I keep watching "Battlestar Gallatica" — the new series, not the old one — against my better judgment. But here's why you shouldn't watch it:

Gaius, one of the major characters, is incredibly annoying. This show isn't like "Lost," where you can usually understand the actions of characters you don't agree with (in fact, "Lost" is at its best when it lets us see through even the doc's white knight act). Gaius' motivations are inexplicable.

He's a genius, a celebrity, and a womanizer, yet he rarely comes off as any of those. Instead, he chats with his imaginary Cylon girlfriend and flopsweats his way through the episode's given crisis. Often a crisis he created through his monumental cowardice. I think we're supposed to sympathize with him, but I can't do that. I can't even pity him; with the backstory they've given him he should be capable of being more than a sniveling incompetent.

But I can't hate him either, he's no villain. So I just get annoyed.

The whole show, at least for the first season, seemed to revolve around secrets that characters were keeping for each other. Gaius is the worst offender, but even some of the good characters kept secrets long after a rational person would have stepped back and considered the dangers involved.

Come to think of it, the entire series has an anti-intellectual subtext.

Anyways, if you want a good live-action drama with a bit of a twist, try "Lost," "Firefly," or "Twin Peaks." In the spirit of smarter tv-watching, I've added "watch less tv" to my 43 Things.