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Battlestar Galactica to Return

Chris Curtin writes "Looks like SciFi channel is redoing the classic series! I don't know about a female Starbuck but it might be interesting." I can't picture a Galactica without Lorne Green. So long as they don't bring back that stupid robot dog, it might be okay.

54 of 481 comments (clear)

  1. Re:And I can't imagine one without by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Lorne Greene. Who is this Green family of actors?

  2. Galactica without "Loren Green" is easy to imagine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Since there has never been one with anyone by that name.

    The one with Lorne Greene was enjoyable though.

  3. special effects by spineboy · · Score: 5, Funny

    As long as they use their one special effect (launching the fighters out of the tube) at least 30 times an episode, I'll be happy.

    No, really.

    --
    ..........FULL STOP.
    1. Re:special effects by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Not only was that effect used over and over BG, but also in a really awful Z-grade BG-ripoff movie called "Space Mutiny" riffed ever-so-eloquently by Mystery Science Theater 3000.

      Sick individual that I am, I actually rented "Space Mutiny" to watch it in its unmitigated awfulness. Picture a space opera filmed almost entirely in an abandoned factory of some sort, and a couple of drop-ceiling offices with surplus late-80's office computer equipment, with costumes consisting almost entirely of lycra.

      However, it does feature Cissy Cameron in all her middle-aged-waitressy glory dressed like Denise Austin in "Thin Thighs in 30 Days" the musical, by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

      Punt Speedchunk!
      Big McLarge Huge!

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
    2. Re:special effects by theclinic · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Buck Rogers used the same effect for launching their fighters. The laser blasts were also the same.. I guess that's what you get when Glen Larson is the producer..

  4. Female Starbuck? by __aapbgd5977 · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's like re-doing Barberella with Ben Affleck in the title role.

    I mean, Starbuck was the womanizer - the fighter pilot stereotype. I can see writing female pilots to play off the stereotype, or rewriting some of the tremendously shallow female characters of the show (Athena, Cassiopaea), but Starbuck?

    Worse/Better Analogy: It's like remaking the A-Team with J-Lo as Face. (March 1 is "Let's Pick on Dirk Benedict Day")

    ---

    1. Re:Female Starbuck? by The+Ape+With+No+Name · · Score: 5, Funny

      I mean, Starbuck was the womanizer - the fighter pilot stereotype.

      So why can't a woman do this? I think America is ready for a kick-ass lesbian who drags her scores back to the cave for some hot stuff.

      --
      Comparing it to Windows will be a moot point, since El Dorado is going to have a 40% larger code base than XP.
    2. Re:Female Starbuck? by Angry+White+Guy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Then why did Cleopatra 2525 fail, where Baywatch succeeded?

      --
      You think that I'm crazy, you should see this guy!
  5. It's a Dagit by voice+of+unreason · · Score: 3, Informative

    Actually, that annoying thing was a dagit

  6. Re:Galactica was a piece of crap by Jedi+Paramedic · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It wasn't crap... I think they need to improve a little on some of their interpretations, though...

    My biggest criticism of BSG has been (as with many sci-fi programs) that they speak English but come up with their own units of measurement (centons, etc.). Kudos to them for trying to make it interesting by creating everything unique to the series, but sometimes it was just hokey. :)

    I have to admit, though - seeing the Cylon in costume on an episode of (and, I believe, the opening credits to) the A-Team, having a brief exchange with Dirk Benedict, was priceless.

    I think that if a scifi writer is going to allow some "inaccuracies" in (like the English language) they need to be consistent and talk about minutes and seconds and parsecs and lightyears, too... Just my opinion.

    --

    That's my purse! I don't know you! -- Bobby Hill
  7. Yea, but now by GMontag · · Score: 4, Funny

    I can't picture a Galactica without Loren Green.

    Well now we have Lauren Green, I can stand to watch her all day!

    Also, I hope the wardrobe departments continue the Science Fiction media tradition, tighter clothes and less of them on the chicks please. Stop underestimating slutty so much and PLEASE higher heels!

  8. Convergence by The+Ape+With+No+Name · · Score: 2, Funny

    Boogie Nights vs Battlestar Galactica

    Dirk Diggler Benedict

    Action ... Dirk!

