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New Battlestar Galactica Series Greenlighted

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the starbuck-and-apollo dept.

Trunks writes "A few days ago the Sci Fi Channel officially announced a 13 episode season for Ronald Moore's Battlestar Galactica remake. Looks like they'll be bringing back most of the cast members, including Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell. The new series will begin a few days after the miniseries that aired a few months back. Production commences next month in Vancouver, B.C." This had been speculated previously, and the rumors are indeed true.

28 of 328 comments (clear)

  1. Vancouver! by Dumbush · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I live in Vancouver
    where are they shooting the movie?

    side note: A lot of X-Files eps were shot in Simon Fraser University. The central university building is Academic Quadrangle, name after its quadrangular shape. Whenever the X-Files team needs a shot of the pentagon, they just "cheat" their way out by shooting a section of AQ...

    1. Re:Vancouver! by satherto · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Most of the shooting was on sound stages, but you probably recognize some other location, like the dome ship, was really the Gardens @ QE park, SFU, as seen in almost every SciFi show shot in/around Vancouver (Slider, Stargate SG1, Andromeda, Outer Limits, etc.)

      What impressed me the most was using a BC Ferry car deck for the Space Liners Cargo bay, where Apolo parked his Viper. I wonder who thought up that one.

      --
      ----
  2. Re:Good news by nimblebrain · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There sure were a lot of drumbeats in the pilot episodes, although we caught strains of it during the ceremony.

    I surmise that they may get their own music once the go-ahead is on. It might take a little while to get some decent music unless they prepare well in advance; Stargate hobbled along with snippets of the original movie's music in a not-quite-audio-balanced form for a while until they managed to work in new arrangements more suited to a TV series :)

    --
    Binary geeks can count to 1,023 on their fingers :)
  3. Re:British Columbia by zakezuke · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Being in the Pacific Northwest, I notice alot of the filming that goes on here. Unfortunatly they have moved to Vancover. From my understanding it's because they will let you get away with alot of shit (see Jackie Chan). I don't know this for a fact, but that's the rumor.

    --
    There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
  4. OT: Any news when the Sci-fi series released. by will_die · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Has anyone seen any info on when the Sci-fi channel will be releasing thier mini-series on DVD?

  5. Finally! by zakezuke · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I have always had a soft spot for "Wagon Train in Space"... and look forward to someone doing something with this highly popular short lived series. I could care less about the lack of beam weapons, or stupid mechanical dog. Give me exploration off the map, cultrual satire, and a cigar smoking hot shot piolt. If you must do that pan and zoom style for battle sequences... so be it.

    Battlestar Galactica was, and always will be pulp fiction for the masses, where demographical studies were paramount! I'm looking forward to being exploited.

    --
    There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
  6. But it sucks by 91degrees · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Lets see - Every single character is a total stereotypes. We have a tough as nails, always in trouble ace pilot, a father and son who don't talk anymore, an acerbic commander who doesn't take stick from anyone, and a cowardly scientist who refuses to take responsibility for his actions (Did they get mixed up and think it was a Lost in Space revival?).

    Then they take out the few bits that were remotely imaginative from the original series. Rather than having an ancient society with their own political structure, they have a carbon copy of the US political system. All the ancient Egyptian styling has been axed, and the Galactica is simply way too new. Galactica was 500 years old in the original series. It made it seem like it was worth caring about.

    Finally, we have the actual script. It's not enough just to throw in random emotive scenes. Yes, they have to leave some people behind. Yes, it's a tragedy. But come-on; three times!?. Talk about rubbing it in. And even though we're meant to believe that it's such a disaster, people make these life or death decisions with hardly a flicker of anxiety.

    1. Re:But it sucks by blincoln · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I've got to agree.

      I watched the miniseries when it came out and thought it was okay, if a bit cliched.

      Then I bought the original series DVD set, and watched the whole thing. It does have a noticeable fromage factor in places (e.g. Muffit, reusing a lot of the space footage in *every* episode, the robots in "Greetings from Earth"), but it's obvious to me that the creators really cared about telling an interesting story of their own.

      There was so much about the original that had its own feel - the design of the costumes, the sets, the ships, the Cylons - and in the remake they've all been replaced by generic sci-fi designs.

      90% or more of the elements in the remake could have been designed for any space action film - Wing Commander in particular comes to mind. I was *especially* disappointed with the new Cylons. It's obvious that they only make an appearance for a few seconds because the CG is so poorly animated. I also thought the new Raiders with the scanning eye on the front were incredibly cheesy.

