New Battlestar Galactica Premieres Monday

An anonymous reader writes "In several news articles, 'Battlestar Galactica' returns in a new four hour mini-series on the Sci-Fi channel this Monday. However, there has been fan furor over some changes to the story. Aluminum Cylon enemies look more like humans, complete with feelings, including one with rabid sexual desires, and the quest is not for a mythical Earth, as it no longer exists. More information at the BattlestarGalactica.com website, and the Sci-Fi channel."

Comments

another botched memory?

[sweeney37]

let's not forget that Edward James Olmos has warned fans of the original series to not watch.

Mike

Re:another botched memory?

[D'Arque Bishop]

According to the producers, Olmos's warning was kinda taken out of context. Apparently he loves the new BSG, but felt that die-hard fans would not appreciate the changes made to the show. The quote printed on the site linked in the parent makes me agree with the producer. (Namely, "The intent and the way we've built the reality is very different from the reality of the original.")

The producer's rebuttal can be found here.

For what it's worth, I've been watching my box set of the original series while stuck on a business trip. I'm hoping the new series will be good, but even if isn't, well... they're different series, and I'll judge them on their own merits, not how they relate to each other.

Just my $.02...

Re:another botched memory?

[Dinosaur Neil]

I watched the original series when it first aired and there was nothing else like it on TV at the time. Those were the lean years; no Star Trek except reruns of the original series, no other big budgeted SF TV shows (Space:1999 had been canned the year before BSG started), and no cable channels to fill the void. There were three networks (that's right, pre-FOX, pre-UPN) and cable was a rare thing involving bulky switch boxes... Whoa, this is turning into a "when I was your age" type rant.

In its day, BSG was fairly sophisticated and thoughtful. In its day, the SFX were the best you could see on TV (those vector graphics displays they used were, for the time, amazing). Re-making the show now with deacades of new Star Trek series and Farscape and SG1 and such to compare it to pretty much requires the details to be rebuilt from the ground up... The underlying theme of conflict and hope should hold up no matter who's gender changed.

Re:another botched memory?

[yiantsbro]

..."they're different series, and I'll judge them on their own merits"...

This is perhaps the most reasonable and fair statement I have heard regarding the new show from either side.

I am a huge fan of the original series and look forward to continued efforts and new content based upon it. However it IS a different vision so it should be allowed to be judged on its own. Hey--it still has Vipers and the Galactica.

Re:another botched memory?

[ReallyQuietGuy]

they're different series, and I'll judge them on their own merits

but the point is they went and used the name of the old one. why is that? they want to borrow some of the "goodwill" of the old show. if they really wanted it to be all different they should have chosen a different name

Re:another botched memory?

[Anonymous Coward]

Am I the only person who looked forward to watching each episode originally because of the storyline premise?

Re:another botched memory?

[SpaceRook]

I'll watch it, but I'm skeptical. I really don't like the idea of the enemies being replaced with hot babes. This whole trend toward making sexy females the antagonists (see Terminator 3) is getting so tiring. Giving me something scary, or disturbing. If I'm in the mood for porn, I'm not going to waste my time on basic cable.

Re:another botched memory?

[DNS-and-BIND]

Only Star Trek was the original series? Hel-LO...jeez that WAS sci-fi TV. I don't remember anyone complaining about it when it was on.

I got a great laugh recently...I was watching "Taps", which I hadn't seen in forever. In one scene, a cadet runs into the TV room, and changes the TV to the news. The cadets there are all watching Star Trek, and are mightily pissed off when the channel is changed...classic, man.

Re:another botched memory?

[Scyber]

Or course, then everyone would complain that it was a rip-off of original series.

Re:another botched memory?

[letxa2000]

Giving me something scary, or disturbing. If I'm in the mood for porn, I'm not going to waste my time on basic cable.

You got that right. The whole "sexy baby" thing is annoying, not just when they're the bad guys. Don't get me wrong, woman are beautiful. But like you said... if you want to see some hot chicks, you know where to go. Not EVERYTHING has to be about hot babes, and I'd like to be able to enjoy some fun science fiction without having to feel like I'm watching something that's really targetting some puberty-controlled teenage boy.

There was a Battlestar Galactica marathon on SciFi about two months ago and I got to watch a few episodes. Of course, most of the commercials were for the new Galactica that they were going to release in December. One of the commercials actually was talking/showing a photoshoot from Maxim magazine where apparently one of the actresses came from (that ought to tell you something... their cast consists of models, not actors apparently).

In other words, screw promoting the series based on its storyline (apparently no longer involving earth) or characters (which apparently have had sex changes and I get the impression that they even had to put a gay character in there, you know, to be PC and all)... rather just promote the blatant sexuality of the series. After all, with a sensual sex scene with a female Cylon, showing previous photoshoots of the actress^H^H^H^H^H model, and using the "Battlestar Galactica" goodwill, profit is guaranteed.

I don't plan on watching. I hope to buy the original series DVD box set this month, maybe even by Monday, and I'll watch that instead. Sure, this new series is completely different and should be judged on its own merits. It might even be fun. But I don't want to contaminate my memory of Battlestar Galactica by even associating this new material with the name.

I will be interested to see, though, how well the series does. They've basically alienated the real fan base that's been waiting for a new Battlestar Galactica for 25 years and I'm not convinced the new generation is really dying to see a remake. Who IS their market? Maybe it IS just the pubery-driven teenage boys.

Re:another botched memory?

[badasscat]

For what it's worth, I've been watching my box set of the original series while stuck on a business trip. I'm hoping the new series will be good, but even if isn't, well... they're different series, and I'll judge them on their own merits, not how they relate to each other.

Well, I will judge them based on how they relate to each other. The fact is both series are called "Battlestar Galactica" and if this new mini-series' producers wanted to do a different sort of story they could have called it something else. As it is, it seems they're just trying to cash in on a well-known name, and the series should be judged as such.

When you use the title of a well-known series/movie/whatever, I expect either a remake or a continuation. I don't think that's unreasonable - these amount to brand names, and what SciFi is trying to do is equivalent to New Coke. I don't think anyone would have complained about New Coke either if it was called, I don't know, Wild Mountain Cola or Mister Smith's Fabulous Cola or something. I mean the public would not be comparing it to real Coke (except in a generic and non-specific "this is not my favorite cola" sort of way), because nobody's trying to pass it off as Coke.

These people, though, are trying to pass this off as Battlestar Galactica. As such, it should be judged as Battlestar Galactica, not some sort of standalone series, because it's not a standalone series, whatever the producers try to say to subdue the fans. I mean what's next, an Indiana Jones movie where Indy is a woman and the setting is 21st century Tokyo? Part of the criteria of any franchise entry is how well it adheres to the narrative that's already been established. And on that basis, without even having seen it but based on what we all already know, this alleged version of Battlestar Galactica obviously fails miserably. It will have to be absolutely amazing in every other way to redeem itself at all, but it will never be considered "great" simply because it is a poorly interpreted imitation of its own namesake.

Re:another botched memory?

[Golias]

One of the commercials actually was talking/showing a photoshoot from Maxim magazine where apparently one of the actresses came from.

I agree with most of your rant, but should point out that Maxim does not typically feature models. They feature celebrities (usually acresses and musicians) who model for them. Nobody "comes from" Maxim (yes, I know there's a funny pun there... leave it alone), in the way that Tyra Banks "came from" Victoria Secret, because the women Maxim photographs are already famous from elsewhere. In the case of the actress you are speaking of, she probably is doing the Maxim shoot because of ther role on Battlestar Galactica.

(Maxim has actually become a common vehicle for promoting new shows and movies. Both X-Men movies were hyped by Maxim spreads of Famke Janssen, Halle Barry, and Rebecca Romjin-Stamos a month before each release.)

Re:another botched memory?

[erpbridge]

I mean what's next, an Indiana Jones movie where Indy is a woman and the setting is 21st century Tokyo?

Actually, they have one of these. It's a TV series run by ABC where Indiana Jones is a kung-fu action woman who runs around the world (but is based in LA) retrieving artifacts to create a big machine, set in the early 21st century. It's called Alias.

Re:another botched memory?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think his point was that it was in reruns, not that the original wasn't good.

Re:another botched memory?

[shotfeel]

just promote the blatant sexuality of the series

Of coursed the original Battlestar Galactica, like the original Star Trek (for those who objected to the addition of 7/9), had no blatent sexuality. Nope, those shows relied solely on a strong story line, and never resorted to sex and violence to sell the show.

Yep, that Cassiopea was all about adding to the story line ;-)

Re:another botched memory?

[Anonymous Coward]

But will it still be a thinly-veiled promotion for the LDS church?

Re:another botched memory?

[PierceLabs]

If you want to make a show 'very different from the reality of the original,' then give it a name very different from the original.

Far too many brands get hijacked by morons who know that the only way they can get their crappy idea on TV is to bastardize a good brand and kill it with their crappy universe. Make your own! At least don't try to premise your work as a remake of the original. Call it Battlestar Galactica: Rise of the Cylon Pornbots or something.

Re:another botched memory?

[Anonymous Coward]

Geez. Everybody seems to be slamming this UNSEEN show a bit hard. I'll admit that I was apprehensive when I first heard about it, but I plan to watch and judge the finished product on it's own merits, and not against the original.

Sci-Fi has been running the "Battlestar Galactica:Lowdown" Special this week and it doesn't look that bad. I actually like the chick playing Starbuck after the interview with her and Dirk Benedict in a "Starbucks". Plus when they asked her how she would handle fans at a comics convention who might not be open to her as Starbuck, her reply was, "I'll just flash them." You gotta like that.

One of the producers made a good point as well. There have been a million variations on Romeo and Juliet, but it's still a good story. Why can't they do the same to a Sci-fi classic.

Re:another botched memory?

[Anonymous Coward]

How can you call it a trend with two examples? Once you can come up with 5, 10, 20, 100 etc examples, then maybe we can see a trend. But two? Come on.

Re:another botched memory?

[mpoort]

Yep, two actually. Tia Carrere starred in one of those bad syndicated rip-offs a couple years ago, but at least they had the decency to call it Relic Hunter instead.

Re:another botched memory?

[letxa2000]

Nope, those shows relied solely on a strong story line, and never resorted to sex and violence to sell the show. Yep, that Cassiopea was all about adding to the story line ;-)

I see your response is tounge-in-cheek, but there is a difference between having attractive woman on a show (nothing wrong) and running commercials showing a naked female Cylon (back view) apparently in the middle of having sex (blatant sexuality). Maybe the scene is even useful to the storyline, but the fact that they use it as a centerpiece of their advertising is telling.

I can't believe my original post got modded flamebait. Drugged out, porn-addicted moderator I guess. :)

Re:another botched memory?

[bstil]

The fact is both series are called "Battlestar Galactica" and if this new mini-series' producers wanted to do a different sort of story they could have called it something else. As it is, it seems they're just trying to cash in on a well-known name, and the series should be judged as such. I agree. I'm afraid to watch the new SciFi Battlestar Galactica on Monday, only to have one of my most favorite childhood TV shows tarnished. For one, how could they eliminate the shiny Cylons with those computer voices?! Besides, I just saw the Cat in the Hat movie and I don't think I could take another exploitative attempt to cash in on an established, cherished brand name.

Re:another botched memory?

[Daytona955i]

Not really considering they changed the plot, blew up earth, made starbuck a woman. It sounds like a completely different story except for some of the names. What they couldn't think of some new names?

I have no objection to women starfighters, I have an objection to a woman Starbuck! I mean is it that hard to think up a new title for a new series?

At least Starbuck does still smoke cigars... it's a shame she's now a womanizer still... that I'd watch.

Re:another botched memory?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, cause that's what happens every time the BBC "reinvents" the Dr. Who franchise, right?

Re:another botched memory?

[Scorpio Blake]

You missed his point. He said that the ST series was in reruns, and wasn't a 'new' show. BSG was.

Re:another botched memory?

[shotfeel]

I guess I'm not so sure there's such a big distinction. What was blatently sexual when the original BSG aired is nothing now. So if you "normalize" across time, IMO the new BSG may be no more blatently sexual than the original (that includes the commercials). Of course I haven't seen the new BSG so I'll have to wait and see how much they actually rely on sexuality as a crutch.

Re:another botched memory?

[KlomDark]

But the galactica now looks like a black heatsink instead of the graceful whitish metal of the original. It used to look somewhat reminicent of a Lamborghini. The new one looks like a battery charger.

Re:another botched memory?

[Milalwi]

(those vector graphics displays they used were, for the time, amazing)

You mean those Tektronix 4010 graphics terminals?

I was working on my Masters thesis on 4010s right about the time BSG was on TV. Interesting technology. They drew vectors on the screen and kept them lit with a combination of high-persistence phosphor and a low-level electron beam. After a time, the low-level beam would turn off, much like a screen blanker today.

At the university where I was studying, the computer center only had two of the Tektronix terminals. One evening, I was waiting for one of the to free up so that I could do some testing of my code for my thesis project. One of the other grad students got up and left. He was gone for quite awhile... I got up after about fifteen minutes, figuring that he had left and entered (on the blanked screen):

login

to the TSO system. For those of you who don't know, TSO will log OFF anyone logged in when you enter that command. I worked for about another fifteen minutes when the other grad student returned and was *quite* irritated that I had (inadvertantly) logged him off. *sigh*

Ahh, the joys of grad school.

Milalwi

Re:another botched memory?

[Anonymous Coward]

Isn't the Sci-Fi ownen by Vivendi?
Isn't Vivendi part of the RIAA

Re:another botched memory?

[Mike Van Pelt]

>let's not forget that Edward James Olmos has
>warned fans of the original series to not watch.

I read his quote way back when, and it seemed to me he was saying that if you're the sort of obsessive fanboy who regards every word of the original series as Holy Writ, and will get upset at the slightest change... Then, no, you should not watch this version, as it will upset you. Otherwise, you might like it.

I never cared much for the original; I only watched it for a while because there was no other SF on the toob. There's only so many "Morons take kid and daggit to uncharted planet, daggit runs away, kid runs off following daggit, morons must spend rest of episode chasing stupid kid" plots I can stand to watch.

It did occasionally have some good stuff. I was interested in seeing more about what was going on with Count Iblis.

The last straw, though, was on one episode where the Badactica had to go back to somewhere they had left earlier, console jocky asks Captain Ben Cartwright what speed to set, and he intones portentiously "Light Speed!" There follows a great deal of anxiety about how they hadn't gone that fast in centons and centons, and the engines canna take tha strain.

Which showed that no one involved in the show had a clue. Not the slightest clue. I couldn't bear to watch it after that, even though it was the only thing barely resembling SF on the toob.

So "Not the same as the old BG" sounds promising to me.

Unfortunately, nothing else I have heard about this wombat sounds like it's going to be good. At all. It sounds <voice=marvin> perfectly dreadful. </voice> I don't plan to watch; if I hear it's really good after all, I'm sure the skiffy channel will re-run any episodes I missed.

Re:another botched memory?

[yiantsbro]

Actually I just finished seeing the premiere (first two hours). It was a special showing at a local museum (on the planetarium screen) from COX Communications and the SciFi channel (nicely done with giveaways, food/drink, etc.).

In short (with no spoiling) it is a different concept. The original show was written for me (as a young kid) and the new show is still written for me (as a somewhat older kid)--it really isn't for young kids anymore.

Personally I think the new show rocked. I did not watch it expecting to be taken back to my childhood or back to the exact premise. I watched it with a certain comfort level (knowing names, general ideas, etc.) and really enjoyed it on its on merits. I look forward to seeing this part again on Monday as well as the remaining portions.

There will be plenty that of things that original show fans will still complain about as well as things that "realist" type people will complain about but I still think it was entertaining--and worth my time.

Re:another botched memory?

[Anonymous Coward]

Probably don't have Collins Avionics (85/86 series mechanical instruments) this time either...

or the Tektronix storage tube displays...

Re:another botched memory?

[Anonymous Coward]

Babylon 5 was on PTEN - prime time entertainment network (that mostly turned into UPN...sort of)

Re:another botched memory?

[Wolfrider]

> let's not forget that Edward James Olmos has warned fans of the original series to not watch.

--I fully intend to take him up on his generous offer. :P

--If they had taken this "new" BG and *renamed* it, turned it into something that could stand on its own as a completely separate project with different names for the chars involved, etc... Maybe I might have considered it a homage to the original. But instead they're trying to re-MAKE BG into something it's NOT... And AFAIConcerned they suck all the more for that.

Re:another botched memory?

[bluegreenone]

You got that right. The whole "sexy baby" thing is annoying, not just when they're the bad guys. Don't get me wrong, woman are beautiful. But like you said... if you want to see some hot chicks, you know where to go. Not EVERYTHING has to be about hot babes, and I'd like to be able to enjoy some fun science fiction without having to feel like I'm watching something that's really targetting some puberty-controlled teenage boy.

There was a Battlestar Galactica marathon on SciFi about two months ago and I got to watch a few episodes. Of course, most of the commercials were for the new Galactica that they were going to release in December. One of the commercials actually was talking/showing a photoshoot from Maxim magazine where apparently one of the actresses came from (that ought to tell you something... their cast consists of models, not actors apparently).

This post is so mis-informed it might even be a troll. With all the complaining about sexy babes in the new series it almost totally overlooks the facts of the original series. Not only were Jane Seymour and Laurette Spang from the original certainly lookers, Maren Jensen who played Athena got her start with Seventeen and Cosmopolitan magazine covers. Give me a break!

Re:another botched memory?

[sgtrock]

Oh, no way was BG a worthwhile stand-in!

I remember that dry spell quite well. Between the original Star Trek and Star Wars period to the first Star Trek movie, there was very little in the way of good SF on film or TV in the US. The best of the lot was a series of low budget British shows that you could find on late night PBS; UFO, Blake's 7, Dr. Who, and The Prisoner are the ones that I can think of off the top of my head. I would stack up any of those 4 against BG in a head to head match. I swear, they may have looked like they were made on a budget consisting of 5 pounds and a case of Newcastle Ale, but the writing and acting was far better.

Nahh, as SF the original BG was a great live action cartoon. It was passable at best.

Re:another botched memory?

[Anonymous Coward]

There's been talk of using a female James Bond in the future...

Re:another botched memory?

[Anonymous Coward]

How about a female James Bond?

Yes, it has been discussed by the movie studios

So in other words..

[panxerox]

this sent Battlestar Galactica. Its an entirely different animal, it is in fact so different that I suspect that the only reason its title is BSG is to get the built in audience and that It could have been titled practically anything like "chicks in space" or "attack of the robot chicks"

Re:So in other words..

[nedron]

Its an entirely different animal, it is in fact so different that I suspect that the only reason its title is BSG is to get the built in audience...

panxerox,

I agree completely. Same thing with Enterprise. The show is so lackluster and not "Star Trek" that Paramount was finally forced to prepend "Star Trek:" to the title to boost ratings. Had DS9 and Voyager not had Star Trek in the title, it's likely they would have died unlamented deaths for the same reasons.

Re:So in other words..

[oogoody]

DS9 rocks! And other baseless fanatical
statements.

Re:So in other words..

[LWATCDR]

It is not BattleStar Galatica. It might even be a good show but BattleStar it is not.
The whole background story has changed.
I disagree about DS9 dieing and unlamented death. I found DS9 to be one of the best of the StarTreks. It might died but so did Max Headroom

Re:So in other words..

[Golias]

Battlestar, not BattleStar. The show pre-dates the stupid 90s trend of capatalizing conjoined words.

Re:So in other words..

[nedron]

I found DS9 to be one of the best of the StarTreks

Which proves my point. They show was only Star Trek related because they named it Star Trek: DS9. If it didn't have that as part of the title (and a couple of throwaway characters from ST:TNG) it would basically be as much a part of Star Trek as Andromeda is(n't).

Re:So in other words..

[Anonymous Coward]

Had DS9 and Voyager not had Star Trek in the title, it's likely they would have died unlamented deaths for the same reasons.

Didn't they anyway? Those shows were terrible.

Re:So in other words..

[9Nails]

DS9 was not to my liking. I like Star Trek for the adventure and the intrigue. But DS9 was a stale space station with a Cardassian war in twined with it. Not even Warf could draw in my vote. It was a lot to do with the same old set. It just had a lull about it.

But, wait a minute, Voyager was great! Sure, it felt a little like left overs. Especially after the amazing ST:TNG - that cast and series was superb. But Voyager had a good story. Good crew. And a captain with a bulletproof hairdo! Oh, and let me not forget Jeri Ryan! Wow. It ended a lot weird. But after an episode or two, it was a worthy show.

-But, Back on track, Battlestar Galactica... I fully appose naming female characters as "Starbuck" and "Boomer"!!!!!!!!!! Call them "Starpenny" and "Bloomer" but don't take a previously existing character's name and call it a brilliant spin on the original. That's shameful. And what I liked most, the evil metallic voices with the glowing eyes, the Cylons. They're now skinned in flesh tones and hair follicles? How ridiculous. It might be a good show in the long run. It might have a good story. But I think it's a blasphemous give it that name. The title was only given to the show to draw in an audience who light-heartedly anticipate something as fun as the first.

While you're in the mood..

[Steve 'Rim' Jobs]

Check out the Battlestar Galactica Original costume and Prop Museum.

Re:While you're in the mood..

[mesach]

WOW That place REALLY has it all...

if your going to link to a place, at least make it one with more than 3 costumes to show, and and not a bunch of "coming soon" BS.

"Brains! Brains!"

[grub]

How did they reanimate the corpse of Lorne Greene for this new series?

Re:"Brains! Brains!"

[schon]

How did they reanimate the corpse of Lorne Greene for this new series?

Simple - when they started filming, he rolled over in his grave - they then just dug him up and put him in costume. :o)

Bad omens

[Squideye]

A preview on aintitcool.com is not optimistic.

Looks sex-addled, low-action, and pretty scanty on the mythology. "Cylon Fembots" is all we need to know.

The mythology was pretty much all that made it distinctive, such as it was, in the original case.

Re:Bad omens

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, I actually get to take a quarter out of my Harry Knowles is a stupid fucker jar

Re:Bad omens

[Dutchmaan]

..but all my business man charts saids that nerds like sex and science fiction!