    --
    Comparing it to Windows will be a moot point, since El Dorado is going to have a 40% larger code base than XP.
    1. Re:Convergence by k_stamour · · Score: 5, Funny

      " I don't know about a female Starbuck" What about *the* female *of* Starbucks.... in a soon issue of Playboy... I am waiting for the women of Waffle house.... -long long dig outa Troll level....

      --
      Julius Caesar - Act I, Scene i: "What mean'st thou by that? Mend me, thou saucy fellow!"
  9. Will the Cylons finally learn how to shoot? by b-baggins · · Score: 5, Funny

    I guess the fact that the Cylons couldn't hit a planet at 500 feet was the only things that kept the humans alive.

    --
    You can tell a great deal about the character of a man by observing those who hate him.
  10. robot dogs by Anvil+the+Ninja · · Score: 3, Funny

    I hope Sony doesn't pay for Aibo product placement.

  11. Great Show.... by Kong99 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Kick ass space ships, evil robots, cool guys, and Hot Chicks! What more good a 12yo boy ask for!! :)

  12. Re:And I can't imagine one without by nursedave · · Score: 5, Funny

    Isn't he that incredibly cruel guy from the dog food commercials? You know:"This is Max. He's 12 years old. That's 84 years old in people years. (throws stick)Here, Max, run boy!"

    Man, if he did that to my gramps, I'd kick his ass.

    --

    The Democratic Party: We've been pussies since 1968!

  13. Re:Scott Bakula by Stavr0 · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Scott

    Dirk

    Separated at birth?

  14. Production Companies Running out of Ideas by youngerpants · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The fact that a production companys creativity has dried up so much that they have to remake a mediocre sci-fi program (and spend all the money on special effects no doubt) is very sad.

    I would imagine that every year there will be thousands media graduates and new creative writers coming onto the market who would love to have a pop at a large scale production like this.

    Either; the big companies are so scared at taking a risk that they just tart-up the same old crap, or all these new brains on the market are not up to the job (unlikley)

    when something slightly new and fresh comes along in this niche marketplace (e.g. Farscape) the public lap it up (until it gets cancelled)

    These people need to remember how to take risks

    1. Re:Production Companies Running out of Ideas by Angry+White+Guy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You missed one. The average person would rather watch a formulated, farmiliar plot over and over, rather than have to think about something new. Same script, different setting, jumble the characters around, and boom! Instant hit. That's why there's been a vulcan on every star trek so far (Data==Vulcan), save DS9, and they had to bring in characters from TNG to offset this.

      --
      You think that I'm crazy, you should see this guy!
  15. New mormon connections as well? by dlleigh · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The real question is, will the new version have all of the thinly disguised mormon doctrine like the original did?

    See http://www.proaxis.com/~sherlockfam/art5.html or http://home.earthlink.net/~billotto/Mormon_N_BSG.h tml or http://www.lib.msu.edu/lorenze1/bg.htm
    or anywhere else you can google up from "battlestar galactica" and "mormon".

    1. Re:New mormon connections as well? by Black+Parrot · · Score: 2, Funny


      > Mormonism: religion -> science fiction
      > Scientology: science fiction -> religion

      Thanks, dude. Now they have to kill all of us.

      --
      Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  16. Am I the Only Person... by UsonianAutomatic · · Score: 4, Funny

    Who hears the Comic Book Store Guy in my head as I read all of these Lorne Greene corrections?

    Worst. Remake. Ever.

  17. Re:re-airing by adzoox · · Score: 3, Informative
    Forget a Commodore - on the series they used 36" blade fans and swirled a 2ft plastic pipe to make the "eye" swoosh sound - I'm guessing on the second one - that's how they did the "cylon eye" on KIT on Knight Rider.

    --
    Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
  18. Another SciFi show I will boycott.... by uberdood · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Let's review:

    1. Cancel Farscape because of money.
    2. Run non-SF crap like Crossing over and Dream
    Team (and soon Scare Tactics).
    2. Spend tons of money on Spielberg to do Taken.
    3. Spend tons of money on a show that was NEVER
    any good (Battlestar Galactica).

    I'll be boycotting BSG like I did Taken.
    Anyone remember when MTV played music videos? Same thing is happening with SciFi. At some point seing actual science fiction will be a rare oddity on SciFi.

    --
    "Population 1,656"
  19. Why not just buy Firefly? by Dr.+Spork · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Godddamn it! This is going to be such crap! This year we cancelled what was looking to be the best sci-fi show ever. Unless we are totally stupid, which we apparently are, our first priority should be figuring out a place that will pick up that show.