      That having been said, there were a few things I thought were clever - particularly one of the plot twists near the end that I will not explain to avoid spoiling anyone.

      I also liked that "Caprica" was actually the university in Canada that I went to (BG is higher class than The Sixth Day or The Fly II, both of which also filmed there).

      Basically I feel like the creators of the new series started changing things not because it was a good idea, but just for the sake of doing it, Rick Berman-style.

      I guess a new series could turn out well, but I get the impression that it won't. Sci-fi should have let Richard Hatch do his follow-up idea instead of "reimagining" the story.

      --
      "...always new atoms but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday." -Richard Feynman
    2. Re:But it sucks by Smegoid · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Not a big fan of the tele but I watched the mini-series and was quite impressed. Furthermore I disagree that everyone is a stereotype, or at least no more so than any other piece of fiction. The tough as nails always in trouble ace pilot is a girl, relitively new, though reeking of Aliens.

      Essentially you could swap all the characters around and people would still complain of stereotypes. The sensitive but stern Commander. The holier than though Scientist with a god complex. The wet behind the ears pilot. The father and son who are best of buddies. What would the creators have to do for the characters to not in some way echoe something we've seen before? And I stress echoe because none of them struck me as an exact carbon copy of previous sci-fi.

      I suppose if every character was bland and spoke in monotone then people would call it fresh and new. Oh wait, no that would be just like the Matrix wouldn't it?

  7. ...Roumpatroullie Orion by derphilipp · · Score: 2, Interesting

    They are getting into nostalgica - right ?
    There just was a movie made from the german series "Raumpatroullie Orion" - here a fan site (I don't know the english series name), where all of the seven episodes were assembled to a movie, completed by new filmed "News Show" (still in B/W)

    --
    Spelling mistakes: My is english spoken not tongue of mother.
  8. Re:Where? It's the bandwidth! by SgtSnorkel · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I think the real driver behind all the remakes is available bandwidth. The number of channels available on a modern direct-broadcast satellite system is astounding! The programmers (in the TV sense of the word) just can't generate enough content or come up with enough new ideas.

    There's a glut of video bnadwidth, viewers get spread thin, advertising dollars per channel plummets -- thus we have remakes, re-runs, and 'reality' shows ad nauseum.

    (BTW: I thought the miniseries was pretty good! Especially compared to the campy original.)

  9. Blade Runner meets Terminator by 0111+1110 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I really liked the pilot (miniseries my ash). As scifi goes, it was pretty damn good, despite the gaping holes. The ones like how the cylons have all those special communication abilities and glow-in-the-dark spinal cords when they are indistinguishable from us "down to our blood".

    Also Starbuck is incredibly annoying and ugly to boot. As much as I liked the pilot, I don't know if I could stand watching her so much. They really should have left her as a man. Or, if they are going to leave her female, at least they could go all the way and make her a lesbian. Or better yet kill her off early in the show. Now that would be a 24-like kind of surprise.

    OTOH, I could watch the hot Asian "Boomer" all day long. I really like her face. I like Trisha's performance. She's very intense. I like that she's just a virtual person.

    So what's good about the show? The eerie, almost spooky feeling of floating in space alone, forever, with everyone else in your entire species, your whole civilization just gone. I thought they were pretty successful at pulling off those kinds of subtle feelings. The blade runner-esque music certainly helps with this.

    It is kind of Blade Runner meets Terminator (I wonder if it was pitched that way), but both were classic SciFi movies, the more mature and powerful of the two being Blade Runner of course. Makes me wonder if Edward J. Olmos will end up being a Cylon in the end. It seems apparent to me that the director was really moved by Blade Runner, by the whole kind of world created in that film.

    To question the difference between humans and intelligent machines, of which is which, to see our own machines become so succesfull as organisms that they destroy us.

    These are wonderful ideas to explore. No they are not completely original anymore. But, as long as the miniseries retains its own unique feel and is not blatantly imitative with its storylines there is a great deal of potential here.

    I like the idea of machines coming to worship their own emotions (like "love"). A lot could be done with this material. That's for sure.

    --
    Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.
  10. Sci-Fi Channel by Matrix2110 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Excellent!

    The Sci-Fi Channel had the guts to air Lexx as well as a host of other ventures. I have caught my co-workers on many a time watching Outer Limits or Twilight Zone.

    Has much less commercials than TNT. (Anybody been through the painfull IGEA pore sucker commercial?)

