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SciFi Channel To Air A New Galactica Series
EvilBuu writes "The Sci-Fi Channel has begun airing ads announcing a full Battlestar Galactica series following the surprisingly (to some) good new mini series starring Edward James Olmos. Looks like it will be a straight forward continuation of the mini, with the same cast and more Cylon goodness!" According to this press release, Richard Hatch will guest star, and the show will air starting in January 2005.
Granted, I wasn't old enough to have watched the original Galactica (I'm not even 30 yet), but I did watch part of the mini-series and was thoroughly bored. Why they're going to make a regular series out of it, I'll never know.
One thing I *do* know is that as good as Stargate SG-1 is, it pisses me off that Stargate gets 8 seasons and counting *AND* a spinoff while Farscape got three years and change with an abrupt axing without doing the characters justice in the "ending".
That was enough to tick me off originally. But then Sci-Fi made it worse by continuing with that idiot John Edwards who "talks to stupid people"... oh - and supposedly their dead loved ones too (*cough* cold read *cough*). And then they had those two retarded "dream experts" that made everything in their show about *sex*. Sci-Fi is turning into the fucking LifeTime network. Then that terrible "Taken" by Spielberg (or lucas - I can't seperate the two anymore) and then that attrocious three hour guerilla marketing (disguised as a documentary) for The Village which investigated how M. Night Shyamalan is really some sort of voodoo shaman kind of guy with magical powers really did me in for good.
I canceled my cable last week due specifically to my dislike for the Sci-Fi network. I'll put that $120/mo into something more worth while and any shows that I deem worthy enough to waste my time watching, I'll just grab from bit torrent.
Anyway, back to the original point. What is it with Battlestar Galactica? It's about as exciting and interesting as that really crappy "Dark Shadows" series (and don't even get me started on the Mormony Goodness of the show). Is it just that SciFi couldn't find the funding for their 400th Sci-Fi Original movie about killer bees, killer anacondas, killer bats, killer dragons, killer spiders, killer rats, killer mosquitos, killer cats, or alien viruses?
They don't find the ratings too low and revamp it into Galactica 2006. "Hey, look, we're on Earth now!"
I'll be cancelled.
Yeah, this is flamebait, but that doesn't change its veracity.
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
If they mean this Richard Hatch
i chard.shtml
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/survivors/r
All I can say is... FRACK.
Am I the only one who finds the fact that nostalgia is driving the current Science Fiction series aired to be supremely ironic?
Government of the people, by corporate executives, for corporate profits.
God, I hope he keeps his clothes on this time. And Olmos better watch out, or he'll find that everyone has voted him off the Galactica
*yes I know it's a different Richard Hatch.
---- El diablo esta en mis pantalones! Mire, mire!
the cylons are supposed to be robots dammit..robots!!!!!
Terrible nightmares of naked homosexual Cylons hell-bent on manipulating the universe...
I loved BG as a child and I recently watched some re-runs for the first time since, all I can say is that the original series have not aged well, the whole thing looks cheesy and very early-80s. The scripting is laughable on occasions.
Contrast this to when I saw repeats of Dr Who, Blake's 7 etc from the same era. They seemed to have aged very well like a good wine, and despite some very dubious sets and sfx they make you realise that it's the quality of writing that make shows like these a classic.
For all intensive porpoises your a bunch of rediculous loosers
So they turned the McGuyver action hero character central to the SG theme into a desk jockey.... Yeah.. that'll boost ratings as they replace his anger fed machine gun sprees with angst fed stapler accidents.
Also of note:
Farscape is coming back as Farscape: Peacekeeper Wars. Old News.
New series based on Ursula K LeGuin's EarthSea coming in December. Old News.
Firefly is coming back in movie form as Serenity next summer. Old News.
SciFi channel is also contemplating a Larry Niven Ringworld miniseries. Old News.
And most likely, there's going to be another 8 or so Tremors spinoffs...
...I saw the mini-series and yes, it was surprisingly good. I really really liked it. I liked that they avoided a lot of sci-fi cliches, except one.