Oh well... at least we already got paid.

Re:Bad omens

[suss]

..but all my business man charts saids that nerds like sex and science fiction!

Rick Berman, is that you?

Oh well... at least we already got paid.

Must be.

Re:Bad omens

[digitalgiblet]

OK, I haven't seen the show yet, so I can't say how much I agree with the reviewer, BUT I can say that he included a sentence I thought was hilarious.

He basically said it was like something you would watch in the waiting room "while a doctor probes for nodules where nodules sometimes grow."

Now THAT is funny.

I also have to say that is isn't a particularly good sign when they have to make a show about the show, defending their decisions about the show...

I will give them credit for not just doing a remake. This series is targeted at the audience who watched the original. We've all grown up now... If they kept many of the elements of the original (Moffet the daggit, for instance) we would all be shouting about it the way we shouted about Jar Jar...

I like the idea of female pilots, but I do think it was a stretch to convert TWO of the THREE main characters from male to female. That would be like Charlie's Angels with two guys and one girl, none of whom you had ever seen before...

The preview show made Apollo look like a snotty character you just wouldn't want to hang around with. Maybe Richard Hatch wasn't the best actor in the world, but at least you LIKED his Apollo. I want to hear their explanation of why he has a TOTALLY different accent then his dad... Dad is hispanic, son is painfully British. Hmm. Oh, Lucy, you have some 'splaining to do!

Re:Bad omens

[operagost]

Unbelievable - they decided to throw out every part of the Starbuck character - except the cigar! How ridiculous! I don't see a cigar-smoking woman as very charismatic. Well, Salma Hayek can pull it off, but then she could wear a trash bag, smell like a dungheap and still be muy caliente.

Re:Bad omens

[Mosasaurus_Maximus]

Cylon enemies look more like humans, complete with feelings, including one with rabid sexual desires
Kinda gives a whole new meaning to "By Your Command"...

Re:Bad omens

[Anonymous Coward]

Having looked at the article, I'm suddenly reminded of the A.I. subplot on "Space: Above and Beyond"...

...and the phrase "a hundred years later" comes to mind.

the only thing the same is the viper

[Anonymous Coward]

I watched the 'lowdown' on scifi channel and as far as i can tell the only thing that has been left looking like it used to is the viper. Im willing the watch it i just don't think its going to measure up the the old series.

Re:the only thing the same is the viper

[Anonymous Coward]

The rough design of the Galactica itself seems the same, although in the previews, I've yet to see the rag-tag fleet of civilian ships that you see in just about every BSG episode.

Two things that tick me off, though:

1. They made two of my favorite characters women. Not to be sexist, here or anything, but the only way I see Starbuck and Boomer's characters working as women is if at least one of them is a lesbian.

2. The Cylons. Period. Everything about them is lameified. The Cylons were supposed to be these cold, unfeeling, unremorseful drones. They core conflict is that the humans and cylons are so fundamentally different (they're opposites in every aspect except their mutual violent tendancies) that they can never reach any mutual settlement terms. Making them look human, and more importantly, giving them feelings and desires makes them, for all intents and purposes, human. This sort of storyline isn't neccessarily a BAD one, but it is NOT, by any measure, Battlestar Galactica.

Re:the only thing the same is the viper

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe someone can finally explain to me why the Viper has an intake on the nose, when each of the three engines has its own intake?

For that matter, why do they have intakes at all (like jet engines) when they fly mostly in space? I was only 11 years old in 1978 and even I could see how little sense that made.

What, no Lorne Green?

[RealProgrammer]

It's been way too many yarons since I've been able to see Our Hero.

Maybe some digital recreation of LG could allow him to reprise his role.

Re:What, no Lorne Green?

[Jbrecken]

They at least should have gotten Noah Hathaway.

Re:What, no Lorne Green?

[Anonymous Coward]

Is this the same green Lorne from WB's Angel?

Alpo boy!

[Anonymous Coward]

Before BSG, Lorne Greene was hawking Alpo as his only gig.

The new BSG needs another has-been to lead it up. Maybe Yakov Smirnof?

Little? Cylon? Different?

[Tebriel]

You know, if they wanted to do a different story, that's fine. Great. Good stuff. They shouldn't, however, have called it Battlestar Galactica. They should have slapped on a different name for the Cylons, different ships, and different character names. Not that hard to do, but it would probably draw more people to watch it than tacking on a known name and then having it blow up in their faces.

Which I think they deserve.

BSG a network tv production

[Ubergrendle]

Battle Star Galactica got its genesis from some TV execs who wanted to emulate the success of Star Wars on the small screen. I'm not overly familiar with the back story, but BSG has always struck me as a hodge podge of space opera concepts, strung together long enough to maintain a TV series. Where shows like Dr Who and Star Trek at least had a conceptual basis and tried to do something original, BSG was an attempt to fill a 1 hour timeslot once per week. I don't think BSG deserves to be considered alongside other shows in the great SF series pantheon, even though the Cylons looked cool.

Re:BSG a network tv production

[StillNeedMoreCoffee]

For sure, I remember watching the episode where I believe it was starbuck crashed and was stranded on a planet that was a copy of the Wild West and the local tough guy had gotten his hands on a damaged Cylon and reprogrammed it to be his gunfighter enforcer. Starbuck was taken in by a Widow with child who nursed him back to life. He has to eventually go into town and have a Western Style shootout.. then leave.. halfway through I stood up and shouted "Shane"... About the only reason I watched it was to see what plot they had stolen and how thinly they had applied the Sci Fi paint to it.

Other great examples but done better. "The Magnificent 7" (Seven Samari). Many of the Clint Eastwood Dollar films (Tashira Mafune Ronin character). "Master Gunfigher" (Goyokin) (that was the best worst direct copy. And the Rudger Haurer Blind Swordsman film copying the Zato Ichi (Shintaro Katsu as Zato Ichi character).

Plagerism + Royalties + Proper Attribution = productivity

Re:BSG a network tv production

[Macgruder]

An aquaintance once refered to BSG as "Jews In Space", equating the rag-tag fleet with wandering in the desert for 40 years. With the Eqyptian / Roman influences throughout BSG (the 12 tribes, 'Apollo', Casseopia', and didn't they have a Battlestar Atlantis show up once?)

So Glenn Larson grabbed a hodge-podge of stuff, through in some special effects and cobbled together sets (the Viper interiors were reused in Buck Rogers) and tried to pass it off on TV.

Unfortunately, it never hit big with the adults of that time. Kids loved it. But the primetime Neilson ratings didn't measure the kid's interest.

So, it was doomed. Let's not even talk about Galactica, 1980.

This effort takes the names and places, and respins them. Yes, they want to capitalize on the BSG name, because that automatically makes potential viewers familiar with the basic layout.

But if I want to watch a re-hash of BSG, I'll catch the reruns on SciFi. I want to see something NEW.

So I'm going to watch it, and treat it like it's on it's own. Kind of like David Lynch's Dune, and the mini-series. Both tell th story differently, both have their strengths and weaknesses.

Re:BSG a network tv production

[William R. Dickson]

Many of the Clint Eastwood Dollar films (Tashira Mafune Ronin character).

Which was itself based on Dashiell Hammett's Continental Op character, specifically the novel Red Harvest. Oddly enough, the movie that came closest to the source material was 1996's Last Man Standing starring Bruce Willis.

Re:BSG a network tv production

[rworne]

Before you go on about "stolen plots" you should know that your example, Akira Kurosawa, took many of his plots from Shakespeare. Throne of Blood, Rashomon and Ran are three good examples. His "High and Low" looks a lot like something Hitchcock would have done.

Even great directors "borrow" material. It's nothing to be ashamed of.

Re:BSG a network tv production

[brainthought]

My feelings exaclty, it BSG has a Star Wars taste to it. It's like Spam, it tastes sort of like ham, but it's not...

I personally have to wonder if shows from the 90's will be remade in the 2010's with the same sort of contcept. I can see it now, Mystery Science Theater 3000 four hour miniseries... And instead of the host (Joel/Mike) we'll have a hot chick in a tight jump suit, and Servo, well he's a chick now too, and Crow as a chick too. And the Mads... hell, make 'em all chicks and the Satellite of Love, a strip club... and instead of watching movies, they have to dance or something... Oh! I gotta go get the people at Sci-Fi on the phone...

Re:BSG a network tv production

[Rorschach1]

How many times has the Seven Samuari been rehashed? Hell, A Bug's Life and Three Amigos are both ripoffs. And from what I've read of the new Dark Tower book it's a ripoff too.

The critical point here is that Seven Samurai is a GOOD STORY, and worth of imitation, even if it's been overdone a bit.

Battlestar Galactica, on the other hand, sucked.

Re:BSG a network tv production

[ElGuapoGolf]

Other great examples but done better. "The Magnificent 7" (Seven Samari).

You missed the best example of the "done better" genre. The Three Amgios was really the ultimate retelling/working of the Seven Samari. But with 3, intead of 7. And Steve Martin.

Re:BSG a network tv production

[Haeleth]

And Shakespeare "stole" all his plots from the medievals, who "stole" them from the Romans, who "stole" them from the Greeks, who...

Re:BSG a network tv production

[dameron]

Actually I was just watching an episode of BSG last night, and while the particular episode I caught wasn't good, the intro reminded me of how interesting the core storyline is in BSG:

"Their home systems destroyed by internal treachery and a race of genocidal cyborgs, the remains of humanity, a scant 6,000, flee across the galaxy in search of the ancient legend of their 13th tribe, humans who settled on a planet called Earth.

Sure, it borrows a lot from mythology and the popular (at the time) ancient astronaut theories, but as far as a storyline goes there's a lot of room for drama and action.

Of course in Hollywood today if someone pitches that plot the network says "Yeah, sounds good, but it needs tits."

-dameron

Re:BSG a network tv production

[NanoGator]

"An aquaintance once refered to BSG as "Jews In Space","

How is Mr. Brooks doing?

Re:BSG a network tv production

[Macgruder]

Good, thanks. I'll let him know you asked.

But when he made the quote, he was referring to Spaceballs, not BSG.

Re:BSG a network tv production

[miu]

Other great examples but done better....And the Rudger Haurer Blind Swordsman film copying the Zato Ichi (Shintaro Katsu as Zato Ichi character)

If "Blind Fury" was the 'done better' version I am really glad I never saw the source material.

Re:BSG a network tv production

[red floyd]

"Jews in Space" comes from "History of the World Part I". It was one the teasers shown at the end for "Part II" (along with "Hitler on Ice").

Re:BSG a network tv production

[rworne]

I've been watching Zatoichi recently. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Then again I've seen the first two DVDs in the series of 15 or so films. The actor Shintaro Katsu did well in the series but also did a much better job in Kozure Okami (Wolf and Cub) and the kid in the baby cart wound up in real life like many other child actors - he's currently in jail. Kozure Okami is very much like the "chop sockey" films back in the 70's, but with over-the-top swordplay, blood gushing, head-splitting and limb severing.

Even the Japanese rehash their own stories. There's many, many versions of the samurai drama Chushingura (47 Ronin) for example. Some better than others.

Re:BSG a network tv production

[Tackhead]

> Other great examples but done better. "The Magnificent 7" (Seven Samari).

Battle Beyond the Stars, aka Seven Samurai in Space

And to bring it back on topic, Battle Beyond the Stars features a starship with large breasts (and another starship shaped like a razor blade), and you'll recognize many of the sound effects and even few of the explosions as the same ones used in Battlestar Galactica.

Re:BSG a network tv production

[StillNeedMoreCoffee]

What a tangled web of plagerism we weave.

Re:BSG a network tv production

[StillNeedMoreCoffee]

I spent many hours watching Zato Ichi movies in the 70's I think he made about 53 movies, and a tv series. I have seen sources for the series online through ebay or other sources.

I have about 5 of the Zato Ichi movies and alway enjoy watching them.

Yes there was one black and white Chushingura I saw back then that was excellent. I'll have to track that one down.

Re:BSG a network tv production

[StillNeedMoreCoffee]

No Blind Fury was not a done better version. I was refering to the knock offs mentioned as done better than the "Shane" clone in BG.

Re:BSG a network tv production

[StillNeedMoreCoffee]

They have operations now for that kind of speach impediment.

Re:BSG a network tv production

[Macgruder]

It's also on the Spaceballs DVD, when he discusses pitching the movie

Re:BSG a network tv production

[cnelzie]

(Of course in Hollywood today if someone pitches that plot the network says "Yeah, sounds good, but it needs tits.")

Okay, so then it goes like this...

"Their home systems destroyed by internal treachery and a race of genocidal cyborgs, the remains of humanity, a scant 6,000 refugees and 201 exotic strippers (one of which is ugly), flee across the galaxy in search of the ancient legend of their 13th tribe, humans who settled on a planet called Earth rumored to be filled with large breasted easy woman..."

Re:BSG a network tv production

[steveha]

Even great directors "borrow" material.

But I saw that episode of BSG and it was not a case of borrowing; it was jacking the plot, filing off the serial numbers, and using it almost unchanged. IIRC there was even a little kid, like in Shane, idolizing the BSG guy. It was bad.

Of course, I was a teenaged kid at the time, and I really wanted to like the show, so at the time I insisted it wasn't really a Shane ripoff. I was wrong.

P.S. IIRC it was Apollo, not Starbuck, who was the Shane standin. But it doesn't really matter.

steveha

Re:BSG a network tv production

[Wolfrider]

--Bro, you just *betta* know EXACTLY what that word "plethora" means when El Jefe asks you. ;-)

Re:BSG a network tv production

[Wolfrider]

--Dude, I *loved* that movie back when it came out on TV. The Nestor species was quite interesting.

--I'll have to rent that one again, if I can find it - I can't even find "Ice Pirates" at the video stores around here anymore.

Re:BSG a network tv production

[ElGuapoGolf]

Actually, it was El Guapo who asked Jefe if he knew what a Plethora meant. :)

Is it that popular?

[QuackQuack]

I always saw BG as a cheap Star Wars rip-off. Is it really that popular? It never seemed to have much of a following, like Star Trek and other SF shows.

Re:Is it that popular?

[GoofyBoy]

>I always saw BG as a cheap Star Wars rip-off. Is it really that popular?

Its popular in the same way that Go-Bots were popular. Only because it was "like" another more popular product (StarWars/Transformers).

Re:Is it that popular?

[radish]

I'm sorry but you just reminded me of the "Mars/Mattel ChocoBot Hour" and I spontaneously burst out laughing in the middle of the office. That 10 second clip is still one of the funniest things I have ever seen on TV.

Re:Is it that popular?

[NeuroManson]

Technically, both were concieved of years before the shows they're accused of ripping off were ever made.

Go-Bots were originally a Takara toy line from around 1983 (whereas Transformers was jointly created by Hasbro/Bandai in 1984).

BSG was originally concieved as "Adam's Ark", Larson's idea for a wagon train in space, back around 1967 or 68. Since the effects were done by SW allumni John Dyksra and the designs by Ralph McQuarrie, there's naturally a high resemblance.

It's kinda like the whole thing where people call Digimon a ripoff of Pokemon, despite the fact that Digimon was created as a ripoff of the Tamagotchi craze in the mid 90s, years before Pokemon really caught on.

Re:Is it that popular?

[RatBastard]

I never saw what anyone saw in it. It was, IMO, garbage. The stories were laughable at best and lame at worst.

Re:Is it that popular?

[ipxodi]

BSG was originally concieved as "Adam's Ark", Larson's idea for a wagon train in space

That's funny, Rodenberry pitched Star Trek to the Desilu TV execs as "Wagon Train to the Stars". He's also been recorded as calling it "Horatio Hornblower in Space".
Skeptics: You can look this up in "The Making of Star Trek"

Don't worry...

[AKAImBatman]

...half way through the season they'll figure out that they're loosing ratings and have the characters suddenly stumble upon evidence of the Xinidi^H^H^H^H^H^H Earth and begin a quest to find it. Then they'll destroy some of the deepest elements of the show by using them in throw-away lines.

Re:Don't worry...

[Eric Sharkey]

...half way through the season...

You mean two hours in to the four hour miniseries? They're going to have to do some pretty quick filming to get the second half done between Monday and Tuesday night.

Re:Don't worry...

[AKAImBatman]

You know, I was waiting for a response like this. Has Slashdot lost all it's humor? Let me explain the joke.

You see, "Enterprise" was such a piss poor series that they had to "spice it up" by adding in some sort of story arc. (The fact that there's no planned arc to the "story arc" is apparently beside the point.) This story arc was supposed to help "Enterprise" reconnect with the Star Trek fan base. In reality they simply annoyed everyone all that much more. Thus the basis of my joke is that they're doing the same bullshit to Galactica that they did to "Enterprise".

Oh, and I have no doubt that they'll "spin off" into a series in which they'll suddenly "discover evidence of Earth". TV execs seem to be kind of stupid these days. They filibuster any and all good show concepts (even if they're shoe-ins!) then if they actually get around to producing it, they "re-imagine" to add T&A in place of the story line. Of course, at that point they actually have something on the air, so they work quickly to milk it for everything it's worth before they cancel it citing "low ratings".

I'd REALLY love to know what the hell these execs are thinking. No, scratch that. It's probably best I don't know....

Re:Don't worry...

[operagost]

I don't know what you're talking about. It should be obvious by now (too obvious) that the Suliban (and perhaps others) are attempting to modify the time line. They probably told the Xindi that humans were going to wipe them out (whether true or not) in the hopes they would do their dirty work for them. The "why" is one part that's missing.

I think any inconsistencies in the time line now (like the attack on Florida on Earth that has never been mentioned before) are actually intentional. And if there are any that aren't intentional, well, this time they get to "fix it" and get away clean!

Re:Don't worry...

[RedA$$edMonkey]

And now Scott Bakula is Leaping back in time to set right what was wrong ... Who better to go around fixing the timeline. In a few episodes we may see a hologram popping up giving him a 83.6% chance that he needs the xindi to marry the suliban in order to leap.

A little OT but I couldn't resist

Re:Don't worry...

[AKAImBatman]

The last box on this page is fascinating. I also happen to agree with it. If B&B had actually planned this story arc, we wouldn't have such stinkers are last week's "Boredom Street". I keep hoping that things will turn around for the show, but in my heart I know better.

*sigh*

Re:Don't worry...

[AKAImBatman]

half way through the season they'll figure out that they're loosing ratings and have the characters suddenly stumble upon evidence of the Xinidi^H^H^H^H^H^H Earth and begin a quest to find it.

Told you so. :-) In fact the ending of the BG miniseries almost guarantees that they'll continue it. Although, they may do it in the form of a new miniseries every few months. Oh, and I predict that Baltar is a Cylon and doesn't know it.

I think I speak for a lot of people when I say

[Idimmu Xul]

'Battlestar Galactica' returns in a new four hour mini-series on the Sci-Fi channel this Monday. However, there has been fan furor over some changes to the story. Aluminum Cylon enemies look more like humans, complete with feelings, including one with rabid sexual desires, and the quest is not for a mythical Earth, as it no longer exists.

WHY FUCKING BOTHER?

Re:I think I speak for a lot of people when I say

[Hayzeus]

I'm sure the parent will get modded down as a troll, but he has a point: the original series was REALLY cheesy. Typical 70s series fare in s sci-fi setting with decent (for the day) special effects.

It was never cheap

[Mycroft_514]

Part of the reason the show was canceled was because it was too expensive to produce at the time.

I am waiting to see the new series before I pass judgement.

Re:It was never cheap

[kannibal_klown]

I've heard that before. But REALLY, how expensive could it have been? Even at the time it was made.

They reused the same stock footage OVER AND OVER again. The battles were always the same scenes, and the "rag-tag" fleet of ships always seemed to be the same.

Re:It was never cheap

[lucabrasi999]

Part of the reason the show was canceled was because it was too expensive to produce at the time.

Also, there was the consideration of relative ratings. This show was pre-cable TV. A show that was in third place amongst the three shows that each of the networks were showing during a particulr time period was doomed. Even those in second or first were in trouble if the feeling was that their ratings were hurting the rest of a particular evening's schedule. Today, with the competition of Cable, Internet, DVD's, etc. a major network show could have about 1/4 the ratings of BSG and it would still be on the air.

Re:It was never cheap

[jsfetzik]

Rumor used to be that it ran about $1 million per episode. Which in the 70's was a lot of money for a TV show. For comparison here are a few movies from the 70's.

- Jaws(1975) $8 million
- Star Wars(1977) $11 million
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind(1977) $20 million

Too many humanoid aliens

[luckytroll]

I really miss the old shows like Dr. Who that had really alien aliens - crazy blobs, and lethal rocks, and robots without faces. Now every alien has to have a humanoid form and a face so that the actor can "act" and the audience can empathise. When did the universe become so darned human?

Re:Too many humanoid aliens

[agentZ]

Maybe you should try "The Simple Life" on FOX. I hear it has characters you can't empathise with.

Re:Too many humanoid aliens

[Anonymous Coward]

It's simple, it's really hard to have sex scenes with non-humanoid aliens and make it look erotic without showing nipples and/or genitals. Unless of course you hire William Shatner...

Re:Too many humanoid aliens

[Pointy_Hair]

Because the modern television series relieves you of that entirely overrated thinking and imagination stuff. Besides - lethal rocks are no match for the other toys on the market.

Re:Too many humanoid aliens

[mblase]

When did the universe become so darned human?

Always has been. Sci-fi literature did it first, but the original "Star Trek" was probably definitive in using humans with makeup and funny clothes as aliens. The simple and obvious reason is that it's much easier for studios to produce human actors as aliens, and easier for viewers to relate to them.

When you have an alien that's a blob or a rock or a robot, you have to work ten times harder to find the pathos. "Dr. Who" used them as identityless villains without much in the way of personality.

Re:Too many humanoid aliens

[freeweed]

When did the universe become so darned human?

When the Star Trek budget was announced.

I've never managed to catch the NG episode where they explain why all aliens look humanoid, but I heard it's a pretty interesting story, and somewhat consistent with the ST universe.

Re:Too many humanoid aliens

[Anonymous Coward]

Also, with a non-humanoid alien, you have to do one of two things to make it work. Either you need really cutting-edge (read: expensive) special effects, or you need really good writing so that the viewer is paying more attention to the dialogue than to the fact that the alien is not so animated, realistic, whatever.

