries was the scene where Number Six (Tricia Helfer) kills an infant. Moore admits in the commentary that this was an afterthought made in the very late stages of the script creation. Not only did the suggestion make Eick go pale, Moore said, but the scene actually caused a lot of viewers to tune out after that commercial break, according to ratings breakdowns.

Also, the trio talk about Edward James Olmos comments during a press conference telling diehard original fans not to tune in to the show if they cannot watch it with an open mind. The comments are quite candid, and amazing, especially since these three still are working with some of the higher-ups that they mention in their comments.

Of course, there are some interesting tidbits that are of interest, too, including how much input Olmos really had in the script. Not only do we get more insight on the "So say we all" speech that Olmos improvised, but the Oscar-nominated actor also helped add "texture" to scenes, especially while in his cabin. Eick added that Olmos wanted to go as far as having one of the first scenes of Adama actually sitting on the toilet.

While the commentary hasn't made me laugh this much since Ridley Scott's commentary in "Gladiator," I also was impressed with the deleted scenes. Moore, Eick and Rymer alluded a lot to scenes that had to be cut for various reasons, but a great followup was actually seeing those scenes in the deleted scenes section of the second DVD.

We get to see Billy's first meeting with then education secretary Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell). We also get to see more of Doral's tour of the Galactica, including the hanger bay when Apollo (Jamie Bamber) first lands on the ship. Doral tells the media that the humans continue to man Vipers because you can "jam every sensor except for the human brain." We also get to see Boomer's (Grace Park) botched landing of the Raptor that leads into her initial sex scene with Tyrol (Aaron Douglas).

Almost all the special effects shots are incomplete, which is great, because you get a chance to see the blue screens and the green screens, and also get to see some of the comical placeholders used by the effects artists in the rough drafts of the effects.

And if three hours of Galactica, another three hours of talk and a good 20 minutes of deleted scenes isn't enough ... there's also a 40-minute behind-the-scenes feature of the miniseries, which includes interviews with original series actors like Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict -- most of which originally aired in promotional segments on the Sci-Fi Channel.

If you've already seen the miniseries a hundred times, and aren't interested in what goes on behind the camera, then you probably can live with the video cassettes you made of the mini when it originally aired. But if you're even half the geek I am, then find $20 in your wallet and get this DVD.

Michael Hinman is the owner and news coordinator for Airlock Alpha. He writes out of Tampa, Fla., and can be reached at michael@airlockalpha.com.