So let's face, the invention of human cylons is a big horrible mistake and one of the worst sci-fi cliches ever. Obviously, they wanted to save on the CGI-effects budget and wanted to avoid cheesy robot costumes. So they came up with human-looking cylons. The pilot movie made it clear that the following series will revolve around the question which of the Galactica crew members is actually a cylon, possibly without even knowing about it.
But I see no suspense whatsoever from a plot point that was innovative in 1927's "Metropolis" but that has been worn off ever since: Is that person human or isn't it? Am I talking to the original or not? The idea of non-human enemies posing as humans to subvert the human forces has been done to death by every incarnation of Star Trek and practically almost every other sci-fi show ever made. I see no new idea coming from this. Too bad.
I just wish they would have avoided that and come up with some non-cheesy robot cylons.
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You may like my a cappella music
That's kind of the same reason why Don S. Davis (Gen. Hammond) left the show entirely. He's had some health problems, and the stress of a shooting schedule wasn't helping. He wanted to spend the rest of his time relaxing with his family.
I have seen the ads on since the season premiere of SG-1, which was a month ago. This story is seriously dated.
Great ideas often receive violent opposition from mediocre minds. - Albert Einstein
Dammit! Screw Edward James Olmos and his pock-faced character. To hell with that lebian-ish looking chick that plays Starbuck, forever ruining the original series' mac daddy version of Starbuck (who later trolled the A-Team series). I don't care that the 2nd of two black guys from the original series has been turned into an Asian woman...that might actually be a humanoid Cylon fabricated for the sheer ease of reducing the CGI effects budget!
:-p
WHAT ABOUT THE DAMNED TOYS?!
I want my little Galactica starfighter back -- from when I was only about 6 or 7 years old. I want figures to put into the starfights -- ones WITHOUT arms that bend at the elbows wrists. They better have less arm/leg motion than a Barbie doll on downers! I want the toys to require batteries so I can keep replacing them over and over again -- JUST TO HEAR THE CHEEZY LASTER BLASTER SOUNDS!
Oh -- and I want a Cylon fighter this time. My brother got a Lincoln Log set last time I owned Galactica toys, and dammit -- it's time I had my Cylong fighter! Fuck you, bro -- let's see how your "cabin" fairs against my army of silver badass Cylons!
IronChefMorimoto
Do I really want more?
Maybe the Cylons and Daleks can once and for always
make space safe for inorganics.
Unfortunately, I think most people are just not going to "get it." I had a discussion with a friend who is the true "but this isn't like the original show, so it sucks!" The most fascinating thing about of this series is the fact that the Cyclons are now human. The pilot ended up with some great philosophical (for the Slashdot crowd, this won't work because it requires thinking about other positions than your own, I know..) ideas and plot points:
-- Are the Cyclons more human that we are? Can they have all their emotions without being socially destructive? Or, are they less human because they are so reigned in? Do they have freewill? Can they have freewill and yet also be sleeper programmed?
-- Is Baltar just psychologically unsound or did they plan a device in his head? We know that there are at least one other Cyclon on board, but I seriously suspect another. Are they the perpetrators or is Baltar unconsciously being controlled?
-- How will Starbuck deal with having passed Zack? In theory, this should lead to her resignation, but we cannot afford to lose any valuable pilots.
-- How with the X.O. handle his daemons now that his job isn't plush anymore?
This series has a lot more drama to it, which is probably why the "old crowd" doesn't care for it. I can say that the people I know who weren't raised on the old show really like this one.
Bel, the mostly sane.. "Of course I can't see anything! I'm standing on the shoulders of idiots." -- Me
It's about money .
Dr Who and SciFi channel should be a perfect match.
"Bidibidibidi, nice ass, Wilma!"
You must think in Russian.
Terrible nightmares of naked homosexual Cylons hell-bent on manipulating the universe...
Provided the Cylons in question are portrayed by Tricia Holfer and Grace Park, I have no problem with that scenario.
How to solve most of our problems: 1.Lots of nuclear plants. 2.Cure aging.
Oh c'mon...
Did anyone else watch the original series?
(1) Heavy attempts at mixing "Chariots of the Gods" with Mormonism.