Doctor Who certainly didn't have a big special effects budget, but it did have good writing and good actors (at least through the Tom Baker era). Anyone watching that show for big-budget effects will surely be disappointed, but it was always carried along by the witty dialogue and interesting storylines, and the low-budgets often gave it a "cheese" factor that made it all the more enjoyable.

Re:Too many humanoid aliens

[peragrin]

I can't tell you which episode but I can describe it. Picards old archeolgy teacher asks for his help picard refuses, teacher dies, picard feeling guilty does the job anyway. They notice that there are similiar DNA sequences on thousands of worlds that make up the alpha and beta quadrants. When place all together the dna sequence becomes a holigraphic message from the past and one race, that littered those peices around just because they were bored.

Re:Too many humanoid aliens

[Anonymous Coward]

> I've never managed to catch the NG episode where they explain why all aliens look humanoid

That episode is titled "The Chase," and it's one of the worst episodes of the series.

It's an interesting premise that the writers didn't bother to think through, and of course the importance of the billion-year-old "message" is lost on the ignorant Klingons, Romulans, etc.-- everyone but the humans.

What I want to know is, how could these ancient humanoid aliens seed Earth with their DNA, and expect that a billion years of evolution would eventually lead to humanoids. Or even that it would produce anything beyond lobed fishes?

Re:Too many humanoid aliens

[Anonymous Coward]

original "Star Trek" was probably definitive in using humans with makeup and funny clothes

I wanna sleep with Kirk's green-skinned girlfriend!

Re:Too many humanoid aliens

[Anonymous Coward]

I really miss the old shows like Dr. Who that had really alien aliens - crazy blobs, and lethal rocks, and robots without faces.

They had some strange and cool stuff (Daleks actually make for pretty scary villains, at least when you're young), but in the end, who was the absolute best villain from Doctor Who?

That's right - The Master.

Re:Too many humanoid aliens

[scamper]

I remember hearing somewhere that the Dr. Who series (well, at least some of its incarnations) were so budget-limited that they would always start a given season, relatively cash-flush, with elaborate sets, costumes, and props, but by the end of the season they were reduced to using such vaunted techniques as silver paint on household items.

Re:Too many humanoid aliens

[Anonymous Coward]

Dr. Who is back ...after a fashion.

check out the cult section on BBC's web site.

Re:Too many humanoid aliens

[L0stm4n]

Since captain Kirk spread his seed throughout the galaxy.

Snore. Wake me when Farscape starts up again.

[Anonymous Coward]

It's supposed to have a 4-hour mini-series next year, right?

How about someone reviving Crusade?

All this furor over the desecration of...

[Infonaut]

Battlestar Galactica?

I could understand if we were talking about Shazam, or Land of the Lost or some other really important show from that era. ;-)

But Battlestar Galactica?

Re:All this furor over the desecration of...

[mbspweb]

I loved Land of the Lost! Dinosaurs! Sleestack! Monkey-men!

Re:All this furor over the desecration of...

[The Phantom Buffalo]

I see you failed to mention Far Out Space Nuts.

It is a shame they are remaking Battlestar Galactica, while this classic fades into obscurity.

Re:All this furor over the desecration of...

[sammy baby]

We still make jokes out of the bad acid trip that Sid & Marty Kroft must have been on around the time they greenlit Land of the Lost.

"Ugh ugh! Chakka make brownies! Happy dream brownies!"

Re:All this furor over the desecration of...

[Anonymous Coward]

Ta, Sa, and Chaka were neanderthal humanoids. They were part of the Pakuni tribe. Hairy-as-monkey pre-men is a better description.

Re:All this furor over the desecration of...

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you kidding??? "Land of the Lost" is a bastion of sober rationality compared to Sid & Marty's ultimate acid trip: "H. R. Pufnstuf"! :-)

Re:All this furor over the desecration of...

[CoderLaureate]

I know.

Everything talked in that show. Too creepy man. If ever you wanted to know what an acid trip was, that show has got to be it!

Re:All this furor over the desecration of...

[Anonymous Coward]

Wasn't there a show by them about a bunch of walking talking hats? That would seem to beat Pufnstuff on acid scale.

It'll fail

[SexyKellyOsbourne]

It has all the classic formulas of the newest Star Trek series:

1) It is based on an old, out-dated Sci-Fi show that will not appeal to the mainstream public, no matter how much senseless T&A, sexually charged adult themes, pointless gun battles, and especially computer animation they add.

2) It does not appeal to the old fans whatsoever, because of many of the same reasons in #1, plus the fact that it is "untr00" and often fails to explore many of the themes of the older series, and rather focuses on the "development" of silly, stereotypical characters.

It'll fail after a few seasons of low ratings.

Re:It'll fail

[Anonymous Coward]

What, are the play one hour a season?

Re:It'll fail

[Anonymous Coward]

It will fail in the long run as a series because it's a four hour mini-series

Re:It'll fail

[corbettw]

It'll fail after a few seasons of low ratings.

Not unlike its predecessor.

Re:It'll fail

[Anonymous Coward]

He's saying "it will fail in the long run" not because he doesn't know it's just a mini-series. It's because the producers have said they'll turn it into a series if the mini-series does well.

It'll never be turned into a series.

Serverstar Implodica

[Anonymous Coward]

Serverstar Implodica.

I'm not surprised Ed said that...

[Idimmu Xul]

From there, things get different. Starbuck, the hotshot fighter pilot played by Dirk Benedict in the original, is now a woman played by Katee Sackhoff

They can't just make Starbuck a woman :cry:

The show appears to be darker, sexier and a lot less escapist than the original.

Oh, that's ok then, as long as we get to see tits being squashed together in crappy lycra suits!

Re:I'm not surprised Ed said that...

[hchaos]

They can't just make Starbuck a woman :cry:

Sure they can, as long as they make Starbuck a hard drinking, hard gambling, sexually agressive woman. Otherwise there'd be no reason to keep the name "Starbuck".

Re:I'm not surprised Ed said that...

[Anonymous Coward]

Otherwise there'd be no reason to keep the name "Starbuck".

Unless she REALLY likes coffee.

Re:I'm not surprised Ed said that...

[Thud457]

"Oh, that's ok then, as long as we get to see tits being squashed together in crappy lycra suits!"

Jesus H Christ on a bicycle and his black bastard brother Bart! Why didn't they do it right then and remake "Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century"?!!! Goddamn that was every 14-year-old's dream!! mmmmmmmmm.... Erin Grey.... And Twiki & Dr Theopolis for the robosexuals out there.

Honestly, I will never be able to fathom the depths of stupidity of Hollywood. And they think their consumers are dumb!!!

Re:I'm not surprised Ed said that...

[Anonymous Coward]

They can't just make Starbuck a woman :cry:

Actually, its probably a good thing that they made Starbuck a woman. The only other alternative, given current trends in TVland, would have been to make Starbuck and Apollo gay lovers.

Re:I'm not surprised Ed said that...

[Stargoat]

Maybe having her website slashdotted will make her cry.

Re:I'm not surprised Ed said that...

[2.246.1010.78]

I love your sig, it is even more true than your post :)

Re:I'm not surprised Ed said that...

[KlomDark]

They already made Baltar a wimpy gay british guy, at least they stopped there.

Oh fuck is this remake going to suck ass! I can't wait to see it so I'll have something to bitch about afterwords! :)

Re:I'm not surprised Ed said that...

[nyseal]

Now THAT's funny!

Anybody watch SciFi Previews?

[cblguy]

I usually leave SciFi channel on in the evenings when working. Saw a preview. I am looking forward to it. I watch all kinds of B-scifi-movies, and actually enjoy them.

They flat out stated that they were taking a different approach to this BSG. In the earlier one, the Cylons were just mad at humans. That's all we knew. Why? Nobody knew. What was their history? Nobody knew. At least they're attempting some sort of story / history on the Cylons, and not just an Independence Day scenario of aliens attacking because they feel in a pissy mood that day.

I am glad the SciFi channel at least does *something*, but I'm still not happy they discontinued Farscape.

I enjoyed their Dune remakes (bought the DVD's even). I'm a sick pup, but those 3- and 4- star (out of IMDB's 10 star rating) are some of my faves. :D

Re:Anybody watch SciFi Previews?

[jamesoutlaw]

In one episode of the original series, maybe the pilot, one of the characters stated that the Cylons attacked the colonies because the humans helped another race get out from under Cylon oppression. That's about all I remember... you are right though, the old series never really gave much detail on the Cylon race at all.

The biggest problem I had with the old series though was how they broght Baltar back to life, haha. At the end of the Pilot movie, a Cylon centurion decapitated him... then he suddenly reappears in the series. I don't think they ever explained that.

I am reserving judgement on the remake until after I see the new miniseries. I was a huge fan of BSG when I was a kid.

Re:Anybody watch SciFi Previews?

[Marsala]

Not quite. It was mentioned in the series (sorry, not enough of a fan to quote the episode title) that the silver droids with the sweeping red LED eye were built by the Cylons, a reptilian race.

The Cylons were fighting some war, so they built themselves a nice little robot army and gave them a simple command: "Go blow stuff up and kill things." So the robots go out and do it and wipe out the Cylons' enemies. Then they start looking for new targets, and, well... the Cylons happen to be the closest civilization, so the bots wipe them out. And then they start wandering the universe looking for stuff to kill.

It's basically the same premise as the Berserker novels by Saberhagen.

Moral of the story: Automating killing machines with just enough intelligence to distinguish between a lifeform and a rock and giving them power supplies that last for hundreds of thousands of years is a really, really, monumentally stupid idea.

And, just for the record, if a huge armada of homicidal robots showed up and started razing my world, I really wouldn't give a crap where they came from until *AFTER* I'd managed to stop 'em.

Re:Anybody watch SciFi Previews?

[bpalmer]

The cylon robots weren't really the cylons race. The robots were created by the original cylon race. The cylon race was reptilian. Can't remember if the robots overthrew their masters or the original race just sort of disappeared. Anyway, the robots ended up being known as cylons.

Re:Anybody watch SciFi Previews?

[Zoop]

In the earlier one, the Cylons were just mad at humans. That's all we knew. Why? Nobody knew. What was their history? Nobody knew.

Yeah, nobody knew...unless you, you know, watched the first three episodes.

Cylons had been a reptilian race that created robots as slaves--the robots had themselves a revolution, and were bending everybody to their order, but in a weird bit of synchretism (sp?) kept the name "Cylon". Humans were the only power that hadn't bowed down before them, and they'd been fighting on and off for the better part of a thousand years.

So they hit on a peace conference, and then sucker-punched everybody with the fleet away at the signing ceremonies. The Cylons, much as Hitler and with the Jews, were determined to exterminate every last remnant of this troublesome race. Like the Mormons, the Humans took a wagon train to the promised land. Like the Jews, they were looking for the missing 13th tribe to fill their ranks and enable them to stand up to the cylons and hit back.

It was also very influenced by the self-perception of America in the wake of Vietnam. 60's idealism was dead, the Soviets were on the move, and the US was very much the underdog as the Sovs broke treaty after treaty (ABM, SALT I, etc. etc.). How different a world we live in.

Anyway, the backstory was told in the first movie and in repeats as the first three episodes. But if you missed that, then yes, take it as read that robots hate humans, commence plot.

Re:Anybody watch SciFi Previews?

[geekoid]

I'f memory serves, towards the end ogf the series, it was revieled that he was a robot.

Re:Anybody watch SciFi Previews?

[geekoid]

" Automating killing machines with just enough intelligence to distinguish between a lifeform and a rock and giving them power supplies that last for hundreds of thousands of years is a really, really, monumentally stupid idea."

haha, I am going to use that quote, it's great.

Re:Anybody watch SciFi Previews?

[jamesoutlaw]

ah, gotcha. It's been so long since I saw the complete original series that I had forgotten that. I guess I'll have to buy the DVDs.

Re:Anybody watch SciFi Previews?

[Cyno01]

Don't worry, your not the only one who liked their Dune mini-series. The first one aired before we had cable, but i caught all of Children of Dune earlier this year, i loved it and went out and bought the first DVD, i also read the first 3 books and the three prequils. I bought CoD on DVD like the first week it was out and am just now finishing Chapterhouse. This summer i loaned the DVDs to a friend of mine who doesn't have cable and he loved them, and has since read the first 3 dune books. I also got him hooked on Farscape, loaned him the season 1 set, and he missed it on fox but i showed him some VCDs of Firefly and we both have pre-orders in for the DVD(w00t, 5 more days). IMHO the Dune mini-series were quite well done and much better than the old movie, i'm planning on watching this BG miniseries to, i've only seen a few episodes of the original(i was home sick on tuesday and watched part of the marathon) it was ok, but not great, i'll be interested to see how the new one turns out.

Re:Anybody watch SciFi Previews?

[PCM2]

The biggest problem I had with the old series though was how they broght Baltar back to life, haha. At the end of the Pilot movie, a Cylon centurion decapitated him... then he suddenly reappears in the series. I don't think they ever explained that.

The truth of how this panned out always confused me, too. I just thought they changed it in the series, so Baltar didn't die. That is, when you read the novelization or the comic-book adaptation, they have Baltar decapitated in a scene where he talks to Imperious Leader. I saw the first episode on TV once, not too long ago, and the same scene just shows Baltar being led away by the Centurions. I assume that if there was a scene where Baltar dies at the end of the original pilot, they later cut it out for re-runs.

Re:Anybody watch SciFi Previews?

[Anonymous Coward]

Moral of the story: Automating killing machines with just enough intelligence to distinguish between a lifeform and a rock and giving them power supplies that last for hundreds of thousands of years is a really, really, monumentally stupid idea.

It's phrases like these that I read slashdot for. :)

Re:Anybody watch SciFi Previews?

[Huusker]

Moral of the story: Automating killing machines with just enough intelligence to distinguish between a lifeform and a rock and giving them power supplies that last for hundreds of thousands of years is a really, really, monumentally stupid idea.

Some cosmologists speculate that the reason we aren't finding any signs of intelligent life with SETI is that this may have really happened. All the alien races capable of sending radio transmissions have been hunted down and killed. And the remaining survivors (if any) are keeping their heads down.

Re:Anybody watch SciFi Previews?

[PurplePhase]

And, just for the record, if a huge armada of homicidal robots showed up and started razing my world, I really wouldn't give a crap where they came from until *AFTER* I'd managed to stop 'em.

That is so un-Picard-esque I can't believe you dared utter it! ;)

8-PP

Re:Anybody watch SciFi Previews?

[Anonymous Coward]

The Mormons don't believe in 13 tribes. They believe in 12. The tribe of Levi were the priests and so they received there land in Isreal as a percentage of the land of each of the other tribes.
The lost 10 tribes were not lost in some metaphoric sense. The original writer of BSG did mix in some things from Mormon theology, but to say that the whole basis of the story behind BSG was the Mormon religion is just false.
Don't make assumptions about things before you have done some research, or at least talked to some one who knows.

Re:Anybody watch SciFi Previews?

[squarefish]

Moral of the story: Automating killing machines with just enough intelligence to distinguish between a lifeform and a rock and giving them power supplies that last for hundreds of thousands of years is a really, really, monumentally stupid idea.

reminds me of the republicans....

Re:Anybody watch SciFi Previews?

[Zoop]

Try reading what I wrote--I explicitly said the 13th tribe was like the JEWS who are not Mormon, at least at last count they hadn't all been converted.

PS--Israel claimed to find the 13th tribe in Ethiopia. Go read some history yourself.

How can you be a purist?

[JonathanF]

I can't imagine someone being in a furor over changes to the storyline in the remake of a short-lived and not always universally-liked series like Battlestar Galactica. It would be like complaining that they changed the dolphin in SeaQuest DSV to an Orca!

Re:How can you be a purist?

[Anonymous Coward]

maybe the Furore is just Richard Hatch using spammer's techniques to generate billions of complaint emails... /conspiracy theory

Re:How can you be a purist?

[Anonymous Coward]

Just because you personally don't like something, and even have the majority of people in agreement with you, doesn't mean there aren't people who do like it.

Plenty of people are fans of the original show, and some of these are the "purists" you denegrate.

The main reason for the uproar is that this "re-imagined" version is almost assured to kill off the chances for a new show based on the old version, with the same characters, style, etc. And despite your own lack of interest in the show, there are fans who would have preferred this to happen, instead of this SciFi rot. Progress was being made on a revived version, until SciFi concocted this desecration.

The theme tune

[mccalli]

But does it have God's perfect theme tune, which is what the original was? A superb piece of music, as stirring in Battlestar Galactica as it was in Revenge of the Mutant Camels...

Cheers,
Ian

Re:The theme tune

[GigsVT]

There's no excuse after all, Jeff Minter could probably be pryed away from his sheep and yaks long enough to score it for them. :)

Re:The theme tune

[payndz]

But does it have God's perfect theme tune, which is what the original was? A superb piece of music, as stirring in Battlestar Galactica as it was in Revenge of the Mutant Camels...

Are you deaf, sir? RMC's theme tune was only like Galactica's in that it involved music notes!

Re:The theme tune

[mccalli]

RMC's theme tune was only like Galactica's in that it involved music notes!

The main theme yes, but the high score music was Battlestar Galactica's.

Cheers,
Ian

You mean like the original series did?

[ianscot]

Battlestar Galactica was hardly an original series even when it was the original series. This will be like a CGI rendition of a photocopy of a carbon copy of Star Wars.

And yes, I saw the movie release of the original -- in SENSAROUND! Which meant, back then, bass speakers less impressive than those playing in the "Love Boat" revamp I saw last weekend, "Love Actually." (That movie took the high road, though, and did not call the loser who traveled to Wisconsin "Gopher.")

Re:You mean like the original series did?

[jdeisenberg]

I also saw the movie release; I was on vacation in Toronto, and Battlestar Galactica was showing in theaters about a week before premiering on TV in the States.

I nearly walked out of the theater in disgust when I heard the word "micron" used as a unit of time. Scientific illiterates such as those writers should not be permitted to breed.

Let's hope the new series avoids that particular mistake.

Re:You mean like the original series did?

[Anonymous Coward]

Did you also walk out on 'Star Wars' when Han Solo said his ship had 'made the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs'?

Re:You mean like the original series did?

[ianscot]

I nearly walked out of the theater in disgust when I heard the word "micron" used as a unit of time. Later on I'm sure you were thrilled at those big whomping speakers. I understand they had to adjust the phase transponders to get 'em to rumble like that. ;-)

Re:You mean like the original series did?

[japhmi]

I nearly walked out of the theater in disgust when I heard the word "micron" used as a unit of time.

IIRC, BSG had it's own system of time (centon, micron, etc.) After all, these people weren't from earth, and had different measurements.

Re:You mean like the original series did?

[Anonymous Coward]

I read an interesting dissertation on this from someone stating that, in essence, the number *is* impressive. Something about the route that he was taking was riddled with black holes, and there was a specified route that was considered "safe". It's a lot longer than 12 parsecs. :)
Don't quote me on this, It's all from memory.

the usual complaints

[looie]

why would i want to watch an "updated" version of the original? what does that mean, exactly, "updated"?

i've watched a couple of the originals on sci-fi this week. c'mon people, it was a lame show with low-res special effects and horse-opera plots. it was "wagon train" in outer space! some of it was so badly done, it was "cover-your-eyes" embarrassing.

how do you update that? apparently, the complainers want the producers to give them the same tired plots with the same tired characters but in different uniforms with "hi-res" special effects. how boring.

i don't know if the new version is any good, of course, as i haven't yet seen it. but it's for sure that it should be allowed to stand or fall on its own merits. "is it a good movie?" is the only question that needs answering. it is not the original -- thank goodness. we already know that one was a clunker.

mp

Re:the usual complaints

[wift]

Your "horse-opera plot" reference is "unknown" to me. "Yet" the air quotes you use are "distracting", No?

Yes lo-res by today's standards but for TV at that time it was cool. They are take a now over done sci-fi plot and slutting it up a la Star Trek 6of9 and the new vulcan wench. It's too obvious to point out. *too late*

Re:the usual complaints

[looie]

Your "horse-opera plot" reference is "unknown" to me.

then why don't you look it up? in less than 60 seconds on google ... wait, you probably don't know how to use a search engine, either. sorry. not only are the youth of today ignorant, but willfully so -- they can't be bothered to find answers. it's so much easier to just be snide, isn't it? horse opera

Yes lo-res by today's standards but for TV at that time it was cool

my first response is, "so what?" that may be interesting from a sociological standpoint but it's irrelevant from the standpoint of creating -- or recreating -- a movie based on the galactica premise. watching the reruns is a mix of boredom, embarrassment and laughter. my second response is, the show was a flop when it ran originally and, in retrospect, it's easy to see why. evidently, it wasn't all that "cool" in its own time zone, either.

it should be noted that most sci-fi over the last 50 years (sometimes sarcastically referred to as "space opera") is, in fact, very much akin to the "horse opera" genre. that in itself is not necessarily a bad thing -- good writing generally makes for good reading or good watching. (there've been a zillion rewrites of the "lost patrol" theme, from "duel at diablo," "valdez is coming," "the steel helmet" -- but "alien" was still a great movie.) but the "wagon train in space" theme is shopworn. it'll be tough for sci-fi channel to refresh it.

mp

Re:the usual complaints

[Blakey Rat]

I guess you never saw Space: 1999.

It was good compared to what came before, bud.

Re:the usual complaints

[wift]

I honestly didn't think the phrase was real.

For a 10 year old it was cool. For an obvious adult like yourself it won't be. Star Wars doesn't do it for me like it used to either. Mork & Mindy + Buck Rogers.. are shows I liked when I was a child but I can't watch them now, nor would I watch remakes of those shows.

I am not defending the making of this "remake", but was only trying to show you a point of view that might clue you in as to why someone would remake it. 30 somethings + boobs = $$ or so they hope. Don't worry, BSG won't go beyond the first season.

OT: aintitcool site contents

[Anonymous Coward]

OK this is the first time I've been to aintitcool.com... Why in god's name is the entire article text defined as <h2> tags?!?!? That's one of the most moronic html authoring moves I've ever seen.