    I wish these guys well, and I think they are on course so far.

  11. I liked the cylons by robnauta · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That's good news. I liked the cylons, they looked more realistic than other robots of that era. Their 'by your command' was impressive. At least they used some kind of voice encoder device to make it sound real, as opposed to actors trying to talk metallic in other series.

  12. Score one for bittorrent... by Shivetya · · Score: 3, Interesting

    When I first watched this, taped to my VCR, I was not impressed. However I later downloaded a bittorrent of it, captured from satellite or similar, and after watching it a few times where I could back up and such I found I enjoyed many aspects of it.

    Watching it without the commercials really improved it. Anyone else find otherwise decent programs on Sci-Fi ruined by the deluge of commercials?

    --
    * Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
  13. Re: Will there be nudity? by zakezuke · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Near as I'm aware, cable stations don't have to conform to the same set of standards that broadcast stations do. For example, the writers for South Park were shocked to find out there was really no issue saying SHIT on C.Central. I think it's just a choice so they don't offend anyone rather then a clear cut rule. Heaven forbid that a kid might see a 1/2 nakid woman... but not a problem with senceless violence... or just senceless like pokeman. Personaly I think a 1/2 woman is less offencive... well depending. Public access nudes are not a problem, in fact i've seen live sex on public access, or at least a handjob.

    I'm not up on the current FCC rules, why PBS can show 1/2 nakid women like in Unwed Lesbian Indians for Nuclear Engery, and how the system has broadcast rules have changed since the 1980s.

    --
    There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
  14. Re:British Columbia by orthogonal · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Being in the Pacific Northwest, I notice alot of the filming that goes on here. Unfortunatly they have moved to Vancover. From my understanding it's because they will let you get away with alot of shit (see Jackie Chan). I don't know this for a fact, but that's the rumor.

    By filming in Canada, the production companies don't have to pay union rates to the hordes of support personal required to make the films. This out sourcing significantly brings down costs, while still providing a location with white, English-speaking extras and close proximity to the US, to accommodate "name" US actors.

    The X-Files, for example, was mostly filmed in Canada, with US filming limited to some "location" shots of recognizable landmarks.

    --
    Opinions on the Twiddler2 hand-held keyboard?
  15. Why are you convinced it was superior? (spoiler) by starX · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Remember, the Cylons won because the humans basically couldn't shoot back. Hell yeah you have superior power when you've sent in a spy to obtain access to the defense mainframe and figure out how to turn off all of your enemy's defensive/offensive capabilities.

  16. Re:Rant: annoying sexism by sundling · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There are two main ways to get a programmer's attention. Sexy blond works and the other is really awesome hardware. Hell, I'm not a dog like he was and I'd probably have fallen for the andriod, which is a whole different dimension. Then would come the difficult choice of living with the android you live or mankind... Baltar could have been a tragic romantic figure if they had tried that.

    The problem with giving the programmer access to really advanced hardware is it's a bit difficult to explain, even if you say it's a prototype. Um, where did I get this 2 billion Ghz machine? Well, um....

  17. Easier Remake? by Surak_Prime · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I was really impressed with the quality of the mini-series, and how it stayed true to the original without just being a straight remake. It makes me wonder, though, if its easier to make a new series when there's only 22 original episodes to follow, as opposed to the 4 series and couple of hundred episodes that result in a follow up like Enterprise, where continuity is raped on a regular basis. Mr. Moore can probably keep 'em all in his head.

    --
    :::The Spear in the heart of the Other is the Spear in the heart of You; You are He - Surak of Vulcan:::
  18. The original series by dotwaffle · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I just bought the original series, all 24 epsidoes (not 22 like the article says!) and I'm loving every minute! Not only do they go through all the normal rigmarole of launching etc, but they deal with problems like humans would, rather than like other programmes would (like suddenly finding the obvious answer, like why not use antiflasmagron drive...) and so it's always been a favourite. Hopefully, when the new series comes to the UK, it's not on Sky(^H^Hhite) and instead either Ch4 or the BBC get it. Here's to the new series being any good!

  19. Re:"New Ideas" die in boardrooms by bakes · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is spot on. It reminds me of a quote from Ben Elton in his book 'This Other Eden' where he describes Hollywood as "The place where ideas went to die".

    Television is slightly better, but only because some production companies are still willing to gamble the relatively small amounts it takes to make a pilot or even a one-off show.

