Fresh Loaf

A friend of mine recently suggested that “Battlestar Galactica” be nicknamed “As the Basestar Turns.” Although it takes place on spaceships, at times the acclaimed Sci Fi channel series seems more soap opera than space opera, given that plot points have involved terminal illness, adultery, alcoholism, unexpected pregnancy, surprise resurrections and evil twins. Some of the android Cylon characters have, in effect, hundreds of evil twins. Take that, “Days of Our Lives!”

So it’s a relief that the show’s Jan. 30 episode, “The Oath,” proved such a compelling, almost unbearably suspenseful return to form. The third of the show’s final 10 episodes (nicknamed “Season 4.5,” to distinguish it from the 12 episodes of Season 4 that aired in 2008 — got that?), “The Oath” offered a prime example of the show’s ability to embed knotty moral dilemmas into thrilling action tropes. It’s like the Jan. 16 season premiere, with its game-changing revelation about Earth, were just build up to “The Oath.”

Before getting into “The Oath,” however, you may have heard about what happened with the “Battlestar Galactica” season premiere broadcast in Canada: A pivotal moment on the episode was followed immediately by a breathtakingly inappropriate commercial break. A clip capturing the unfortunate juxtaposition has already taken on viral life of its own, known as “Worst Commercial Placement Ever” (both in terms of song choice and dominant image). You don’t have to know “Battlestar Galactica” to appreciate it, but if you’re interested in the show and haven’t seen the episode yet, DO NOT WATCH THIS, because it hinges on a huge spoiler.

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If I were on top of my game, I’d have an entry about the holiday-themed series finale of Ricky Gervais’ “Extras,” which airs on HBO on Tuesday night. But apparently I’m not, because I don’t. What to do? Wait, I know: Gervais, who co-created “Extras,” also co-created an even more acclaimed sitcom, “The Office.” And the Dec. 11 episode of the U.S. “Office,” titled “Moroccan Christmas,” has a holiday theme. Not too tenuous? Anyway, here’s the episode in its entirety:

The episode’s a little dark, but includes a great prank in the teaser. In a hilarious subplot, Dwight Schrute reveals that this year’s hot holiday toy is the Unicorn Princess doll — basically a Barbie knock-off with a long, sharp horn protuding from its forehead. Those net-savvy kids at NBC have created a Unicorn Princess website, which I include just to make the Clickable Advent Calendar extra clicky.

Incidentally, “The Office” has launched another batch of webisodes, collectively titled “The Outburst” and focusing on Oscar.

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I knew that “The Office’s” Ed Helms, formerly of “The Daily Show,” was from Atlanta, but I didn’t realize until recently that Brian Baumgartner, who plays Dunder-Mifflin’s slow-witted accountant Kevin Malone, is also an Atlanta native, and even attended Westminster High School with Helms. Kevin, perhaps best known for his Scranton, Pa.-based Police cover band Scrantonicity, is the central character of “Kevin’s Loan,” this summer’s series of two-minute webisodes of “The Office.” Baumgartner won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Broadband Program – Comedy for the 10-part webisode series “The Accountants” in 2006. So far three webisodes of “Kevin’s Loan” have gone on-line via NBC.com. Here’s the first, which went up on July 10:

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