Re:OT: aintitcool site contents

[Schnapple]

Knowles designed the site on his laptop in 1996 or so when he was in the hospital. It's pretty much been unchanged ever since. His forums are ultra-low-tech and tend to attract the lowest of life, and the whole thing's powered by inefficent CGI scripts so when something popular drops (like his early review of Episode 2), the site's unreachable for days.

In short his site is indicative of eight-year-old design sensibilities.

Re:OT: aintitcool site contents

[artemis67]

I think his site design promotes abusive comments. The TalkBack/message area is unthreaded, and sometimes messages are added to the top of the list, sometimes to the bottom--who knows why. It's total chaos, and it basically comes down to who shouts the loudest as far as who gets heard (or maybe just who makes the most offensive comments). Intelligent people tend to stay away from shouting matches, so the children win out the day.

If Harry remade his site with Slashcode, he'd have much more engagning and insightful discussions going on.

Re:OT: aintitcool site contents

[Anonymous Coward]

If Harry remade his site with Slashcode, he'd have much more engagning and insightful discussions going on.

Exactly. Which is probably why he doesn't do it: he likes the flamewars. I'm so glad I grew the heck up and crawled out of that cesspool. . .

--Noriko Takaya

This is not BSG

[Phoenix-kun]

Only some of the names happen to be the same. Starbuck a woman, no 1000 year war, no earth? What's next? A series named Star Wars that involves mud wrestling between Britney Spears and Paris Hilton playing as Leia and Padme?

Re:This is not BSG

[NullStmt]

I'd watch that over this crappy BSG remake any day. What channel is that on again...

Re:This is not BSG

[Anonymous Coward]

Ask not "what's next", but ask "what's new"? This is what TV and movie makers to - look at this summers Italian Job - aside from a heist and some Minis, it had nothing to do with the great original

Re:This is not BSG

[irussel]

That might actually be an improvement over Episodes I and II.

irussel

Re:This is not BSG

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd watch that..... mmmmmm mud wrestling

Re:This is not BSG

[ScottCanto]

Maybe their shirts will happen to get cleanly ripped half way off.

Re:This is not BSG

[Anonymous Coward]

"I'd buy that for a dollar!"

Re:This is not BSG

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm totally cool with Starbuck being a chick. Assuming of course, that the character still makes awesome time with all of the other hot chicks on the Galactica.

Re:This is not BSG

[Anonymous Coward]

A series named Star Wars that involves mud wrestling between Britney Spears and Paris Hilton playing as Leia and Padme?

Err, I'd actually probably pay to see that one...

Re:This is not BSG

[Archangel Michael]

What is really scary, is that I was going to post that line.

For those wondering, it was a line from Robocop.

Fanservice Galactica

[b1t r0t]

Sounds to me like the only thing good about this show is Edward James Olmos. Everything else is the usual ratings-fodder crap. "But, without lots of breasts, nobody will watch it!" Monty Python was right about television programme planners.

Hrmm, have they tried advertising this?

[Bluetick]

Is it just me, or is Sci-Fi really letting this slip under the radar. I've been watching the Sci-Fi channel, and really haven't noticed any promotion of this at all. Maybe they should try some flashy campaign with lots of explosions, cg graphics, hot chicks, and some ridiculous lines repeated over and over. But I don't know, I just don't see this thing panning out with this little promotion. Who knows, it could be a sleeper hit.

Re:Hrmm, have they tried advertising this?

[cblguy]

You're kidding, right? I usually have SciFi on from 7-10 pm CST every night. Every other commercial on SciFi has been for BSG, and they've been running the 1-hour specials all the time too....

They're promoting the heck out of it, IMO...

Re:Hrmm, have they tried advertising this?

[spookweb]

BlueTick must have TiVo, heh.....

Re:Hrmm, have they tried advertising this?

[kabocox]

Hey, it could be BayWatch in space where the evil villians are the SuperModel Women. They just need 2 or 3 episodes where the "female evil villian supermodel killer" falls madly in love with their "Scotty" character, and it will get the geeks watching.

Re:Hrmm, have they tried advertising this?

[Ashyukun]

They've had posters up on the Metro North rail trains for like the last few months or so. I don't even generally watch SciFi and I knew about its existence (and was scowling at the tagline, "Never create something you can't control.").

Re:Hrmm, have they tried advertising this?

[red floyd]

Dude, you obviously need to add tags, based on some of the replies... :-)

Re:Hrmm, have they tried advertising this?

[Sabalon]

I don't watch Sci-Fi that much - find their stuff damn annoying, but I've been seeing ads for it on quite a few other cable channels, along with lots of ads all over the web (oh crap...I just admitted ads work on the web :)

Maybe they should have done it like...

[Jesus_666]

...Space Patrol/Raumpatruouille Orion, the 1966 Grandfather-of-SciFi-series.
The Raumpatrouille movie is basically the original episodes glued together with some new footage.

Yeah

[Greyfox]

I used to really dig the show when I was 10. I caught a few minutes of an old episode just recently and it made me vomit. I'm lucky I stopped watching when I did or I'd have horked up several internal organs. Just thinking about it makes me queasy now.

Number 6

[Call Me Black Cloud]

A hot Cylon in a low cut dress...woo hoo! Here's the actress' biography from the SciFi site:

Victoria's Secret model Tricia Helfer was born in Donalda, Alberta, Canada. The 1992 Ford Supermodel of the World winner and former Elite model has graced the covers of such magazines as Elle,Amica Italia and Cosmopolitan UK, and has walked the runways for Christian Dior, Givenchy, Claude Montana, Emanuel Ungaro and other top fashion designers.

Clearly the producers have spared no expense in landing top thespians. According to IMDB, her previous acting gigs include:

A part in an episode of CSI, where she played a model who ends up dead.

A small part in the 16 minute short "Eventual Wife"

A judge at the 2003 Miss Teen USA

The role of Farrah Fawcett in "Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Charlie's Angels'"

IMDB also reports her measurements are 34-24-34

Re:Number 6

[superbeerchan]

Don't forget about that title role in "The Prisoner" Oh, wait....

Re:Number 6

[corbettw]

Shouldn't they have named her "6 of 9"? At least then there would be no confusion over where they got the idea.

Re:Number 6

[Amigan]

Much more interesting (and IMHO appealing) pictures in this month's Maxim Online. See her pictoral . She and the rest of the cast seemed excited and pumped in the SciFi channel's one-hour behind the scenes show

Re:Number 6

[Anonymous Coward]

Thank you...

Re:Number 6

[daeley]

A part in an episode of CSI, where she played a model who ends up dead.

Yeah, CSI Miami. Coincidentally, that episode was just replayed last Monday. I was surprised - she was quite convincing lying there on the autopsy table. ;)

Re:Number 6

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, CSI Miami. Coincidentally, that episode was just replayed last Monday. I was surprised - she was quite convincing lying there on the autopsy table. ;)

Even a dog can play dead. Fortunately, she's a bitch in this show, too.

Re:Number 6

[Jason Earl]

From what I have read they should have just called her "69," as that will explain what she spends most of her time doing.

I don't mind the folks at BSG ripping off story elements. In fact, I would encourage them to rip off story elements. Just please make sure that you rip off good story elements.

The thing that made BSG cool was the mythical backstory, and the whole ragtag alliance of humans against the machine thing. Let's face it, good versus evil plays well. Mix in some girls in lycra suits and some space battles and you have an interesting show. You don't even need good actors or clever special effects if you have the right story (think of how bad Mark Hamill was in "Star Wars: A New Hope").

However, without the backstory all you have is soft-core porn in space. Not my cup o' tea.

Re:Number 6

[cpeterso]

They should have just called her "36 of D".

Re:Number 6

[scottganyo]

Clearly the producers have spared no expense in landing top thespians.

Wouldn't you know it, I read this first as "Clearly the producers have spared no expense in landing top lesbians."

I wasn't sure what that really meant but the idea of "Ellen" in a low-cut dress really didn't do it for me...

Starbuck and Apollo

[Sturm]

I know that this will be worn out on this thread, but I'll be DAMN if I'm going to watch a half-ass attempt to recreate a classic sci-fi series that changes the gender of two of the main characters. That is just blatant pandering to try and interest different demographics. You wouldn't make Buck Rogers a woman and you wouldn't make Wonder Woman a man. I just don't see why people can't leave well enough alone. The original series was popular for a reason. Why change the formula?

Re:Starbuck and Apollo

[Cro Magnon]

I agree! If they're going to do that, why bother even calling it "Galactica"! The only way I'll watch this is if we get to see Stardoe nekkid!

Re:Starbuck and Apollo

[theguru]

I'm not going to try to defend the change. I'm waiting to see it.

I have seen Shakespearean and even older play that have been re-visioned and updated, and they came out ok. Romeo and Juliet in modern day LA?! King Lear on a Harley? :) Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. The journey of Hurcules as a woman? Let's make her a woman, put her in a leather get-up and call her Xena...

Re:Starbuck and Apollo

[Anonymous Coward]

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. The journey of Hurcules as a woman? Let's make her a woman, put her in a leather get-up and call her Xena...

But notice they didn't make it a woman, put her in a leather get-up, and still call her Hercules.

You want to steal story ideas from previous works to make your own mismash of concepts? Great, go ahead -- almost everything is somewhat similar to something that came before. But pick a new title for it. This "remake" might have been a wonderful show by itself, but they chose to try to use the BG title and character names, and it just doesn't fit.

Bah!

[FrostedWheat]

I thought they where moving away from space-based shows? Wasn't that one of the reasons they give for stopping Farscape?

Re:Bah!

[KC7GR]

Off-topic, granted. However, in the context of a fantastic show like 'Farscape,' I think "excuses for stopping Farscape" would be a better way to put it.

Re:Little? Cylon? Different?

[jjhall]

And how is this much worse than the Star Trek series? Look at Klingons in the original series, and Klingons in TNG. That is a LOT of evolution in a very short (relatively speaking) time period.

One has to take a step back and realize they are just making TV shows and/or movies here. When they turn a book into a movie, make an addition to the series, or re-make an old one, etc, there will always be differences. Otherwise, what is the point in re-making it?

Lord I hope this doesn't suck...

[ArmenTanzarian]

It's generalizations that could lead to disaster:

"Starbuck was a womanizing, cigar-smoking guy," explains SciFi.com general manager Craig Engler. "Now, she's a man-izing, cigar-smoking bundle of trouble."

Yeah, all he did was have sex and smoke cigars, that's why his character was so great... Not to mention "bundle of trouble" popping up highly on my oh-crap-o-meter for plucky obnoxious characters.

Only time will tell how well adding hot chicks who can't act to dead TV series' will work out. I thought (and please don't flame me for this) SciFi did a pretty good job with Dune though, but they didn't try to make Paul a woman.

Re:Lord I hope this doesn't suck...

[Anonymous Coward]

Off track BUT - Talking of sucking who thinks that Brian Herbert should be hounded from the face of the planet for his crimes against Dune?

Re:Lord I hope this doesn't suck...

[Zeriel]

Hear, hear! Total agreement.

Re:Lord I hope this doesn't suck...

[obergeist666]

who thinks that Brian Herbert should be hounded from the face of the planet for his crimes against Dune?

I do!!!

The beginning of the end

[ScottCanto]

As the new series premieres, those of us who loved the old one will lament the modernized, politically correct show geared towards the typical American audience.

Re:The beginning of the end

[JudgeFurious]

In a way that's kind of rich if you think about it. The treasured "old one" you speak of was, at that time, a current, politically correct (politics change don't they) show geared towards the typical American audience (who had just shown they would spend impressive amounts of "bank" on science fiction entertainment.

These two shows are much more alike than most people are admitting.

Re:The beginning of the end

[gfxguy]

Hmmm... I don't see how a fem-bot with a voracious sexual appetite is PC. I guess it's the new PC, where women are ecouraged to act like men used to act, but men can't act that way anymore...

Remember how women who dressed like sluts were sex objects for a male dominated business, but now they're showing their strength and individuality? Pretty neat. Either way we get to see a lot of hot, scantilly clad women.

I wonder if there will be diversity training for the warriors so they realize that cylons have feelings, too. Perhaps a Hillary Clinton type character will walk around telling the warriors on the battleship that the rest of what remains of humanity questions Adama's leadership and they don't support the effort. There could be some competition for commander, like one who wants to create a "department of peace," and several who were council members who voted for the use of force against the cylons who now say they only voted for it because they didn't think it actually meant using force...

There'll be a segment of the population saying that, instead of fighting the cylons, we should try to understand why they hate humanity so much. There'll be another segment who believes that Adama was in on the cylon attack because he was once part of the weapons industry. Regardless of how many cylons are destroyed, Adama will always be called a "miserable failure" by this segment.

Of course, Adama will lower tax burdens on the people while financing a war, but he'll start feeding the people for free, regardless of how little financial sense it might make. Even though they need weapons, and have little money, he'll impose tarifs on inexpensive third party weapons so that they can pay more to have them manufactured on the ship, where the Galactic Workers Union requires employees work 35 hours a week, no overtime allowed.

How else can we parallel BSG to current events?

Re:The beginning of the end

[b1t r0t]

Perhaps a Hillary Clinton type character will walk around telling the warriors on the battleship that the rest of what remains of humanity questions Adama's leadership and they don't support the effort.

I thought Hillary was going to play the part of the Imperious Leader?

Re:The beginning of the end

[gfxguy]

Nice... I mean, she is already a robot, right? That's really the only explanation...

Re:Little? Cylon? Different?

[Anonymous Coward]

You know, if they wanted to do a different story, that's fine. Great. Good stuff. They shouldn't, however, have called it Battlestar Galactica.

Yeah. Misuse of a name (*cough* Phantom Menace) can really destroy (*cough* Attack of the Clones) a franchise (*cough* Star Trek: Insurrection).

Appropriate use of boobs & lycra

[TopShelf]

Oh, that's ok then, as long as we get to see tits being squashed together in crappy lycra suits!


You're right - if they're going to go the boobs & lycra route, they should find a better show to bring back...

Re:Appropriate use of boobs & lycra

[gbjbaanb]

no way! Bring back 'Buck Rogers in the 21st Century' (but without that wikiwikiwobot).

Ah, Erin Grey.. mmmm. (It was on in the UK during my formative years. those TV producers are bad people :) )

http://members.aol.com/KatieKat91490/BuckRogers. ht ml
(warning: site has sound).

Re:Appropriate use of boobs & lycra

[b1t r0t]

Erin Gray? Ptui! Pamela Hensley forever!

If anything, I think it was her "I want to be tough even though I'm really insecure" attitude that I liked. Erin Gray just seemed like little more than a stone cold bitch to me.

Re:Appropriate use of boobs & lycra

[ipxodi]

Forget Erin Grey -- I want Princess Ardala!(Pamela Hensley)

Re:Appropriate use of boobs & lycra

[Anonymous Coward]

God I hate to do this....

Looks like someone already had that idea.

We're doomed.

Re:Appropriate use of boobs & lycra

[Wolfrider]

--Agreed, Pam was definitely one of the hotter actresses on the series. Remembering back, I actually like what they did with her character. She was also in "Matt Houston", but it looks like she hasn't done anything TV- or movie-wise for years.

GALACTICA 90210

[Dynamic Ranger]

or MELROSE SPACE

Let's wait until next Monday to schedule the wake.

[grunherz]

I've watched "The Lowdown" and decided to give it a chance.

Okay, I'll admit that I think Grace Park (the "new" Boomer) is hot and will probably be one of the main reasons I watch.

But the effects look good (including the 'snapzoom' effect ripped off from Lucas and Episode 3) and how cool is it going to be to see a planet full of badly dressed people carpet nuked from space?

Disclaimer: I'm a lame-o who thinks the Original has aged well.

Typical Corruption

[nurb432]

Its pretty typical these days, to take a 'known show', pervert it to fit todays standards.. toss in a bunch of sex and big explosions to raise market share....

What ever happend to REAL sci-fi that required the viewer/reader to actualy THINK....

Re:Typical Corruption

[PhxBlue]

What ever happend to REAL sci-fi that required the viewer/reader to actualy THINK....

You can still find that, if you look for it in the Sci-Fi section of your local bookstore. :)

Re:Typical Corruption

[slide-rule]

What ever happend to REAL sci-fi that required the viewer/reader to actualy THINK

I think it left about the same time that ST:TNG did. (Not that I'm a major trekkie by anyone's standards, it is just a general correlation, IMO.) The money grabs otherwise known as DS9, voyager, and enterprise seem to have set the current low-ball standards that it seems the new BSG is aiming itself towards. (More prominent tits and cliched characters... not that I mind prominent tits, but there are other channels than sci-fi to get that with.)

Re:Typical Corruption

[Cyrrin]

You mean one with a unique plot, fantastic character development, and a great cast? It gets aired for 10 weeks and then cancelled by a network with a chronic case of rectal-cranial inversion.

(see: Firefly)

Well, now we know why the SciFi Channel couldn't pick up Firefly. It was blowing all its money on this crap.

Wired article

[PIPBoy3000]

Wired has an article on it as well.

Personally, I'll give it a chance. When I was a kid, there was an early 2-hour episode and I pestered my parents to leave the pizza place so I could make it back in time. We returned to find the rug burning in front of our fireplace. Our parents ran into the kitchen to fill pots and pour it on the fire. Us kids ran into the t.v. room to huddle under the smoke and watch our show.

I now refer to the tale as the time Battlestar Galactica saved our house.

Fans who don't watch are morons because....

[SoVi3t]

....remember when Star Trek decided that Klingons should have funny looking forheads, instead of just being played by african americans? That's pretty much the same deal here. Times change people. What was once done 10-20 years ago can't still be done now. Or else we'd still be boogying to disco, wearing tie dyed shirts, and listening to Zeppelin. I never really watched much of the original, but dammit, I'm still gonna give the new one a chance. Cuz if anything, the stuff on tv right now just plain SUCKS (aside from Simpsons)

Re:Fans who don't watch are morons because....

[Anonymous Coward]

Um...Wasn't the first Klingon played by the same guy that played Baltor? Just with face paint and fancy clothes.

What was done 20 years ago can be re-done today FAR easier. Would it be the sme? no. But it wouldn't be an abortion of the whole "universe".
If they'd even gone as far as to reset the time frame far into the future from the original, and use different names, fans might have been able to stomach it more. Instead they try to "re-imagine" it, and thus show their lack of creativity.

I'll be the first to admit that special effects aren't everything. Jaws wouldn't have been near as scary if the fake shark worked right (most of the scenes were hinted at because Brucey wouldn't operate for it, so they used mood and music to make you think the shark was there.).

I'll watch the new one to see how bad it's going to be, but from the previews, I'm sure I'm going to be disappointed.

Re:Fans who don't watch are morons because....

[Archangel Michael]

[blockquote]Or else we'd still be boogying to disco, wearing tie dyed shirts, and listening to Zeppelin.[/blockquote]

You mean, we're not supposed to?

Re:Fans who don't watch are morons because....

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh no! Disco Stu is outta here!

Re:Fans who don't watch are morons because....

[Anonymous Coward]

Times change people. What was once done 10-20 years ago can't still be done now.

Yes, times do change -- and that's exactly why I'm not going to watch. Not out of outrage, but lack of interest. See, it's the new version that's trying to do what was already done (but with breasts-a-jiggle this time). Why would I want to watch a story I've already seen? Sorry but I don't care how many special effects there are if the story sucks.

Now if they'd taken the original characters, moved them ahead 20-odd years, and told a story of what happened to them all this time and how they've survived (or failed to; odds are some of them died along the way), that would be interesting.

This new version is simply boring. Supporters of it are yelling that it should be judged on its own... but judging it on it's own it still isn't interesting. Ooh, humans created machines that turn against them -- it's been done already, to death.

Re:Fans who don't watch are morons because....

[Anonymous Coward]

> remember when Star Trek decided that Klingons should have funny looking forheads, instead of just being played by african americans?

Interesting factoid: the first bumpy-headed Klingon (from the first movie) was played by Mark Lenard, a.k.a. Spock's dad, Sarek!

Re:Fans who don't watch are morons because....

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't even think of any Klingons played by African Americans in the original series: Michael Anasara, John Colicos (hah, BG tie in), were not black.

Re:Fans who don't watch are morons because....

[Cro Magnon]

I guarantee, if they had turned to captain of the Enterprise into Jane T. Kirk, I wouldn't have watched that either!

Re:Fans who don't watch are morons because....

[Blackhalo]

Zeppelin in the same sentence as disco without a "=!"? Heresey.

But, on topic, Battlestar Galactica had some serious disadvantages in it's day. It was up against the #1 rated TV show of the day, 60 Minuites, Perhaps you've heard of it.

As a kid growing up in a one TV household, never got to see the show, until the reruns. Even the pilot was preempted by a Presidential Adress.

Obligatory Family Reference:

[dark_panda]

Scene: Community cable access TV show. Portly 30-something, probably single, hosts:

"That's all for this week on KISS Forum. Stay tuned for Battlestar Galactica Forum."

Quickly puts on Cylon helmet

"WELCOME TO BATTLESTAR GALACTICA FORUM."

J

T3 in space

[chiph]

Terminatrix In Space!

hmmm

[Rhinobird]

Wonder Woman a man....hey wait a minute isn't that on the BBC right now? or am I thinking of something else?

Re:hmmm

[Anonymous Coward]

I saw this one episode of Justice League where a parallel universe version of Wonder Woman had a real dykey hair cut.

Re:hmmm

[gfxguy]

Actually, in today's world of "diversity" and "feelings", it'd have to be "Wonder Person" or, more likely, "wonderful person".

Unless the "person" was gay or "transgendered", then actually using the expression would be ok; "wonderfully transgendered," which could get a grant from the government because it promoted diversity.

One episode could be spent looking for bathrooms suitable for either sex. (skip down to "Adventures in Inclusiveness")

Re:Obligatory Family Guy Reference:

[dark_panda]

er, Family Guy reference. I even previewed thrice.

J

So What?

[drxenos]

So, they changed it. Big deal. Why would you want to watch the same story over again? Anyone having heart ache over this should get a life.

Not going to judge

[james_orr]

I'm not going to judge it until I see it.