    Sometimes the sequels can be done very well, for example I personally consider Rocky II to be the best of that series, although after that they should have stopped. Others, although not as good as the first, can still be well written and entertaining (Toy Story 2 was pretty good). Others they should have stopped after the first movie instead of turning the story into a joke. (I keep telling myself that "there is no sequel")

    But some more originality on the big screen would be nice.

    --
    Ho! Haha! Guard! Turn! Parry! Dodge! Spin! Ha! Thrust!
  20. Re: Will there be nudity? by RobotRunAmok · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Near East
    Is that, like, Long Island?

    But seriously... Congress is concerned over the Jackson incident because laws they passed establishing guidelines for the content using the airwaves owned by the public were ignored. It's correct for them to be concerned. Since it is likely that the incident was pre-meditated by at least one MTV producer and Jackson herself to create a pocket-lining "buzz," it's correct for Congress to be more than a little bit annoyed as well.

    Sci-Fi Channel is on cable. The restrictions relating to the public airwaves do not apply to them. However, they are smart enough to realize that the demographic for a Battlestar Galactica revival is not the same as "Queer as Folk" or "The Sopranos" and will most certainly produce it no harder than a PG. The perception is that the "adults" won't be watching it and that the "kids" won't be allowed to watch it if it contained nudity.

  21. Re:Rant: annoying sexism by NiteHaqr · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You are forgetting one thing - they are machines !!!

    They dont have to eat

    They dont have to sleep

    They dont get sick

    They dont take vacations

    They remember everything they ever did

    They remember everything that any other cylon ever did.

    They dont have to worry about the safety/survivability of test-pilots etc

    And they can form beowulf clusters to work stuff
    out :)

  22. Re:Rant: annoying sexism by shmigget · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Well, she made a great covert operative. It's actually, in a strange way, realistic, as epsionage agencies regularly resort to sex as a means of obtaining access to sensitive data.

    I'm a programmer. Can a sexy blonde android seduce me? :)

  23. Re:Greenlighted? by danimal · · Score: 2, Interesting

    well, you know something that's for sure. however in the entertainment industry (yes, I've worked on movies) we generally say "greenlit" not "greenlighted."

  24. Re:Where are the new ideas? by Golias · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Actually now I'm beginning to wonder why scifi anime is practically the only thing they import to US.

    A stroll through the "Anime" section at Best Buy proves you wrong. Sure, there's plenty o' sci-fi, and also several fantasy series (Slayers probably being the most popular)

    There's also romance (Love Hina), sports drama (Princess Nine), modern espionage (Noir), soft-core pr0n comedy (Najica Blitz Tactics), parody (Excel Saga), war stories (Grave of the fireflies), horror (Boogiepop Phantom), Buffy-esque modernist occult fantasy (Witch Hunter Robin) and several other genres I've probably forgot to mention at the moment.

    Not to mention a lot of the great shows and movies which actually are for kids and/or families: Castle In the Sky, Kiki's Delivery Service, Sailor Moon, Spirited Away, etc.

    So, lots of different anime is imported... It's just that the sci-fi stuff has caught on with American audiences. Mostly because sci-fi is the one place where anime can be better than live action. Doing live action sci-fi, even if you spend a million dollars per episode, can look very cheezy. (For example, that stupid-looking "desert rat" puppet in the SciFi Channel production of Dune) With anime, you can do a show like Cowboy Bebop or Neon Genesis Evangelion for no more money than it takes to make an anime about a girl's baseball team. American audiences are not really used to the idea of watching an animated feature that could have just as easilly have been done with live actors, so shows like Princess Nine, in spite of being extremely well-written and well-made, simply don't get more than a small cult following, while Macross (a.k.a. Robotech) is a staple of the sci-fi nerd diet.

    --

    Information wants to be anthropomorphized.

  25. Re:British Columbia by gobbo · · Score: 2, Interesting
    By filming in Canada, the production companies don't have to pay union rates to the hordes of support personal required to make the films.

    I call hooey on you. You can't make a feature-length mainstream in Vancouver without relying heavily on IATSE local 891. They're just too useful.

    No, every Amurrican producer/director I've talked to about working in Canada describes the experience as dominated by working with extremely skilled and unassuming crews and actors (the phrase that keeps coming up is that they don't have the 'sense of entitlement' that crews in LA do).

    The Hollywood North thing isn't about union-busting so much as about exchange rate and financial incentives, great locations, and really good resources when it comes to crew, facilities, and post.

    California Bud's pretty legendary too, so I don't think it's that... uh,

    --
    Damn those pesky terrorists