  20. Where have you people been? by jmccay · · Score: 5, Informative

    This news is at least a year old! This is the 25th Year Anniversary of the original series. This is just a mini-series. This is going to suck! Nobody likes what they have done. There are SEVERAL petitions to stop this from airing! The fans and Richard Hatch (Appolo from the series) have been trying to get a continuation of the original series. Richard Hatch has written 4 books continuing the saga. This site is a great place to get the information on the new mini series.
    Where to start. There is no more 12 colonies on 12 planets. There is 12 colonies on 1 planet. The cylons weren't created a reptilian race. The cylons were created by the humans to fight each other. All the characters are pale shadows of themselves. Anything that made them look and act like a hero is gone. Starbuck & Boomer are both now woman. Mr. Moore turned this once great show into a social propaganda engine. Don't expect this to be anything like the original because he is basing this on the the original Battlestar Galactica movie which was the first few episodes of the show and does have a lot of the character development.

    --
    At the next eco-hypocrisy-meeting, count the private jets used to get to the meeting. Should be interesting to see that
    1. Re:Where have you people been? by crawling_chaos · · Score: 4, Funny
      Whoa buddy... Try breathing into a paper bag, you're about to hyperventilate. I have a recommendation for you. There's a switch on the television marked "Power" try setting it to the "off" position during the airing of the mini-series.

      Here we are about to go to war and people have their undies in a knot over a television show. Maybe George Bush is representative of the American intellect.

      --
      You can only drink 30 or 40 glasses of beer a day, no matter how rich you are.
      -- Colonel Adolphus Busch
  21. Detailed script review by arturogatti · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...can be found here. (Summary: he pans it; quote: " This remake is a disaster and will be the END of the line for this property.")

  22. Re:And I can't imagine one without by jmccay · · Score: 2, Informative

    Lorne Greene played Commander Adama on Battlestar Galactica, but most people remember him for his role on Bonanza.

    --
    At the next eco-hypocrisy-meeting, count the private jets used to get to the meeting. Should be interesting to see that
  23. Insert #Farscape.h by mbourgon · · Score: 4, Interesting

    lovely. They canned Farscape for this crap? Next you know, they'll be doing crap like Candid Camera (http://www.scifi.com/scaretactics/), dream analysis (http://www.scifi.com/dreamteam/), turn some bad made-for-tv movies into a series (http://www.scifi.com/tremors/), give Adrian Paul another show to suck in (http://www.scifi.com/tracker/) and probably some crappy show based on "Chariots of the Gods" (http://www.chariotsofthegods.com/).

    I am _so_ glad that there is a new Science-Fiction-based tv channel being created. Never thought I'd see the day. I used to watch SciFi all the time. Now? One hour, once a week.

    Watch Farscape. Tell your friends. The "We're So Screwed" Trilogy started last night. It'll replay this weekend.

    --
    "Sometimes a woman is a kind of religion, she can save your soul & set you free from all your sins" - Bad Examples
  24. Farscape? by Nick+Fury · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Why did they cancel Farscape, a perfectly good SF series, only to redo BSG and show more Stargate? And not only that, what was the Sci-Fi channel showing Braveheart, yes that Braveheart, for? I like Mel and all but Braveheart has nothing to do with SF. I think someone needs to tell whoever is running this channel to ignore ratings and show quality stuff.

  25. Oh great... by foistboinder · · Score: 2, Funny

    They're so bankrupt of ideas they're starting to remake shows that sucked. On the bright side, it probably can't be any worse than the original.

  26. Maybe this time they'll know not to bother... by garyok · · Score: 5, Funny

    I mean, in the last series it took them 20 years, and a weedy space albino, to figure out that if they run for Earth then the Cylons can just hang back and fry them and our mostly harmless selves when contact's made. What's a two decade wait to a galactic empire of robots? How's about this time we organise an online petition to tell those dumbass Galacticans to stay the hell away from Earth?

    Also, there's the question of their immigration status. Now, they can't really claim to be asylum seekers 'cos they started the war with the Cylons in the first place by being a big bunch of Buttinskis and not letting the Cylons subjugate a vassal race as they saw fit (subjugation's kinda the point in being Galactic Overlords after all...) It'd be funny of they got to Earth and the Department of Homeland Security just stuck them in a camp.