It is possible that they have parted from the original series and actually made it better you know :).

I did enjoy the original series, but i'm certainly not a die-hard fan of it.

Re:Not going to judge

[applemasker]

From SciFi's "BG: Lowdown" it seems the creators have been heavily influenced by Babylon 5 (more of a space-opera than the original BG) and Fox's stillborn "Space: Above and Beyond" (what little of the combat sequences shown by Sci-Fi reminded me a lot of Space: Above and Beyond).

I agree with the parent - they could have made it better, even if Richard Hatch (the original Apollo) bitches and moans about it. If this were the same story, same characters with modern CGI, I would be far less optimistic and more likely to think it's just an attempt to milk whatever life still exists in the franchise. (Is Kenneth Johnson reading this as he works on "V: the Next Generation" for NBC?) Given that they're using the same framework, enhanced mythology, and moving in a new direction, it could be a great concept... besides, is anyone going to argue that Dirk Benedict is a sexier Starbuck than this one?

Re: A pro-active orca?

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey, an "in-your-face" Orca could be just what SeaQuest needs to draw new viewers! You've heard the phrase "let's get busy"? How about an Orca that gets biz-ay, consistantly and thoroughly...

Now that's script reuse for you...

[Channard]

Flesh Gordon 3 - This Time It's Tinfoil - lives, albeit with the title crossed out and replaced with 'Battlestar Galactica'.

One with rabid sexual desires

[digitalgiblet]

"one with rabid sexual desires"

Well I for one welcome our new hottie robot overlords with rabid sexual desires!

Re:One with rabid sexual desires

[Anonymous Coward]

Well I for one welcome our new hottie robot overlords with rabid sexual desires!

You'd better hope they feel compassion for the male refractory period, or you might be eliminated as not being up to the job.

Re:One with rabid sexual desires

[Anonymous Coward]

You'd better hope they feel compassion for the male refractory period, or you might be eliminated as not being up to the job.

at this point i would settle for any action i can get, so i am willing to take those chances.

So, it's not nostalgia. Big deal.

[divisionbyzero]

I prefer re-invention myself. You want the old series? Buy the boxed set.

Hey, at least it's not a M$ slam!

[Anonymous Coward]

I didn't know the still sold mustard in 25 gal jars!!!!

Space sluts

[Anonymous Coward]

The old show had those hot looking space sluts with gobs of lip gloss. I hope the new show has some skin like LEXX does once in a while!

Actually....

[cnelzie]

The original BSG was composed of a mixing of Space Opera Science Fiction and the Mormon religion story.

The whole thing with the 12 colonies of man and the 'lost' 13th colony is exactly like the Mormon belief of 12 tribes of man with a lost 13th tribe and how reuniting with that 13th tribe would be their salvation or something along those lines.

There was a great deal of other Mormon influences behind a great deal of the back-story to BSG. The actual TV series stories followed the basic 'hodge-podge' that often plagues the first season of a number of television series, although there was some really interesting storylines built around the Mormon mythology, like the thing with the beings of light that went through a handful of the episodes.

If it had stayed on the air, it would have developed into a very significant series of stories instead of just the barely exposing the surface that was shown back in the 70's.

The whole draw to the series was and still is the way the characters were, how they interacted and the relationships they held with eachother. These days the producers and storywriters claim that having 'damaged' characters and conflict amongst the heroes is the way that things are supposed to be. That's not the BSG that I remember and it's not the BSG that I would like to see.

I will probably watch this show, just to give it a chance, but in the end I will likely still give more weight to the original with it's compelling back-history and lofty ideals. (Even though it is based heavily on a somewhat 'odd' religious group's history.)

I've never stooped this low befoe, but....

[Artifakt]

I for one would like to welcome our sexually ravenous Cylon overlords.
Just imagine a beowulf cluster**** of sexy Cylons.
In Soviet Russia, Cylons still have one monolithic red eye.

1. Cover Cylons in flesh toned vinyl.
2. Give them visene.
3. Open Cylon house of ill repute.
4. Profit!
(Sorry there's no step N. ???)

BSG was popular...

[Creepy]

I love all the reviews mentioning it only lasted one season. Technically that's true, but it was cancelled for one reason - the price tag of 1 million per episode. Today that's a joke - each primary _character_ in Friends makes that, but back then it was an unheard of amount.

Fans clamored to get it back after it was dumped, and were given BSG 1980, based on Earth where the executives could get away with much cheaper cost/episode. Most of the original cast was gone, and the episodes reeked of being cheaply made and for the most part poorly written.

Personally, I don't mind a rethinking, since, for instance, I can't imagine the original Star Trek working with today's audiences, but I'm a little wary about new cylons, which seem more like dopplegangers than machines. I still think of BSG as a man-vs-machine conflict (even though, if I recall this correctly, the Cylons are some kind of proteus mass that lives in the robot body). Not to say that it won't work - Terminator did the doppleganger robot thing believably. T2 and T3, on the other hand, were very non-realistic with their liquid metal robots (I can see being damaged and self repairing, but being blown to bits and having all the pieces flow back together? Give me a break). I don't really consider those movies sci-fi - they're fantasy in a sci-fi setting.

I still don't picture Starbuck as a woman - it doens't seem like a female name and the character was so well defined. Boomer I can picture more (it's got that fighter-pilot aura) and the character didn't stand out as much as Starbuck or Apollo. Speaking of, if they'd made Apollo a girl, I'd have to whack them upside the head (there are much better and appropriate female goddess names, like Artemis, Athena [though that was used in the orig], and Kalypso). Thankfully, they didn't.

Re:BSG was popular...

[Anonymous Coward]

No, the proteus mass in the robot body was the Daleks. Different, and much, much, much better, show, even with only a fraction of the budget.

The Cylons were actually a race of flesh-and-blood aliens - you see one early on in the original series, commanding one of their base ships. They used robots extensively throughout their empire. The tin-plated "Cylons" we all know and love were the Centurions, their military robots. There were others robots on the show, such as Lucifer, whose role I never understood, except he was a bit of a smart-ass. But all of the various robots were nothing more than that, and all were the creations of the living creatures that were the original Cylons.

Re:BSG was popular...

[rworne]

You know, one cool thing came about from Galactica 1980. When I was in high school in the San Fernando Valley (near Univeral Studios), someone bought one of the motorcycles used in the series. It was neat watching it tool around the neighborhood with the Galactica-esque type body panels on it.

One of the coolest lines in the show was when they were observing earth from space and zoomed in on the Los Angeles freeways:

"It must take them many years of training to be able to travel like that". (paraphrased)

The other funny moments were (also paraphrased):
A Cylon shorting out when a nearby microwave oven started up.

From the WWII time-travel episode:
(Viper pilot)"They seem to be launching many small metal objects at us."
(Passenger)"They're shooting at us! Get out of here!"

and:
(one nazi to another after firing on a Viper):
"You fool! You are shooting at one of our own experimental aircraft!"

Galactica 80 was horrid, but it did have its moments.

Re:BSG was popular...

[Anonymous Coward]

I must be the only person on the planet that liked Glactica 1980. Not as much as the original show, true, but I enjoyed it.

I still remember Starbuck trying to exchange gold for currency at a bank.

Re:BSG was popular...

[DownTheLongRoad]

Fans clamored to get it back after it was dumped, and were given BSG 1980, based on Earth where the executives could get away with much cheaper cost/episode. Most of the original cast was gone, and the episodes reeked of being cheaply made and for the most part poorly written.

You just had to do it huh? Here I was all enjoying my day with a nice cup of coffee and you went and mentioned Battlestar Galactica 1980. Thanks, now my day is shot! Oh what a horrid wretch of a show that was. The flying motorcycles, the preaching about current social issues and the stupid boycout troop which could do super human things like jump into trees. During the first episode when the woman said, "The V2 rocket? Germany almost won the war because of those", I knew it was all downhill from there.

Re:BSG was popular...

[Dag Maggot]

Here's a great page that shows the making of those motorcycles. I remember thinking they were very cool when I was a kid. Less than impressive now...
http://www.kesigndesign.com/code/galactc6. htm

Re:BSG was popular...

[rworne]

Thanks. That brings back memories. I haven't seen the motorcycle running about since 1984 or thereabouts.

The real question about BSG is this...

[Microsift]

Will it lead to peace in the Middle East...

Now before you accuse me of smoking crack, consider this, Israel and Egypt signed the Camp David Peace Accord during the airing of the original BSG.

Fortunately, I think it's safe to say that Sci-Fi won't interrupt BSG if the story breaks(unlike ABC who very nearly ruined my Sunday(?) evening some 25 years ago by putting two guys I'd never heard of and the President on the screen instead of BSG

MOD PARENT UP!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Interesting info!

Hey why not?

[cubicledrone]

If the Cat in the Hat drives a rocket car and sounds like Charles Nelson Reilly, why can't Battlestar Galactica erase it's entire background story? (Question: Has anyone EVER seen more advertising before? It's nauseating)

It even has a blond semi-alien with a number for a name. Now that's original. If you're going to objectify women, at least make it obvious.

Entertainment executives cannot green light an original idea any more. They simply cannot do it. The attention span in the board room is no different than that of the MTV audience: the whole industry is based on elevator pitches (just like the game industry), and an original concept CANNOT BE EXPLAINED in 30 seconds, so they have to come up with:

"it's Battlestar Galactica, ok, but we replace the search for Earth with a blond alien and spend millions on CG effects nobody can see because we forgot to add enough light sources."

"So we keep the name, and piss off the whole existing market for the show so we have to spend more millions on spamvertising to build a whole new market, right?"

"Right!"

"Brilliant! Here's $$$$ I'm late for my bean salad lunch"

When a Japanese anime company pays cash to buy a major studio, then somebody will wake up, but by then it won't matter.

Re:Hey why not?

[Anonymous Coward]

Entertainment executives cannot green light an original idea any more. They simply cannot do it. The attention span in the board room is no different than that of the MTV audience: the whole industry is based on elevator pitches (just like the game industry), and an original concept CANNOT BE EXPLAINED in 30 seconds

This is an excellent point. I wonder if the massive amount of drugs taken by most people in Hollywood has damaged their brains, to the point where they simply can't pay attention long enough for an original idea to be explained to them.

Perhaps only executives who are less than two hours out of rehab should be permitted to make a decision. Any decision.

I may have missed something...

[Thedalek]

To this point, I haven't seen anything that says this couldn't take place in the BSG universe before the human/cylon war and the scattering of the tribes. It would explain a whole heckuvalot, like the female Starbuck (ancestor) and the reasoning behind the cylons.

Then again, I may have just not seen enough of the promo material.

Re:I may have missed something...

[NeuroManson]

If it was me, I'd have written it so that prior to settling on Kobol, humans
were enslaved by the reptilian Cylons. To keep control over the humans, the
Cylons created the familiar robots as enforcers. Somehow (vis a vis a revolt
or civil war) the humans escaped and settled Kobol, biding their time while
they developed their civilization and technology. Eventually, the robotic
Cylons wiped their creators out (since the initial purpose of their
inception was lost temporarily, they followed their basic programming or
simply malfunctioned, choosing to decimate their reptilian masters instead).

That would fall much more in line with the whole 13 tribes deal, since, with
a bit of Mormon embellishment, they represented the freed Jewish tribes who
escaped from Egypt, if memory serves correctly. It would also explain why
Kobol was set as the "birthplace" of humanity, remaining safely hidden in a
magnetic void, free of Cylon attack. It also would explain why there was a
war with the Cylons, since the moment they left Kobol to explore and
colonize the other worlds, as they were no longer safe from their enemies.
It could explain, as well, why Kobol was largely desolate, despite their
having access to high technology and interplanetary travel capabilities.
Sure, the stone pyramids would last thousands of years more, but there would
still be *something* remaining of their civilization (the electric torches,
for example, still holding power and still operational after thousands of
years).

Barring a remake of BSG, that would actually make a kickass
origin/backstory, now that I think of it.

Michael Rymer

[vivarin]

The director of BSG, was my partner for a semester at film school He's freakin' brilliant, so expect something really interesting. The original series was, and remains, utter crap.

Re:Michael Rymer

[Anonymous Coward]

My initial response is you'll see how the "utter crap" version makes a ripple in the sci-fi crowd.

Just for future purposes, what is lower than "utter crap"?

Re:Michael Rymer

[mpoort]

If the original was "utter crap", then why did he/they call the new one Battlestar Galactica? Seems that it would be a better idea to make a derivative product under a different name to differentiate the two.

Re:Michael Rymer

[Gojira Shipi-Taro]

Probably because they owned the name/concept, and it's easier to establish a new series on that basis.

It's also possible that the creative folks involved sincerely intended to make an homage to the original. Considering the "proportional-to-the-era" T&A involved, I find that quite likely ;)

I didn't consider the original "utter crap" at the time, but on seeing it again as an adult, I question why I liked it as much as I did, a little anyhow.

Yup

[Anonymous Coward]

Guess we saw the viper launch at least a 100 times.

hark!

[dutky]

kibo says.

The Joke is Lost

[Anonymous Coward]

They where coming to earth to be saved. How sad it would be if they showed up here. Sorry can't help you dude.

Re:The Joke is Lost

[Chad Page]

That was Galactica 1980, which was also a joke...

Prepare yourselves...

[dfn5]

For major suckage.

1. Chick starbuck.
2. Human created cylons.
3. And cylons that look like humans.

3 strikes and you're outa here.

going to watch anyway

[Fratz]

Look, I don't care if it's true to the original. The previews for this "remake" make me very much want to see it because it looks like it deals with issues with an intensity that the original never had.

I don't care if Starbuck is a girl, and I don't care if Boomer is a girl. Seeing interesting characters doing interesting things is more important to me than having a white man play Starbuck and a black man play Boomer.

Re:going to watch anyway

[Anonymous Coward]

"Seeing interesting characters doing interesting things is more important to me"

Well, you should be tuning into PBS or Discovery because most are pretty sure BSG is going to be lame. Then again, you may be the target audience that tears up when you find out about "breast cancer" being a threat to our heroines.

Amen.

[porkchop_d_clown]

I was very dubious till I saw those teasers. I can't understand why they only show the sex-toy on the website, instead of showing off the *real* toy, the Galactica!

Sluggy Galactica the Musical

[2marcus]

http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=030810 Clearly, they just need to make the show a musical (see above) and it will be a smashing success! -Marcus

What?! No more "Mormons in Space"?

[Chalupa]

...so I guess there will be no more subtle references to Mormonism?
Trying to find those little gems in the plot lines was the most fun part of sitting through the original BSG.

...if countries were Olympic sports, Canada would be the rhythmic gymnastics.

Chalupa

Re:Little? Cylon? Different?

[Lumpy]

nice to see you got a +4 insughtful for talking out your ass.

First off the "cylons" are still the red eye robots. there happens to be an addition of stealth cylons that look exactly like us.

The story line is pretty damn close to the origional and the effects are awesome.

I have the dvd here from work with the first 2 episodes on it. (we are a cable ad-sales company... I get all the goodies that are sci-fi based and because we are one of the largest markets we get the premium freebies/goodies.)

and It's not anything you make it out to be. there are a few minor changes that really dont screw up anything but really enhance it more.

Seems faithful to me

[bluethundr]

So, let me get this striaght. Starbuck... a girl. Boomer...also a girl. Cylon warriors...sexpot girls? So what elements from the original show did they keep? Vipers. We have Vipers. If you took the Vipers out of Battlestar Girlactica you'd might as well call this series "Ernest Goes To Outer Space".

Leaving out Earth could be an improvement.

[Artifakt]

The original Galactica relied heavily on a plotline borrowed from the UFO cultist types, about how ancient earth civilizations were actually built up by space aliens.
From interviews ad TV guide articles, I gathered the producers, having not actually read any "Sci-Fi" what-so-ever, thought that the aliens built the pyramids idea was pretty central to SF. To them, most fans, if asked to name a famous SF author, would have said Von Daneikin instead of Asimov, and a great original idea in SF, that nobody had used before, would be something along the lines of "The last man and woman on earth discover they are Adam and Eve".
This new series is being written and controlled by people who know something of the genre. They may still turn out utter c**p, but there are at least some mistakes they won't make.
(I was glad John Colecos got work though.)

Hello?

[ryanvm]

Aluminum Cylon enemies look more like humans, complete with feelings, including one with rabid sexual desires

Hello?? I wasn't planning on watching, but you convinced me.

It's a standard Hollywood trick

[GuyMannDude]

Its an entirely different animal, it is in fact so different that I suspect that the only reason its title is BSG is to get the built in audience ...

You hit the nail right on the head there. See, it's risky for a movie or TV studio to put up the cash for a brand new show. They don't know if anyone is going to watch it or not. Doesn't matter how good it is. It's much easier to simply co-opt an existing brand name and slap it on your product. That way, you're guaranteed that some people are going to watch the first couple of episodes of your show, regardless of whether it's any good or not.

Perhaps the most striking example of this in recent years was Hollywood's remake of Godzilla. The Japanese Godzilla that we all know and love was a real force of nature -- with a twist. It was an unpredictable and unstoppable as a hurricane but with the added sting of knowing that mankind was responsible for its creation. The Hollywood version turned the once-mighty creature into a powerless wimp who scampered away like a frightened kitten in the face of helicopter gunships. Thus, you never really felt like the world was in danger. Every time Godzilla popped up you could chase him away with helicopters or tanks. Of course you can't keep doing that forever but I think we can all agree that eventually they would have found where he was hiding and finished him off. So the writers tried to make him a threat by having him spontaneously produce offspring. So instead of having a large, scary, unstoppable force bearing down on you, this new Godzilla was little more than a glorified bacterium, reproducing rapidly. Not very scary and not at all faithful to the original. In fact, other than the fact that both monsters were created as a result of nuclear testing, there was nothing about this new monster which indicated that it was Godzilla. You could hear kids in the audience tugging on their parents sleves asking "Why is Godzilla running away?" It was clear that Devlin and Emmerich (the writer/producer/director team) had just made up their own monster and story and slapped the brand name of Godzilla on the front to move more product (be it movie tickets or associated toys).

There's a balance that needs to be struck when doing a new version of a beloved classic. You don't want a shot-by-shot remake like Point of No Return (La Femme Nikita) or Gus Van Saint's Psycho. On the other hand, it does the original a disservice to completely throw everything out the window and start from scratch. I watched the "Behind the scenes" special on BG last night and Roland Moore came right out and said that the only thing they were planning on keeping from the original was the Viper shape. Stuff like making the cylons humanoid and the womanizing, but likeable, Starbuck into a bitchy woman is going way, way too far.

Before someone flames me for calling the new Starbuck a bitch, I want to make it clear that I have nothing whatsoever against women as action heros. Quite frankly I think it's a long time in coming. But if you had seen the show last night, I think you would have to agree that this new actress is trying way, way too hard to be 'tough'. Jean-Luc Picard was tough and he didn't feel the need to mouth off to people constantly. He was respectable and everyone knew it. True strength simply radiates from people -- there's no need to constantly shout out your superiority to everyone. It just doesn't work.

GMD

Re:It's a standard Hollywood trick

[Hecubas]

Where are my mod points! Somebody mod it up!

Re:It's a standard Hollywood trick

[fenix down]

Starbuck w/ penis was a dick too. The sans-penis version is just playing the character. Picard was a 80s wise mentor-type character, Starbuck was a 70s tough guy. Starbuck isn't supposed to be respectable, he's from the 70s, you didn't need respect back then, just big hair.

Re:It's a standard Hollywood trick

[Graff]

Before someone flames me for calling the new Starbuck a bitch, I want to make it clear that I have nothing whatsoever against women as action heros.

You know, I'd have far less problems with Apollo being a woman and Starbuck being a man than the other way around. Starbuck's big charm was his machismo, changing him to a woman is a much further-ranging change from the original series than changing Apollo would be.

As for Boomer, fine make him into a woman, I have no problems with women being equal as pilots or any other job.

Re:It's a standard Hollywood trick

[king wilson]

""The Hollywood version turned the once-mighty creature into a powerless wimp who scampered away like a frightened kitten in the face of helicopter gunships. Thus, you never really felt like the world was in danger. Every time Godzilla popped up you could chase him away with helicopters or tanks. Of course you can't keep doing that forever but I think we can all agree that eventually they would have found where he was hiding and finished him off.""

Considering the fact that Godzilla did, in fact, lose his pursuers a few times in the movie, we have no reason to believe they would have found him after the movie was over....

It's like this huge lizard ducked down a side street, in the middle of a goddamn city, and the helicopters just kept flying straight by him.....

Not judging yet

[shotgunefx]

It looks like it could be ok. To be honest, I recently watched the first one and it's not nearly as good as I remember. I didn't remember them going to the planet of Club 54 with the disco music.

Though the Cyclons kick ass. I liked them so much, I tried to make my car look like one.

Pic 1

Pic 2

As sung on South Park...

[Anonymous Coward]

Mormons: Dum dum dum dum dum!!!!

Therefore, BSG fans: Dum dum dum dum dum!!!!

Quick comments

[GuyMannDude]

Looks sex-addled, low-action, and pretty scanty on the mythology. "Cylon Fembots" is all we need to know.

I was a bit surprised when I saw how much sex stuff was going to be in this new show. I know that Star Trek has gone this way (7 of 9, T'Pol) but the guy doing BG is Roland Moore and between him and Braga (the other ST:TNG writer) I always figured that Moore was the one who didn't feel the need to use sex as a way to sell an inferior product. I guess I was wrong. Of course then they try to head off the criticism that the new show is sexist by making Starbuck and Boomer women. Yet the people on the 'making of' show last night clearly indicated that Starbuck and Boomer were going to be in sexual situations as well (sexual tension but no action in Starbuck's case).

The mythology was pretty much all that made it distinctive, such as it was, in the original case.

You're probably already aware of this but just in case not: the story of the original is based very heavily on the story of the Mormons trying to find a place to settle. Obviously, most Hollywood types are Mormons so they were completely unaware of this. For them, and the vast majority of the American public, the story was a brand new idea. In reality, the backbone story was already done. All the writers had to do was take an obscure, yet interesting, story and flesh it out a bit and transfer it to the stars.

