Frack Me Gently With A Chainsaw, Veronica

Back in October we were a little surprised when ratings-challanged critical-darling Veronica Mars twice referenced ratings-challanged critical-darling Battlestar Galactica in its season premiere. In the end though we tossed it off as a show of respect from one show to another.

After last night's episode of VM we are not so sure.

In an already quirkier-than-usual episode in which Veronica helps a virginal geek find his maybe-soulmate who may or may not be the proverbial hooker with a heart of gold, the shows writers managed to milk BSG and its sci-fi, post-Trekkie fans for every frakin' joke they could squeeze. From "so say we all" T-shirts at Comic Con to discussions of the similarity of Cylon raptors to the Batmobile.

At first the jokes were cute, and we guess they worked in the context, but by the end of the episode they started to feel a little meanspirted. Shouldn't quality TV shows be sticking together - and not making fun of their fans?

What do you think? You can watch last night's episode of Veronica Mars here.