    Thinking about it that way, the smartest thing we could do when the Galactican's arrive is stick them in a camp. Then when the Cylons turn up we cosy up to them and point out that our most powerful nations are those with the strongest rule of law, and by the way have you thought about extraditing the Galacticans to Cylon as war criminals? Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't they commit genocide when they destroyed a planet in the movie? "Oh, it was just an 'accident', was it? Well I'm very sure that if you're innocent then you'll have nothing to fear at trial. On Cylon."

    Then we're well in with our new alien masters, obviously being a different, more pragmatic breed of humanity and a bright shining future awaits humanity as the Cylons' premier client race.

    It's what I'd do.

    --
    One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors - Plato
  27. Re:And I can't imagine one without by Ed+Avis · · Score: 3, Interesting

    In terms of viewers/listeners, his biggest role was probably as the Voice of Canada during WW2, but most SF fans will be too young (or too non-Canadian) to remember that.

    --
    -- Ed Avis ed@membled.com
  28. If you listen carefully.... by Lord_Slepnir · · Score: 2, Funny
    So long as they don't bring back that stupid robot dog,

    I never noticed this, but if you listen carefully to that sound that thing makes, it sounds a lot like "Jar Jar....Jar Jar"

    Coincidence, I think not.

  29. Starbuck('s) by The+Ape+With+No+Name · · Score: 2, Funny

    Wait a minute, that chain of coffee shops has nothing to do with Battlestar Galactica? Who knew? Damn, now I have to sell my stock. Send in John Ashcroft!

    --
    Comparing it to Windows will be a moot point, since El Dorado is going to have a 40% larger code base than XP.
  30. What OS do Cylons run on??? by Dareth · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm all for NT 4.0 seeing as they how bad they suck, but it would be a bit funny if they said they ran BEOS or something like that *grin*.

    Maybe a poll would be good,
    option D. Cylons are just Cowboy Neal in Metal-Drag

    --

    I only look human.
    My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
  31. Re:Yay! by nomadic · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yes, where bad shows suddenly become good simply because you saw it as a child.

  32. It's the "a beer after a hard day's work" factor by Reziac · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Because Baywatch got the "relax, turn your brain off, and just cruise" thing right, whereas Cleopatra 2525 couldn't decide if it wanted to be blonde or not. (Blonde defined for this purpose as "needs instructions on breathing".)

    Sometimes it's not just the muscles-and-bimbos thing, it's the atmosphere. Baywatch was a success for the same reason The Fall Guy and The Dukes of Hazzard were successes. The formula was much like drinking a relaxing beer after work. It's no mystery to me why such series do best if given the Friday night slots, when everyone is sick of their 40 hour work week and just wants to vegetate for a while. Hell, I watched 'em myself, mainly for that reason -- they were relaxing and undemanding, without being completely dull. Crap TV if analyzed for content, but great for unwinding at the end of the workweek.

    --
    ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
  33. Re:Originality Is Hard...But, Then, You Know That by youngerpants · · Score: 2, Funny

    sir, you apprear to have dropped your handbag, would you like me to pick it up for you.

  34. No, networks unwilling to take risks by MacAndrew · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That SciFi would be spinning out a 25 y.o. retread when they have fresh, creative series like Farscape is pathetic. They're wary of anything new, perhaps because one flop can end an executive's career. It is a system designed to smother creativity. Remember that the original Star Trek was almost a 2-season job, then limped to 3.

    A friend and I were just discussing BG as a golden example of old hokey TV. What's next, a Fantasy Island remake?

    Anyway, I wouldn't blame the production companies that pitch new ideas and are shot down, but the lumbering networks that choose the same formula over and over. Perhaps too one should look at the advertisers. So many acclaimed series are coming out of a private network I don't subscribe to (HBO) that something is going on here. (Sopranos, Band of Brothers, Six Feet Under, Sex In The City, etc. Quick, name equivalent ad-driven TV creations.)

    And then, there's always the audience. ST:DS9 was the only one of the modern series to attempt a serious departure from formula, and was not widely accepted by audiences looking for, I suppose, the comfort food of the old style. (It looks like Enterprise is twitching for something new; we'll see if it works; but I'd rather flesh out a whole new universe in the uneven but ingenious Farscape.)