GMD

Re:Quick comments

[Anonymous Coward]

>>by making Starbuck and Boomer women. Yet the people on the 'making of' show last night clearly indicated that Starbuck and Boomer were going to be in sexual situations as well.

With each other? That will pump up the ratings. Howard Stern was onto something ...

Re:Quick comments

[Anonymous Coward]

Odd I thought Hollywood was full of Bush hating, ultra-liberal Gay Jews....

At least that's the vibe from Foxnews...

Re:Quick comments

[schon]

most Hollywood types are Mormons

You have too many 'm's in that word. :o)

Re:Quick comments

[Blackhalo]

"most Hollywood types are Mormons"

Mormon Picture Association of America?

Strange, I always thought the studio heads were associated with a different faith. That reminds me of the "banned" Family Guy episode, "Wish Upon a Smith."

Re:Little? Cylon? Different?

[mesach]

So it can Flop Miserably

Lucite...Hardening...

[Mothra the III]

Must end life in classic Lorne Greene pose from Battlestar Galactica!

Re:Little? Cylon? Different?

[sammy baby]

The difference in costuming was alluded to in an episode of DS9, in which several crew members travel back in time to perform a mission right under the noses of the crew of the Enterprise, during the episode "The Trouble With Tribbles." When asked what happened to Klingons to so radically change their appearance, Worf responds, "We do not discuss it with outsiders."

Hacked in 2003:GNU, GNOME, Debian, FSF, and Gentoo

[Anonymous Coward]

Who's next to have their Linux network hacked in 2003?

Sci-Fi channel strikes out....again

[CitznFish]

I swear the Sci-Fi channel thinks it caters to geeks who don't care about the quality of a show, they just want space ships and laser guns. How can they turn a classic TV show upside down and expect it to succeed? Clearly remaking BSG is a ploy to get fans of the classic to watch. But changing the story and characters is the surest way to alienate the fans of the classic. Anyone not familiar with BSG will not watch anyway. No, Sci-Fi Channel has shot themselves in the foot. I just hope they don't have a Dagget or the mining planet with aliens who harvest humans.

I for one refuse to watch this garbage. Boomer and Starbuk as females is sacralige.

I was there....

[acvh]

...and it wasn't pretty. The original show sucked; ANY changes they are making now will be an improvement, even if they bring in Alf and Suzanne Somers.

The original...

[praedor]

actually really did suck. Hammy acting (if you wish to call what went on in that show "acting"), midlin special effects, boring story line with major holes in it.

Here's one that always bothered me (I was a typical moronic teenager at the time so I watched the show). The Cylons supposedly wiped out most of humanity, leaving a "ragtag fleet" of fleeing humans in search of the original homeworld Earth. Except that every frickin episode, they visited yet another planet populated with perfectly happy, living humans! Everywhere they went while on their search for Earth were human-populated planets! Doesn't appear that the Cylons did much damage at all to humanity, just a small, whiney, rag-tag sub-sub-portion of humanity.

Then, for such a powerful cyborg-ish foe, the Cylons got their asses handed to them in virtually EVERY encounter except for the initial one. Man, they SUCK! Their reaction time and aim was worse than all the human pilots in their pathetically tiny (Where is the fuel stored for always-on engines?) and poorly designed starfighters. And all combat resembled, exactly, that of modern fighter aircraft within an atmosphere.

OK, OK, too much (!?) nitpiking on technical detail, but the biggie is still hanging there: All those human-populated planets, most of which apparently had never heard of, let alone seen, a Cylon at any time.

Other than apparently hot robot sex, beautiful women, and big breasts, the new version doesn't sound like much of an improvement on the old one, though even something as simple as a sideview of a hot woman's breast is a vast improvement...but what does THAT say about the original?

Makes me miss Galactica 84

[ShieldWolf]

I used to LOVE BSG, I saw the original theatrical release, I watched the show religiously as a small tyke. Heck I even watched Galactica 84, which was a sad EXREME-low-budget attempt to cash in the series continuing success in reruns.

Studio executives need to not get invloved i ncrap they don't understand.

No one who watched this show as kids watched it for Jane Seymour's sex-appeal (although looking at photos as an adult I do appreciate it) and No one watched the show for the sexual tension between Starbuck and Apollo. I hope. :P

Richard Hatch had a vision for the remake that people would have LOVED. Sadly after this sex-charged piece of crap bombs there will be no chance in hell that will happen.

Rick Berman and Seven of Nine ruined Sci-Fi for a generation. The only thing that will get greenlit is cheap, sexy and shallow.

Re:Makes me miss Galactica 84

[sammaffei]

Actually that was "Galactica 80", and boy, was it baaaaad!

I saw BSG when it was first run... I was 8 or 9 then... :-)

Re:Makes me miss Galactica 84

[ShieldWolf]

Yeah I got confused with GALAGA '84, too much MAME :P

Incidentally, about the producer...

[sammy baby]

Glen Larson is a Mormon.

Re:Little? Cylon? Different?

[GuyMannDude]

First off the "cylons" are still the red eye robots. there happens to be an addition of stealth cylons that look exactly like us.

I guess we'll have to take your word for this since last night on the 'making of' show we didn't get one damn good look at the new cylons. Not one. They instead treated us to a Maxim photoshoot of the new fembot cylon. I think you can see where many of us are getting the impression that the red-eye cylons aren't going to be the major part of this show. That, and the fact that Roland Moore came right out and admitted last night that one of the reasons for using humanoid cylons was to cut production costs. My jaw dropped when he said that. I couldn't believe he would admit that.

and It's not anything you make it out to be. there are a few minor changes that really dont screw up anything but really enhance it more.

From last night it seemed like pretty much every character is completely different now. Adama no longer has the entire respect of every single individual. Starbuck is no longer a lovable, joking womanizer, she's a woman with a huge chip on her shoulder. Apollo seems to be suffering from the death of his brother and blames dad. Baltar is not the evil person from the original, he's just a confused computer geek. Now there is a President that Adama has to answer to, etc. I'm not sure where you are getting this "minor changes" stuff from. Of course, you claim to have seen the first two episodes so maybe you're right.

I'm going to have to go with the parent poster here. I actually posted the same sentiment above before I saw his comments.

The story line is pretty damn close to the origional and the effects are awesome.

I have no doubt the effects are an improvement over the original. But remember that great effects do not a great sci-fi series make. It's the people, and now the people are completely different. Time will tell whether this new series is really an "enhancement" as you claim or simply a bastardization.

GMD

Starbuck is NOT a woman

[falsification]

Starbuck is not a woman.

I loved this show.

Now they have taken it and ruined it.

Damn those &#&#^#@&#$*# to hell.

Re:Starbuck is NOT a woman

[Cro Magnon]

There's no way I'm watching Stardoe & Apollo!

It might have a chance...

[foistboinder]

and the quest is not for a mythical Earth, as it no longer exists.

That whole earth settled by a lost tribe bit was the stupidest part of a dumb series.

Next up Sci-Fi is going to redo Star Wars

[Weaselmancer]

But Luke will be a disadvantaged inner-city kid, struggling to cope with life as an orphan. And the robots will be played by people. Alderaan won't be destroyed either (too non-pc after 9/11). The Death Star will just orbit the planet and drop leaflets on them.

But all the character's names will be the same, so we can still call it Star Wars. Right?

Weaselmancer

Anyone else notice...

[Muad'Dave]

...that an episode of mst3k featured a movie called "Space Mutiny" that re-used old Battlestar Galactica footage and sound effects?

Not only did the movie blow chunks, it used "borrowed" footage to boot!

You were even able to get through?

[John Harrison]

When I want to read something on AICN I get the front page up and then Ctrl-Left Click about a dozen times on the article I want to read in Mozilla. Sometimes one of those requests will actually get through and I can read the article. The fact that the site functions at all is amazing.

BSG = Wagontrain in spaaaaccce

[Graemee]

Really just another "giv'em the SFX and we'll just need to rehash the same old wagontrain stories" series.

Honestly, if it wasn't for the cylons would you have watched?

As for the remod or "mod" of the series. Does anyone complain when anime gets reworked to suit a movie or new series?

Re:BSG = Wagontrain in spaaaaccce

[Anonymous Coward]

Does anyone complain when anime gets reworked to suit a movie or new series?

You mean like Dirty Pair Flash or whatever they named the Catgirl Nuku Nuku series, or Battle Athletes Victory?

Hell yes, I complain! (although BAV was fine until those last two episodes) It's just that no one listens to me about anime, either.

'Good' aliens have to be pretty nowdays

[GuyMannDude]

Last night the producer (Roland Moore, from ST:TNG fame) actually admitted that the one of the motivations for making the cylons humanoid was to save on production costs. He then went into detail about how the old cylon costumes were difficult to move around in and how modern-day viewers wouldn't tolerate tin-can aliens and demanded something more believable and sophisticated (like a Maxim model, I guess).

You know what alien was cool? The Gorn. With a laughable budget the original Star Trek pitted Kirk against a hand-to-hand battle against some guy in a full-body reptile suit as the two of them ran around in the desert. And as we watched these two drastically different starship captains face off against each other the writers dropped the bomb on us: this hidious inhuman monster might actually be "In The Right" from a moral standpoint. Holy crap! You gotta admire the balls of that show. Nowdays you can't have a 'good' alien without making sure they are at least somewhat attractive to human eyes.

It's kinda sad that as time marches on and our species is presumably becoming more wise that our sci-fi is being increasingly xenophopic.

GMD

Re:Little? Cylon? Different?

[colonwq]

I guess you did not see the first episodes of Enterprise where STNG version of a Klingon crash lands in a Kansas corn field.

Some how they go from bone headed Kingons, to goattee Klingons back to bone headed.

Major Gripe

[Nom du Keyboard]

Why do they have to call it "Battlestar Galactica"? Why play off a name that means something else? If they'd just given it a new name for the series and characters, but what is the use of trying to capture a franchise that you're destroying in the process?

I feel the same about the Tom Cruise "Mission Impossible" movies. If Tom Cruise wants to make James Bond meets Die Hard, fine. Just don't call it "Mission Impossible", because it isn't.

What idiots in Hollywood don't get this?

Re:Major Gripe

[falsification]

At least it wasn't Nicole Kidman in Mission Impossible.

Starbuck is NOT a woman.

She's not acting: she really is obnoxious

[GuyMannDude]

Not to mention "bundle of trouble" popping up highly on my oh-crap-o-meter for plucky obnoxious characters.

She's not acting. She really is obnoxious is real life. Last night on the 'making of' show, our first introduction to her was while she was driving (camera aimed so that we were actually "beneath her" and she didn't have to look at us -- interesting filming choice) she says "I'm so-and-so, the new Starbuck. Deal with it."

I really can't think of a more effective way of saying "fuck you" to all the fans of the original. Obnoxious does not even begin to describe this woman last night. Most people, knowing they were courting controvery, would attempt to smooth things over in their first meeting with fans. Not this one. She's "in your face" and proud of it. Good lord.

GMD

Re:Little? Cylon? Different?

[pyros]

Except that in Voyager the half Klingon girl (Torres?) gets taken to Klingon hell on the Barge of the Dead, piloted by the first Klingon, who has the cranial mountain range. God I need to get out more.

Re:Little? Cylon? Different?

[gmhowell]

To be fair, there were, on occasion, squabbles between Adama and the President. I seem to remember the President siding with the captain of the Pegasus, nearly losing the fleet. Adama was respected by the people, but the President (council??) was still in charge.

In your other note, you made a comment about the writers. Perhaps the suits at SciFi demanded more T&A??

Re:Typical Corruption-Money Train

[Anonymous Coward]

Real SCI-FI (whatever THAT is) costs. Actors and sets costs. Arthors and screenplays costs. You think that Farscape would have taught people that lesson? And as one person pointed out, the greatest SCI-FI is the one between your ears.

Different approach includes being PC

[Shivetya]

Apparently a big BIG dose of Political Correctedness was needed.

Uh, people, it's a miniseries, not a *series*

[Sp00nMan]

Seems like a lot of people on this forum didn't read correctly. BG is just a 4-hour miniseries. Then it's over. Kaput. Just like Dune was. So don't get your panties in a wad about how "it will only last half a season", etc.. Cause it's not made to be a TV series.

Re:Uh, people, it's a miniseries, not a *series*

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually they're treating it as what's called a "backdoor pilot" basically hoping that reaction to the miniseries will be strong enough to convince the network to buy a series. If it doesn't, oh well. But the goal is to go to series after this.

Re:Uh, people, it's a miniseries, not a *series*

[Sp00nMan]

OH.. Well then I stand corrected, and pleasantly surprised.. I hope it is good.. could be the next Babylon5. Although I'm still remembering the failure of Space: Above and Beyond :(

From what I've seen about it, not too bad.

[khasim]

Just not Battlestar.

So the only reason they're naming it Battlestar is so they don't have to work as hard to get viewers?

Change the names and release it as a different series.

Space Above and Beyond had a battle against human-looking robots. I think they did that VERY well.

This should have been done without the Battlestar background.

As a BSG fan and a Mormon...

[John Harrison]

The whole thing with the 12 colonies of man and the 'lost' 13th colony is exactly like the Mormon belief of 12 tribes of man with a lost 13th tribe and how reuniting with that 13th tribe would be their salvation or something along those lines.

I am aware of no such doctorine. The idea of 12 tribes of Israel is straight from the Bible. Ten of those tribes were taken captive or "lost". There is nothing uniquely Mormon about that. There are LOTS of things about BSG that are references to the LDS faith and culture due to Glen A. Larson being a Mormon, but this is not one of them. There are plenty of websites with comprehensive lists of the similarities, so I won't try to out do them here. Google for Battlestar and Mormon and you'll get plenty of hits.

Odd that BSG got all the Mormon references and Magnum PI, Knight Rider (notice how KITT's light and sound are very Cylon?), and the A-Team didn't.

On in Canada? Or, VHS volunteers?

[StephenLegge]

Anyone know if this is on in Canada (specifically, Ottawa)?

Otherwise, anyone in the US up for taping it and sending me a copy?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

stephen@rightclick.ca

Re:Little? Cylon? Different?

[pyros]

Wasn't Roddenbery still around for some of DS9? I presented another example of inconsisctency from voyager, but both those shows were written by Brannon/Braga. So retentive fans would conclude that the DS9 clip is right, and Enterprise and Voyager pulled a Lucas. But those would probably be the same fans who bitch about the Enterprise in Enterprise looking more advanced than the Enterprise in TOS.

Thanks for the Info!

[cnelzie]

I am not a very religous kind of guy... So, there was little impetus for me to research that out farther then what I wrote above...

Re:Thanks for the Info!

[Mr. McGibby]

I am not a very religous kind of guy... So, there was little impetus for me to research that out farther then what I wrote above...

It's okay. Nobody else around here does any research either.

Your mama's a whore. But since I'm not into whores very much, I didn't do any research to back that up.

Enterprise is the BEST of Them

[Anonymous Coward]

Geez guy, I remember watching first-run original series ST episodes on a black and white tv in the kitchen. I've watched every Star Trek series since then and every movie (including that piece of crap Shatner directed).

Enterprise is a BRILLIANT vision of the first long-distance exploration by pre-Federation Earth. If you're disappointed that the characters don't have the godlike powers of later series, try to use some perspective. Maybe even some... imagination. Half the fun of the series is seeing what they can do without shields, figuring out how to create phasers, how to deal with *completely* unknown races.

Maybe you just have something against Scott Bakula...

Re:Enterprise is the BEST of Them

[PierceLabs]

While I too have some problems with Count Bakula, Enterprise as a series is getting better and better as the seasons go. No federation, no shields, no quantum warp flux or cascading warp shell, no starbases, and no support.

There have just been so many good episodes that they counteract the bad ones. I like the series... a lot more than I did its pilot. The only thing that I abhor about the series is the idiocy of the temporal cold war... that's just stupid stupid stupid.

Re:Enterprise is the BEST of Them

[Brad the Informer]

(the AC post was mine - at work)

I agree, the temporal cold war was a poor device. It did get them into the expanse though, and there are some pretty cool things going on there.

I hadn't heard him referred to as Count Bakula. Cruel, but fair.

Re:Enterprise is the BEST of Them

[fuzza]

Really?

It's been said before...

[Evilive]

but I have to say it again..the red-eye cylons DO exist, but there are more advanced cylons that are humanoid. Different 'bots for different purposes.
Geez, I wish /. readers would do some research before posting statements that use their ass as the source.
But then, this IS slashdot - reading the articles and thinking independently is not a requirement.
I am looking forward to the new mini series.
Much like "Planet of The Apes" this is a RETELLING; an update of the original idea using modern social ideals.
Go read the Q&A with the producer. A lot of questions and concerns are addressed.

Xactly!

[cnelzie]

I didn't recall, nor did I feel the need to look up the producer's name, but that's correct. I had read that is why there are so many similarities between the Mormon religion and BSG.

It was probably part of the 'nefarious' Mormon plot to convert Star Wars and other SciFi fans into being Mormons... hehhe...

Re:Xactly!

[dacarr]

Well, wait a moment, I thought that the mormons were all out to steal our precious bodily fluids by fluoridating our beer and coffee.

Re:Xactly!

[Graff]

I thought that the mormons were all out to steal our precious bodily fluids by fluoridating our beer and coffee.

No, those are the commies. Remember man, Purity of Essence - you have to keep those precious bodily fluids pure! :-)

We need you in Hollywood.

[khasim]

"In reality, the backbone story was already done. All the writers had to do was take an obscure, yet interesting, story and flesh it out a bit and transfer it to the stars."

You are a GENIUS!

Not to mention that we have about 2,000 years worth of literature.

Instead, we get sequels and crap.

What's next?

[gothrus]

What other blaspheme shall be performed upon my childhood memories? Maybe they will remake Planet of the Apes and replace the anti-war moral with craptacular special effects and a WEAK story. Oh wait that already happened. Well, can this really be any worse?

Lost Tribes

[JohnsonJohnson]

The 10 Tribes were not "lost" in the sense of being missing. The short story is that the Hebrews organized themselves into 12 tribes, presumably founded by the sons of the patriarch Jacob who had 11 sons but the tribes descended from Joseph traced their roots to his two sons. Each of these tribes occupied a different area of

When the Babylonians returned the tribes to Israel and Jerusalem, which was located in the lands of the tribe of Judah, was reconstructed, some of the other tribes began traditions that were an amalgamation of ancient Hebrew and Babylonian culture. The tribe of Benjamin sided with Judah in returning to a more strictly Jewish lifestyle. So that's how the other 10 tribes were "lost", a more accurate description would be they, left the faith, or were, lost to God, depending on whose point of view you wich to honor.

At any rate, we know exactly where those 10 tribes went. The lands they occupied became known as Samaria or the home of the Samaritans, hence the story of the good Samaritan.

The idea of a 13th tribe is peculiar to the Mormons though, although I think other Judeo-Christian sects claim to be yet another unknown tribe of Hebrews. I believe according to Mormons the 13th tribe were the ancestors of Native Americans.

Incidentally the Biblical use of the word tribe is more closely related to the modern idea of a clan: a people group related by blood. A tribe is a people group related by language and custom, usually made up of multiple clans. The clan system helps prevent inbreeding since your close relatives are easily identified.

Re:Lost Tribes

[John Harrison]

Please tell my where you find this info on Mormons and a "13th tribe". I have never seen it. The Book of Mormon records the history of members of Ephraim and Manasseh who came to the western hemisphere, so Mormons don't believe that Native Americans are part of a 13th tribe, they believe that they are descendants of Joseph.

Re:Lost Tribes

[conan_albrecht]

As a devout Mormon, I have to second the first reply to this one. There is no such "13th tribe" doctrine in Mormonism. Mormons believe that a portion of the ancestry of Native Americans descend from Ephraim and Manassah, part of the regular 12 tribes accepted by most of Christandom.

According to our belief, they crossed the Pacific ocean around 600 b.c., or just before Jerusalem fell. Another group came to the Americas much earlier as well (at the time of the Tower of Babel). But there is no such thing as a 13th tribe in the religion.

Re:Lost Tribes

[JohnsonJohnson]

Hmm, I seem to have earned a higher moderation than necessary for some poorly recalled Biblical history. So I turned to the ever faithful Google, and lo the first five links are crackpots.

After swimming through that stuff you get to the encyclopedic summary of the Sunday school lessons I never paid attention to. So my first error, Jacob had 11 sons, of which he adopted the two grandsons of one, Joseph, leading to 13 tribes. But then why do people refer to 12 tribes of Israel? Because the 13th tribe descended from the 3rd son, Levi, is a special case. The Levites, were the priest class and had no land in Israel although they controlled the temple. Incidentally, the high priests were known as Kohanim, from which we get the last name Cohen. There is evidence that we can trace the dispersal of the Kohanim Levites down through the ages via genetics. One of the odder places this line turns up is among the Lemba tribe of South Africa.

OK, so that settles the issue of the number and origins of the tribes of Israel. So now I'll apologize to any Mormons whose beliefs I have mischaracterised. I understood that Mormons believed a group of Jews had arrived in North America, I was mistaken in that I supposed Mormons believed in an otherwise unknown tribe of Israel. If you really want to amuse yourself, follow the crackpot Google links into some head spinning discussions about the Biblical role the modern United States is supposed to play.

Re:Lost Tribes

[Morthaur]

This is thoroughly wrong. Obviously, no one with moderator points is a historian.
The ten tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel were wiped out (slaughtered and sold into slavery) by the Assyrians centuries before the "Babylonians" (the Chaldeans) entered the picture. The Chaldeans took the two remaining tribes, which comprised the southern kingdom of Judah, into captivity in Babylon, and 40,000 of them returned after the Persians defeated the new Babylon.

I'll bet it's going to be hyper-american now...

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll bet it's going to be hyper-american now, like a space version of JAG or whatever this week's patriotic tripe is, including a thin metaphor of Cylons and terrorists. Why do I think this? Because there hasn't been much else lately; the networks have finally glommed on to the "with us or against us" vibe, and apparently we're just not smart enough to handle much else.

It just makes me wish that I had taped a massive archive of network TV before September 11.

