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Some time ago, in this very space, I gave what I felt was the most compelling argument yet on why "Battlestar Galactica" would get renewed for a fourth season. It wasn't long after that SciFi Channel gave the official green light, allowing fans to celebrate an upcoming fourth season while I patted myself on the back for an analysis well done.

I had stated that it was in SciFi Channel's best interests to renew the show for not just a fourth season, but possibly a fifth season as well, so that enough episodes could be grouped together to sell the entire series into rerun syndication, similar to the system that made the original "Star Trek" famous. It made sense. The more episodes produced, obviously the more valuable such a syndication package would be.

Then we had to run this story. After my network source gave me such grim news on what 22 episodes in a fourth season would mean, s/he had something else they wanted to share. Apparently, my analysis of creating a viable syndication package was sound ... that is if it were talking about a series that was not like "Battlestar Galactica."

You see, stories that have heavy story arcs where you simply can't just jump in when you feel like it simply don't do well as syndicated shows. When some television station, say in Denver, wants to fill their 7 p.m. timeslot with something interesting before jumping into network primetime, they want to have something that will draw in the casual viewer who might be channel surfing looking for some time to kill before their regular network show comes on.

What would they find? Shows like "The Simpsons" or some other sitcom, or maybe even reruns of shows like "Law & Order" or (gasp!) "Walker, Texas Ranger." There's even a chance you could see "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" or even some incarnation of Star Trek that's still available for a network other than Spike.

What you don't see are shows that have deep storylines spanning many episodes. By far, one of the most popular shows of the last decade would have to be "ER" that airs on NBC. But try finding daily reruns of the show on some affiliate somewhere. Not going to happen. "Dallas" was a popular show in the 1980s, but even after that show finished airing, syndicated reruns were few and far between.

It's not that the quality of the show forced suffering, it's the fact that a casual viewer simply can't turn on "Battlestar Galactica" midway through the third season, and simply sit back and enjoy what's there. A similar fate also awaits "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives." Despite those shows' successes, the arcs are so prominent in each story, you honestly and truly have to watch the show from the beginning in order to enjoy it.

Yes, I know what you're thinking. "What about 'The X-Files'? I can find reruns of that, and weren't there major story arcs there?" Yes, but with "The X-Files," you also had many standalone stories, with the overall arcs acting more as the B-story (or the background story). You didn't really need it to follow the A-story (or the active story) and enjoy the episode whether you were familiar with the overall mythology of "The X-Files" or not.

So where does that leave "Battlestar Galactica"? Well, the network apparently has enough faith in the series to give it a fourth season. That season could have 13 episodes, or as many as 22. It's also getting a direct-to-DVD telemovie that will help hold us over between yet another break between Seasons 3 and 4.

Chances are, SciFi Channel is hoping to continue to market DVD packages for years to come, and there's nothing preventing the show from hitting a niche cable channel in syndication. Some affiliates may pick it up simply as something to fill their midnight timeslots, when fewer people are watching, and there isn't such a need to attract the casual viewer.

But continue to feel good about "Battlestar Galactica." It's a show so amazing, so complex, that you simply can't pick and choose which episodes to watch. You board the ride from the beginning, and you can't get out of the rollercoaster until the very end.

Just be sure to keep your hands and feet inside the car at all times.

SyBitsIt seems that our friends at Wikipedia doesn't believe the expansive encyclopedia entry on the SyFy Genre Awards -- which has garnered more than 1 million votes in its eight-year existence -- is "notable" enough to remain on the site. Now, we have two entries on Wikipedia, one being the aforementioned Genre Awards (which you can find here) and one on Airlock Alpha itself (which you can find here). Don't worry, our main entry on the site is not being threatened, but our very complete entry on the Genre Awards is.

What can you do? Probably not much, unless you want to cite references and try to provide "external links." Blasting Wikipedia with e-mail will do no good, and they understandably frown on it.

What I find funny, however, is that if you plug in "syfy" and "genre" in Wikipedia's search engine, you get 23 instant matches with other entries. Apparently, the people who created those entries felt the SyFy Genre Awards were important enough to mention. And if you plug those same terms into Google, some 14,600 hits are generated.

I guess all we can do is try to add external links and hope for the best as it's ultimately Wikipedia's decision. But it would be real sad when the first ever fan-voted virtual awards is being threatened with removal, while one of the awards that were inspired by it -- The Spaceys -- is not being threatened.

Anyway, on to the mail.

The problem that I have with 'Stargate: Atlantis' is that it is a very flawed show for a number of reasons. The Ancients, who were the most powerful and scientifically advanced race in the Stargate universe, get knocked off by the Wraith, who are less advanced. Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't they fight a lengthy war with each other? One thousand years, or something to that effect.

The Ancients would have had ample time to study the Wraith, their habits and their weaknesses and devise a means of stopping them. Dr. Carson Beckett and the Atlantis team, with little less than a year's contact with the Wraith and vastly inferior technology, came up with the retrovirus.

Michael, I know that no science-fiction show is perfect, but in the case of 'Atlantis,' there are too many of these flaws to ignore.-- Steven Poisson (no location given)

Those are some interesting points, but take a moment and think of the CBS reality show "Survivor." I know, it's an odd thing for me to respond with, but think about it for a moment. Here are people who can build 100-story skyscrapers, fly airplanes, even orbit the Earth. Yet they can't build a simple fire. Imagine that retrovirus you speak of being the "fire" to the Ancients. Still unbelievable?

Not being a fan of this show ['Battlestar Galactica'], can you explain the fact that a network-phobic society had all of the vipers networked at the beginning of the series? How about that fact that we right now can create firewalls and turn things on and off like a wireless router, so why could they not turn off connections on the vipers? Also, how about firmware, so you cannot overwrite the program. There are many ways to keep a program from taking over a network and they can't think of a defense?-- Anthony D. Crawford (no location given)

Anthony, you sound like a Windows user! I say that because you talk about firmware, firewalls, and all this stuff that only a Windows user has to know about. Me, I use an iMac at work, and a MacBook at home. Neither computer has any of these things known as "firmware" or "firewalls," at least not any that I have to worry about.

That makes me a very happy person, but my computer doesn't use it, because there are really no known threats to my hardware or software. Imagine someday someone came up with something that did compromise my system ... do you think my Mac, in all of its excellence, would be ready?

The Colonials got caught in a hurricane, and they forgot to bring a raincoat.

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Have a great week, and don't be a stranger!

Michael Hinman, recently named Time magazine's Person of the Year, is the founder and site coordinator for Airlock Alpha, writing out of Tampa, Fla. He can be reached at mhinman@airlockalpha.com.