    Did I mention I'm pissed at SciFi for dropping Farscape? :) I'm seriously considering boycotting the whole damn network for promoting crap like "Crossing Over With John Edward" in preference to new, innovative series, Stargate being the exception. But should be blame them for reaching for the easy buck? I don't know.

  35. As long as they don't misuse the units again... by merlyn · · Score: 5, Funny
    One of my favorite lines was "the enemy is closing in! They're only 5 microns away!", to which I yelled back loudly at the screen, "well, then, scrape them off!".

    Sigh. It's OK to invent units. It's not OK to have those units already mean something vastly different in real life.

  36. I still have a crush on Sheba by loggia · · Score: 2, Funny

    I still have a crush on Sheba

  37. Re:Bad Aim: An old literary tool. by LMariachi · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's also on Project Gutenberg. link

  38. Re:It's the "a beer after a hard day's work" facto by Black+Parrot · · Score: 3, Funny


    > ...whereas Cleopatra 2525 couldn't decide if it wanted to be blonde or not. (Blonde defined for this purpose as "needs instructions on breathing".)

    I would have volunteered to help her with her breathing.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  39. Re:what about that robot? by dlb · · Score: 2, Informative

    Twiki is from from Buck Rogers.

    The kid'd robot dog was named Muffit, but it didn't say "bidi bidi bidi".

  40. Re:Yay! by Jonathan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Nah, it was actually pretty good -- at least until they rearched Earth and the kids had superpowers or something equally stupid. And the Viper toys that actually shot little plastic pieces were way better than the Star Wars toys.

  41. Space Mutiny by GuyMannDude · · Score: 4, Funny

    Not only was that effect used over and over BG, but also in a really awful Z-grade BG-ripoff movie called "Space Mutiny" riffed ever-so-eloquently by Mystery Science Theater 3000.

    What was even funnier is that they used the shot of launching fighters as though there were launching MISSILES at the "space pirates" (whose ships bear a striking resemblance to cylon battleships). You can clearly see that those are fighters being launched, yet the plot claims they are missles. The "battle" lasts about 5 seconds (no exaguration here!) after which they quickly jump to some already-seen footage of the bridge crew partying!

    Sick individual that I am, I actually rented "Space Mutiny" to watch it in its unmitigated awfulness. Picture a space opera filmed almost entirely in an abandoned factory of some sort, and a couple of drop-ceiling offices with surplus late-80's office computer equipment, with costumes consisting almost entirely of lycra.

    Whenever I think of Space Mutiny the words "railing kill" spring to mind! Pretty much every single person who dies in this movie does so by falling off the railings in the factory that is supposed to be the engine room of their ship!

    This is one of the best MST3K episodes ever and you can download it off of KaZaA. The commander looks exactly like Santa Claus, a woman gets killed and then is clearly visible in the background of the next scene, the hero demonsrates his courage by setting his disabled opponent on fire, and the climactic chase scene at the end with in those rediculous golfcart buggies must be seen to be believed. Do yourself a favor and download it today! Best. MST3K. Ever.

    GMD

  42. Confusing series' by Harker · · Score: 2, Informative

    Understandably, since they were both similar.

    Twiki(?) was from Buck Rogers in the 21st Century, not BG.

    --
    When VCR's are outlawed, only outlaws will have VCR's.
  43. Re:Dirk? by mrjb · · Score: 2, Funny

    Neh, he reportedly couldn't make it... to busy fighting the bad guys with Hannibal, Murdock and B.A.

    --
    Visit http://ringbreak.dnd.utwente.nl/~mrjb/growingbettersoftware to download your free copy of the book
  44. Re:Galactica without "Loren Green" is easy to imag by IIRCAFAIKIANAL · · Score: 2, Informative

    I was going to make a joke about reading Loren Greene as Lorne Green, but it turns out that Loren Greene is a typo and my favourite wilderness show host also acted in Battlestar Galactica. How ironic, in an Alanis sort of way.

    I never actually made the connection between Bonanza and New Wilderness either, and it turns out he was also known as "The Voice of Doom" from his CBC radio days.

    --
    Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel.
  45. Product Placement! by BigJimSlade · · Score: 2, Funny

    So long as they don't bring back that stupid robot dog, it might be okay

    Also staring Aibo(tm) as the Robot Dog
    (Aibo(tm) appears courtesy of Sony(tm) Entertainment)

  46. Farscape by nanoakron · · Score: 2, Insightful

    And they killed farscape to bring us this crap?

    -Nano.