(2) Death of a loved one causing the hero to rise up against the baddies, or as I called it 20 years ago, "Larson's Disease". It's happened on BG, Buck Rogers, Knight Rider and Magnum P.I.. Nothing worst than a director who's derivative of his own works.
(3) Everyone in *THE FUTURRRRRE!!!* listens to disco.
(4) Rampant T&A. Every show Larson has done featured some measure of blatant tits and ass, plain and simple.
Frankly, the only thing that made BG good, was creative costuming, special effects, and soundtrack. Otherwise it was just another bit of Universal "Originality? Whazzat?" hackwork.
As for the geek squadrons, do you REALLY want to support the movie company that made Jack Valenti what he is today?
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
You miss the point - this news item is about the NEW SPOTS they are running on Scifi! They didn't have them i February!
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
Stargate SG1: Spinoff of a pretty good movie
;)
0 7.turner.html
Stargate Atlantis: Spinoff of a spinoff
BS: Galactica: Remake
Andromeda (LBX): Bought from syndication
Scare Tactics: science FICTION channel REALITY series.
They have a couple other "original" series that I have not seen so I do not feel comfortable talking about. Good for them that there seem to still be a few original shows. See here for their seriously weakened lineup when compared to a few years ago: http://www.scifi.com/onair/shows/
Apparently original ideas are no longer acceptable on SciFi channel.
Why else cancel the amazing show that is Farscape? Farscape takes science fiction to a new level, and a lot of people are picking up on it after the huge fan response to the cancellation.
(Okay actually SciFi didn't "approve" of Farscape because they didn't own it top to bottom. The Farscape game, the little action figures, everything, was under Henson's control. Under the surface the Farscape cancellation is about media consolidation; SciFi Channel doesn't like what they can't own completely.) See this Ted Turner article about this general trend in the industry: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/04
A lot of people still haven't seen Farscape, so I invite you to watch it Monday through Friday, 9AM-4PM, from Friday, Oct. 1, through Friday, Oct. 15. SciFi channel is airing all 4 seasons so people can catch up.
I beg of you; spread the word about this amazing show.
p.s. I do not wish to offend on Stargate fans or Andromeda fans. Im just extremely passionate about Farscape, I hope you will not be turned off by my enthusiasm.
John Susek
* The sequence of events during and immediately following the Cylon attack was well-handled, IMHO. It had the feeling of a real event, where nobody knew quite what was going on and people who were not expected to be leaders had to step up and take responsibility.
* The environment on Galactica, the crew reactions, and the overall tone of a fleet that had been on guard duty for years without seeing any combat, and was now engaged in combat felt right to me.
* The "combat journalism" style of dogfight footage was great. I definitely prefered it to the smooth, effortless and artificial feel of most Trek space combat.
* The characters were set up with individual personalities without reliance on alien cliches. It's a lot more difficult to make a show based on mere humans seem interesting to SF fans, but I wanted to know more about these characters, and I felt that there was a lot more to explore in each of them.
I loved the old show when I was a kid, primarily because of Starbuck, and because I could picture myself flying around in a Viper waxing Cyclon Raiders. But this is a very different show for a different audience. In my opinion it's better acted and richer, and it has the potential to be a solid series. I'm looking forward to seeing more of it.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
I say this with some sorrow, because I enjoyed the original series when I was in grade school, but Galactica has suffered a number of indignities over the years and between rewriting, editing, and corporations that were more concerned about cashing in on the nostalgia than producing a good quality science fiction series the series has lost much of its luster for me. Now, to be fair to the Sci-Fi channel and some of the original cast members the recent miniseries was a good intentioned attempt to recapture some of what made the Galactica concept so compelling. However, Galactica has always, even during the original run, suffered from lack of budget. The original series for example, cost $1,000,000 per episode in 1978 and it was cancelled even though it was the number one show that year. The hard truth is that advertisers, even if your show is number one in ratings, will only pay so much for a 30 second commercial spot. Thus, in order to make the show profitable there have always been compromises. I really wanted to like the new miniseries...I really did. I watched it in its entirety, even though I winced at some of acting and most of the dialog. Perhaps the series will prove me wrong...I hope so...but I am not getting my hopes up.