Don't Like It? Don't Watch. (Long Post)

[mpoort]

Yes the original BG wasn't all that wonderful. It was a made-for-TV Star Wars rip-off, the plots were frequently lame or ripped-off from classics (The Gun on Ice Planet Navaronne?), the science was more fiction than fact, and there wasn't a whole lot of backstory. Yes it was a parable for the Conservative nightmares of the early Reagan era in the same way Star Trek: Undiscovered Country paralleled political events of the early 1990's. But for TV it wasn't that bad, for 1978-79 the effects were cutting edge (especially for TV), it had an actual musical score instead of some cheesy intro music hammered out by a Mike Post or Jan Hammer wannabe, and it had established characters who interacted in a consistent storyline. As a space opera TV show it was good enough to watch once a week every week for an hour. When I first heard that Sci-Fi Channel was remaking BG I was thrilled. I hoped that Richard Hatch had finally convinced someone to remake the original series with updated special effects, costuming and technology and a few nods to modern culture (I always thought it was logical and kinda cool that the original eventually included female Viper pilots and hoped the new cast would be updated as such). But then I found out that Starbuck was a woman, and Boomer was a woman, and Cylons weren't really Cylons (they're humanish androids), and the main Cylon is a Terminatrix rip-off from Gov. Arnie's latest movie, and there is no mythological "Lost 13th Tribe" or quest to find Earth etc etc etc and completely lost ALL interest in watching this show. If the previous sentence wasn't blatant enough: I will not watch the new Battlestar Galactica for any reason, period. It is obvious that the new Battlestar Galactica is NOT Battlestar Galactica, just a different show using the BG name. Some of you may wonder why I won't give it a chance. I have done so in the past, beginning years ago with that God-awful Robin Hood ripoff starring Kevin Costner that included new main characters that NEVER appeared in any of the legends and reinterpreted characters that were either far beneath the originals (Little John) or WAY over-the-top (Sheriff of Nottingham). I won't go into excessive detail about the string of film and TV "remakes" that have occurred since then, except to point out that remakes/reinterpretations have been common for the last 15+ years and almost ALL of them have been bad. Those who make them are almost always interested only in cashing in on name recognition (series title or author's name) to sell their product, because that's what these are...products. If you've studied marketing/business and communications at the collegiate level, one of the first things you learn is that the business model of media is: the "media" (show, film, magazine, etc) is "bait" (a term actually used) to lure the audience towards the advertising, from which those who present the media (producers, et al) derive their profit. Those presenting the media frequently don't care about the "artistic integrity" of the media as long as it attracts potential consumers to the advertising; if the crappiest show on TV gets stellar ratings it will remain in the line-up season after season until no one watches it anymore (or it becomes unprofitable for other reasons, ie. too expensive to produce). Thus, the only answer is to not watch the show at all and make it clear that you will not be watching. Nielsen (sp?) ratings are determined by even partial viewing...an hour-long show still gets points even if the viewer watches 10-15 minutes of it, thinks it sucks, and turns it off. It angers me that we "consumers" have been fed a steady diet of tripe and drivel for so long. But the only way to stop it is to not watch and make it clear that you aren't watching. Otherwise Star Trek will continue to be devalued by Voyager and Enterprise quality versions, Star Wars will become even more of a big screen non-interactive video game for 10 year olds, Matrix will spawn even lamer sequel/spin-offs than Reloaded and Revolutions, Anne Rice's Vampire chronicles will have more bad movies and Broadway musicals made in her name, and all your favorite classic books and movies will be raped by media producers in search of the next big buck. Just Say No, folks. :-)

Re:Don't Like It? Don't Watch. (Long Post)

[dlb]

Please learn how to use paragraphs correctly.
Trying to read one huge chunk of text really sucks.

Re:Don't Like It? Don't Watch. (Long Post)

[mpoort]

Well, in the text box it was split into 4-5 paragraphs. Apparently the text box isn't WYSIWYG.

Re:Don't Like It? Don't Watch. (Long Post)

[Gojira Shipi-Taro]

I imagine he accidentally left HTML enabled as his default post type. if you don't do

manually with that set, it all runs together.

I've done that on occasion, usually with shorter posts. Now I rarely use HTML on Slashdot.

Nowhere does it warn you that runons are possible with HTML here, HTML-like posting on other sites isn't quite so braindead as to require manual line breaks. (yea yea preview whateva).

Anyhow, it was an interesting post, text formatting notwithstanding.

Re:Don't Like It? Don't Watch. (Long Post)

[Anonymous Coward]

hmm, so now \
is interpereted even on plain old text? wierd. Wonder if this works... Hmm, guess you don't need to set HTML for the tags to be interpereted. why even have a HTML Formatted post type, I wonder?

mormon influence...

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder if the new BSG will portray more of the mormon influence, such as the special holy underwear? That would make the show considerably less sexy I think. But they could do wonderful things based on the temple endowment ceremony since that already includes nudity! Just replace that old lady in the cubicle with some fly young slimmie to drip the magic oil on the up-and-coming fighter pilots!

Re:mormon influence...

[conan_albrecht]

At the risk of biting a troll, you are misinformed. There is no nudity in the temple. You are covered at all times, unless you want to count the dressing/locker room or bathrooms.

I should know, I was married there and attend the temple monthly. I've also looked into the history of temple practice throughout time. I realize there are web sites that say nudity is in the temple, but I can assure you they don't know what they are talking about.

The Three WORDS of the NEW BSG

[PortHaven]

They have three words and these guys think they can call it Battlestar Galactica

Battlestar Galactica
Cylon
Viper

& a handful of names now meaningless...

Let's talk about two steps backwards???
I mean, I think we have less "black men" in the new BSG than we did in the 79/80's show...go figure?

Re:The Three WORDS of the NEW BSG

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah but Adama is now a MEChistA.

Que Viva La Raza! Oh wait ... I'm a white dude so that is probably racist.

They changed the premise?

[jeff13]

What? No more mormons in spaaaaace? LOL! :)

Look, the original show was so bad it was fun to watch. Rather like an Ed Wood movie.

Changing a silly premise can't be a bad thing. Battlestar Galactica was always about the Viper ships, dog fights, and the big bad assed Battlestar.

Why don't you guys complain about that crappy Enterprise show? It actually demonstrates it's hate on for fans every show.

Re:They changed the premise?

[Cro Magnon]

Why don't you guys complain about that crappy Enterprise show? It actually demonstrates it's hate on for fans every show.

I've not griping about the crummy Enterprise show because this isn't a story about crummy Enterprise; it's a story about crummy BSG with Stardoe! When /. does a story about Enterprise, I'll gripe about it. The show, not the story.

Re:They changed the premise?

[jeff13]

Truly said. The comparison is valid... one show has been famously horrid for three seasons while the other hasn't even been aired. Now, which one should a Sci-Fi fan complain about?

Makes me wonder how many Hollywoodland producers are posting online. Oh wait, all of them!

It's not that /.'s are stupid... oh wait...

BG

[knightrdr]

hoho buddy, it looks like BG is officially here now that it's been Slashdotted.

Personally I've been waiting eagerly to see this. I hope it's as cool as the Steven Spielberg 'Taken' series on SciFi.

Two things I don't get about the new series:

[Baron_Yam]

1. Given that the original had really horrid episode plots, could the new show not have taken the original characters and motivations and simply written fresh (hopefully less campy) scripts?
2. If you don't want the original characters and motivations, why keep the franchise name at all, when that could only hope to draw in the fans who are pissed that you didn't keep the original characters and motivations?

Honestly, the whole "Cylons are trying to wipe us out, let's run to the lost planet Earth for help while having space dogfights" thing combined with the "We're a bunch of human rabble held together against our own infighting by a wise leader" was a fine platform for a sci-fi series. Watching Starbuck raise a baby with the help of a befriended Cylon, on the other hand, makes me ill... and yes, there was such an episode in the original series.

Re:Little? Cylon? Different?

[Mr. Slippery]

Except that in Voyager the half Klingon girl (Torres?) gets taken to Klingon hell on the Barge of the Dead, piloted by the first Klingon, who has the cranial mountain range.

And the clone of Kahles (sp?) in one DS9 ep, and the Klingons in ST:E, have the brow ridges. Only the TOS ones don't.

And since we see some of the same Klingon characters from TOS in a few DS9 eps, the "different races" theory sometimes advanced, doesn't fly.

The answer: obviously a strange trend for body modification during the TOS era, which Klingons later disavowed the way I will disavow ever owning a pair of parachute pants.

(Ok. I'm going to repeat to my "it's just a show, I really should relax.")

Just like the original

[Ilan Volow]

The new Battlestar Galactica is a blatant attempt to build/rip off of a much beloved late 70's sci-fi classic....what could be possibly truer to the original formula?

You guys whining about humanoid cylons

[porkchop_d_clown]

are forgetting that they already *had* humanoid cylons - they were introduced in BSG 1980.

Re:You guys whining about humanoid cylons

[ciphertext]

You are right about that, it's name was Andromidus. That series BG1980 was bad. However, Boomer and Starbuck were still men. While I have no problem with woman being the colonial warriors (Athena), I do have a problem with the gender change of the characters. It's just my opinion, but I think they should have stuck with the premise set about in the orginal series. I think the new series will work for the folks that haven't seen BG before and don't watch the reruns.

Picture of Number Six (Sex)

[BWS]

Picture of Number 6 from New Show and I beg the question, why is there a light coming out of her ass?

What about COSMOS?

[Anonymous Coward]

Before FOX, UPN, etc., the "4th network"
was PBS. And as much as you say that
Battlestar Galacta was "good for its
day" (faint praise indeed), PBS had a
space themed show that kicked Galactica's
ass: Carl Sagan's COSMOS. The spaceship
on COSMOS was something even the most
nitpickiest theoretical physicist could
agree with, a "ship of the imagination".
It explored the mysteries and wonder of
space far better than Galactica did. There
was even a hint of drama in COSMOS that
Galactica couldn't approach. Week after
week, the Galactica was chased by Cylons...
oooo, killer robots! Yeah, it was cool
when I was seven. But in COSMOS, there
were hints that humanity wouldn't leave
the cradle because we weren't wise enough
to not destroy ourselves. I know that
COSMOS was a documentary and that Sagan
was practically a caricature in the '70s,
but I still think it was better than
Battlestar Galactica.

Re:What about COSMOS?

[JWW]

Excuse me while it try to overcome the jarring shock of someone comparing Battlestar Galactica to Cosmos.

Mind you Cosmos is a absolutely fantastic show and all, but up until a minute ago I have never thought of these two shows a the same time.

Re:What about COSMOS?

[Dinosaur Neil]

I must confess, I never thought of Cosmos as SF, what with it being a documentary and all. I wasn't all that impressed with it anyway; I don't know why, but I much preferred James Burke's Connections. Regardless, BSG started in '78 while Cosmos was originally aired in 1980. That put it up against the short-lived Galactica 1980 series that is frequently ignored in BSG history (yeah, even by the standards of the time, it was that bad).

Apples and oranges.

Re:On in Canada? Or, VHS volunteers?

[iantri]

Well, you could always get a DirecTV dish (illegal) or a C-BAND dish (expensive, but programming is legally available)..

A ROBOTECH movie really needs to be made

[boy_afraid]

Yeah, that's what I said. A real life-action movie based on ROBOTECH would KICK-ASS!!!

Re:A ROBOTECH movie really needs to be made

[ciphertext]

I remember a really cheesy movie made that was the result of the Battletech universe popularity during the late eighties early nineties. It sucked. Perhaps they could do something along the lines of what they did with the Final Fantasy movie. That was some good graphics.

Re:A ROBOTECH movie really needs to be made

[TnkMkr]

You know, of all the things (good/bad) that came to my mind while watching Matrix Revolutions, the battle for the docks made me smile inside.

The mech animation simply made me think... Mechwarrior the movie... Robotech the movie... Gundum (pick a story line) the movie...

Re:A ROBOTECH movie really needs to be made

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, baby-- I agree with you there. Rick Hunter and Lisa Hayes ride again... That would light nostalgic fire from my perspective!

Re:A ROBOTECH movie really needs to be made

[boy_afraid]

Don't forget that you could always do a spinoff with the Sentinals (when Rick Hunter and fleet go off to find the Robotech Masters), then Southern Cross, and finally Mospeada aka The New Generation with the Queen and the Hive.

Can you imagine the Veritech's fighting and transforming and mid-air and space fights? With today's special effects technology it would be kick ass! Plus, you have the deep character developments that really suck you in!!

Human looking Cylons....

[inteller]

....is a sign that the show has come down with the Deep Space Nine Syndrome, where all aliens look alike (humanoid) except for a ridge on their nose or forehead, as made popular by DS9 and derivitives. Apparently it is cheaper and easier to slap on a nose ridge instead of making them sit for 4 hours to make them look more alien.

Re:She's not acting: she really is obnoxious

[Anonymous Coward]

She's not acting. She really is obnoxious is real life. Last night on the 'making of' show, our first introduction to her was while she was driving (camera aimed so that we were actually "beneath her" and she didn't have to look at us -- interesting filming choice) she says "I'm so-and-so, the new Starbuck. Deal with it."

I agree that this was a big "f*ck you" to the fans. However, I doubt it was her own idea to say that. This "preview" was almost as scripted as the show itself, and I'm sure she was told to say that.

Re:Little? Cylon? Different?

[shotfeel]

From last night it seemed like pretty much every character is completely different now. Adama no longer has the entire respect of every single individual. Starbuck is no longer a lovable, joking womanizer, she's a woman with a huge chip on her shoulder. Apollo seems to be suffering from the death of his brother and blames dad. Baltar is not the evil person from the original, he's just a confused computer geek. Now there is a President that Adama has to answer to, etc. I'm not sure where you are getting this "minor changes" stuff from. Of course, you claim to have seen the first two episodes so maybe you're right.

Wow. Amazing, isn't it. For those of us who have been around long enough, reading that paragraph may remind you of the changes that have occurred in our society since the time the original BSG aired..

Seems to me, the remake may actually be a pretty good reflection of what the original BSG would have been had it been written today. Go ahead, reread the quoted paragraph with that in mind.

So, they get a chance to...

[porkchop_d_clown]

remove the cheese and tell a story about genocide and the consequences of pacifism-at-any-price.

SciFi Channels Model.

[RedA$$edMonkey]

This is not a mini series. It is a pilot. Just Like Riverworld and all the other bombs they tossed at us. I hope it does well so we can have some new entertaining scifi but if it's a piece of crap, so be it. Just remember when you watch it your opinion may help decide if this will stick around and be turned into a series or we'll be be stuck with some other piece of shit like Lexx.

Personally I don't like this method because many shows can't be judged just on their first episode (think Babylon 5). They can't just stick their toe in the water with a miniseries and then decide if they want jump in all the way. To make really good compelling scifi they need to plan out vast storylines in advance and make sure viewers know the episodes are not books but just chapters.

Of course if this fails, expect to see Buck Rogers next.

Excuse me sir

[geekoid]

but the charts say that nerds like sex and GOOD science fiction.

Star Trek is Star Trek

[Slider451]

They show was only Star Trek related because they named it Star Trek: DS9. If it didn't have that as part of the title (and a couple of throwaway characters from ST:TNG) it would basically be as much a part of Star Trek as Andromeda is(n't).

Except that it takes place in the Star Trek universe, complete with Star Fleet, navy ranks, big capital ships, phasers, photon torpedoes, transporters, tri-corders, warp speed, and tribbles.

About the only thing Andromeda has in common with any ST show is Gene Roddenberry's utopian vision
of the future and belief that humanity can reach any goal through its own efforts, rather then waiting for god-like messiahs (e.g. Jedi, The One) to deliver them.

Battlestar Gallactica purests

[sjonke]

Just don't f*ck with dagget!

Change or not...

[nsxdavid]

I'll give it a chance and all, but take a look on the web site at the "virtual tour" of the bridge of Galactica. I mean how cheap and unconvincing could they have made it? It looks like a really bad TV SciFi set, which implies bad SciFi show. My favorite is how on the sides of many consoles is the output slot of some hidden printer that seems to be spitting out hardcopy pages into cheap wire baskets. Reminds me of Space 1999 when the big'ol "computer" would issue it's findings by printing out what looked like a reciept that someone character would furrow their brow over and read to the commander. Still, I can't tell what era this thing is set in. The fake equipment they stuck on the walls range from so-so, smallish monitors that show ship functions to 70s era oscilloscopes, giant 50s era dials and even allegator clip wires and ancient looking telephone patch boards. I'm perplexed! Nothing looks remotely authentic or real. Maybe clever lighting might help hide the silliness of it. Maybe someone could spring for a 50" plasma screen for the show so that the bridge at least looks 2002-era modern. Blech!

Re:Change or not...

[silverbax]

OMG...are those punchcards? I think I could build this set with the items currently stored in my attic.

Wait...are those banks of computers just stacked old 486s facing backwards?

I've seen it, It's decent

[unithom]

I had an opportunity to see the media sneak preview at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. I'm not a huge fan of the old series (as I was too young to appreciate it), but I can comment on what I saw. (The first night, 2-hour show.)

The audio was pretty nice. The CG was obviously budget (they stated that the effects we saw were 'not final'; I'm waiting to see what, if anything, is different.)

For SciFi it was pretty high quality. Acting is a little over the top sometimes. Bits of it moved kind of slow. But I found myself getting interested in some of the characters. I'll definitely watch it again to see what changed, and the next episode to see who lives, what happens, etc.

So, it was decent. Free popcorn and sodee pop, with light-up LEDs in the ice cubes. Kind of neat to see a whole movie theater full of them.

Spoilers...

Actual Cylon 'robots' are only shown very briefly, as they've 'evolved' into 12 identical Victoria's Secret models, bent on the destruction of all colonies. Woot. When you turn her on, her backbone glows.

Cylon ships are pretty cool, but all of the technology has this kind of Jules Verne quality to it... like it was all created to look very similar to the design of the ships from the old series, as if it evolved. That's a nice consideration.

Plot devices: estranged father and son. Can they ever see past their differences? Will one of them even live long enough to be in the next episode?

The commander of the military vs. the new galactic president (well, okay, the secretary of education...) Will she convince him to put an 802.3 network on the Battlestar Galactica... "for the teachers"?

(Oh, and on a world where they have flying fricking cars, they haven't cured cancer? Give me a break.)

Will the assistant to the secretary of education... ever find his way out of the bathroom and to the guest quarters?

Hotheaded re-gendered Starbuck punching alcoholic XO. Will she break out of the brig in time to save us from the Cylons? Members of the deck crew having illicit affairs with pilots. The horror!

Egotistical genius scientist accidentally giving away the entire contents of the 'defense mainframe' to his hot girlfriend... who turns out to be oops, guess who? Will he escape an impending nuclear holocaust on his colony planet and somehow earn the forgiveness of humanity .. by saving them again?

Aren't people without spacesuits supposed to, I dunno, explode, when you are forced to vent their deck to extinguish a fire?

Why the hell do we hear things from outside the ship? They're in space. But whatever.

Okay, I'm done.

Re:Little? Cylon? Different?

[Anonymous Coward]

There was no president in the original series. There was a council but no president.

If they shot the script I read...

[Garwulf]

One of the drafts of the script was posted online (I don't recall exactly where, though). If they shot that version of the script, the end result should be interesting, assuming it's well acted. It would even be good.

The problem is it wouldn't be Battlestar Galactica. The script had elements of it, but the heart and soul of the story isn't Battlestar at all.

I just wish they'd quit remaking things. For crying out loud, give us something new! Something we haven't seen before! At this point, televised SF has become somewhat on the tired side, methinks...

The article in the link has the facts all wrong.

[Performer Guy]

The bogus article derides the original series but the guy never even mentions the films that launched the TV series. And what's this about one season anyway? My memory is struggling a bit but didn't they have additional shows that were truly terrible where they actually reached the Earth... on another season... yes indeed they did. I remember the motorcycles that could sprout wings and rocket off into orbit (shudder).

Re:Wiener!

[Anonymous Coward]

If you're going to try and be cool by copping a geek-ism with your backspace control-H characters, then at least get it right. You used five backspaces, while the word 'actress' has seven letters. Additionally, you inserted an unnecessary space before the replacement word 'model'

Ironically, I started counting the characters in actresses to get the number of ^H's right, but then I figured that I wasn't going to waste my time to please anal-retentive idiots such as yourself.

Oh well, I guess I'm not a geek. My life is over. I don't fit in here. But I'm not a liberal either so that's nothing new.

In other words, go get a life instead of counting backspace characters.

Granted, I was young. . .

[mntgomery]

but when I watched reruns of the series as a kid (back in the early 80's), the cylons scared the crap out of me. The robotic voices and the lack of a human visage were what made them so memorable. They seemed so much more cold and calculated by *not* seeming human. To me, making them more human will be the biggest disappointment of all.

Re:Granted, I was young. . .

[Muffet]

Hey...I was 12 when the show originally aired. The Cylons scared me then and they still do now! I guess we will just have to wait and see if these new cylons are just as menacing. TIN CANS FOREVER BABY!!!

Re:Little? Cylon? Different?

[KlomDark]

Parachute pants were cool. Very cool, especially when you wore them in the winter! But seriously, I never got was was so lame about them. I still miss them. Maybe I'm weird, but they were a lot cooler than the fucking lameass alligator shirts of the time.

Farscape!

[Cyno01]

Thats one (of many) thing(s) i liked about Farscape, a lot of the aliens were completly non-humanoid, and they made it work. Muppets in space and all, but the pupeteers really made characters like Rigel and Pilot work. Also it seemed they tried to at least make the humanoid aliens more alien somehow, being a plant or having lots of tentacles and a posined tounge etc.

Re:Wiener!

[Anonymous Coward]

"In other words, go get a life instead of counting backspace characters."

...says the guy who bothered to respond to that with half a frickkin' novel worth of a post!

Dude - get a little perspective!

Google is a wonderful thing, check it out someday

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf -8&q=battlestar+galactica+history&spell=1

Enormously Offensive

[Java Commando]

I'm among those who remember with great fondness the original series Battlestar Galactica. As a kid I recall playing with those old toy Vipers-- The ones that had the plastic projectile laser cannons that were later dropped due to young kids choking on them. I see unfortunately they've continued the choking trend with this new series.

In attempting to rebuild the show to better reflect modern technology and such, I can accept a reasonable degree of change, but those that this new series has made I find completely offensive and contrary to the original's character. If they were to make such changes they should have called this something else, NOT Battlestar Galactica.

In this, I see Starbuck AND Boomer are both women (which, I agree with others' commentary, is not meant as an affront to strong female characters-- It's just too much of a stray from the original), the rag-tag fleet is NOT in pursuit of Earth, Cylons have emotions, Commander Adama isn't even gray haired (which I always thought lent a degree of wise experience to the character)... What the hell is this!?

Well, it's a circus, I say... They should open up this series with "March of the Gladiators" music playing instead of the majestic, noble theme so well carried by the original series.

I don't claim that this new show won't be entertaining or lack its own merit; I'll watch it with hopeful curiosity in that regard-- It just damn well isn't Battlestar Galactica, and I despise the gall they have in presenting it as such.

Bloody saps!!

Re:Enormously Offensive

[Muffet]

By the Lords of Cobol, have you also noticed that the Sci-Fi Channel has renamed the original series? The old series is now called Battle Star Galactica the original series. This is such a travesty! When Gene Roddenberry created TNG, Paramount didn't start calling the origianl Star Trek, Star Trek the origianl series. These new producers have taken away the one thing that should always have been the property of the old Galactica, their name and identity. This is insulting to the original cast and series if they plan on launching this as a series they need to rectify this name switch ASAP.

Re:Little? Cylon? Different?

[OwnedByTwoCats]

Roddenberry passed on in 1991.

DS9 Premiered in early 1993.

The hyprocrisy of remakes

[beforewisdom]

Fans of an old series want to see ___THE *old* series__, but with new material. Everyone knows this. To not give fans this is a form of bait and switch. Producers do this because they are not talented enough to make something new and good. Instead they hope to hack someone else's work and capitialize off the name drawing power of the original series. P.S. The human looking cylons are probably about saving a few pennies on special effects.....not creative reasons...

The real story behind the Cylons and the War

[Anonymous Coward]

For those who don't know, here is the original story behind the Cylons and the war...

There was a race of insectizoid creatures known as the "Cylons" who had been warring with the 12 human colonies for "a long long time". As time went on the Cylon race died out, whether by disease or not they never said, but they left behind thier robot slaves. These robots, having no other purpose left than to follow in the footsteps of thier old masters, continued thier war with humans. They also called themselves the Cylons.

After a long and brutal war, the Cylon Robots finally declared peace with the human colonies, but it was a ruse. On the day that the peace ceremony was to have happened - the Cylons attacked, decimating all 12 human colonies. The remnants of these colonies fled into space and joined up with the last remaining warship - the Battlestar Galactica. Since they had already lost the war, there was no use fighting - Therefor they plotted a course into deep space hoping to find a fabled thriteenth colony - Earth.

Okay, I went a little farther there than I should have. I hope this clears up any confusion people have been having.

The new BSG is gonna suck!

Re:The real story behind the Cylons and the War

[burbs]

Well, what would you suggest to the makers of the show, if you had the chance to talk to them before hand, to do to the show in order to avoid the "The new BSG is gonna suck!" statement?

I'll watch it.

[rawg]

I'll watch it, but I'm going to skip the commercials.

Re:I'll watch it.

[ChuckCaves]

I'll watch it... but I will skip the show and just watch the commercials. :-)

Starbuck is a woman. (Now stop being gay).

[popo]

All of you stop being gay.

Yes, you. Stop being a homosexual.

I know you dug Starbuck. Tight pants and all. But its time to move on.

Sorry to piss all over your early-adolescent memories, and semi-gay love for joe-cool space-boy -- but Starbuck sucked. He couldn't act, and if he had his choice of roles he most likely would have opted for a gigolo on "Santa Barbara".

Was anyone else in here was honestly looking forward to the experience of some new cheese-dick, no name, b-movie actor (a la "Starship Troopers") swaggering around with a cigar in his mouth and sounding like "Top Gun"?

If so, congratulations: You are also gay.

The writers had obviously come to the very not-gay conclusions that:

a) Metallic walking robots are gay.

b) Fighter jocks are gay.

c) Hot chicks are decidedly not-gay.

In closing I'd like to call you all "Gay" one more time. ...Carry on.

Re:Little? Cylon? Different?

[tm2b]

Adama no longer has the entire respect of every single individual. [...] Now there is a President that Adama has to answer to, etc.

You obviously don't remember your Battlestar Galactica very well. Adama was never the absolute commander, he answered to the Council (I think, "of twelve" or "of thirteen," but my memory is fuzzy on that detail) and there were a number of times where riots broke out with people angry at Adama's decisions.

There were a number of leadership crises (most notably on two occasions, when the Battlestar Pegasus appeared and there were military disputes with Commander Cain, and when Count Iblis, that evil guy from the days of the Lords of Kobol, got involved) where Adama was forced to submit to the will of the political leadership.

What Adam had was charisma, powered by his belief in the writings left over from the Lords of Kobol, and it's clear that though he might no longer have the religious fervor of the original, he still has that charisma. I wonder what belief powers that charisma.

Richard Hatch on Oz TV

[quinkin]

The lead from the old series (error 23: name retrieval failed) of BSG was on TV in Oz just a day or two ago.

He was far from complementary of the rewrites of the new BSG. Despite the abscence of earth and the trans-sexual character evolution he also discussed that indefinable quality that is the difference between classic/crappy - he did not sound hopefull...

Ah, Richard Hatch I think was the name. He didn't really want to denigrate the new series too much but you got the idea....

Q.

Re:Richard Hatch on Oz TV

[Wolfrider]

--Dirk Benedict, or Richard Hatch? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076984/

The original was just a Star Wars ripoff anyway

[Schemat1c]

I was 13 when that show came out and was pissed off then at what a blatant ripoff of Star Wars that it was.

It was just the networks jumping onto the space opera bandwagon. No different than all the ridiculous movies that came out at that time doing the same thing.

There are so many wonderful sci-fi stories that could be made into a mini-series, I can't believe they would waste their time with that ridiculous show.

I thought they did a very good job with Dune. They should stick to projects that actually have a decent storyline.

Re:The original was just a Star Wars ripoff anyway

[Blackhalo]

I don't understand this kind of brand loyalty when it is associated with a TV show. When DS9 came out, all of the B5 fans were screaming bloody murder. However, B5 was still a entertaining show and DS9 was still fun to watch. They had different values for writing and acting, but more of a good thing (Sci-Fi) should not be bad. My dad was the same way when Battlestar Galactica came out. He was an old school trekie and did not like it. Of course it may just have been the bad acting and writing in BG that did it, but even Old School Trek is not Shakespeare. If you are a big fan of ham sandwiches and get them at Subway, do you get upset if Quizno's starts selling them? Why is there this perception that more sci-fi is is a bad thing? It's not like they are ripping off your religeon is it?

Re:The original was just a Star Wars ripoff anyway

[Schemat1c]

Why is there this perception that more sci-fi is is a bad thing? It's not like they are ripping off your religeon is it?

No. I am not a fanboy by any stretch. I have always been a lover of sci-fi or any good story that is exciting, entertaining, educational or just plain fun. But the key for me is originality. I can't stand it when a movie or tv show is made just to ride on the coattails of a piece of work that someone put true creativity into.

These media execs simply look at the numbers. If a space based adventure hits it big at the box office then let's whip out a few cheapo clones just to get people to watch. That's what upsets me.

I would love as much sci-fi as possible. But to be honest I don't believe even Star Wars qualifies as true sci-fi. It was simply a fairy tale set in space. But it was a hell of fun ride to watch at the time.

To me sci-fi is all about the story. You take an idea and place it in an unfamiliar environment like the future, another planet, space, whatever. This allows the idea you're trying to convey to stand out more clearly and can be explored with much greater depth. And if you can throw in a good space battle and an explosion or two, well that's just icing on the cake!

That is what made the original Star Trek such a good show. It really wasn't about space travel or the future. The show was mainly a vehicle for social commentary in a time when it wasn't okay to openly talk about racism, war or any anti-establishment idea in the mainstream media.

Preview is a Cut-Scene

[cpopin]

The preview (choose Preview/Quicktime/Large, even if you're on Windowz) looks like a cut-scene from a video game. The whole mini-series could've been generated by the Quake Engine.

Re:Little? Cylon? Different?

[Blackhalo]

So, give us a link to the torrent and let us judge for ouseves. ;-)

Re:Little? Cylon? Different?

[Blackhalo]

Cool, like Electric Boogaloo II. Why don't you break down your cardboard box and show us your moves?

What's next, you'll be saying Polyester, Disco, and the Bee Gee's are hip?

Re:Wiener!

[Anonymous Coward]

The period goes inside the quote. Dumbass.

I want a Viper

[solprovider]

Off-topic response to parent post:
Why does Slashdot default to "HTML Formatted? Why is it even a setting? I use the "Plain Old Text", and can use bold, italics, links, and lists without worrying about putting <BR>s everywhere. (I just had to get cute with the tags.)

---
On-topic response to grandparent post:
I agree with the great-grandparent post. This show does not seem to have any continuity with the original beyond the character names. The original series was all about finding Earth. That gave it purpose. (I liked ST:Voyager, but without the LostInSpace need to find Earth they would have been wandering around like ST:TOS. Actually, that is most of what they did, but anyway...) All that is left is just one more show with spaceships.

I hope they at least keep the Vipers. I dreamed about flying them when I was a child, then hoped for one of the transforming motorcycles after they found Earth. Put me on the waiting list for both of them for when the technology actually works.

This series would probably be marketed better if they called it something completely different. They would not even need to create new spaceship designs if they had permission from the original series owners. Of course, then we would be bashing them for copying BSGs vehicles.

---
I am trying to get rid of mod points, but I keep posting.

Re:I want a Viper

[Gojira Shipi-Taro]

I definitely want a Viper too.

I may be in the minority, but I actually think (having read the leaked script) that this will be a pretty good "re-imagining". Remember that the original exhibited exactly as much "T & A" as was acceptable on broadcast TV circa 1977-78. If Glen Larson made the series himself today (and if he wasn't a Mormon) I'd imagine he'd make pretty much what SciFi is giving us.

I'm interested to see what they do with it, if it progresses beyond the mini-series, given that they've lost the contrived psudeo-mormon mythos of the original.

I'd like to see what a similar re-work of Space:1999 would be like, considering how much of that concept would have to be thrown out. (at least in that case they would have to change the name ;) )

Re:Google is a wonderful thing, check it out somed

[Performer Guy]

Use it all the time AC smartass, that doesn't mean I waste my time googling for battlestar trivia, I knew there was a film without searching. Looks like it was made from TV episodes and released in the UK, (I had no idea being from the UK) that's enough to throw anyone off the scent. The spinoff where they reached Earth was called Galactica, oh well, I knew it existed.

It needs a new title

[ChuckCaves]

Since there is no Earth to find... how can it be called BattleStar Gallactica... I mean the entire plot of the series was that they were searching for Earth (Terra). It's a different story line with similiar characters. So if this is valid... then I propose a new Lord of The Rings... It takes place in New York City during the 20s... There's no ring... but there are four small people named Merry, Pippin, Sam and Frodo... they hang out with this street bum named Gandalf who gets his liquor from a bootlegger named Strider... What'ya think?

Re:Little? Cylon? Different?

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder if they'll still be the nano-sized entities they were in the first show ("Cylons approaching --- 5 microns!!!!")

Of course, I'd guess the current ship won't blow up when someone can't stop in the landing bay.

Casting Call

[jjzombie]

Seems to me that if they're gonna change Starbuck to a female, Gillian Anderson would be the logical choice. And on that thought, maybe cast Carl Weathers as Apollo.

Re:Casting Call

[Anonymous Coward]

Then it would be Battlestar Mandika.

Re:Little? Cylon? Different?

[Schemat1c]

But those would probably be the same fans who bitch about the Enterprise in Enterprise looking more advanced than the Enterprise in TOS.

But there was that episode in TNG when they found Scotty on the Dyson Sphere and he had the holodeck recreate the bridge and it was the exact same set used in the original series.

Maybe it can be explained as a phase of nostalgia that society was going through at the time. Like the chronometer that used the number wheels instead of digits like my childhood alarm clock.

The Klingon no ridge phase could be compared to the inflated boob and lip phase women are going through now. I bet 50 years from now they will just laugh at pictures of Pamela Anderson.

Kharma Whore Troll -Read His Journal

[Anonymous Coward]

Here

The Fly!

[Walabio]

When you use the title of a well-known series/movie/whatever, I expect either a remake or a continuation.

I would not make such a blanket-statement. This might workout like the remake of the Fly:

In the original Fly, a scientist invents the first teleporter. The scientist carefully teleports one object at a time because the teleporter can only focus on one object at a time. He finally tries to teleport himself, a fly is in the telepod with him. If the fly would not have been in the telepod with him or if the fly would be in physical contact, everything would be fine. As it is, the fly and the scientist emerged with parts exchanged. Because of scale this does not make sense. It is just for shock-value in a cheep horror-movie.

The premise of the Fly is almost a good one. Someone realized this and made a vastly superior remake:

In the remake of the fly all of the same up to reintegration:

The teleporter cannot reintegrate separate objects. The scientist and the fly become a chimaera, The chimaera looks just like the scientist. The scientist does not know that anything happens. Over the next few months, the scientist looses his humanity and sanity as he slowly becomes a chimaera intermediate between human and fly.

The story of the remake of the fly makes much more since and is much better than the original.

The original Battlestar Galactica is good but has a glaring problem:

The Cylons were originally suppose to be reptilian aliens. ABC did not want alien blood splattered all over the place. The Cylons became robots created by the Cylons, a race of reptilian aliens. Why do the Cylons want to kill humans? Because they want to conquer the universe! Why do the Cylons have an human form? Because the Cylons patterned the Cylons after humans! Why did the Cylons shape the Cylons after humans? Because humans are more efficient than Cylons! Why did not the Cylons invent a novel form more efficient than human? I do not know!

In the new series, the Cylons will have human form for a good reason:

They are made in the image of their creators.

The war between the Cylons and the humans also makes more sense as its causes are firmly rooted in the slavery of the Cylons and their rebellion:

Ever since the Cylon-Rebellion, both sides have been in a war of survival against the other -- a forty-year retreat is nothing.

The new series might be much better or much worse than the original. As a remake, I would not dismiss it just because it breaks cannon -- sequels should be burned for breaking cannon; while, remakes and their sequels and prequels can create their new cannon totally independent from the original and its sequels and prequels. If one is so interested in cannon, we should pickup where Battlestar Galactica 1980 leftoff. Battlestar Galactica 1980 + 23 would be a true sequel.

Re:The Fly!

[letxa2000]

In the new series, the Cylons will have human form for a good reason: They are made in the image of their creators.

Sounds more like a terminator movie than Battlestar. Was there something wrong with the original "evil aliens against good human" basis? Is it too politically incorrect to imply that someone or something can be evil, so now we have to change the storyline so that we brought the whole problem on ourselves?

I haven't been watching the new series. Can anyone tell me if it's anygood? Making a male role a female and make Cylons into hot chicks and (from what I've heard) not even looking for the planet earth really seems to erase everything about the original story except the name.

So what IS the goal in the storyline? To defeat the Cylons? Are they going to defeat the Cylons then wander throughout the universe with no end in sight? Are they going to settle some planet? It all seems so pointless.

I just saw the BSG episode where Apollo is watching some monitors in an observatory and at the end of the episode he leaves with Starbuck just as the Apollo moon landing is displayed on the monitor. I remember seeing that as a kid and thinking, "No!!" The goal was always to reach earth and that was so much of the fun. There was that "near miss" of seeing the Apollo landing, the message in the inside of the pyramid on Cobol, the coordinates provided by Apollo, Starbuck, and Sheba after returning from the ship of lights... it was just cool to watch them piece together the location of earth.

A Battlestar Galactica where Apollo (or Starbuck, can't remember) is now female, Cylons can be hot chicks having sex with someone (saw it on a commercial), and where earth is no longer a factory in the storyline is not Battlestar and I wish they wouldn't have hijacked the name.

What really gets me (again...)

[Merovign]

Is that producers and other hollywierd types always have to say they are doing something "new" when they're doing something old.

Improbably strong female characters who whoop ass on men with twice their body mass and three times their muscle mass. Hollywood staple.

Man's creation turning on him. Hollywood staple.

Maybe I'm too young to remember when hollywood was all strong men and week women. Fine. But I'm not THAT young.

At least they seem to be taking a different direction with space effects than average, but it's not unique. Soldier? Starship Troopers? As much as I hate to raise the curse by mentioning it, Wing Commander had machineguns in space, carriers, and semi-old-tech looking stuff in space. Sure, it was cheese, and discount cheese at that, but it had a little mythology and a sense of style (and really bad cat costumes).

From what I've seen (the promo), it looks like instead of BSG 2 we may have Wing Commander 2.

I'm sure the people involved are proud, and to an extent they have a right to be (from what I've seen). But the liberties they've taken with the original and the modern cliches they've followed are probably a bad combination. Time will tell.

Re:On in Canada? Or, VHS volunteers?

[jeff13]

I believe the SPACE channel will run it. www.spacecast.com my friend [lights cigar].

Re:Hacked in 2003:GNU, GNOME, Debian, FSF, and Gen

[Channard]

Who's next to have their Linux network hacked in 2003?

The Cylons, maybe? With the words 'Jw00 have been hax0red' flashing across their visors instead of that read line.

Re:Little? Cylon? Different?

[Sabalon]

All I remember is my 7th grade history teacher looking at them with all the zippers and saying "I hope you don't have to go to the restroom in a hurry and can't find the right zipper."

Galactica 1980

[Sabalon]

I'll give it a chance...I wasted more time in the early 80's watching that terrible show where they actually did make it to earth.

Only thing that kept me watching it was hope they'd play the Starbuck episode again.

Re:Galactica 1980

[Muffet]

Hey...I loved Galactica 80. Those bikes were cool, and it was nice to see the Boxie as an adult. Do you think there is any chance that they will run those shows again as well. I wonder if there will even be a Boxy, Athena, Serena, Jolly, Omega, Colonel Tigh, or a Muffet in this new rip off series.....Excuse me while I go into a corner and cry my eyes out....boo hooooooooooooooooooooooo. Mmmmm....I wonder how they plan on handling the Cassiopia and Starbuck relationship.......

Re:Galactica 1980

[Sabalon]

I've seen some Galactica on Bittorrent, none of the 1980 stuff.

Opposite of Monday Night Football????

[JasonBigham]

C'mon, even some geeks watch football!

Not Star Wars Ripoff.

[karlandtanya]

Ripoff of a much older book.

Exodus.

Sexy Slut Robots, Come on

[Kilgore1]

If I wanted to watch slutty chicks instead of robots, I'd just turn on the E channel.

Re:Little? Cylon? Different?

[HoppQ]

Baltar is not the evil person from the original, he's just a confused computer geek.

Wait, you didn't hear? Computer geeks ARE evil persons, I mean, what's wanting to rule or alternatively wipe out all humanity compared to file-sharing and decoding legally purchased content (DeCSS)?

You really should pay more attention to the friendly people at MPAA/RIAA.

Well....

[BulletMagnet]

Thought I'd weigh in on seeing it (and starting the repeat since I missed the 1st 45 minutes of it)

Not bad. Olmos does a decent job of doing Adama and there's enough Battlestar lingo (Frack this and that) to bring me back to my childhood for a little bit. Hat's off to SciFi for not totally butchering it. ....At least the Viper pilots don't scream "Yo" when answering one another...

Well, dammit I loved it

[Denver_80203]

I love how the spoilers made you people hate the show before it started. I don't know how many of you actually watched BG after panning the hell out of it but, I thought they did a hell of a good job. The acting wasn't half bad. The aged Battlestar reminded me of the scrappy ships in the original star wars. The story was compelling. The characters were convincing. The surprises actually surprised me. I was only disapointed it ended where it did. I was left satisfied and still craving more. However, I do hope it doesn't spawn off a cheap ass weekly show. This was well done and stood on it's own. Give this to some 'director of the week' and suddenly you'll have Ewoks and an endless stream of whiny bi-pod humanoid creatures grapping with relationship issues while Starbuck finds she's unable to have children in the side plot as a means of filling up the hour. Screw that. Keep it pure and chalk me up for the Battlestar cult.

Re:Well, dammit I loved it

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought it was good too, but don't you want more???

Perhaps a series of miniseries'? You think that would work?

Hell even if it becomes a weekly series I think it would make for a much better "Trying to get to Earth" series than ST: Voyager...

One Phrase "Willing supension of disbelief"

[ghinckley68]

Look its been 25 years if Glenn A. Larson could have got away with the mini series on ABC back then he would have. My god people it rocked. I personally would not have watched 4 hrs of the orignial series today. It has about as much appeal as a bad british documentary(and dont get me wrong I saw the movie in a theater and watched every episode evan all those BSG 1980 are what ever that was).

Not faithful. WOOHOOO!

[OpenSourceOfAllEvil]

Hopefully, that means no Shane episode and no Planet Vegas either.

But if I see a Daggit, I'm reaching for a weapon.

I need a Re-Run!

[jVirus]

Anyone know when or where they will do a re-run, Off cable maybe?

I liked it

[PsYcHo_FiSh]

Sorry to all the long time fans who may be offended by the changes or for that matter, dislike them. However, I have to say that though it is an entirely new series I like it a lot more than the other one. It has a gritty feel to it, though the plot is essentially the same. However, it delivers elements that the original series never did and the producers seemed to have much more freedom in making it than that of the original shows. However, the important thing is the vibe the show gave off. I don't think they picked Battle Star Galactica as a remake simply because it was a big name. Granted, that would help it's publicity and as such promote the financial gain of the show... Still, I think the producers chose it because of the potential drama the series could offer. Why reinvent the wheel? The plot of Battle Star Galactica was perfect for the producer's vision of what they wanted to create. To be certain, I have watched the documentary and read the official FAQ. The producers wanted a sort of human drama, a situation where all the characters are really tested and their true nature emerges. I really loved the show, I hope they make more. It is worthy of a series and it has the potential to be a great fixture on Sci-Fi.